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A reliquary (also referred to as a shrine, chasse, or phylactery) is a container for . A portable reliquary, or the room in which one is stored, may also be called a feretory.
Relics may be the purported or actual physical remains of , and may comprise bones, pieces of clothing, or some object associated with saints or with other religious figures. The authenticity of any given relic is often a matter of debate; for that reason, some churches require documentation of a relic's provenance.
Relics have long been important to Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and to followers of many other religions."Two Gandhāran Reliquaries". K. Walton Dobbins. East and West, 18 (1968), pp. 151–162. The Stūpa and Vihāra of Kanishka I. K. Walton Dobbins. (1971). The Asiatic Society of Bengal Monograph Series, Vol. XVIII. Calcutta."Is the Kaniṣka Reliquary a work from Mathurā?" Mirella Levi d’Ancona. Art Bulletin, Vol. 31, No. 4 (Dec. 1949), pp. 321–323. These cultures often display reliquaries in shrines, churches, or temples to which the faithful make to gain blessings.
The term is sometimes used in a looser sense to mean a container for the remains of any important figure, even non-religious ones. In particular, the kings of France often specified that their hearts and sometimes other organs be buried in a different location from their body.
The relics were enshrined in containers crafted of or covered with gold, silver, gems, and enamelled glass. Boehm, Barbara Drake. "Relics and Reliquaries in Medieval Christianity". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art,(October 2001) Ivory was widely used in the Middle Ages for reliquaries; its pure white color is an indication of the holy status of its contents. Speakman, Naomi C., "Treasures of Heaven", The British Museum, London, 2011 These objects constituted a major form of artistic production across Europe and Byzantium throughout the Middle Ages.
Many were designed with portability in mind, often being exhibited in public or carried in procession on the saint's feast day or on other Liturgical year. often centered on the veneration of relics. The faithful often venerate relics by bowing before the reliquary or kissing it; those churches that observe the veneration of relics distinguish between the honor given to the saints and the worship that is due to God alone (see Second Council of Nicea).
Sixteenth-century reformers such as Martin Luther opposed the use of relics since many had no proof of historical authenticity and objected to a cult of saints. Many reliquaries, particularly in northern Europe, were destroyed by or Calvinist sympathizers during the Reformation, being melted down or pulled apart to recover precious metals and gems. Nonetheless, the use and manufacture of reliquaries continue to this day, especially in Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian countries.
Relics of the True Cross became very popular from the 9th century onward and were housed in magnificent gold and silver cross-shaped reliquaries decorated with enamels and precious stones. From about the end of the 10th century, reliquaries in the shape of the relics they housed also became popular; hence, for instance, the skull of Pope Alexander I was housed in a head-shaped reliquary. Similarly, the bones of saints were often housed in reliquaries that recalled the shape of the original body part, such as an arm or a foot.
Many Eastern Orthodox reliquaries housing tiny pieces of relics have circular or cylindrical slots in which small disks of wax-mastic are placed, in which the actual relic is embedded.
A philatory is a transparent reliquary designed to contain and exhibit the and relics of saints. This style of reliquary has a viewing portal to view the relic inside. The feretrum was a medieval form of reliquary or shrine containing the sacred effigies and relics of a saint.
During the later Middle Ages, the monstrance form, primarily used for consecrated hosts, was sometimes used for reliquaries. These housed the relic in a rock crystal, or glass capsule mounted on a column above a base, enabling the relic to be displayed to the faithful. Reliquaries in the form of large pieces of metalwork jewellery also appeared around this time, housing tiny relics such as pieces of the Holy Thorn, notably the Holy Thorn Reliquary now in the British Museum.
Two famous very early excavated reliquaries are the 1st-century Bimaran Casket and the Kanishka Casket of 127 AD, both believed to have contained part of the cremated remains of Gautama Buddha. Relics associated with Buddha are the most important in Buddhism, but those related to other enlightened figures like Sariputta and Maudgalyayana are also highly revered.
In Buddhism, relics are known as cetiya; one of the most significant is the relic of the tooth of the Buddha in Sri Lanka. In Japan, Buddhist relics are known as from Sanskrit śarīra, and are often stored in a relic hall, reliquary. (See also: Japanese Buddhist architecture) The Golden Pavilion at Kinkaku-ji in Kyoto is a well-known example of a shariden.
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