Medieval Reliquaries: Magnificent Containers For Yucky Pieces Of Corpse

“There is – at least for a modern sensibility – a stark disconnection between the splendid appearance of a reliquary and what it contains: a gnarled piece of bone such as the arm of St George … For the culture that made them, however, those values were reversed: the gold, jewels and workmanship were a way of making visible the – infinitely greater – spiritual treasure within.”