Wooden reliquary painted with scenes from the life of Christ

Photogallery

Wooden reliquary painted with scenes from the life of Christ
Wooden reliquary painted with scenes from the life of Christ
Chapel of St. Peter Martyr

The reliquary, one of the most interesting findings from the Lateran “Treasury”, is among the earliest evidence of the custom of bringing back memory-objects from a trip to the Holy Land. The stones and earth conserved inside, carefully set in grout, bear inscriptions in Greek characters including an accurate identification of their origins. The images painted on the inside of the lid are arranged according to a precise ascending order (from left to right and from bottom to top), in order to form a concise “Christmas” cycle (with the Nativity and Baptism in the Jordan), followed by an equally short “Easter” cycle (with the Holy Women at the tomb and the Ascension), divided by the central scene of the Crucifixion. All the figurative depictions, drawn from the Gospel, are among the first iconographic formulations of their respective subjects. The style and iconography of the decoration suggest that the artefact is of Palestinian origin, possibly with Syrian elements in the development of certain themes.