Reliquary Bust

Reliquary Bust of St. Antigius
Northern Italian (Brescia), ca. 1505-1510
Copper, silver, and gilded

This hollow bust originally would have held the the head of St. Antigius. Bust reliquaries were especially popular and helped lend p[???] to the saint's cult. When such busts were displayed to crowds of the faithful on the saint's feast day, worshippers (sic) would pray for the saint's protection or aid. They might be allowed to kiss the reliquary but could not touch the relics themselves. That rare privilege was reserved for high-ranking and wealthy individuals.



I thought this was rather neat; I took the picture at the High Museum on my birthday. I tried to type out the descriptive plaque as it appears, but at least one word was lost to me due to blur.

Not exactly Halloween related, and definitely not wedding related -- but I was interested in these so I'm sharing with you.
More history of this particular bust can be found here, at the V&A Museums' website. It talks about restoration of the item for traveling exhibition, as well as how the head and neck were intended to come out to allow easy access to the relics inside: in this case, quite possibly the saint's head.

More on Reliquaries.

Pictures of Head and Bust Reliquaries.