THE CLOISTERS – RELIQUARIES

Here are some of the reliquaries at the Cloisters. A reliquary is a vessel that holds a body part of a dead saint or holy person! Medieval reliquaries often took the form of the body parts they were created to contain. Bust reliquaries for the skulls of saints were placed on or near altars and, by the late Middle Ages, were assembled in large numbers in some church sanctuaries. On particular feast days, such busts were carried in processions. (That info was on an info sign in the museum.)

This is one carved of bone.

This is the Reliquary Bust of a Female Saint. She looks very lovely. And a bit stoned, actually.