>It was, I believe, during the late 10th and early 11th centuries that
>figural and body-part reliquaries began to emerge as a type: the
>Golden Virgin of Essen is one example.
Sorry, no! She's _not_ a body-part or full-body reliquary. She's a statue
of the Virgin which contained relics of a variety of saints, including
objects, probably predominantly objects. The Virgin statues are a different
thing altogether, and they emerged a little before the full-body
reliquaries. It is a published commonplace to equate the Virgin of Essen
and Ste Foie, but they are not the same in concept or technique or content.
> Arm reliquaries and head reliquaries, etc, also emerged
>in the 11th century.
That's fully early. The earliest head reliquaries that look like heads
belong to the middle of the twelfth century (e.g. St Eustacius from Basle)
and seem derive from Imperial ambiences. Do not believe in the lost
"Carolingian" head reliquary of St Maurice at Vienne - it was mid twelfth
century, as I hope to publish WHEN I can get those Vienne museums to answer
my letters for pictures and copyright permissions! And the earliest arm
reliquary I've come accross so far is that of St Lachtín in Ireland, which
is inscription dated to 1118-21.
As to the rest - interesting!
Pippin Michelli, Ph.D
Assistant Professor of Art History, St Olaf College
http://www.stolaf.edu/people/michelli/index4.html
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