The Trophies of the Martyrs

Download or read book The Trophies of the Martyrs written by Galit Noga-Banai and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2008-04-24 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this pioneering study, the first of its kind, Galit Noga-Banai analyses silver reliquaries decorated with Christian figurative themes. She offers a clearer and more detailed picture of the beginnings of the cult of relics, which were an essential asset to the Church in its establishment of pilgrimage centres and local hagiographic heritage sites, first in Italy and later in other places around Europe and North Africa. At the same time, Noga-Banai highlights the identity of theobjects as portable art, treating the reliquaries as visual historical testimonies. The book is illustrated with nearly 100 finely reproduced drawings and photographs.