The Roman Catholic Church holds that this section of the cross (vertical bar measuring 63.5 cm long; cross bar measuring 39.3 cm, with a thickness of 38 mm) is the largest relic of the True Cross. As with all other accepted relics of the True Cross,…
Saint Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine is famous for her supposed discovery of many of the relics of the passion. Herself sainted after death, this relic of her skull is held at Trier Cathedral. The portrait bust shows her holding some of…
The cathedral in Amiens, France was built between 1220 and 1270 in the High Gothic style. It was originally built in order to house the relic of the head of John the Baptist, which arrived on December 17, 1206 after having been looted during the sack…
The Arma Christi are the instruments of the Passion: the objects associated with Christ’s passion. The exact number of objects is flexible, and appears frequently as a theme in Christian Art. Some of these arms include the best known relics of the…
The Sainte-Chapelle in Paris is perhaps best known for its stained glass windows, which illustrate scenes from both the Old and New Testaments. The Gothic chapel was commissioned by Saint Louis IX, King of France in order to house the collection of…
A linen cloth said to bear the image of Christ in the negative. It is claimed to be the cloth in which Christ was wrapped after his death. Measuring at 4.4 x 1.1 meters, the shroud features the front and back impression of a man’s body in a darker…
This reliquary at the Basilica of Saint Dominic in Bologna, Italy contains the relics of Saint Louis. A man of extreme piety, he was canonized by Pope Boniface VIII in 1297, less than thirty years after his death (in August 1270, of dysentery while…
Given by Latin Emperor Baldwin II to King Louis IX of France, among others including the Image of Edessa, arrived in Paris in August 1239 for the sum of 135,000 livres. The Saint-Chapelle was built to house these (pawned) relics from Constantinople,…
Both reliquary and regalia for the coronation of the Holy Roman Emperors as kings of Italy, the crown is now kept at the Cathedral of Monza near Milan. Dating to the 4th or 5th century, the crown is made of gold and gemstones around a band that,…