Interior, Limburg Staurotheke

Interior, Limburg Staurotheke

Interior of the Limburg Staurotheke. Staurotheke comes from the Greek meaning “container of the cross.” This reliquary was made in Constantinople in the 10th century. It currently resides in Limburg in Germany. The large cross at the center of the reliquary is not, in fact, the relic of the True Cross, but is, itself, a reliquary. Made out of sycamore, it was constructed before the outer container, and holds seven pieces of purported to be from the True Cross. The reliquary itself is sumptuously decorated in enamels, gemstones, pearls, and gold. Two Byzantine emperors, Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos and his son Romanos II are mentioned in an inscription, which allows the cross portion of the reliquary to be dated to sometime between 945 and 959. Additional compartments contain other fragmentary relics: the swaddling clothes of the infant Jesus, the holy sponge, the Crown of Thorns, the sweet within which Jesus’ body was wrapped, the towel used to wash the feet of the Apostles at the Last Supper, the purple garment worn by Christ at his crucifixion, two different belts of the Virgin Mary, the Virgin’s maphorion, and hair from the head of John the Baptist. The outer section of the reliquary includes an inscription that names Basil Lekapenos, a eunuch and powerful figure in the imperial court, as the commissioner for the larger container, and was most likely made between 963 and 985.

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