The Trophies of the Martyrs: An Art Historical Study of Early Christian Silver Reliquaries »

Galit Noga-Banai is a teaching assistant in the Department of History of Art at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem.

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 the objects as portable art, treating the reliquaries as visual historical testimonies. The book is illustrated with nearly 100 finely reproduced drawings and photographs.

List of Illustrations

Introduction 1

1 Caskets Decorated with Biblical Scenes 9

A The Casket from Nea Herakleia 9

B The So-Called Capsella Brivio 38

2 Caskets Decorated with Images of the Martyrs 63

A The So-Called Capsella Africana 64

B The Oval Casket from Grado 95

3 Decoration Programmes in Context 121

A Decoration Programmes and Function 122

B Reliquaiues and the Cult of Relics 130

Conclusions 151

Catalogue of Silver Caskets Decorated with Christian Figurative Themes 155

Select Bibliography 165

Index of visual and textual sources 183