Reliquiae Recondite, Invisibility And Visual Expansion Of Holy Relics In High Middle Hispanic Age

Abstract

The investigation analyzes the forms of public exhibition of relics and reliquaries during the High Middle Ages. These works highlighted the public dimension of the exhibition and the didactic character of the images that decorated the reliquaries. However, from the examples that are analyzed in this article, we document other more complex strategies when it comes to showing the relics of the saints. Unknown phenomena are studied, such as the hiding of images and reliquaries, analyzing their expansive nature, all of them elements enhanced by textiles and music, today practically lost.

Key-words: Relics, exhibition, visuality, expansion.