Image and Relic

The author thoroughly explores three objects that could be justly deemed among the most important works of art created in the Carolingian period. Commissioned as part of what was apparently a coherent papal project of art production in support of the cult of saints and relics, the objects were made for the most prestigious location in all of Western Christendom, the Lateran altar of the Holy of Holies. Nevertheless, these works are now less familiar than they ought to be, not only because of their own history but also for certain prejudices of art history as it has been practiced by the last few generations. That is, first and foremost, “minor arts” and especially reliquaries have been undervalued by modern scholarship. In addition, Carolingian studies have focused on the court in the North, to the detriment of an understanding of developments in Rome and Italy. Last, but surely not least, these particular objects were until recently almost never seen and have rarely been published.