Relics

Writing Tablet: Booklet with Scenes of the Passion, ca. 1300–1320 Northern French (carving)/German Elephant ivory, polychromy, and gold; 2 7/8 x 1 9/16 x 7/8 in. (7.3 x 4 x 2.3 cm) The Jack and Belle Linsky Collection, 1982 (1982.60.399) www.metmuseum.org

A relic is the remains of a martyred Christian. Relics were usually bones or fragments of hair, clothing. The word was invented in 13th-century Europe, and this reflects the importance of the material body to medieval European spirituality. Many medieval Christians understood physicality as a means to the divine. One can interpret such manipulation of the material body as a type of performance art.

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