Visual Rhetoric of Early Christian Reliquaries Page 1 of 16 PRINTED FROM OXFORD HANDBOOKS ONLINE (www.oxfordhandbooks.com). © Oxford University Press, 2018. All Rights Reserved. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a title in Oxford Handbooks Online for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice). Subscriber: OUP-Reference Gratis Access; date: 12 January 2019 Abstract and Keywords This chapter focuses on the visual language of early Christian reliquaries produced to contain fragments of sacred saints, sites, and events. It aims to describe and contextualize the representative as well as exceptional cases produced in various places, made of assorted materials, and decorated with diverse and elaborated decorative programs. The chapter illustrates nuances and approaches that were in use throughout the period. Moreover, it shows that the visual rhetoric—that is, the frame, composition, and selection of motifs and scenes—is capable of implying something about the dynamics of the inanimate object and the type of memory it contains. This allows us to discover clues about the visual preferences of the faithful, whether they were exalted bishops or simple pilgrims seeking heaven on earth. Keywords: early Christian reliquaries, relic, martyr, sacred site, pilgrim, mnemonic object, staurotheke, crux gemmata Galit Noga-Banai EARLY Christian reliquaries contained fragments of saints, sites, and events by which one could reach the divine using the human senses of sight, touch, and sometimes even smell. The tactile contact, or rather contract, between the saint and the worshipers was well expressed by Basil of Caesarea: “Those who touch the bones of the martyrs participate in their sanctity” (Homily on Psalm 115). Although fragmentary, the full presence of the holy saint or site—including its sacred power—as well as the memory of the related event(s) was enshrined within the portable container, based on the pars pro toto belief that the fragment represents the whole; thus one site, one corpse, or one object related to a sacred event could be a source for multiple relics. Preaching next to Golgotha, Bishop Cyril of Jerusalem described the phenomenon as early as the third quarter of the fourth century: “The holy wood of the cross, still to be seen among us today, bears witness; its fragments were taken from here by the faithful and now virtually fill the whole Visual Rhetoric of Early Christian Reliquaries Galit Noga-Banai The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Archaeology Edited by William R. Caraher, Thomas W. Davis, and David K. Pettegrew Subject: Archaeology, Biblical Archaeology, Ritual and Religion, Art and Architecture Online Publication Date: Jan 2019 DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199369041.013.13 Oxford Handbooks Online