Reliquary Shrine of Saint Martial

Description The scene depicted on the roof of this chasse is ambiguous, lacking identifying inscriptions or attributes. The figure whose arm Christ grasps has been identified with several saints, including Martial of Limoges, a popular regional saint who was believed to have raised people from the dead. While the image might celebrate that event, it could also commemorate Christ's Harrowing of Hell, when Christ, following his Resurrection, rescued the virtuous souls imprisoned there who had died before the Incarnation. It is possible that the scene's ambiguity is unintentional, but a certain degree of flexibility might have enabled the object to serve in different devotional contexts.

Exhibitions

• A Medieval Treasury from Southern Collections. Ackland Art Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill. 1961.
• Reliquaries and Ritual: Medieval Objects of Devotion. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1984-1985.
• Vive la France! French Treasures from the Middle Ages to Monet. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1999-2000.
• Treasures of Heaven. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland; The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; The British Museum, London. 2010-2011.

Provenance Ottile Goldschmidt-Przibram, Brussels, by purchase; Sale, Frederik Muller & Cie., Amsterdam, June 19, 1924, no. 132; Brimo de Laroussilhe, Paris [date of acquisition unknown], by purchase; Henri Daguerre, Paris [date of acquisition unknown], by purchase; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1928, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters, 1928