Antique Italian Religious Giltwood Reliquary Relief Carved Sculpture

A scarce fine quality neoclassical Empire style vasiform gilt bronze ormolu church religious relic altar monstrance reliquary. Exquisitely hand-crafted in Continental Europe in the second half of the 19th century, most likely French Napoleon III Period (1852-1870), having a fanned cross crest, above winged angel mask, central oval display...

A stunning antique Italian Baroque style silvered metal gilded wood monstrance reliquary. circa 1770-1820 Handmade in Italy in the late 18th / early 19th century, commissioned by the church to display an important religious relic, sculptural painted wood form, mounted with decorative silver repousse metal facing, open oval window where the philatory relic was once housed, rising on a gold gilt painted shaped plinth base. Dimensions: (approx) 17" High, 8" Wide, 5" Deep, 1.25lbs History: Reliquaries (also referred to as a shrine or châsse in French), are containers used to protect and display relics. A portable reliquary may be called a fereter, and a chapel in which it is housed a feretory. A monstrance, also known as an ostensorium (or an ostensory), is a vessel used in Roman Catholic, Old Catholic, High Church Lutheran and Anglican churches for the display on an altar of some object of piety, such as the consecrated Eucharistic host during Eucharistic adoration or Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. It is also used as reliquary for the public display of relics of some saints. The use of reliquaries became an important part of Christian practices from at least the 4th century, initially in the Eastern Churches, which adopted the practice of moving and dividing the bodies of saints much earlier than the West, probably in part because the new capital of Constantinople, unlike Rome, lacked buried saints. Relics are venerated in the Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic and some Anglican Churches. Reliquaries provide a means of protecting and displaying relics. While frequently taking the form of caskets, they range in size from simple pendants or rings to very elaborate ossuaries. The relics were enshrined in containers crafted of or covered with gold, silver, gems, and enamel. These objects constituted a important form of artistic production across Europe and Byzantium throughout the Middle Ages. Many were designed with portability in mind, often being exhibited in public or carried in procession on the saint's feast day or on other holy days. Pilgrimages often centered on the veneration of relics. The faithful often venerate relics by bowing before the reliquary or kissing it; those churches which observe the veneration of relics distinguish between the honor given to the saints and the worship that is due to God alone. Sixteenth-century reformers such as Martin Luther opposed the use of relics since many had no proof of historical authenticity and objected to a cult of saints. Many reliquaries, particularly in northern Europe, were destroyed by Calvinists or Calvinist sympathizers during the Reformation...

Rare 18th century giltwood framed carved and polychrome wax silver and gold decorated figure of saint Catherine of Alexandria icon, with original gilt frame. The rarity of this piece...

Altarpiece. Wood carved and gilded. Baroque, towards the second half of the 17th century. The Solomonic column was an element already known in the Renaissance (and before) that was popularized in art, in large part, thanks to the Baldachin of St. Peter's Basilica of the Vatican by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1624-1633), where he presented branches. In Spain, this type can already be seen in the Silver Tabernacle of the Cathedral of Seville (Juan de Alfaro, 15931596), used in altarpieces from the 1620s; nevertheless, the apogee of the Solomonic column will come from the hand of José Benito de Churriguera, whose altarpieces have an extraordinary importance since the second half of the 17th century and already at the beginning of the 18th century (note similarities and differences between the present altarpiece and that of the Convent of San Esteban...