Lipsanotheca

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The Brescia Casket

A lipsanotheca (Italian lipsanoteca) is a reliquary, specifically a small box containing the actual relics inside a reliquary.[1] The term derives from Greek through Late Latin. In modern English, it usually refers to a small number of individual very old reliquaries, most often the 4th century ivory Brescia Casket, which is the most likely meaning of the plain term, especially in its Italian version.[2] A 13th century wooden box in Alicante, Spain, is also called a lipsanotheca.[3]

The National Museum of Catalan Art (MNAC) in Barcelona has a digitized display that references another famous 10th century lipsanotheca made of stone called the Lipsanotheca of Santa Maria de Lillet. See Google images.

References[]

  1. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia, "Lipsanotheca"
  2. ^ Watson, Carolyn Joslin, The Program of the Brescia Casket, 1981, Gesta, Vol. 20, No. 2 (1981), pp. 283-284, JSTOR
  3. ^ google art project
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