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The authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, also known as the ‘Síndone’ or ‘Holy Shroud’, faces significant doubt based on scientific evidence. Carbon‐14 testing conducted decades ago placed its origin in the Middle Ages, raising questions about its connection to Jesus Christ. This article highlights an anatomical anomaly: the hand placement covering the genitals appears inconsistent with human proportions, suggesting a possible artistic intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What sacred objects did the Lusignan kings of Cyprus treasure in their collection of holy items? Certainly, they had fragments of the Holy Cross and saints' skulls, but what about Passion relics such as the titulus placed above the crucified Christ, or the white rock to which the cross was affixed? This study explores overlooked fourteenth-century Franciscan apocryphal stories about the life of Christ and didactic narratives which, among other things, cite Passion relics and their respective proprietors. In the following essay, I will turn attention to relics which, according to these texts, were in the safe-keeping of the kings of Cyprus. In addition to evaluating the reliability of such evidence, I will discuss the nature of the relics, identify the mysterious relic-hoarder king, and seek to uncover a representation of such a relic in the 'Royal Chapel' at Pyrga, Larnaca. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Cathedral of Valencia, Spain, has preserved the so-called Holy Chalice of the Last Supper since 1437. It consists of a foot, a gold stem, and an upper cup carved in agate stone. Based on a pious tradition, this cup is supposed to be the one used by Jesus of Nazareth to institute the Eucharist. According to an archeological study published in 1960, this agate bowl was crafted around the 2nd–1st centuries BC, but people visiting this famous relic often wonder about its authenticity and about the evidence supporting it as a Hellenistic–Roman cup. Attempting to clarify this concern, a photographical characterization of the agate cup is presented and discussed. The main conclusions are the following: (i) The typology of the bowl is common to classical tableware, but the wall thickness, shape of the rim, and foot are typical of gemstone cups from the Hellenistic–Roman period. (ii) This cup would have been extremely valuable, which agrees with the location of the Cenacle in the aristocratic neighborhood of Jerusalem. This case study highlights the importance of further investigating the dating of historical objects as a key issue to support their authenticity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Cathedral of Valencia has kept an important relic since 1437: the Holy Chalice of the Last Supper. It consists of an agate cup, a gold stem, and a gemstone foot. According to a pious tradition, this cup is the one used by Jesus of Nazareth to institute the Eucharist. Tourists visiting Valencia Cathedral often doubt its authenticity. There are certain queries that pilgrims wonder about, some of which have not been studied in depth. For example: What is known about the family who owned the chalice? Why would Jesus use a gemstone cup instead of one made of glass, silver, or gold? Aimed at clarifying these concerns, the research methodology was essentially centered on a review of the literature. The main conclusions are the following: (i) The Cenacle belonged to a rich disciple of Jesus, who would have lent him a valuable cup of blessing. Quite likely, it was the family of Saint Mark, who had a close link with Saint Peter. (ii) It is unlikely that Jesus used a cup made of glass because this material was relatively affordable. By contrast, gemstone vessels were highly appreciated. This case study highlights the importance of promoting historic and scientific studies about Christian artworks as a pre-requisite to foster heritage tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1082, at the council of Charroux convened by the papal legate Amatus of Oloron, astonished witnesses observed the Holy Prepuce, a rare body relic of Christ himself, to be miraculously spotted with fresh blood. This spectacular miracle holds implications for our understanding of charismatic strategies of religious reform in France in the era of Pope Gregory VII. Gregory's use of standing legates with regional mandates, such as Amatus, was a novelty in papal administration, but the legates, though empowered as proxies of the pope, were often weak lieutenants. When they could not induce or coerce cooperation, they frequently confronted the impotence of their legal–canonical mandates. The miracle at Charroux, I will show, exemplifies an alternative charismatic strategy, harnessing liturgical art and spectacle to magnify the legate's stature as an authority in the context of the Eucharistic controversy and religious reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Shroud of Turin experienced its most intense devotional enthusiasm in the century after its first public exhibition in Turin in 1578. During this period, the cloth and its mysterious imprint of Christ’s body transcended the static nature of an icon by becoming a performative image in the context of private devotional worship. Operating in consort with devotional texts, the figuration of Christ’s crucified body activates the otherwise static depiction of flowing of blood. Furthermore, the Shroud permitted beholders to witness a narrative performance of Christ’s death and resurrection through the possession and manipulation of reproductions, making the movement of Christ’s body in and out of the tomb a kinetically visible phenomenon. These performative qualities of the Shroud of Turin, as well as the beholder’s active interaction with it, guaranteed its devotional prestige and facilitate new considerations of the role of images in religious devotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Passionist religiosity was gradually established from the 12th and 13th centuries onwards, encouraged by the Franciscan ideals of imitation, meditation, and devotion to Christ, with St. Francis becoming the very image of sorrowful humanity as he received the stigmata of Christ. The medieval cult of the Passion, reiterated in the Council of Trent, continued into the Modern Age, and is preserved today in manifestations of spirituality and popular devotion, experienced through artistic images of the Passion of Christ, as well as the veneration of relics of Vera Cruz, the shroud, among others. The liturgy and devotion have used and still use these images in religious solemnities, of which the Holy Week ceremonies stand out, as well as in theatrical performances in which the image serves as a vehicle mediating between two worlds, the earthly and the celestial, following the itineraries of the Stations of the Cross which, from the 15th century onwards, allow us to relive the final stages of Christ's earthly life in the Holy Land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The archaeological excavations carried out outside and inside the Church of St. Luke the Evangelist in Novska defined two burial horizons: a dominant late medieval horizon and an Early Modern, postOttoman horizon, which is defined only in the church interior. Only six graves can be reliably dated to the Early Modern burial horizon; standing out among the few finds there is a large rhomboid breverl found among dislocated ribs in the filling of grave 66. It is made of a copper alloy and decorated with the monogram of Christ on the front and the monogram of Mary on the back. Inside the breverl there are poorly preserved remains of paper and a wooden cross, which may have served to hold relics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines impression relics associated with Saints Peter and Paul: the apostolic knee prints now at the church of Santa Francesca Romana; a stone marked by Simon Magus, their foe; Christ's footprints at the church of Domine quo vadis; and the springs attributed to Paul's head at the abbey of Tre Fontane. These relics of Rome's most important saints attracted attention from Romans and non-Romans—from Gregory of Tours and Pope Paul I to Petrarch and Nikolaus Muffel. The article analyzes the cultural expectations and viewing habits that conditioned the identification of these relics and traces their reception over time. It argues that while the identification was spurred by preexisting knowledge of the saints' local actions, a site's unique features could lead viewers to alter those narratives to conform them to the physical evidence they saw on the ground, which might in turn drive subsequent historical accounts. In this process, texts, images, and topography were all evidence; a reading of one informed the reading of others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The floor mosaics of the double basilica, founded by bishop Theodorus in approximately 313/20 AD, feature a motif of nature's abundance, with a variety of animals and plants from the Hellenistic tradition evoking the themes of the cosmic rebirth at Easter and heavenly bliss. Among these images, there are several that deserve particular consideration for their liturgical meanings related to the Eucharistic sacrifice. In both churches, the images of the struggle between the cock and the tortoise are spatially linked to the altar. This imagery is drawn from the pagan repertoire and it symbolizes the renewal of man through the passion and resurrection of Jesus. In the picture of the southern church, there is a puzzling numeral that may refer to the square footage of a mosaic paid for by anonymous donors who, in exchange for their donation, hoped to receive the prize of eternal life. Additional inscriptions commemorate the faithful in both presbyteries near or at the altars. On the sides of the northern one, there is a ram, a prototypical sacrificial animal, and a white hare, a symbol of paschal transfiguration. These images hint at the underlying truths of the Eucharist. Here, as well as in the southern basilica, the sunlight entering from the windows, especially during the Easter season, illuminates the mosaics, emphasizing their paschal symbolism. In the southern church, particularly, the iconography is more intimated in relation to liturgy. Indeed, a wooden table for oblation stood probably on the mosaic of the ›Eucharistic Victory‹, which was flanked by two baskets, one filled with ears of corn and the other with bunches of grapes - both symbols of the Eucharistic species. Archaeological, biblical, and literary evidence implies that martyrs were invoked as intercessors to sanctify the species, here likely also by virtue of their relics. In the presbytery, there is a mosaic of Jonah prefiguring the death and resurrection of Christ; at the center of the mosaic was the altar on which those mysteries were renewed in the holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Next to it, the praying, white-clad man likely alludes to the celebrant. In this context, the fishing erotes are not just a genre subject; rather, radiating from the altar, they represent the joyful announcement and the bestowing of God's healing love for all people in the troubled sea of this world. In this original way, after the end of the persecutions, early Christian art, which was still closely bound to Graeco-Roman forms, experienced its first public expressions of faith. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the main meanings given to the presence of the relic of the Precious Blood of Christ in the city of Mantua, and also highlights the links with the Altdorf-Weingarten relic of the same, which derives from it. For centuries the presence of this relic has intertwined in several ways with events in Mantua and has shaped some of their most significant religious and cultural expressions. Above all, during the Middle Ages, the Precious Blood had a widespread impact, destined to expand all over Europe. However, we possess vague and scarcely defined evidence of this, as much of the evidence was removed, mostly in the name of rationalist critique, and diminished with the passing of time. Within a long-term perspective, the text which follows here aims to tackle some relevant problematic issues, from a historical and historico-anthropological viewpoint. It attempts both to strengthen understanding of the local and wider intertwining which characterised the development of such a relevant religious experience of our culture, and also to enter into contact with essential aspects of it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]