Relicarios: Devotional Miniatures from the Americas - Hardcover

Egan, Martha J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0890132534 ISBN 13: 9780890132531

Publisher: Museum of New Mexico Pr, 1993

Synopsis

The relicario is the Latin American version of the reliquary locket, a small, finely wrought devotional pendant used to contain relics and mementos of the saints. Martha Egan, renowned authority on Latin American folk art, spent over five years of travel and investigation finding and documenting the finest examples of Iberian and Latin American reliquary art world-wide. This book presents 125 refined examples of a religious art that rivals the illuminated books and gilded altars of the Medieval and Renaissance periods.

About this title

From the Publisher:

The relicario is the Latin American version of the reliquary locket, a small, finely wrought devotional pendant used to contain relics and mementos of the saints. Martha Egan, renowned authority on Latin American folk art, spent more than five years of travel and investigation finding and documenting the finest examples of Iberian and Latin American reliquary art worldwide. Relicarios: Devotional Miniatures from the Americas presents 125 refined examples of a religious art that rivals the illuminated books and gilded altars of the Medieval and Renaissance periods.

From Library Journal:

There is a timeless pan-human belief that an object that once belonged to another holds power and influence. Protective medallions, amulets, rings, and tefillin fall into this category, and so do relicarios. These encased bits of cloth or bone, theoretically obtained from a religious saint, were small, precious reminders of faith. Imported from Spain to Latin America, relicarios have been largely ignored as sacred tools rather than art objects. After centuries of development in the New World, they have emerged as a unique tradition worthy of study. Egan (Milagros: Votive Offerings from the Americas, LJ 8/91) has given us an intelligent, much-needed history of relicarios and other related items such as detentes. Fascinating to read and full of color illustrations detailing its little-known subject, this book will prove useful to those in the social sciences as well as art and religious studies.
Susan M. Olcott, Columbus Metropolitan Lib., Ohio
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Museum of New Mexico Pr
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0890132534
• ISBN 13: 9780890132531
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 130