The Texture of Images: The Relic Book in Late-medieval Religiosity and Early Modern Aesthetics

This study is the first fundamental analysis and synopsis of the printed relic-book genre. Printed relic books represent, both by image and text, precious reliquaries, which were presented to the faithful audience during special liturgical feasts, the display of relics. This study brings into focus the specific aesthetics of these relic books and explores the immense influence that patrons had on figuration as well as on the forms of these books.
The analysis focuses on the interaction of image and text as manifestation of authenticity. This book then contributes to clarifying the complex medial role of printing with movable type in its early period and offers a novel interpretation of the cultural significance of artefacts in the Renaissance.

This book is a translation of Die Textur des Bildes: Das Heiltumsbuch im Kontext religiöser Medialität des Spätmittelalters (De Gruyter, 2013).

Livia Cárdenas (PhD 2011, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin), art historian, is a postdoctoral researcher at University of Basel and Leuphana University Lüneburg. She has published on medieval and premodern art and culture.