Although objects associated with the Passion and suffering of Christ are among the most important and sacred relics venerated by the Catholic Church, this is the first study that considers how they were presented to the faithful. Cynthia Hahn adopts an accessible, informative, and holistic approach to the important history of Passion relics—first the True Cross, and then the collective group of Passion relics—examining their display in reliquaries, their presentation in church environments, their purposeful collection as centerpieces in royal and imperial collections, and finally their veneration in pictorial form as Arma Christi. Tracing the ways that Passion relics appear and disappear in response to Christian devotion and to historical phenomena, ranging from pilgrimage and the Crusades to the promotion of imperial power, this groundbreaking investigation presents a compelling picture of a very important aspect of late medieval and early modern devotion.
"In this layered analysis of the representation and display of Passion relics, Cynthia Hahn shows how individual relics, with their mix of material and spiritual value, appear and disappear in response to both Christian devotion and historical phenomena ranging from pilgrimage and the Crusades to the promotion of imperial power."—Anne D. Hedeman, coauthor of Imagining the Past in France: History in Manuscript Painting, 1250–1500
"A leading voice in the study of medieval art, religion, and ritual, Cynthia Hahn creates an accessible, informative, and substantive approach to some of the most important sacred objects in Christianity. With a broad audience in mind, she explains how Christ’s Passion relics were framed, promoted, and venerated over the centuries."—Sally J. Cornelison, Syracuse University
"One can hardly engage in study of the medieval relic without consulting the scholarship of Cynthia Hahn. . . . Like the slivers of wood of True Cross relics, this book is small but powerful. With characteristic clarity and poetic style, Hahn presents the distinct kind of perspective that comes from a seasoned and creative scholar."
