Matter of Faith: An Interdisciplinary Study of Relics and Relic Veneration in the Medieval Period

'Matter of Faith' was the working title for the exhibition 'Treasures of Heaven: Saints, Relics and Devotion in Medieval Europe'. The exhibition was held at three venues: Cleveland Museum of Art, the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, and the British Museum between October 2010 and October 2011. The final exhibition title was devised as a means of expressing more clearly the precious nature of the exhibits and for its allusion to the intercessionary power attributed to saints who are believed to serve as mediators between earth and heaven. However, 'Matter of Faith' was considered too good a second choice to relinquish entirely and the decision was made to retain it for the title of the exhibition’s academic conference and for this publication. Its value lies in its succinctness and ambiguity. The ‘matter’ it describes is at once the question of faith that underlies the belief system and the physical substances that empower it. The substances are not, however, solely the fragments of bone, stone, wood and textiles that for the most part comprise the sacred matter used in relic veneration, but also the precious commodities of gold, silver, crystal and gemstones that were used to make the reliquaries that enshrined the relics.