Reliquary box, staurothèque, in engraved and gilded... Lot 17

Reliquary box, staurothèque, in engraved and gilded copper. Rectangular and flat, with loops on the sides, it opens with a sliding lid decorated with a Christ on the cross using an acorn-shaped knob. Italy, mid-14th century H. 2.4 - L. 17.1 - Total L. 13.9 cm (wear to gilding, empty) Staurotheques are reliquary boxes designed to preserve a relic of the True Cross. They can take various forms, such as crosses or triptychs, but can also be simple rectangular boxes like the 9th-century Byzantine staurotheque in cloisonné enamel in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, also decorated with a Crucifixion on the lid (Inv. 17.190.715a, b, fig.). In Byzantium, these reliquaries were frequently worn, as they were thought to have apotropaic virtues, as the presence of side loops suggests.