A Roman ebony "edicola-reliquiario" domestic altar.
A magnificent baroque domestic altar containing a bone fragment of St. Eugenia and a later contact relic of St. Crispin of Viterbo (died 1750). With a central silver relief of the Virgin and Child and silver appliques to the edges, inlaid throughout with coloured marble and lapis lazuli. H 67, W 33.8, D 14 cm.
Rome, ca. 1625.
This house altar is one of a number of similarly opulent pieces which are found in museums throughout the world. They are thought to originate from the same Roman workshop specialised in producing these kinds of domestic tabernacles in the second quarter of the 17th century. Similar examples can be found for example in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Palazzo Pallavicini and the Galleria Borghese in Rome as well as the Real Monasterio de la Encarnación in Madrid.
St. Eugenia was an early Christian martyr who lived in Rome in pre-Constantinian times. She is honoured with a feast day in the Catholic, Orthodox and Armenian church calendars. The contact relic is probably a piece of cloth from the habit of St. Crispin (born 1668 in Viterbo, died 1750 in Rome), a Capuchin monk who worked many wonders and was beatified by Pius VI in 1806 but first sainted in 1982 by John Paul II.
Provenance
Private collection, Italy.
Literature
Illus. in: González-Palacios, Arredi e ornamenti alla corte di Roma, Milano 2004, p. 65.