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Large reliquary urn in carved, polychromed and gilded wood. Spanish work. 17th century. 45 x 60 x 36 cm. Architectural in structure, with a lid in the form of a pitched roof, the lower body flanked on both sides by two pairs of carved and gilded wooden Solomonic columns, resting on four claw shaped feet. Enriched with delicate applied decoration in gilt bronze. The study of Spanish reliquary urns from the Baroque period focuses on their fundamental role within the Counter Reformation, functioning as objects of display, patronage and devotion that housed the remains of saints. These works, often made of silver or other precious materials, combine an architectural structure with exuberant decoration. After the Council of Trent, Spanish religious art, and reliquaries in particular, was used to defend the faith, promote the veneration of saints and combat Protestant ideas, serving as a bridge between heaven and earth. Reliquary urns functioned as sacred containers, displayed on altars during liturgical celebrations to create an emotional, dramatic and awe inspiring impact on the faithful. In this regard, as reported by José A. Ortiz of the University of Barcelona in his insightful article for IMAGO. Revista de Emblemática y Cultura Visual, “the Council of Trent (1545–1563) defended the worship of saints and relics. Palma Martínez Burgos (1990) studied this within the Spanish context of Philip II, as reflected in the Tridentine text itself on ‘The invocation, veneration and relics of saints, and of sacred images’. [...] Post Tridentine Europe undertook a regularisation of sanctification under Pope Urban VIII, opening processes of beatification and canonisation for new contemporary saints, while not neglecting older devotions to early and medieval saints. [...] The motto 'in fama sanctitatis', with a reputation for holiness, was no longer sufficient prestige, and at the local level we encounter processes of renewed sanctity throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The body as relic was transformed into a symbol of religiosity and an element of local national identity.” Reference bibliography: - Ortiz, José A. (2015). “Emblematic sanctity in Baroque tombs: Symbolic language in four reliquary urns of medieval Catalan saints”. In IMAGO. Revista de Emblemática y Cultura Visual, no. 7, 2015, pp. 113–121. Decorative Artshttp://dx.doi.org/10.7203/imago.7.4163