There's something I always find appealing about anthropomorphic reliquaries, whether that be full figures, busts or other forms, and as such I was quite pleased to recently see some of Mussner G. Vincenzo Ars Sacra's efforts in this regard. Those of you who who have been reading Liturgical Arts Journal for some time will be no strangers to their work of course, but for the benefit of those who are less familiar, Mussner G. Vincenzo is a sculptural studio and workshop working in traditional materials and methods, based out of northern Italy, near the border with Austria and Switzerland.
Each of these reliquaries are entirely hand-carved and then gilded and/or painted. The idea, of course, is that the figure in question will match the relic that it contains, such as our first example shown here, depicting the figure of St. Anthony.
Each of these reliquaries are entirely hand-carved and then gilded and/or painted. The idea, of course, is that the figure in question will match the relic that it contains, such as our first example shown here, depicting the figure of St. Anthony.
A few more examples coming from their workshop:
Finally a couple of polychrome examples.
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