Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index



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  • Title: Reliquary from the Shrine of St. Oda
  • Creator:
  • Description: Saint Oda of Amay, a small town located near modern-day Liege, was an 8th century Burgundian princess, celebrated for her charitable acts. This gable-shaped reliquary features three standing women. The background inscription SCA ODA identifies the woman in the center of the reliquary as St. Oda. She stands frontally on a pedestal decorated with a pattern of roundels and holds a closed book in her right hand. Her left hand is cupped, but empty and forms a hollow slot. These features about her hand suggest that that at one time she held an attribute, most likely a cross or an abbess’s staff. The figures flanking St. Oda are shown in profile, and the attention of each of these women appears to be intently focused on the central figure of the saint. Each woman holds a scroll in her hands, and the vertical inscriptions on these scrolls identify the two females as the personifications of religion (right) and alms-giving or charity (left), characteristics that were said to be very important to St. Oda. The head of each figure is topped with a copper-gilt halo decorated with foliage. Similarly, the inner border of the frame features copper-gilt strips imprinted with a pattern of palmettes featuring symmetrically arranged leaves and images that resemble pinecones. However, this plant frieze is disrupted by eight horn-covered cavities of different sizes and shapes that were used to display relics. These relics included parts of the skulls and other body parts of the Ten Thousand Virgins who accompanied Ursula and the milk of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
  • Source: The British Museum
  • Rights: Public Domain
  • Subject (See Also): Alms and Almsgiving Charity Hagiography Oda of Amay, Saint Religion Reliquaries Widows Women in Religion
  • Geographic Area: Low Countries
  • Century: 12-13
  • Date: circa. 1100-1299
  • Related Work: Reliquary from the Shrine of St. Oda, panel with Christ. This piece, now in the Walters Art Museum, was originally part of an 11th century or early 12th century ensemble and was subsequently used on the reliquary of Saint Oda : http://art.thewalters.org/detail/5868/reliquary-panel-of-the-triumphant-christ/
  • Current Location: London, British Museum, Prehistory and Europe, 1978,0502.7
  • Original Location: Mosan (Belgium)
  • Artistic Type (Category): Digital Images; Metalwork
  • Artistic Type (Material/Technique): Silver; Silver gilt; Copper; Copper gilt; Enamel (champlevé); Rock crystal; Horn;
  • Donor:
  • Height/Width/Length(cm): 58.3 cm/38 cm/
  • Inscription: s[an]c[t]a oda (St Oda); religio (Religion); elemosina (Alms-giving)
  • Related Resources: Detailed description and comments on the British Museum website: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/search_object_details.aspx?objectid=51129&partid=1&output=People%2F!!%2FOR%2F!!%2F77056%2F!%2F77056-3-5%2F!%2FBequeathed+by+Sir+Harold+Wernher%2F!%2F%2F!!%2F%2F!!!%2F&orig=%2Fresearch%2Fsearch_the_collection_database%2Fadvanced_search.aspx¤tPage=1&numpages=10; Charles Oman, A Mosan Reliquary at Luton Hoo, The Burlington Magazine , Vol. 94, No. 594 (Sep., 1952), pg. 267; Kathryn B Gerry, "Treasures of Heaven," Treasures of Heaven, Cleveland Museum of Art and Columbia University in the City of New York, http://www.learn.columbia.edu/treasuresofheaven/relics/Reliquary-from-the-Shrine-of-St-Oda.php, n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2013.