Seeing and Not Seeing the Reliquary Bust of Saint Yrieix Público

Abstract

In this thesis, I construct a devotional framework within which the early thirteenth-century
Limousin reliquary bust of Saint Yrieix operated. Using museological literature as a lead-in, I
consider the primacy modern-day scholars give to object experience over object beholding, and
how we should consider medieval reliquaries not only as objects to be looked at, but as objects to
be experienced. With that in mind, I articulate the medieval lay mode of experiencing the
reliquary of Yrieix and how it was rooted in a system of unseen devotion, far different from the
museum experience of taking on an appraising gaze. Yrieix's relics operated in the realm of the
unseen, and despite the splendor of the reliquary image that housed them, the reliquary did, as
well. The object was shrouded from public view and only seen for short periods of time and for
distinct purposes, either for feast days or communal processions. The reliquary was experienced
through an orchestrated system of punctuated non-sight, suggesting that experiencing was not
about seeing, but believing.

Table of Contents

Prologue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Chapter 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Chapter 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Chapter 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Chapter 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

About this Honors Thesis

Rights statement

• Permission granted by the author to include this thesis or dissertation in this repository. All rights reserved by the author. Please contact the author for information regarding the reproduction and use of this thesis or dissertation.

School	Emory College
Department	Art History
Degree	BA
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	History, Medieval Art History
Palabra Clave	Medieval Cult of Relics Cult of Saints Portraiture Museology Limoges Reliquary
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Pastan, Elizabeth, Emory University
Committee Members	Campbell, C Jean, Emory University Kasfir, Sidney L, Emory University Rambuss, Richard, Emory University

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