Overview

Although objects associated with the Passion and suffering of Christ are among the most important and sacred relics venerated by the Catholic Church, this is the first study that considers how they were presented to the faithful. Cynthia Hahn adopts an accessible, informative, and holistic approach to the important history of Passion relics—first the True Cross, and then the collective group of Passion relics—examining their display in reliquaries, their presentation in church environments, their purposeful collection as centerpieces in royal and imperial collections, and finally their veneration in pictorial form as Arma Christi. Tracing the ways that Passion relics appear and disappear in response to Christian devotion and to historical phenomena, ranging from pilgrimage and the Crusades to the promotion of imperial power, this groundbreaking investigation presents a compelling picture of a very important aspect of late medieval and early modern devotion.

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9780520305267

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Reviews

Her book provides an expert synthesis of current scholarship, a welcome introduction for students desiring a toehold in recent literature. . . . a useful summary of recent research on how the instruments of Christ's Passion were displayed and venerated in the Middle Ages. * Times Higher Education *

Hahn's writing is very readable and accessible to veteran scholars in history, art history, and religious studies, as well as to nonspecialists and the general public. . . . This book promises to have a large impact on future study of the cult of Passion relics. * Comitatus: A Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies * Provides an expert synthesis of current scholarship, a welcome introduction for students desiring a toehold in recent literature. . . . a useful summary of recent research on how the instruments of Christ's Passion were displayed and venerated in the Middle Ages. * Times Higher Education * [Passion Relics and the Medieval Imagination] tackles for the first time a very large subject: how relics were displayed in the Middle Ages. . . . This is a small book with an important message for art historians. * Art Newspaper *

"""[Passion Relics and the Medieval Imagination] tackles for the first time a very large subject: how relics were displayed in the Middle Ages. . . . This is a small book with an important message for art historians."" * Art Newspaper * ""Provides an expert synthesis of current scholarship, a welcome introduction for students desiring a toehold in recent literature. . . . a useful summary of recent research on how the instruments of Christ’s Passion were displayed and venerated in the Middle Ages.""  * Times Higher Education * ""Hahn’s writing is very readable and accessible to veteran scholars in history, art history, and religious studies, as well as to nonspecialists and the general public. . . . This book promises to have a large impact on future study of the cult of Passion relics."" * Comitatus: A Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies * ""One can hardly engage in study of the medieval relic without consulting the scholarship of Cynthia Hahn. . . .  Like the slivers of wood of True Cross relics, this book is small but powerful. With characteristic clarity and poetic style, Hahn presents the distinct kind of perspective that comes from a seasoned and creative scholar."" * Reading Religion * ""In her introduction, Hahn expresses a hope that her work will be accessible to students, advanced scholars, and the curious public. With this book, she has successfully achieved this goal; it is a rich and engaging contribution to the study of Passion relics."" * Journal of Medieval Religious Culture * ""A miniature treasury in itself. . . .well ordered and energetically presented. Academics will enjoy the lively, well-informed prose of a scholar who has been thinking about the potential and powers of relics, particularly relics in their connections with human behavior, for many years."" * West 86th * ""Hahn’s monograph is a highly engaging and tightly argued study on the Passion relic as it developed at the nexus of imperialism, power, and the rise of devotional objects in early Christianity."" * Religion and the Arts *"

Author Information

Cynthia Hahn is Professor of Art History at Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. She has written extensively on saints and relics in both articles and books, including Portrayed on the Heart, Strange Beauty, and The Reliquary Effect.  

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