Editing Relic (section)

====Reliquaries====
[[File:10.2006 Brazos relicario.jpg|thumb|Reliquaries in the Church of San Pedro, in [[Ayerbe]], Spain]]

[[Reliquary|Reliquaries]] are containers used to protect and display relics. While frequently taking the form of caskets, they have many other forms, including simulations of the relic encased within (e.g., a gilded depiction of an arm for a relic consisting of arm bones). Since the relics themselves were considered valuable, they were enshrined in containers crafted of or covered with gold, silver, gems, and enamel.<ref name=boehm>{{cite web|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/relc/hd_relc.htm|title=Relics and Reliquaries in Medieval Christianity|publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art|work=Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History}}</ref> 

Ivory was widely used in the Middle Ages for reliquaries, its pure white color an indication of the holy status of its contents.<ref name=speakman>{{cite web|url=http://www.learn.columbia.edu/treasuresofheaven/relics/Reliquary.php|title=Reliquary}}</ref> These objects constituted a major form of artistic production across Europe and Byzantium throughout the Middle Ages.