Editing Relic (section)

===In art===
Many churches were built along pilgrimage routes. A number in Europe were either founded or rebuilt specifically to enshrine relics, (such as San Marco in [[Venice]]) and to welcome and awe the large crowds of pilgrims who came to seek their help. Romanesque buildings developed passageways behind the altar to allow for the creation of several smaller chapels designed to house relics. From the exterior, this collection of small rooms is seen as a cluster of delicate, curved roofs at one end of the church, a distinctive feature of many Romanesque churches. Gothic churches featured lofty, recessed porches which provided space for statuary and the display of relics.{{cn|date=July 2023}}

Historian and philosopher of art Hans Belting observed that in medieval painting, images explained the relic and served as a testament to its authenticity. In ''Likeness and Presence'', Belting argued that the cult of relics helped to stimulate the rise of painting in medieval Europe.<ref name=butterfield/>

====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.