Matter of Faith

A landmark publication exploring the relationship between sacred matter and precious materials in the Middle Ages.

Matter of Faith. An Interdisciplinary Study of Relics and Relic Veneration in the Medieval Period
Authors: James Robinson, Lloyd de Beer, Anna Harnden
British Museum Research Publication No. 195 2014
ISBN: 9780861591954

This book is the outcome of the conference ‘Matter of Faith’, held to accompany the British Museum’s exhibition Treasures of Heaven: Saints, Relics and Devotion in Medieval Europe, which brought together over thirty international experts in this field to present new research around the themes of medieval reliquaries and relic veneration. The result is an interdisciplinary study of a thought provoking and controversial topic featuring some of the period’s most beautiful and iconic objects. This title will prove to be a valuable research tool for historians, art historians and conservators as well as anyone with a general interest in this fascinating subject.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

James Robinson is Keeper of Art and Design at the National Museum of Scotland. He was formerly Senior Curator of Medieval Collections at the British Museum and was the curator of the 2011 exhibition, Treasures of Heaven: Saints, Relics and Devotion in Medieval Europe. He co-edited the accompanying catalogue and is the author of a number of other publications including Masterpieces of Medieval Art, The Lewis Chessmen and Finer than Gold (all published by the British Museum Press).

Lloyd de Beer is a Project Curator at the British Museum responsible for the late medieval collection. His academic background is in English art and literature of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

Anna Harnden is a Project Curator for the International Engagement Department at the British Museum and was Project Curator for the 2011 exhibition, Treasures of Heaven. Her diverse research interests range from medieval manuscripts to contemporary Middle Eastern and African Art