The Memory of Monza’s Holy Land Ampullae; from Reliquary to Relic, or There and Back Again
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2014 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | Objects of Memory, Memory of Objects. The Artworks as a Vehicle of the Past in the Middle Ages |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Art, architecture, cultural heritage |
| Keywords | Ampullae of the Holy Land; Monza; Cult of Relics; Theodelinda; Medieval Treasury; Pilgrimage Art |
| Description | The paper deals with the ampullae from Holy Land and examines them in three different historic moments – the era of Early Christian pilgrimage, the foundation and endowment of the first Lombard basilica in Monza, and finally the existence and reconstruction of this basilica over the subsequent centuries. Through a diachronic study, the author observes how an object of memory – a 'souvenir' from the pilgrimage – can radically change in signification and function depending on the context. At the same time, the author observes how the memory of an object can easily mutate or – indeed – be lost over the centuries, and thus the object can acquire numerous new meanings. |
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