The Siena relic of St John the Baptist’s right arm

Abstract

The paper takes a systematic approach to the hitherto unpublished relic of St John the Baptist’s right arm which is kept in a cache in Siena cathedral. It includes the available historical information about the relic’s journey from Serbia until its arrival in Siena (1464) and the circumstances in which it came into the possession of pope Pius II. It provides a detailed description both of the relic and of the reliquary, an exquisite piece of medieval goldsmithing and filigree work with few direct analogies. Particular attention is devoted to the inscription on the reliquary lid: “Right arm of John the Forerunner, cover me, Sava the Serbian archbishop.” Based on the inscription, the reliquary is identified as one of the founding objects of the treasury of the monastery of Žiča (the Serbian cathedral and coronation church) which was gradually built up in the first decades of the thirteenth century through the effort of Sava of Serbia. Discussed in the context of this topic are also the “veil” and the “cushion”, the luxurious textiles in which the Baptist’s arm was brought to Siena. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 177003: Medieval heritage of the Balkans: institutions and culture]

Keywords

• relic of St John the Baptist’s right arm
• St Sava of Serbia
• monastery of Žiča
• Siena
• pope Pius II
• reliquaries
• medieval goldsmithing