Reliquary of St. Foy at Conques

Reliquary of St. Foy at Conques

Saint Faith, was a young girl from Agen in Aquitaine, born in the third century C.E. She became a martyr for the Christian faith and was killed by the Romans because she refused to make pagan sacrifices even after torture. Faith was tortured and then killed with a red-hot brazier. Unfortunately, it is thought that she was only 12 years old at the time of her death. She is celebrated with a story in the earliest written work in the Catalan language Canco de Santa Fe, between 1054 and 1076 c. during the reign of Roman Berenguer I, the Count of Barcelona. Because of Saint Faith, pilgrims and noble people started visiting the isolated town, making Southern France a very popular place.

The Reliquary of Sainte Foy at Conques is a wooden statue covered in gemstones, gold and is 33 and a half inches tall. The gold demonstrates heavenly martyrdom and the reflective surface calls to mind a connection to the spiritual world. The wealthy decorations, posture and crown connect her to sainthood in Christianity and support her importance. The bust of the statue is made from a repurposed Roman helmet which holds the skull of Saint Faith and gemstones and pieces of jewelry were donated by pilgrims as offerings to guide them safely on their route to Santiago de Compostela. Creation of the reliquary is not known, but the first recording of it was in 1010 c. by Bernard of Angers. Saint faith is sitting straight towards the viewer with her arms outstretched and has a blank stare indicating the spiritual transcendence from life on Earth. The youthful appearance of the statue was depicted as being 12 and her throne was made from images of lambs and the crucifixion scene, which in a way compares her sacrifice to that of Christ. 

In 1365, some of Faith's artifacts were moved to a monastery in Catalonia, but the reliquary can still be viewed in France at the Abbey of Saint Foy at Conques. The whole church provides a extraordinary example of Romanesque art and architecture. People still come to Conques to pay their respects to Faith. Every October a celebration is held in medieval tradition. Even important churches were dedicated to her in Normandy and at Selestat in Alsace.

References 

Reliquary of Sainte Foy. (n.d.). Retrieved October 03, 2020, from http://projects.leadr.msu.edu/medievalart/exhibits/show/gold-in-christian-reliquaries/reliquary-of-sainte-foy

Christine M. Bolli, "Pilgrimage routes and the cult of the relic," in Smarthistory, August 8, 2015, accessed October 3, 2020, https://smarthistory.org/pilgrimage-routes-and-the-cult-of-the-relic/.

Georgievska, M. (2017, March 12). In medieval times, the reliquary of Saint Faith was one of the most famous holy sites in all of Europe. Retrieved October 04, 2020, from https://www.thevintagenews.com/2017/03/13/in-medieval-times-the-reliquary-of-saint-faith-was-one-of-the-most-famous-holy-sites-in-all-of-europe/