Design for a Reliquary 1700 - 1800

Curator: Let's consider this fascinating design from the late 18th century, circa 1700 to 1800, for a reliquary. It is held here at The Met, New York. Created by an anonymous artist using drawing and printmaking techniques. Editor: Wow, it has that crisp, neoclassical precision, doesn't it? Almost chilling in its formality, yet I also see a dreaminess in the execution, like looking at a memory or a faded blueprint of the sublime. It seems that something so grand is trying to be brought forth out of these very fine, meticulous, careful lines... It makes me think a bit of Piranesi but more for indoor use. Curator: Absolutely. Its linear style is central, fitting perfectly within Neoclassicism, valuing clarity of form over baroque flourish. Consider also how it synthesizes history, not just in its imagery and implied purpose for the housing of saintly relics, but in the labour involved in producing such detailed work using prints and drawing materials. It really brings to light that tension between divine reverence and human endeavour. Editor: I suppose... for me though it sparks thoughts on memory and the echo of holiness—a sort of yearning after the unrecoverable past, even. A feeling that the object—this elaborate container—is ultimately inadequate in its containing of faith and the sublime... Look, even the lines making up the rendering appear faint, transparent. As though even they cannot define the solid from the empty space of the world! The spirit contained, even in faith, has to stretch itself out past materiality, past usefulness. Curator: True, although in that spirit I see the tension. How materiality itself strives toward, as you say, "the sublime," becoming meaningful. It's less about inherent piety, more about production's role as the enabler of transcendent experience—a testament, ironically, to labour and not inherent holiness. Editor: Maybe. All I know is that seeing it conjures this whisper: a holy box hoping to trap a butterfly... It is beautiful, yet a bit sad! Curator: An interesting note to close on as you go explore materiality itself.