Fabric from the clothing of St. Catarina da Bologna. In portable case.
[Catarina da Bologna] / [Touch relic] / [Engraving]. [Relic:] Veste S. Cat. Bol. [Engraving:] Catterina da Bologna. S.l. [Italy]: s.n., s.a. [18th century]. [10.6 x 8.5 x 3.0 cm, the case], [1] textile piece with applied letterpress text and [1] f. engraving in contemporary hand-color, varnished. In oval case covered in striped silk, trimmed with bi-color and metal-wrapped threads, two halves tied together by green silk ribbon, inner ovals covered in green silk, glazed, glass framed with metal and metal-wrapped threads, fabric relic surrounded by metallic foliate work with faux gems. Exterior of case and connecting ribbon rubbed and frayed, with some losses to fabric and decorative threading. Glass and items below it are well preserved.
Unusual framed & glazed 18th-century Italian devotional item consisting of a silk-covered oval case containing a piece of fabric taken—as the letterpress text affixed to it states—from the habit (“veste”) of St. Catherine of Bologna (1413-63), the Poor Clare mystic, writer and artist who was canonized in 1712. The other half of the oval case contains a hand-colored and varnished engraving depicting a crowned and haloed Catherine wearing her nun’s habit.
The item’s decoration is typical of the work of nuns. Such portable devotional items were made for use in the convents or to be sold or given to the faithful.
The textile enclosed in the letterpress envelope is an example of a ‘touch’ relic (also called a ‘contact’ or ‘secondary’ relic), i.e., an item that came in contact with or was in the vicinity of a saint’s primary relic (e.g., a body part or personal item).
There are, of course, many reasons to be dubious about the authenticity of relics of this sort, but if the fabric does indeed come from a habit that Catarina wore in life, then it would be a rather rare survival of 15th-century clothing.
The coloring of the engraving is typical of the 18th century. It is perhaps unusual for being both varnished and covered by glass (see A. Griffiths, pp. 417-19, on varnishing prints before the widespread development of glazed framing in the 18th century).
*A. Griffiths, The Print before Photography: An Introduction to European Printmaking 1550-1820; K. G. Arthur, “Images of Clare and Francis in Caterina Vigri’s Personal Breviary,” Franciscan Studies, no. 62, pp. 177-92; K. G. Arthur, “Il breviario di Santa Caterina da Bologna e ‘l’arte povera’ Clarissa,” in G. Pomata and G. Zarri, eds., I Monasteri femminili come Centri di Cultura fra Rinascimento e Barocco.