Engraving enclosing a textile ‘touch relic’ of Nicholas of Tolentino.

[Nicholas of Tolentino] / [Relic]. De Gossipio in quo reconduntur Brachia S. Nicolai de Tolentino. [Tolentino or Macerata(?)]: [18th century]. [7.0 x 4.2 cm as folded], [1] f. folded engraving on laid paper, sealed on verso with red wax. Well preserved.
 
 
Rare 18th-century engraving depicting the reliquaries of the Holy Arms of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino (c. 1246-1305). The sheet is folded to form a small envelope containing a square of fabric cut from the cotton shroud (“De Gossipio”) used to cover the reliquaries. 
 
Such cotton squares no doubt were offered to pilgrims visiting the Basilica di San Nicola. Printed relic ‘envelopes’ of this sort only rarely survive today. 
 
The arm reliquaries (known as ‘speaking’ reliquaries, i.e., vessels whose form imitates that of the body part they contain) are kept in the saint’s shrine in the Cappella delle Sante Braccia at the Basilica di San Nicola in Tolentino.
 
The enclosed cotton square, which can be seen when the item is held up to strong light, is an example of a ‘touch’ relic (also called a ‘contact’ 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). 
 
 
OPAC, OCLC and KVK record a similar example at the University of Iowa.
 
*Il sesto centenario di San Nicola da Tolentino: Periodico mensile religioso-artistico-storico.