The Architectural Setting of the Cult of Saints in the Early Christian West c. 300-c.1200 (review)

168 Reviews now housed in the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum in Cologne. This clustering of families around the image of the Virgin and Child with St Anne is extremely unusual, and I, for one, would like to know more about this image and its context. The shape of this book is, in part, dictated by the fact it is the first systematic survey of this material to be published in any language since 1925. One strange element of the book is the absence of named scholars in the main chapters. Corley refers to general trends in scholarly thought but does not indicate in the text w h o these figures are. This makes it difficult sometimes to identify whether the arguments made in the book are new or if the author is drawing on the arguments of others. It is not until she discusses the literature in the Epilogue that this becomes clearer. While this does mean that the text is less cluttered by names, given the interest in arguing around issues of attribution it would have been more appropriate to identify whose scholarship she was using, and also where she was arguing her o w n case. This is a very scholarly and solid piece of writing, which will undoubtedly be of use to many students of Northern art. It makes more accessible to Englishspeaking scholars a wealth of material that will undoubtedly enrich our discussion offifteenth-centuryart in particular. Judith Collard Art History and Theory University ofOtago Crook, John, The Architectural Setting of the Cult of Saints in the Early Ch West c. 300-c. 1200 (Oxford Historical Monographs), Oxford, Clarendon Press, 2000, cloth; pp. xxv, 308; 111 b/w illustrations; R.R.P. £50.00; ISBN 01982070948. This very interesting work commences with an examination of the various medieval attitudes to the veneration of the relics of saints, noting the general scepticism expressed about 'improbable relics' (p. 9) and the genuine value accorded more historically probable relics. Crook's principal interest is the way in which Christian ecclesiastical architecture developed around the sites ofburial or display of relics. Graves of saints early became foci for religious devotion, and from the mid-second century the cult of Saint Polycarp of Smyrna connected the saint's grave with the church altar. By the late third century the custom of celebrating the Eucharist 'over the bones of the martyrs' (p. 13) was established. Reviews 169 Even ifthe bones of the saint were disinterred, the site of the grave attained the status ofa contact relic, retaining traces of the sanctity of its former inhabitant. From translation of the saint's body to fragmentation of the relics was but a short step, although the popes were still resisting this in the late sixth century. Political reasons may have lain behind this (the city of R o m e possessed many intact saints), but the most important side-effect of it was the growth in the market for contact relics. From these preliminary remarks, Crook progresses to chapters that explore the physical setting of relic cults in specified historical periods. He briefly considers early Roman churches and then dissects the evidence provided by Gregory of Tours for Merovingian Gaul, which involves an analysis of the term crypta, which can mean 'independent hypogea' as well as 'purpose-built Christian burial chambers integrated with churches' (p. 49), the important characteristic being the presence of a vault. Despite Gregory's lack of interest in architectural detail, he provides enough information to identify the basic design, a small chamber with limited access, usually by one door, and unsuitable for large numbers ofpilgrims. Crook notes that from the late sixth century in Gaul subterranean chambers passed out ofuse, with bodies being displayed in the main church. The altar once again became a focal point, and relics were placed both under and within it. Some information is given about Merovingian tomb structures (for example, that of Saint Wandregilsus at Fontanelle; that of Saint Otmar at Saint-Gall). The next chapter deals with the architectural developments of the Carolingian renaissance and again Crook locates those changes in the context of the relic cult in the city of Rome. The ring-crypt...