of the Holy Cross and other precious relics for her nuns. As one of her
hagiographers, Baudonivia, wrote, “She got what she had prayed for: that she might
glory in having the blessed wood of the Lord’s cross enshrined in gold and gems and
many of the relics of the saints that had been kept in the [Eastern half of the Roman
Empire] living in that one place [her monastery].”^16 The reliquaries that “enshrined”
the relics were themselves precious objects, like the so-called reliquary of Theuderic
(Plate 1.11), a small box made of cloisonné enamel (bits of enamel framed by metal),
garnets, glass gems, and a cameo. Holy tombs and relics brought the sacred into the
countryside, into city convents, and into the texture of everyday life.
