Lucy O'Connor

University of Exeter, Department of Theology and Religion, Post-Doc

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I am a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the University of Exeter and I am part of an ERC funded project headed by Professor Emma Loosley, entitled, ‘Architecture and Asceticism: Cultural Interaction between Syria and Georgia in Late Antiquity’. My role on this project is to research Christian pilgrimage to the Holy Land in Late Antiquity. My research has a particular focus on the physical evidence of pilgrimage eulogia, the souvenirs collected by pilgrims to remind themselves of their journey.

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Papers by Lucy O'Connor

The Late Antique Wooden Reliquaries from the Chapel of the Sancta Sanctorum

Bollettino dei Monumenti Musei e Gallerie Pontificie. XXX1 (2013), Apr 2015

This paper highlights the collection of wooden reliquaries that were once part of the cache of re... more This paper highlights the collection of wooden reliquaries that were once part of the cache of relics from the chapel of the Sancta Sanctorum of the Lateran Palace in Rome and are now held in the Vatican Museums. Late Antique wooden boxes have never before been discussed as a type of sacred relic container and they have often been overlooked, especially when compared to their metal counterparts. However, the very fact that these artefacts form part of such a rare church collection suggests that they were considered of great value and were highly prized at the time they were sealed into the altar of the Sancta Sanctorum. This paper catalogues ten reliquaries from the trove and analyses their form, decoration and the relics contained within to discover whether their origin and date can be established. It argues that wooden boxes with sliding lids were prevalent throughout the Levant during Late Antiquity and that wood was a suitable material in which to encase precious relics from the Holy Land. This paper aims to bring wooden reliquary boxes to the fore as a form of pilgrimage eulogia.

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Christ in Majesty on a Late Antique eulogia token in the British Museum

Convivium: Exchanges and Interactions in the Arts of Medieval Europe, Byzantium, and the Mediterranean. Seminarium Kondakovianum, Series Nova. 1.2., Dec 1, 2014

A miniature eulogia token in the collection of the British Museum was originally listed in the re... more A miniature eulogia token in the collection of the British Museum was originally listed in the register as depicting Christ's Ascension into Heaven, yet its composition incorporated features that evoke images of the Adored Christ. This paper analyses the iconography on a number of comparable Late Antique pilgrimage eulogia produced in the Levant, revealing that this unique token would more accurately be defined as the Adoration of Christ in Majesty. The token also provides evidence of the prophylactic and apotropaic properties attributed to blessings of holy soil from sacred sites. The unusual composition of the artefact considered here offers a rare insight into the developing iconography displayed on Late Antique pilgrimage eulogia.

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