Holy Bodies: An Atlas for the Corpi Sancti in Portugal

The Holy Bodies project intends to draw attention to the corpi santi, a particular type of full-body reliquaries that was profusely sent to the Western Catholic countries after the discovery of the catacombs in Rome, to promote and strengthen religious practice, as they also constituted a sign of power and influence for those who ordered them. The project aims to establish comprehensive discussions on the impact these cult objects had on the art history, cultural atmosphere, and devotional practice in Portugal during Modern times. The project aims to compare Portuguese Case studies and with Italians in a mustidiciplinary overview gathering experts from Archives, Art history, Heritage Science , Conservator-restorers as well of digital humanities. 3D images will be used to document case studies and conservation rotocols will be outlined. HB gathers contributions from Hércules Laboratory, CITAR and CHAIA research units.