From the earliest period of Christian worship striking comparisons were drawn between sacred matter and precious materials. The association was given its most literal manifestation in the painstaking creation of sumptuous reliquaries of gold and silver, encrusted with precious stones, made to contain relics of Christ and the saints their body parts and itemsowned or touched by them. Focusing on the British Museums outstanding collection of reliquaries, this richly illustrated little book provides a concise introduction to the practice of relic veneration in the Middle Age and the belief in the power of saints. Published to accompany a major exhibition at the British Museum, 23 June to 9 October 2011.