RELIQUARY OF THE SEPULCHRE OF THE VIRGIN

Rare 19th-century reliquary in gilt bronze, with a glazed front, preserving a precious Marian relic identified by a handwritten cartouche label.

The relic is placed at the center of a sober yet deeply symbolic arrangement, mounted on a background of red liturgical fabric — the color of sacrifice, but also of divine love and Marian compassion — and set within an oval reserve.

The original label bears the inscription:

“Sepul. B. V. M.”

→ Sepulchrum Beatae Virginis Mariae
Translation: From the Sepulchre of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The reliquary adopts a classical circular form of private devotion, fitted with its upper suspension ring. The bronze mount displays a consistent aged patina, while the glass protects an intact textile arrangement. The red background, slightly faded with time, attests to the age of the piece without affecting its readability or its spiritual presence.

The relic itself appears in the form of a minute earthy or mineral fragment, set within an oval paper compartment, typical of mountings for relics of holy places.

Good used condition with original glass.
Unopened.
Ecclesiastical seal and silk threads present.

PERIOD : 18th century
DIMENSIONS : 3 cm × 2.5 cm
SIZE : 1.2" × 1"

Relics known as those of the Sepulchre of the Virgin belong to a very particular category of relics of holy places, closely linked to the sacred topography of Jerusalem. Venerated since the earliest centuries of Christianity, the Marian tomb located in the Kidron Valley — at the foot of the Mount of Olives — was very early identified as the place of the Dormition and later of the Assumption of Mary. The fragments collected — dust, stone chips, particles of earth — were distributed with extreme rarity, most often through Eastern Christian communities, ecclesiastical pilgrims, or conventual networks connected to the Holy Places. Unlike Marian bodily relics, which are virtually nonexistent due to the dogma of the Assumption, these sepulchral relics are among the rare material testimonies associated with the end of the Virgin’s earthly life. Their devotional value lies precisely in this absence of the body: the tomb becomes a sign of glorification, and the material of the place, imbued with sacred memory, is perceived as a silent witness to Mary’s passage from earth to heaven. Thus, possessing a relic of the Sepulchre symbolically amounts to holding a fragment of the very threshold of the Assumption.