Tabernacle Reliquary20259" x 9" x 31"Mixed media (Click for material details)
This 'tabernacle' reliquary was inspired by several mid-17th century pieces I've seen by devotional artists from Eastern Europe - Poland in particular. The aesthetic of the religious decorative works that were created from that area and time is clearly influenced by Ottoman and even farther Eastern cultures, so I played with the tower ornamentation in this piece. Although a reliquary like this would be familiar in an eastern Catholic cathedral, with its forest of minaret finials, this work might simultaneously evoke the feeling of an Ottoman mosque. It's important to note that while there is a long (and complicated) history of reliquary art in Islam, the depiction of animals is normally forbidden in places of Islamic worship. As with all my artworks, I mean no disrespect to the beliefs and practices of other faiths.
Horseshoe crabs, blue-blooded living fossils, have been evolving with little change for at least 445 million years, long before dinosaurs. This species, serving as a keystone organism (as both predator and prey), favors the shallow coastal lagoons, estuaries and mangroves that are increasingly vulnerable to the rising sea levels and temperatures associated with climate change. Although horseshoe crabs have survived multiple mass extinction events over many, many millennia, habitat loss, harvest, and climate change are together now posing a risk for the long-term survival of the species.
This remarkable specimen was, incongruously, rescued one winter from a weekend flea market in Vienna, Austria.
All images © 2019 - 2025 Charles F. Pitz
