Bursa-Reliquary of Saint Anselm from Nin and the Origins of the Cult of Nin’s Patron Saints

Abstract

Despite its art historical value and symbolic significance, the Nin reliquary of St Anselm has not been thoroughly studied so far. Starting from the recent assumption about the Milanese origin of the bursa and the reinterpretation of identities of the three saintly figures depicted on it, the purpose of this paper is to shed light on the origins of their cult and propose a new interpretation of their identity. The first part of the paper brings a historical contextualization of the origins of the cult of (assumedly) Nin’s patron saints: St Ambrose, St Marcell(in)a, and St Anselm in Milan during the Carolingian/Frankish supremacy. The second part of the paper presents the results of comparative art historical research of the bursa, with an emphasis on iconographic, stylistic, and typological analysis. The results of both research directions (the historical-contextual and the art historical-comparative) suggest that the central female figure on the obverse of the bursa is not St Marcella as formerly presumed, but the Mother of God, and that the bursa is probably not a Milan product from the turn of 9th century, but more likely made after the establishment of the Nin diocese, if not during its restoration in the 11th century.