Reliquary Bust of St. Juliana in the Cloisters, October 2009

Reliquary bust of Saint Juliana
Copper, gesso, tempera, and gilding
Circle of Giovanni di Bartolo
Italy, Rome, ca. 1376
From the convent of Saint Giuliana at Perugia

Accession # 61.266

The band along the lower edge of the bust is inscribed, on the front: [C]APUD SANTE IULIANE [head of St. Juliana,] and on the back: ROMA A. D[OMINO]. GUILLE[LMO] [Rome, year of Our Lord, William.] In 1376 the skull of St. Juliana, the gift of the brothers of San Domenico to the Perugian convent dedicated to the saint, was carried in procession and received by Abbess Gabriella. This beguiling image, perhaps commissioned by the "William" named in the inscription, was placed in an elaborate tabernacle where it remained until the late 19th century.

Text from the Cloisters label.