probable that those of Gamaliel, from their connexion with so remarkable a legend, were regarded with much veneration. Lucian, as it is stated, wrote the relation of this miraculous discovery, and his narrative was translated into Latin by his contemporary, the Spanish priest, Avitus, then at Jerusalem, the friend of St. Jerome. It may be found in the Edition of the Works of St. Augustine, published by the Benedictines, and it has been given by Baronius.[1]
The "caput auripictum," with jewels around the shoulders, was doubtless one of those singular reliquaries, in form of busts, of life-size, wherein the crania of holy persons are preserved, as seen at Cologne, and in many continental churches.[2] A curious example, brought from Italy, was placed in the Museum formed during the Meeting of the Institute at Salisbury. A. W.
- ↑ Bede records the discovery of these reliques, and cites the narration of Lucian. See Bede, Chronicon de sex Ætatibus, under the year 426.
- ↑ Three such reliquaries formerly existed at St. Denis, and are represented in Felibien's History of the Abbey; the head of St. Loup at Troyes was preserved in like manner (Voyage de deux Benedictins, t. i. p. 92), and a very remarkable example existing in Switzerland is figured in the valuable History of Sacred Architecture in the dioceses of Geneva, Lausanne and Sion, by Blavignac, recently published.
