EARLY CHRISTIAN SCULPTOR, Italian
(active 4th century in Milan)

The Brescia Casket (Lipsanotheca)

late 4th century
Ivory, 22 x 32 x 25 cm
Museo di Santa Giulia, Brescia

Lipsanotheca is a word for a reliquary, or specifically a small box containing the actual relics inside a reliquary.

The Brescia Casket or Lipsanotheca is an ivory box, perhaps a reliquary, from the late 4th century. It is a unique survival of a complete Early Christian ivory box in generally good condition. The 36 subjects depicted on the box represent a wide range of the images found in the evolving Christian art of the period.