The reliquary is constructed in the shape of a traditional house or chapel with a saddle-roof. It is clearly intended as a wooden version of a gilded metal shrine, of which the side reliefs and roof with tracery and tondos have been replaced with paintings. The chapel concept is exhaustively pursued. The late-Gothic decoration with pinnacles, gablets, crockets, finials, tracery, statues in niches, arched side openings and the painted trompe-l'oeil views of the interior on the narrow ends speak for themselves.

The complex tale of the Breton princess and martyr Ursula, based for the most part on the Legenda Aurea (James of Voragine, late 13th century) is condensed by Memling into a mere six scenes - three on each of the two long sides. Apart from the arrival in Rome, all the scenes are enacted on the banks of the Rhine at Cologne and Basle. Ursula was the daughter of Deonutus, the Christian king of Brittany. Her virtue and beauty were universally praised, causing the pagan king of Anglia to seek her as the bride for his son and heir, Etherius. To avoid difficulties, Ursula resolved, with divine prompting, to accept the proposal on condition that she might first undertake a three-year pilgrimage to Rome, accompanied by eleven thousand virgins from the English kingdom, on eleven ships. Permission was given, and the company set off. Memling picks up the story at their first stop on the Rhine at Cologne.

Preview	Picture Data	Info
	St Ursula Shrine 1489 Gilded and painted wood, 87 x 33 x 91 cm Memlingmuseum, Sint-Janshospitaal, Bruges
	St Ursula Shrine 1489 Gilded and painted wood, 87 x 33 x 91 cm Memlingmuseum, Sint-Janshospitaal, Bruges
	St Ursula Shrine: Arrival in Cologne (scene 1) 1489 Oil on panel, 35 x 25,3 cm Memlingmuseum, Sint-Janshospitaal, Bruges
	St Ursula Shrine: Arrival in Basel (scene 2) 1489 Oil on panel, 35 x 25,3 cm Memlingmuseum, Sint-Janshospitaal, Bruges
	St Ursula Shrine: Arrival in Rome (scene 3) 1489 Oil on panel, 35 x 25,3 cm Memlingmuseum, Sint-Janshospitaal, Bruges
	St Ursula Shrine: Departure from Basel (scene 4) 1489 Oil on panel, 35 x 25,3 cm Memlingmuseum, Sint-Janshospitaal, Bruges
	St Ursula Shrine: Martyrdom (scene 5) 1489 Oil on panel, 35 x 25,3 cm Memlingmuseum, Sint-Janshospitaal, Bruges
	St Ursula Shrine: Martyrdom (scene 6) 1489 Oil on panel, 35 x 25,3 cm Memlingmuseum, Sint-Janshospitaal, Bruges
	St Ursula Shrine: Virgin and Child 1489 Wood, 91,5 x 41,5 cm Memlingmuseum, Sint-Janshospitaal, Bruges
	St Ursula Shrine: St Ursula and the Holy Virgins 1489 Wood, 91,5 x 41,5 cm Memlingmuseum, Sint-Janshospitaal, Bruges
	St Ursula Shrine: Medallions 1489 Wood Memlingmuseum, Sint-Janshospitaal, Bruges
	St Ursula Shrine: Medallions 1489 Wood Memlingmuseum, Sint-Janshospitaal, Bruges
	St Ursula Shrine: Figures 1489 Gilded and painted Memlingmuseum, Sint-Janshospitaal, Bruges