Unrecorded etching enclosing a cotton ‘touch relic’ of Nicola di Tolentino.

[Etching] / [Relic]. De Gossipio in quo reconduntur Brachia S. Nicolai de Tolentino. [Tolentino or Macerata(?)]: “Triccoli incise,” [early 19th century]. [7.5 x 5.3 cm as folded], [1] f. folded etching on laid paper, sealed on verso with red wax. Well preserved.
 
 
Unrecorded  early 19th-century sanguine etching depicting the reliquaries of the Holy Arms of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino (c. 1246-1305). The sheet is folded to form a small envelope containing a square of fabric cut from the cotton shroud (“De Gossipio”) used to cover the arm reliquaries. 
 
(Kept in the saint’s shrine in the Cappella delle Sante Braccia at the Basilica di San Nicola in Tolentino, these arm reliquaries are examples ‘speaking’ reliquaries, i.e., vessels whose form imitates that of the body part they contain.)
 
The enclosed cotton square is an example of a ‘touch’ relic (also called a ‘contact’ or ‘secondary’ relic), i.e., an item that came in contact with or was in the vicinity of a saint’s primary relic (e.g., a body part or personal item). Such cotton squares no doubt were offered for sale to pilgrims visiting the Basilica di San Nicola. The etching, signed by a certain Triccoli, was likely produced in Tolentino or nearby Macerata, which boasted a relatively active print culture from the 18th century. Printed relic ‘envelopes’ of this sort only rarely survive today. 
 
Not recorded in OPAC/ICCU, OCLC or KVK.