Reliquary Bust of a Female Saint

The golden age of Renaissance was brought about in the second half of the 16th century when the hitherto foreign influences fused with a typically Spanish expression and completely new form was created that was able the capture the tense, almost rigid religiosity and the ecstatic religious rapture. The reliquary busts were used to deposit the saints’ relics and were held in high regard especially in the period after the Council of Trent.