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This arm reliquary takes the shape of a clothed lower arm with outstretched right hand. It probably contained the remains of an unidentified saint.

Arm reliquaries became popular in the Middle Ages, most likely as liturgical props. They often contain bones other than the saint’s arm. Some contain the remains of multiple saints. The reliquaries could be used by clerics to touch, bless and heal the faithful during liturgical celebrations.

This Arm Reliquary of the Apostles, from the Cleveland Museum of Art, is clothed in a liturgical vestment. It comes from the 12th-century treasury of St. Blaise in Braunschweig, Germany.