Medicus, Vol. 15 No. 2_UG infekcije, 2006.
Review article
A Contribution to Anthropological Study of the Relics of St. Sebastian and St. Barbara in the Church of St. Blaise in Vodnjan, Croatia
Ante Škrobonja
Marija Kurtović
Abstract
This article begins with a historical overview of
relics of Christian saints, and describes a collection of 290 relics
of a number of early Christian martyrs and of a few preserved
bodies of mediaeval saints and the beatifi ed. The collection was
gathered by the painter Gaetano Grezler, and kept in the Church
of St. Blaise in the Istrian town of Vodnjan, Croatia, since the
early 19th century. The second part describes in detail the preserved
body parts of St. Sebastian and St. Barbara. The relic of
St. Sebastian consists of a part of the pelvis and the left upper
leg. The preserved bones include a part of the sacrum, the right
hip bone, lumbar section of the backbone, and most of the
thigh bone. Soft tissue includes muscles and tendons. A closer
look reveals the remains of blood vessels and large nerves. The
best part of St. Barbara’s right foot is covered with skin. Where
skin is damaged, one can see broken muscle fi bres and a few
tendons. The fi rst three toes are without tips, whereas the fourth
and the fi fth have been completely preserved.
Keywords
history of medicine; 3rd century AD; St. Sebastian; St. Barbara; relics; anthropology; Vodnjan; Croatia
Hrčak ID:
18162
URI
Publication date:
29.12.2006.
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