Reliquary of Saint Vigil’s arm

The reliquary holding the right arm of Saint Vigil was donated to the cathedral of Trento in 1368 by the canon Giovanni da Vezano di Calestano of the diocese of Parma.
Originally, the sacred rock crystal shrine was positioned horizontally and rested on four small feet, according to the model popular in the 14th century.
In 1466, as ordered by the prince bishop Johannes Hinderbach, the reliquary was modified to look like we see it today with the addition of the base and of the benedictory hand. In this way it became a ‘speaking reliquary’, or anthropomorphic, i.e. in which the shape of the object depicts the part of the body from which the relic was derived.