ABSTRACT
The Trier Ivory shows a scene of the translation of relics within an elaborate architectural setting. Milanović argues that the indeterminate nature of the contents of the reliquary casket being transported in the Trier Ivory – the uncertainty of its containing fragments of a living relic – reflects a fundamental problem with all representations of translatio: an image of an immobile body is visually indistinguishable from a dead one. Scenes of translatio form the social experience of these objects and ceremonies themselves: one had to believe that the content of the casket was a true, immutable substance endowed with supernatural powers.
