Case studyCondition assessment of two early Christian martyrs’, St. Christine's and St. Augustine's relics with paleoradiological methods in Hungary
Introduction
The remains of the martyrs St. Christine and St. Augustine were presented to archduchess Maria Christina of Habsburg-Lotharingen, daughter of Maria Theresia (queen of Hungary, empress of the Holy Roman Empire) and duke Albert Casimir of Sachsen-Teschen, (royal governor of Hungary) [4] by Pope Pius VI (1775–1799) in 1776. The ducal pair gained this papal favour as acknowledgement for having rebuilt the churches of Moson County after the Turkish demolition [5], [6].
According to the papal document of 30th March 1776, the bodies came from the cemetery of the St. Lawrence basilica (San Lorenzo Fuori le Mura, Catacomb of Cyriaca) found outside of the 18th c. AD Rome (“extra hanc almam Urbem”) [5]. The holy relics were placed in a wooden case covered in velvet and decorated with silk and golden fringes. The relics arrived to the ducal pair in this setting, they were later donated to the capuchin monks in Magyaróvár (Mosonmagyaróvár) and are now housed in the St. Gotthard Parish Church [5].
Since the beginning of Christianity, several martyrs known by the name of St. Christine and St. Augustine were recorded in religious history. The document of Pius VI does not provide details about the actual identity of the individuals. Identification attempts in the volumes of the Acta Sanctorum [7] also failed concerning the remains of the two saints of Mosonmagyaróvár. Since they are regarded as Early Christian martyrs, they probably lived in the 1–4th c. AD, but neither the dating nor their nationality is certain.
Section snippets
Materials and methods
The remains are dressed up in ornate baroque attires (Fig. 1a and b). Mould was observed on both the remains and the clothing. The skull of St. Christine was tightly wrapped with a veil (Fig. 1a). The skull of St. Augustine was observable showing good preservation (Fig. 1b). Both saints were crowned with a wreath. The ribs of St. Christine were placed outside of the attire and decorated with gemstones. Gloves were found on the hands of St. Augustine stuffed with a soft material resembling
St. Christine
Some bones of the skeleton are missing, the rest was reassembled. Both the calvaria and the facial bones are damaged. CT images show significant bone loss [11]. The slices reveal comminuted fractures affecting almost the whole skull (Fig. 2a and b). The veil tightly wraps the skull holding the cranial elements together, thus presumably has a structural function beside the decorating purpose (Fig. 1a).
Both ante-mortem and post-mortem tooth loss can be observed in the jaws. The cervical vertebrae
Conclusion
In the course of the radiological imaging procedure it became obvious that the removal of the clothing for direct macroscopic observation would have done irreversible harm to the remains, and crucial data would have been lost. With the help of non-invasive imaging technique, a comprehensive picture was obtained on the general condition and the state of preservation of the remains. Restorers will now have enough background information to lay out the most appropriate plan for the cleaning and
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