A reliquary might be raised on a pedestal, in the same way that a chalice is raised up for service at Mass.  As with so many of the small-scale objects of value of the Middle Ages, the form often evokes large-scale architecture.  A pointed arch framing an image, here the Virgin and Child, would be a typical choice for the metalworker.  Even when the reliquary was seen in procession through a town, the worshipper would connect the architectural form to the actuality of a building where the relics were housed.  Thus place, and the need to travel to the sacred place (engage in pilgrimage), would be affirmed. back to "worship"