St. Baudime Bust Analysis

The busts were made to give honor to the saints for their contributions of martyrdom and spreading their faith through good deeds. These reliquary busts may had contain fragments of each saint’s remains. For St. Baudime, it was his blood and for St. Balbina, it was her skull. While the bust may seem similar, they differ in more ways than previously mentioned. The bust of St Baudime was made in Auvergne in present-day France. Meanwhile, the bust of St. Balbina was possibly made in Belgium, near the South Netherlands. The St. Baudime bust was made of copper-gilt over walnut core, horn, and ivory. So at least the maker of the Baudime bust had a grasp of early metalworking processes going on. The St. Baudime bust was made in the mid-12th century