Silver Reliquary Bust of St. Paul

Lost treasury inventories and faded inscriptions cause the knowledge of the relics contained within to disappear for some reliquaries. The relic register notes pragmatically regarding this bust: the inscription is missing. Nevertheless, there can be no doubt – presumably due to the design – that it contains relics of Paul.

The design of the bust as a "speaking reliquary" provided the compilers of the relic inventory with certainty: what looks like Paul must also contain Paul. The silver bust of Paul was not placed in the high altar retable in the east choir (or the west choir, following the reconstruction), but rather—together with the hand reliquary—on the Altar of St. Paul in the nave (which no longer exists today).