Furniture

This batten covered the altar cavity where the relics of the altar of Sant Julià de Vilatorta were kept. In this, the inscriptions (on strips of parchment) identify the relics, whereas this batten is a record of those in attendance at the consecration of the altar. In this case, these testimonies would remain hidden in the cavity until it was opened again. In other cases, those in attendance at the consecration engraved their names on the altar table itself, which then constituted an authentic perennial monument to the ceremony. The inscriptions on this cover are placed in order of rank, with regard to the writing, in painted capital letters or in incised small letters. The names that appear well drawn or painted (four) would already have been written before the consecration ceremony and must be those of the donors of the relics; the rest would be the names of those in attendance at the consecration who would sign the monument there and then (including the Bishop of Vic, Guillem de Balsareny), in their capacity as liturgical authorities or witnesses.