The reliquary of Saint Césaire of Arles (1429). The unpublished reliquary originating from a private collection, acquired in 1998 by the museum of sacred art of the Gard at Pont-Saint-Esprit, should be put in the context of a document published by Louis Stouff in relation to the fortuitous discovery of relics in the base of the altar of the chapel of Saint-Césaire-le-Vieux in the necropolis of the Alyscamps at Arles. In 1428, Dominique de Germayo, the hermit who served there, undertook work to restore the interior, on the advice of a benevolent voice that he heard in his sleep. He wanted to attract pilgrims and put an end to his financial troubles. In the base of the altar, he found a casket containing relics which he vainly tried to hide. The nuns of the abbey of Saint-Césaire retrieved it. In the course of an enquiry, and a rapid but detailed procedure, Foulque de Chonas, the presiding officer of the ecclesiastical court at Arles, authenticated its contents and permitted its veneration. To this end, in 1429 the nuns created a reliquary. They grouped together the scattered relics in their large convent. They all, whether bearing distinguishing marks or not, real or representative, belong to the beginning of Christianity and are celebrated, the pride of Arlesians, one of the pioneer churches of the Gauls. This reliquary appears as a diptych, in the form of a book opening with hinges, inspired by the binding boards of the gospels. The silver covering of this “opening picture” was destroyed at the Revolution. Separated for a while, the two wooden panels were brought together in 1839, in an iron casket calling to mind its original presentation. Each of these has eight carved hollows, protected by glass, and held together by a copper frame engraved with floral motifs. They received the relics, together with their authentication. In the centre of the figures, in high relief and in silver, the guardian bishops Césaire and Blaise take up the traditional iconography of seals and Arlesian money. The stamp of the smith is not known. The arrangement and style points most likely towards a workshop probably Languedocian.