02

AUNT BERTHA'S HAND

This exhibit is based on the Harry Potter films, where Harry Potter accidentally finds himself in Knockturn Alley and is caught by a mummified hand in the shop of Borgin and Burkes. In the case of Aunt Bertha's hand, brocade decorates the wrist itself. The hand itself holds a medallion decorated with green leaves in its fingers. In the middle of it is a large yellow cut stone.

Reliquaries in the shape of a hand are often found in Christian churches. Mummified hands of saints with preserved tissue or just preserved and assembled hand bones are known to exist. Usually, these relics form part of very ornate reliquaries and often hold a cross in the fingers.