"In her introduction, Hahn expresses a hope that her work will be accessible to students, advanced scholars, and the curious public. With this book, she has successfully achieved this goal; it is a rich and engaging contribution to the study of Passion relics."

Journal of Medieval Religious Culture

"[Passion Relics and the Medieval Imagination] tackles for the first time a very large subject: how relics were displayed in the Middle Ages. . . . This is a small book with an important message for art historians."

Art Newspaper

"Provides an expert synthesis of current scholarship, a welcome introduction for students desiring a toehold in recent literature. . . . a useful summary of recent research on how the instruments of Christ’s Passion were displayed and venerated in the Middle Ages." 

Times Higher Education

"One can hardly engage in study of the medieval relic without consulting the scholarship of Cynthia Hahn. . . .  Like the slivers of wood of True Cross relics, this book is small but powerful. With characteristic clarity and poetic style, Hahn presents the distinct kind of perspective that comes from a seasoned and creative scholar."

Reading Religion

"Hahn’s writing is very readable and accessible to veteran scholars in history, art history, and religious studies, as well as to nonspecialists and the general public. . . . This book promises to have a large impact on future study of the cult of Passion relics."

Comitatus: A Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies

"A miniature treasury in itself. . . .well ordered and energetically presented. Academics will enjoy the lively, well-informed prose of a scholar who has been thinking about the potential and powers of relics, particularly relics in their connections with human behavior, for many years."

West 86th

"Hahn’s monograph is a highly engaging and tightly argued study on the Passion relic as it developed at the nexus of imperialism, power, and the rise of devotional objects in early Christianity."

Religion and the Arts