VISUAL THEOLOGY

This thirteenth-century enameled box from the Limoges region of France is thought to have once contained holy oils, such as the chrism used sacramentally in the rites of baptism, confirmation, and holy orders. The liturgical use of holy oils, including the anointing of kings, was inherited from Judaism. The olive had healing properties of its own, but the oil was also used as a base for medicinal ointments and perfumed unguents throughout the Middle Ages. Hildegard of Bingen affirms the curative powers of the olive tree: she recommends boiling its bark and leaves and mixing the water with old fat to treat pains in the limbs, or adding  olive water to a plaster to be laid on the belly to warm a cold stomach. Although southern European sources like the Tacuinum Sanitatis praise olive oil as easily digestible, this German abbess demurs: “The oil of the fruit of this tree is not much good for eating. If eaten, it provokes nausea and makes some foods troublesome to eat” (Physica, XVI). Hildegard goes on to extol the usefulness of olive oil in many medicaments, especially when cooked with roses or violets ■