Through an in-depth, object-focused analysis of Vecchietta's Arliquiera, this article clarifies the original function and position of this reliquary cupboard within the sacristy of the Santissima Annunziata (the church of the Hospital of Santa Maria della Scala in Siena). In doing so, it expounds on its visual and iconographic interactions with both the context and the content – that is, respectively, the frescoes painted by Vecchietta between 1446 and 1449, and the relics acquired from Constantinople in 1359.
The Arliquiera thus emerges as the linchpin of a much broader architectural reliquary, which at the same time preserved ancient relics and promoted (if not sanctioned) the canonization of new local beati, represented on the door panels of the Arliquiera. Short-lived, this elaborate architectural ensemble was soon dismantled in response to the enlargement of the church and further modifications to the layout of devotional areas within the hospital complex, all discussed in this article. As is shown, the Arliquiera, divorced from its original context, was altered and re-positioned a number of times.
Ultimately, when moved and exhibited in a museum, it came to be seen more as a double-sided altarpiece than as a cupboard.
Just as the cupboard's original appearance, function and purpose become clearer, so too do our misconceptions about it, while Vecchietta's stylistic choices in painting it – though often condemned by Florentine-centric historiography – emerge as a clever response to the task he was assigned.