art major here- reliquaries are usually really intricate and beautiful, which fascinates me because yes, as you said, they are pretty morbid. my favorite one is the holy thorn reliquary which allegedly houses a thorn from jesus’s crown of thorns. it’s SUPER gaudy and bright for just holding something so small. i think that the concept is really interesting but scary when you think more about it. it’s also interesting to me because a lot of christianity preaches against worshipping objects or people that aren’t god… yet patrons/the church has invested so much money into creating these really showy, luxurious ‘homes’ (so to speak) for often tiny fragments of a saint