The reliquary is constructed in the shape of a traditional house or chapel with a saddle-roof. It is clearly intended as a wooden version of a gilded metal shrine, of which the side reliefs and roof with tracery and tondos have been replaced with paintings. The chapel concept is exhaustively pursued. The late-Gothic decoration with pinnacles, gablets, crockets, finials, tracery, statues in niches, arched side openings and the painted trompe-l'oeil views of the interior on the narrow ends speak for themselves.

The complex tale of the Breton princess and martyr Ursula, based for the most part on the Legenda Aurea (James of Voragine, late 13th century) is condensed by Memling into a mere six scenes - three on each of the two long sides. Apart from the arrival in Rome, all the scenes are enacted on the banks of the Rhine at Cologne and Basle. Ursula was the daughter of Deonutus, the Christian king of Brittany. Her virtue and beauty were universally praised, causing the pagan king of Anglia to seek her as the bride for his son and heir, Etherius. To avoid difficulties, Ursula resolved, with divine prompting, to accept the proposal on condition that she might first undertake a three-year pilgrimage to Rome, accompanied by eleven thousand virgins from the English kingdom, on eleven ships. Permission was given, and the company set off. Memling picks up the story at their first stop on the Rhine at Cologne.

Preview	Picture Data	File Info	Comment
	St Ursula Shrine 1489 Gilded and painted wood, 87 x 33 x 91 cm Memlingmuseum, Sint-Janshospitaal, Bruges	810*967 True Color 158 Kb
	St Ursula Shrine 1489 Gilded and painted wood, 87 x 33 x 91 cm Memlingmuseum, Sint-Janshospitaal, Bruges	810*991 True Color 153 Kb
	St Ursula Shrine: Arrival in Cologne (scene 1) 1489 Oil on panel, 35 x 25,3 cm Memlingmuseum, Sint-Janshospitaal, Bruges	806*1082 True Color 158 Kb
	St Ursula Shrine: Arrival in Basel (scene 2) 1489 Oil on panel, 35 x 25,3 cm Memlingmuseum, Sint-Janshospitaal, Bruges	805*1091 True Color 147 Kb
	St Ursula Shrine: Arrival in Rome (scene 3) 1489 Oil on panel, 35 x 25,3 cm Memlingmuseum, Sint-Janshospitaal, Bruges	808*1089 True Color 165 Kb
	St Ursula Shrine: Departure from Basel (scene 4) 1489 Oil on panel, 35 x 25,3 cm Memlingmuseum, Sint-Janshospitaal, Bruges	809*1092 True Color 149 Kb
	St Ursula Shrine: Martyrdom (scene 5) 1489 Oil on panel, 35 x 25,3 cm Memlingmuseum, Sint-Janshospitaal, Bruges	806*1084 True Color 141 Kb
	St Ursula Shrine: Martyrdom (scene 6) 1489 Oil on panel, 35 x 25,3 cm Memlingmuseum, Sint-Janshospitaal, Bruges	809*1096 True Color 165 Kb
	St Ursula Shrine: Virgin and Child 1489 Wood, 91,5 x 41,5 cm Memlingmuseum, Sint-Janshospitaal, Bruges	550*1401 True Color 144 Kb
	St Ursula Shrine: St Ursula and the Holy Virgins 1489 Wood, 91,5 x 41,5 cm Memlingmuseum, Sint-Janshospitaal, Bruges	550*1431 True Color 154 Kb
	St Ursula Shrine: Medallions 1489 Wood Memlingmuseum, Sint-Janshospitaal, Bruges	1021*601 True Color 139 Kb
	St Ursula Shrine: Medallions 1489 Wood Memlingmuseum, Sint-Janshospitaal, Bruges	1036*605 True Color 137 Kb
	St Ursula Shrine: Figures 1489 Gilded and painted Memlingmuseum, Sint-Janshospitaal, Bruges	1234*621 True Color 159 Kb