John Studzinski, senior managing director of Blackstone Group LP (BX) and a cultural philanthropist, is sponsoring the British Museum’s new show on the art of the Christian relic.

The exhibition, which features elaborate containers for sacred human remains from 1000 to 1500 A.D., runs through Oct. 9. Highlights include reliquaries said to contain pieces of the Crown of Thorns and the Virgin Mary’s breast milk.

“If you believe in something and you have the resources to support it, you try to bring it to other audiences,” said Studzinski, a Catholic who has a chapel in his London home.

“People today have mixed views about religious formalism or structure, whether it’s the structure of the Church or the structure of other organized religions,” he said in an interview at Blackstone’s London offices. The show should appeal to visitors because “what people are really looking for is objects or sources of energy for spiritual nurturing.”

Studzinski in May 2007 pledged 5 million pounds ($8 million) to Tate Modern for its new extension. Besides one-off gifts and sponsorships, he spends about 1 million pounds a year nurturing young art in the U.K. via donations to institutions including the Royal Court Theatre and the Young Vic theater.

He regularly commissions religiously inspired music. Last week, three choral compositions funded by his Genesis Foundation were performed by Harry Christophers and the Sixteen at St. James’s Church in London.

Riverside Mansion

Studzinski, 55, is also a collector, with a mix of old masters and modern and contemporary art in his Chelsea riverside mansion. The banker said he is selling “several items” at Sotheby’s next week.

“I buy and sell art in the ordinary course of managing my collection, setting money aside for charity, and funding my new art purchases,” Studzinski said. He would not give any details of the art going on sale.