DEVOTIONAL SILVER PENDANT. 17-18TH CENTURIES.

reliquary cross. Silver, clear glass. 17th-18th century Devotional pendant made of silver and in the shape of a Latin cross, decorated on the outside with simple scrolls, spikes, pearls and other classicist-inspired elements, as well as a ring to wear the jewel around the neck. The front has seven oval holes (the one located where the larger arms cross) protected with transparent glass; the back is smooth, with the material in its color. Typologically, there are similar examples of Portuguese origin, made of rock crystal and protected by silver bands, without scrolls and other decorations, dated between the 16th and 17th centuries, kept in separate private collections. This jewel shows profiles with much more movement than these two, although the motifs and the simplicity of the lines respond to classicist influences. This type of jewelry was of great value to its owners, both for the materials in which it was made and for its content, considered sacred and protective. Despite this high value (or precisely because of it), few examples of good quality and in a good state of conservation have come down to us. There are medallions similar to the present only in some important institutions such as the Valencia de Don Juan Foundation in Madrid, the National Museum of Decorative Arts (Madrid), the Lázaro Galdiano (Madrid), the Museum of Beliefs and Popular Religiosity of the Aragonese Pyrenees (Abizanda, Huesca), the Metropolitan Museum (New York), etc. And in prominent religious institutions such as the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela or the Convent of the Descalzas Reales in Madrid.

· Size: 6,5x10 cms.