RELIQUARY PENDANT. SILVER, ENAMEL. 17TH CENTURY.

Reliquary pendant. Silver, enamel, textile. 17th century. A large, polygonal pendant with a silver frame decorated with small pearls of the same material at the corners of the edge, which has a ring at the top for hanging. One side features a textile background under a sheet of clear glass, likely intended to hold relics. The other side has a brightly colored enamel depicting the Virgin Mary in three-quarter view, holding the naked Christ Child in her arms, both figures silhouetted against a landscape background with classical architectural elements (a fluted column on a pedestal with moldings) and details of a natural landscape (thus linking the scene to the Rest on the Flight into Egypt; compare, for example, with works such as the Virgin and Child by Anton van Dyck in the Cerralbo Museum in Madrid, the oil painting in The Walters Art Museum, or the engraving by Paulus Pontius following models by Van Dyck – where the elements coincide in arrangement with those of the medallion). These types of jewelry have always been highly valued, both for the materials used in their creation and for their religious significance. Despite this (or perhaps because of it), few high-quality examples in good condition have survived, and they can only be found in important private collections and prominent museums such as the Valencia de Don Juan Foundation in Madrid, the National Museum of Decorative Arts in the same city, etc., or in historic religious centers like the Royal Convent of the Barefoot Nuns in Madrid.

· Size: 6,5x0.5x8 cms.