RELIQUARY PENDANT. BRONZE, ENAMEL. 17TH

Reliquary pendant with cross of Saint Dominic. Gilt bronze, enamels. XVII century. Octagonal-shaped gilded bronze pendant with openings on the two smaller fronts and in the central part, decorated on the outside with smooth stepped moldings and, on the front parts, with the black and white cross with flordelised ends of the Order of Preachers (Saint Domingo) and, on the other hand, only the gold. When opening in the central part, a protected image of a Dominican saint is discovered with its corresponding relic highlighted in an oval at the bottom. Reliquaries or devotional pendants with opening have been preserved since Byzantine times, being usually in the shape of a cross or a book. Later, we have an example such as the book-shaped pendant from around 1600 from the Courtauld Gallery in London, with painted glass panels on a gilded silver frame; The most striking works are the Spanish pendant from around 1550-1600 from the British Museum in London (WB. 183); others are somewhat simpler, such as those made of silver that contain miniature carvings of religious scenes (Museo del Traje, Madrid) in oval, circular, square, etc. shapes; and devotional medals without an easily visible opening that contain relics inside. The present example would have surely been used by an important position within the Order of Preachers both for the material and for the fact that it contains a relic with an image of the saint, and we must not forget its connection with the Inquisition in Spain. Weight: 80 grams.

· Size: 5x2x6.5 cms.