RELIQUARY PENDANT. BRONZE, ENAMEL. 17TH
Antiques -
Reference: ZF0817
Reliquary pendant with cross of Saint Dominic. Gilt bronze, enamels. 17th century. Octagonal gilt bronze pendant with openings on the two smaller fronts and in the central part, decorated on the outside with smooth stepped mouldings and, on the front parts, with the black and white cross with fleur-de-lis edges of the Order of Preachers (Saint Dominic) and, on the other side, only the gilding. When opened on the central part, a protected image of a Dominican saint is revealed with its corresponding relic highlighted in an oval at the bottom. There are reliquaries or devotional pendants with openings from the Byzantine period, and they are usually in the form of a cross or a book. Later, we have examples such as the book-shaped pendant from around 1600 in the Courtauld Gallery in London, with painted glass panels in a gilded silver frame; more striking works are the Spanish pendant from around 1550-1600 in the British Museum in London (WB. 183); other somewhat simpler works such as those made of silver containing 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 surely have been used by an important official within the Order of Preachers, both because of the material and because it contained 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.
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