Reliquary Pendant. Silver, Enamel, Textile. 17th Century.

Reliquary pendant. Silver, enamel, textile. 17th century.
A large polygonal pendant with a silver frame in its colour decorated with small pearls of the same material located in the corners of the edge, which has a ring at the top so that it can be hung or carried. One of its fronts has a textile background under a sheet of transparent glass, probably designed to contain relics. The other has a brightly coloured enamel showing the Virgin Mary in three-quarters, with the naked Child Jesus in her arms and both figures cut out against a landscape background with classicist architectural elements (a column with a fluted shaft on a pedestal, with mouldings) and details of a natural landscape (thus linking the moment with the Rest on the Flight into Egypt; compare, also, with works such as the Virgin and Child by Anton van Dyck from the Cerralbo Museum in Madrid or the oil painting from The Walters Art Museum, or the engraving by Paulus Pontius following Van Dyck's models - where the elements coincide in arrangement with those of the medallion -, for example). This type of jewellery has always had great value, both for the materials used and for its religious content. Despite this (or perhaps because of this same appreciation) there are not many examples of quality and in good condition, and it is possible to find them only in important private collections and in outstanding museums such as the Fundación Valencia de Don Juan in Madrid, the Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas in the same city, etc., or old religious centres such as the Convent of the Descalzas Reales in Madrid. ·
Size: 6,5x0.5x8 cms