Window locket; 18th century

Window reliquary; 18th century.
Silver in its colour, paper, ink, textile and bone fragments.
It preserves relics of Saint Anthony Abbot and Saint Peter Martyr.
It is in a good state of preservation.
Measurements: 8.3 x 3.2 x 1 cm.
Eighteenth-century window reliquary with a silver structure with a shaft that supports the main oval body. This body, which is used to preserve the relics, is mounted in silver with a serrated frame and a cross-shaped top. Inside, cartouches indicate that one side holds the relics of Saint Anthony Abbot, while the other side holds the relics of Saint Peter Martin.
The use of reliquaries became an important part of Christian practice from at least the 4th century, initially in the Eastern Churches, which adopted the practice of transferring and dividing the bodies of saints long before the West, probably in part because the new capital of Constantinople, unlike Rome, lacked buried saints. Reliquaries provide a means of protecting and displaying relics and over the years have acquired a variety of shapes and designs. Reliquaries of this type were very common from the Gothic period onwards. It should be remembered, however, that at that time virtually anything that had been in contact with the saint or his mortal remains (cloths, burial soil, etc.) was considered to be a holy relic. The best examples were made of precious metals.