Italian school of the XVIII century, Luigi Valadier's workshop.

Italian school of the XVIII century, workshop of LUIGI VALADIER (Rome, 1726 - 1785).
Reliquary.
In silver and gilded bronze.
Provenance: Private collection in Mexico until 2003, later passed to another private collection. Although it is not known precisely how this Roman piece reached the New Spain, there are indications that point to direct connections between Valadier's workshop and the Spanish-American world. In this sense, the Diario Ordinario de Chracas reported on January 10, 1767 the news of a sumptuous bejeweled monstrance made by Valadier for one of the main churches of Mexico, eloquent testimony of the international projection of his workshop and the prestige achieved by his creations in the devotional context of the 18th century.
Measurements: 80 x 29 x 15 cm.

In the context of the Catholic religiosity of the 18th century, the reliquaries were destined to guard and exhibit sacred relics, bone fragments, cloths or elements associated with saints, fulfilling a central function in the Catholic devotional practice. Conceived for both altars and private oratories, these objects combined spiritual value and artistic ostentation, allowing the visual veneration of relics through carefully arranged glazed compartments. Their complex iconography, with figures of saints, cherubs and symbols of martyrdom, reinforced the sacred character of the ensemble, while the richness of materials such as gilded bronze and silver reflected the prestige of the patron and the importance of the cult, in a context marked by the reaffirmation of religiosity after the Council of Trent, which promoted the use of images and relics as instruments of devotion and teaching.

This 18th century Roman reliquary, attributed to the workshop of Luigi Valadier, is a refined example of the technical excellence and formal inventiveness that characterized the production of one of the most outstanding late Baroque goldsmiths in Rome. Executed in gilded bronze, silver, gilded iron and other metals, and integrated with glass and fabric elements, it features several glazed compartments intended to house relics, each accompanied by delicate handwritten labels.

The structure of the reliquary derives from a design preserved in the Museo Civico in Faenza, which confirms its close connection with the formal repertoire of Valadier's workshop. The piece follows this model with remarkable fidelity, although it introduces significant variations that respond to the usual practices of the Roman workshop, where the designs were adapted to the specific requirements of each client. Thus, as opposed to the single compartment foreseen in the original drawing, the present example develops a more complex solution with three glazed spaces, separated by stylized palm trees that vertically articulate the composition.

On both sides of the shaft there are two reclining female figures, identifiable as saints by their attributes of an anchor and a cross and accompanied by palm trees, symbols of martyrdom. These figures, together with the feet in volutes, the ornamental garlands and the presence of putti and cherubs of dynamic and playful character, closely reproduce the decorative language characteristic of the workshop. The quality of the modeling and the richness of the ornamental program find particularly close parallels in documented works by Valadier, such as the gold tabernacle made around 1771 for the Treasury of the Cathedral of Seville, whose base presents a similar articulation by means of crown or garland moldings.

From a compositional point of view, the reliquary is also related to designs of monstrances disseminated in treatises and compiled by scholars such as Alvaro González-Palacios, showing the circulation of models within the Roman sphere. Particularly significant is the alternation of matte and burnished surfaces in the draperies of the figures and in the silver elements, a technical resource distinctive of Valadier's production that contributes to intensifying the effects of light and to endowing the whole with a vibrant visual richness.