Asset number
444731001
Description
Reliquary; champlevé enamel on copper; gilded and engraved; Martyrdom of St Valérie, patron saint of Limoges; oblong in shape, with gable top; removable front with triple lock; incidents of martyrdom seen on removable lid and on face of casket beneath, partly repetitions; on lid: proconsul Junius Silanus seated holding a sceptre; before him his servant Hortarius, executioner of the saint, struck by lightning while the saint, supported by an angel walks off with her head in her hands; beyond, still supported by angel, she kneels and offers her head to St Martial, who is dressed as a bishop and is celebrating Mass with an assistant; on casket itself the proconsul is seated with a sword-bearer behind him and is giving directions to Hortarius, who is leading the saint off to execution; final scene shows decapitation of witnessed by a crowd in a doorway, while a hand in benediction issues from a cloud over the head of the saint; on each end is an angel censing; on other half of top are four medallions containing two lions and two monstrous birds in gold on a background of light and dark blue enamel; on back of body are three medallions with similar birds on light blue ground; on the two panels of the front and ends, only the figures are enamelled, while the ground is gilded and covered with engraved scrolls; enamel colours are deep and pale blue, apple green and intense red; blue and green have shaded edges.
© The Trustees of the British Museum
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