Rare brass oval reliquary containing relic of Saint Valentinae ( San Valentin )

Rare brass oval reliquary containing relic of Saint Valentinae ( San Valentin )

Italy early 1900s

Size: 4.5 cm L x 3 cm W

Saint Valentine was a 3rd-century Roman saint, commemorated in Western Christianity on February 14 and in Eastern Orthodoxy on July 6. From the High Middle Ages, his feast day has been associated with a tradition of courtly love. He is also a patron saint of Terni, epilepsy, and beekeepers. Saint Valentine was a clergyman – either a priest or a bishop – in the Roman Empire who ministered to persecuted Christians. He was martyred and his body buried on the Via Flaminia on February 14, which has been observed as the Feast of Saint Valentine (Saint Valentine's Day) since at least the eighth century.