Beautiful silver Devotional medallion pendant with Christ bound by hand, carved in ivory.

Beautiful silver Devotional medallion pendant with Christ bound by hand, carved in ivory.

Mexico end of 18th century

Size:

As L. Arbeteta points out, reliquary medallions, devotional medals and plaques, along with crosses, were highly valued by devotees in Spain and, by extension, in the Spanish Indies. The popular term "reliquary" corresponds more closely to the generic term "medallion," which is still defined in the Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy as a jewel in the form of a small, flat box where portraits, paintings, or other objects are usually placed as a memento.

Therefore, medallions may or may not contain relics. When the illuminations they contain are of a devotional nature, they are called reliquaries by extension. This can lead to confusion with true reliquaries, which are defined by the sacred remains they contain, whether authentic or not. The use of both terms serves to remind us that they are essentially medallions for personal use, as well as objects of devotional significance.

A fairly common type of medallion in jewelry from New Spain and Mexico since the 17th century is the elliptical medallion with windows on the front and back and a silver or gilt mounting frame with a ring at its upper end for attaching and suspending it, either perpendicularly or not, to the frame.

Pieces of beveled, octagonal, or plain glass are inserted into the large oval windows. Due to their hardness and resistance, which ensured the preservation of venerated relics, rock crystal medallions were widely used for this purpose. Their transparency allowed the illuminations or relics kept inside to be seen. This type of glass was commonly imported to Spain from Milanese workshops, while its use in colonial Mexico dates back to pre-Hispanic times.