Beschreibung:

A SPANISH OR SPANISH COLONIAL DIAMOND AND GOLD RELIQUARY PENDANT OF THE ORDER OF SANTIAGO of scallop shell form, the ribs set with a radiating pattern of rectangular-cut diamonds below an applied cross of the Order (formerly enamelled red), with diamond-set suspension loop and relic compartment at the back (few stones and the hinged cover now missing), circa 1650 1 1/8in. (2.8cm.) overall height The Order of Santiago was founded in 10th Century Spain to protect the true faith against the Moors, and with the Order of the Inquisition, the Order of Alcantara and the Order of Montesa was one of Spain's most important Christian military Orders. Based on the legend of Saint James of the Sword, whose pilgrimage church is at Compostela in north west Spain, the Order of Santiago features the scallop shell or pilgrims' badge with a fleur-de-lys cross whose central sword-shaped stem impales a heart. In the early 17th Century Philip II decreed that ministers of the Holy Inquisition should wear their insignia in public and soon loyal supporters of other Orders wore their badges or 'veneras' such as the above. To show the popularity of this Order, two designs for the scallop-shaped badge dated 1586 and 1671 appear in the apprentice goldsmiths' design books (Llibres de Passanties) in Barcelona. Another example of such a 'venera' recovered from Nuestra Señora de Atocha was decorated on its shell-shaped interior with gold stars on a blue enamel ground (see R. Duncan Mathewson III, Treasures of the Atocha, 1986, p. C-29). Of the passengers aboard the Maravillas it is known that one, Don Mathias de Orellana, was a knight of the Order of Santiago