In the medieval period, the bones and body parts of saints, as well as fragments of their possessions, were all known as relics. They were kept in a shrine, or in special containers called reliquaries whose design sometimes evoked the relic itself. Both shrines and reliquaries were lavishly decorated with gold, silver, enamels and precious stones.

This realistically modelled reliquary is now empty, but it probably once held a relic of the saint’s head. His name, San Gennaro, is inscribed on the frame of the moonstone on the head. St Januarius (as he is called in English) was a bishop of Benevento in southern Italy. He was martyred about 305 and his relics are housed mainly in Naples Cathedral.