Copper-gilt set with enamel and coral, Sicily, Trapani workshop, mid 17th century

Hexagonal shaped shrine, with statuettes, the frame with openwork palmettes and white enamel, set with coral cherubs and rosettes.

Bequeathed by Dr W.L. Hildburgh FSA

Private Devotion
The objects in this display are of two kinds. They include pieces made for use in private chapels, such as plate and shrines, as well as personal objects like reliquaries and jewels used in private devotions. It was mainly the great houses, like Chatsworth, Hatfield and Arundel Castle, that had a private chapel. They held services for the family, their guests and servants and had their own altar plate. Many of the objects made for private chapels were similar to those made for parish churches.

Jewelled religious objects are used as an aid to prayer and were found in a much wider social context. Reliquary pendants act as a focus for devotion through the relics or images of saints they contain, while the rosary provides a discipline and structure for private prayer. Such pieces are often treasured personal possessions, passed down through generations.

Small shrines of gilt metal and coral were a speciality of Trapani in West Sicily and were made for use in both the home and church. The central figure here is probably St Rosalia, patron saint of Palermo, flanked by St Anthony of Padua and a female martyr.

M.157-1956