A pair of rare gold mounted glass reliquaries
for St. Lucy and St. Agatha,

each with circular glass upper portion enclosing fragments of bone and hair and sealed by wax;
the reliquary for St. Agatha mounted in gold with rope twist border
and engraved ‘S. Agata’, sealed with wax stamp for Avignon;
the reliquary for St. Lucy sealed with gold and decorated with blue and red enamel inscribed
LVCIA + DE + SCA for Lucy of Siracusa (Syracuse),
the suspension chain with quatrefoil motif.

St. Lucy’s and St. Agatha’s fates were intertwined and so it is unsurprising that these two rare reliquaries have survived the centuries together.  St. Agatha was invoked against fire, earthquake and volcanic eruptions.  Born in 3rd century Sicily, the saint died under the persecution of Emperor Decius.  She underwent numerous tortures, and her breasts were cut off, but her wounds were later said to have been healed by the apostle Peter.  St. Lucy’s mother was healed at the shrine of St. Agatha, causing her to distribute her riches to the poor out of gratitude.  As a result she was denounced by her betrothed as a Christian.  She endured many tortures before her death and was said to have plucked her eyes out and sent them to her lover because he ceaselessly praised their beauty.  This association meant that she was invoked to cure diseases of the eye.

The reliquaries date from fourteenth-century Avignon, then the seat of the Papacy and later of the Anti Popes.  The wax seal of St. Agatha’s reliquary is open to show its stamp of authenticity; originally it may have been covered with gold, as with St. Lucy’s reliquary.  The Avignon Papacy lasted from 1309 until Pope Gregory XI returned to Rome in 1377.  After his death a year later and the election of the Italian Urban VI, hostility amongst the cardinals resulted in the Western Schism whereby a separate pope was elected and took up residence in Avignon.  Avignon Pope Benedict XIII (known as an Antipope) was elected in 1394 but was formally excommunicated in 1417.  He fled to Aragon, the only remaining area that recognised his authority, where he died in 1423.

Avignon, fourteenth century
An Aragon collection.

Reliquary for St Agatha 3.7 cm long
Reliquary for St Lucy 3.2 cm long