Italian - Monstrance of Thadea Petrucci - Walters 5351

An inscription around the stem of this fourteenth-century reliquary from Florence celebrates "Mistress Thadea Petrucci," who had the receptacle made "for the salvation of her dead." Thadea's gift, made during a period dominated by the experience of the Black Death (1347-1351) poignantly demonstrates the redemptive value attributed to such offerings. Contributing to the beauty of the Lord's temple was a way to gain God's benevolence at the time judgment. Here, the act of giving is sanctioned by the patron.