Reliquary of Saint Sebastian
Author: Unknown
Date: 16th century, end
Material: White and gilt silver
Dimensions (cm): H 55 x W 22
Provenance: Guimarães, Colegiada de Nossa Senhora da Oliveira
Inventory No.: MAS O 23
This mannerist reliquary with anthropomorphic shape represents the Christian martyr from the 3rd century, Saint Sebastian. The saint, tied to the trunk of a tree, is represented at the moment of martyrdom, pierced by six arrows. He has the reliquary placed in his chest framed by a cartouche decorated with a rosary and motifs based on foliage.
This piece is due to Doctor Baltazar Vieira de Carvalho, native of Guimarães, who held the position of Criminal Magistrate in the court of Dom João III, and who left a certain amount of silver in his will for the manufacture of the image of the patron saint against the plague.
Very much worshipped in the 16th century, Saint Sebastian was the heavenly protector against one of the scourges of the time, the plague. On the saint’s feast day, 20 January, the small statue was taken around the outside of the town walls in procession, being customary at the end of the ceremony for the faithful to say an Our Father and a Hail Mary for the soul of Doctor Baltazar. This personage instituted an oratory in the Paços do Concelho with the Confraria do Espírito Santo to which he belonged, pledging certain goods for fulfilling various religious obligations and providing it with the necessary devotional objects.