Medieval Silver-Gilt Lamb of God Pilgrim's Badge

Rectangular body with triangular arch to the upper edge; gilt finish to gesso-covered board and stepped frame; facing bust with pounced nimbus framing the grey-haired tonsured head, with short beard; dark brown monastic habit with hood over a grey undertunic visible at the cuff; both hands supporting a red-covered book; Sienna School, label to reverse: 'Firenze Sept,1935 Ecole Siennoise. No.934. A.K.K.K'. 3.6 kg, 69.5 cm high



Private collection, Geneva, formed in the 1980s; thence by descent. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.13513-262847.

One of the earliest known portraits of the saint was painted by Cimabue while he was working on the frescoes at the Basilica of Assisi. Executed on a wooden panel, tradition holds that this board originally served as the lid for the humble wooden coffin in which Saint Francis was laid to rest immediately after his death. Over the centuries, the depiction of the saint was refined by masters like Giotto and other prominent Medieval and Renaissance artists, including the Master of Paciano, Taddeo di Bartolo, Benozzo Gozzoli, and Niccolò di Liberatore. Together, their works offer a focused yet deeply evocative journey, tracing how the saint’s image evolved alongside his rapidly growing cult. This artistic legacy is closely intertwined with the influential Sienese school of painting.

Heater-shaped with pierced lug handle, shield with facing stag's head and cross potent, legend 'LEL SV' for 'I am loyal' above; supplied with an impression. 7.02 grams, 20 mm



Found Romney Marsh area, Kent, 1990-2015. Property of a Kent gentleman, a specialist medieval collector.

The cross between the stag’s antlers is a reference to the vision of St Eustace (and also St. Hubert) of the crucifix between the antlers of the stag he was hunting. A seal of identical design was appended to a document preserved in the National Archive by Robert de Clifford in 1311 [PRO 23/5716].

Group of four quatrefoil plaques, each with a hole at the end of each arm for attachment; champ-levé enamelled images of the symbols of the evangelists: angel, ox, and lion, one with an image of a pelican piercing her side with her own beak, symbolising Christ's Passion; each with a looped and draped band, the angel holding a banner with a legend 'marcus' in bastarda script. 27.49 grams total, 48-50 mm



Galerie Ratton Ladriere, 2021. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.13470-262833.

Processional crosses in late medieval Catalonia were richly decorated with gilt silver and basse-taillle plaques. In terms of the typology of Catalan crosses in the later Middle Ages, the present work was part of a 'cruz flordelisada' (cross adorned with a fleur-de-lis), which was a Catalan fashion in the 14th and 15th centuries, and which was used in Christian processions.