This 17th-century silver pilgrim’s ring honors St. Francis Xavier, one of the most revered Catholic missionaries of the Counter-Reformation. Pilgrims visiting sites associated with his life and relics - perhaps his freakishly well-preserved body in Goa - would have sought spiritual blessings and divine protection. The man spread Christianity to distant lands, and although we find this kind of conversion questionable with cultural knowledge today, he did inspire deep devotion when this ring was made, c. 1680.
S FRANC XAVERT ORA PR NO
MATERIALS: silver
AGE: c. 1680
CONDITION: Very good - surface wear commensurate with age and use
SIZE: 7, cannot be resized