Rare reliquary theca with Passion relic of the Holy Reed Cane of Jesus Christ

An oval crystal-fronted silver pendant reliquary theca housing rarely seen precious relic from the Reed Cane of Christ. The relic is displayed on the ground of gold silk and identified in Latin on an ornate manuscript cedula label as De Arundine D. N. Jesu. C. (from the Reed Cane of Our Lord Jesus Christ). On the back, the reliquary is secured by a perfectly preserved seal of red Spanish wax bearing an imprint with a coat of arms of the Archdiocese of Milan. 

The Reed Cane of Christ, also known as the Holy Reed, is a venerated relic from the Passion of Jesus. According to the Gospels, Roman soldiers mocked the bound Christ as “King of the Jews” by placing a crown of thorns on his head, dressing him in a purple robe, and thrusting a reed (or cane) into his hand as a mock scepter before striking him with it. Tradition holds that this simple stalk of giant reed (Arundo donax) was preserved by early Christians in Jerusalem. By the early medieval period, it had been transferred to Constantinople and housed among other Passion relics in the Church of the Virgin of the Pharos within the Great Palace. There, alongside the Crown of Thorns, purple mantle, and Holy Nail, it formed part of the imperial collection of sacred objects. After the Fourth Crusade and the Latin Empire of Constantinople (1204), many relics were dispersed. The Reed Cane, like others, was venerated in Western Europe; fragments or references appear in medieval inventories.