Reliquary theca with a relic of Saint Francis of Paula, founder of the Roman Catholic Order of Minims

Oval glass-fronted silver theca housing a relic of Saint Francis of Paola. The relic is affixed to a multicolored silk background surrounded by silver wire and gilt paperole ornamentation and identified on a manuscript cedula label as S. Franci. Paul.  On the back,  under a protective cap, the theca is secured by a seal of red Spanish wax with an imprint of a coat of arms of an unidentified Roman Catholic Bishop.

Saint Francis of Paola, O.M. (Francesco di Paola)(†1507) was an Italian mendicant friar and the founder of the Roman Catholic Order of Minims. The two major movements in this order were humility and non-violence. The word "Minim" refers to living as the smallest or least or embracing humility, simplicity, and plainness. The call to non-violence and the absence of cruelty was expressed through veganism and not doing harm to any creature. He is a patron saint of vegetarians, boatmen, mariners, and naval officers