Reliquary theca with relic of St. Ansanus, the Apostle of Siena

Oval glass-fronted silver reliquary theca housing the first-class ex ossibus (of the bone) relics of Saint Ansanus of Siena.  The relics are affixed to the ground of red silk, surrounded by gilt paperolle and silver wire ornamentation and identified in Latin on manuscript cedula label as S. Anissani Ep. (Saint Ansanus, Bishop). On the back, the theca is secured with a seal of red Spanish wax bearing an imprint of a coat of arms of Patriarch Domenico Giordani (†1781), Titular Archbishop of Nicomedia, Titular Patriarch of Antiochia (1766-1781), and Vicegerent of Rome, Italy (1759-1773).

Saint Ansanus (†304), called The Baptizer or The Apostle of Siena, is the patron saint of Siena. He was born of a noble Roman family and while still a child, was secretly baptized by his nurse and was secretly brought up as a Christian. Ansanus openly declared his Christian faith during the persecutions of Diocletian, when he was nineteen years old. According to tradition, St. Ansanus preached the Gospel in Bagnoregio and the church of Santa Maria delle Carceri outside the Alban Gate was said to have been built above the prison in which he was confined. Ansanus was scourged but survived this torture, as well as the next one: being thrown into a pot of boiling oil. He was then taken to the city of Siena as a prisoner. He managed to preach Christianity there and make many converts to this religion but eventually, he was decapitated by order of the Emperor Diocletian. He is venerated in Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches and his feast is celebrated on 1 December.