Reliquary theca with relics of St. Peter & St. Paul, Princes of the Apostles

Oval glass-fronted brass reliquary theca housing the first-class ex ossibus (of the bone) relics of two Apostles: Saint Peter and Saint Paul. The relics are affixed to a red silk ground surrounded by silver wire decoration and identified in Latin on typeset cedulae labels as S. Petri Apos. / S. Pauli. Apos. (Saint Peter, Apostle / Saint Paul, Apostle). On the back, under the protective cap, the theca is secured with a seal of red Spanish wax bearing an imprint of a coat of arms of an unidentified Roman Catholic Bishop.

Saint Peter († between AD 64 and 68), was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ, leaders of the early Christian Church. He is also venerated as the "Apostle of the Apostles" and the first pope of the Roman Catholic Church, ordained by Jesus in the "Rock of My Church" dialogue in Matthew 16:18. The Christian churches all venerate Peter as a major saint and associate him with founding the Church of Antioch and later the Church in Rome. The Roman Martyrology assigns 29 June as the feast day of both Apostles Peter and Paul.

Saint Paul († AD 67), was an Apostle who taught the gospel of Christ to the first-century world and is generally considered one of the most important figures of the Apostolic Age founding several churches in Asia Minor and Europe.