Theca with relic of Saint Venantius of Camerino

Oval glass-fronted silver reliquary theca housing ex ossibus (of the bone) relic of Saint Venantius of Camerino. The theca is decorated with a twisted wire oranmentation and the relic is identified on a paper cedula as S. Vernatii M(artyr).The theca is secured on the back with a seal of red Spanish wax with inprint of a coat of arms of a Bishop of Camerino.

Saint Venantius of Camerino († ca. 251) is the patron saint of Camerino, Italy. Christian tradition holds that he was a 15-year-old who was tortured, and martyred by decapitation at Camerino during the persecutions of Decius. In the 17th century, Pope Clement X, who was a former bishop of Camerino, further contributed to the spread of his cult: he raised the saint's feast to the level of a double rite and composed hymns for Venantius' office. In the General Roman Calendar he has a third-class feast on 18 May.