Oval glass-fronted silver reliquary theca housing significant first class ex ossibus (from the bone) relic of the Blessed Giovanni Colombini. The relic is affixed to a silk background decorated by gilt paperolle and silver cord ornamentation and identified on a fancy bi-color manuscript cedula as B. Joan, Colom, S. (Blessed Giovanni Colombini of Siena). On the back, the theca is secured with perfectly preserved seal of red Spanish wax bearing an imprint of a coat of arms of Tiberio Borghese (†1792), Archbishop of Siena (1772-1792). It is accompanied by original matching authentics document issued and hand signed by Fr. Borghese in 1791.
The Blessed Giovanni (John) Colombini (†1367) was an Italian founder of the Congregation of Jesuati initially called Clerici apostolici Sancti Hieronymi (Apostolic Clerics of Saint Jerome) because of a special veneration for St. Jerome and the apostolic life the founders led. Their occupations were to be the care of the sick, the burial of the dead, prayer, and strict mortification (including daily scourging). The order was abolished by Pope Clement IX in 1668.