Oval glass-fronted brass pendant reliquary theca housing a precious first-class ex ossibus (of the bone) relic of Saint Francis Borgia. The relic is affixed to a ground of red-colored silk, surrounded by gilt paperole and silver wire paper ornamentation, and identified in Latin on a manuscript cedula label as S. Franci. Borg. (Saint Francis Borgia). On the back, 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 Francis Borgia, S.J., 4th Duke of Gandía (Francisco de Borja) (†1572) was a great-grandson of Pope Alexander VI, a Grandee of Spain, a Spanish Jesuit, and third Superior General of the Society of Jesus. He was canonized on 20 June 1670 by Pope Clement X. His feast is commemorated on October 10 and he is venerated against earthquakes and a patron saint of Portugal.