AN IMPORTANT ITALIAN ORMOLU AND SILVER CENTREPIECE, CIRCA 1640, PROBABLY A RELIQUARY BUST BASE | An important Italian ormolu and silver centrepiece, circa 1640, probably a reliquary bust base

oval shaped, on four ormolu crouching lion feet and four ormolu foliated paw feet, the silver body chased with scrolls on matted ground, with four escutcheons, the first one engraved with arms, the second one Hoc argenteum Sancti Aurelii Pauli MaRtYRIS Simulacrum, the third one Expio olmi Di nicolai Fonta^le Huius Basilicae Canonici leg ocofla tu fuit, the last one Anno salutis Humane Millesi Sexecentesi.o Quadrag.o Primo, with a later copper liner

In an over- all good condition, very interesting and large piece, very decorative
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The arms are those of the Fontanelli family, Marquess of Fubino, from Modena, who were famous at the Gonzaga court in Mantua in the 17th century. The dedication to Sancti Aurelii Pauli could indicate that this centerpiece was originally designed to support the reliquary bust of Saint Paul Aurelian (or Pol Aurelian). This young priest, son of a wealthy Gallo-Roman patrician living in Wales, saw in a dream the country beyond the seas he was ment to evangelize. He embarks with his twelve disciples for a destination he left to Providence. Off Brittany, he reached the island of Ouéssant where created the monastery of Lampaul. Sent to Paris by Count Withur, vassal of the King of the Franks, he was made bishop of Leon, under the name of Paulus Aurelianus. He fixed the residence of the bishopric in the city which became Saint Pol de Léon and died on 12 March 12 573.