Medal

Slightly oval sheet, with a frame composed of a zig-zag ribbon, cordondillo and eight cast iron fleurons, the upper one perforated to serve as a handle. Part of the frame and one of the finials are missing. On both sides of the plate there is an engraved border with alternating motifs of dots and groups of three lines, a decoration reminiscent of the enamelled ribbons that some patens from the early 16th century still have today. Traces of gilding can be seen throughout the jewellery. \The themes that appear in the field are repeated with some frequency in the patens. On one side, a wide border of rays and flames, standing out against the striped background, frames a very worn half-bulk figure, which could be interpreted as the Apocalyptic Virgin, due to the type of rays that frame it, although in reality it is a Virgin and Child. In the other, the central motif is a cross, in which the grain of the wood is suggested, with an image of a bulk image superimposed on it; at the base, Mount Golgotha is represented with three mountains. The iconography of the Crucifixion is completed with the Armi Christi or instruments of the Passion, a subject of medieval origin and popular character to which thaumaturgic powers have been attributed for several centuries: here we find the three nails, the tongs, the scourging rods, the ladder and the lance of the transfixion. Although the artist's intention to suggest volume is evident, the burin work is clumsy. \In the 14th century, the Arcipestre de Hita refers to certain pectoral jewels that, with the names of broncha and pancha, seem to be related to the piece that later became known as patena due to its formal similarity with the homonymous piece belonging to the liturgical trousseau. As shown by the fact that in the inventory of Isabel the Catholic's possessions there are several patens, it seems that during the 15th century these were the jewels of the nobility. On the other hand, in Los trabajos de Persiles y Segismunda (book 3, ch. 8) Cervantes implies in 1617 that the paten was already a common piece among villainous people: `Vieron venir...doncellas, sobre el mismo sol hermosas, vestidas a lo villano, llenas de sartas y patenas los pechos` (They saw coming...maidens, on the same beautiful sun, dressed like villains, their breasts full of strings and patens). In a similar context of use, the definition of paten in the Diccionario de Autoridades (1726-1739) refers to a large plate or medal... that is used for adornment by the farmwomen. \In the same way that other jewels, the paten has fossilized in different places of the Castilian-Leonese area always associated with the popular clothing, so that it has become part of the list of Spanish popular jewels: in La Alberca (Salamanca), where it is carried hanging from a large lap that adorns the costume; in Zamarramala (Segovia), where it adorns the necklaces of the mayoress; in the so-called collaradas leonesas, etc.