Medal

They are two solid, circular plaques with engraved decoration; on one side, Virgin crowned and nimbus, holding in her right arm the naked Child, and with glory. Also on a background of rays. The other plate has the image of Saint Sebastian tied to a thick tree trunk, with his head inclined towards the right shoulder and his body with three arrows; to the left a pine tree. The two plates are framed by a twelve-millimetre thick case with a cord composed of a spiral of silver ribbon decorated on the axes with four-petalled flowers (three of which are now lost). \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 was later 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 of views; in Zamarramala (Segovia), where it adorns the necklaces of the mayoress; in the so-called "collaradas leonesas", etc.