Reliquary Cross

This reliquary-cross, held up by a pair of intensely naturalistic crab claws, is associated with an episode in the life of St. Francis Xavier, when this Jesuit apostle was on a mission in the Malacca Islands. During a storm at sea, the saint lowered the cross he had with him under the waves, upon which the seas calmed themselves. However, the cross was lost. Some time later, when St. Francis was walking along the beach, a crab gave him back his cross, which the reliquary now preserves, as can be read on the reverse: "THIS HOLY CROSS IS THE SAME THAT THE CRAB BROUGHT TO THE BEACH TO ST. XAVIER". The piece belonged to College of Jesus in Coimbra.