Given the pendant’s design, it is likely that the contents were initially believed to be a fragment of the True Cross, which Saint Helena discovered during her 326–328 A.D. pilgrimage to the Holy Land, according to legend.
It is common to see Helena clutching the cross. The back side features a carved heart that represents Christ’s five wounds, as well as a real rain of blood droplets cascading over and out of four incisions.
The names of the Three Wise Men—Iaspar (Caspar), Melcior (Melchiore), and Baltasar (Balthazar)—are written in a beautiful Lombardic script on three sides of the pendant.
The flowering tendrils on the fourth side resemble those on Helena’s sides.
Because the pendant measures 1.3 inches long and 1 inch wide, its elaborate ornamentation is even more unique and challenging to create.
