Pilgrim's Badge of the Trinity

Description Lead badges such as this one were purchased by pilgrims as mementos of holy sites they had visited. The tokens could also be infused with sanctity through being blessed or touched to a shrine. Originally there were loops at top and bottom for the pilgrim to sew the badges onto a hat or cloak. This example represents the Trinity, with God the Father supporting the Crucified Christ.

Exhibitions

• Illuminated Manuscripts: Masterpieces in Miniature. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1984-1985.
• Treasures of Heaven. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland; The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; The British Museum, London. 2010-2011.

Provenance Piero Tozzi, New York [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, September 19, 1945, by purchase.

Credit Museum purchase with funds provided by the S. & A.P. Fund, 1945