Anonymous, 13th-14th century. Travel Icon (Bronze, 53x53 mm, 132.56 g). O A Π/AN/T/Є-Λ/ЄH/M/O/N Facing, half-length bust of Saint Panteleimon wearing nimbus and holding medical instruments; all in square decorated border. Rev. Blank. A beautiful and artistic representation of the patron saint of doctors and midwives. Good very fine.

According to his hagiography, Pantaleon was the son of a pagan father and a Christian mother, living in Nicomedia at the end of the 3rd century. After the death of his mother, he distanced himself from the Christian church, going on to study medicine and becoming a renowned doctor and the personal physician of the emperor Galerius. After rediscovering his faith in Christ, some envious colleagues reported him to Diocletian, who wished to save him, and tried to persuade him to declare apostasy. Pantaleon refused and healed a paralytic as proof that Christ was the true God. He was condemned to death, but no amount of tortures or kind of execution methods seemed able to kill him. Eventually he was beheaded, but beforehand the saint asked God to forgive his executioners, earning him the name “all-compassionate”. The worship of Saint Pantaleon is attested since the fifth century, and as the patron saint of doctors and midwives he became one of the most beloved and venerated saints in the Christian world. This exceptional bronze plaque, which was cast and engraved, likely served as an icon intended for personal use, perhaps during travel. Its style and palaeography dates it to Palaeologan times