St Peter and St Paul

Part of a pilgrim badge from the shrines of St Peter and St Paul in Rome, Italy. The complete badge would have depicted St Peter and St Paul with an inscription around them saying ‘SIGNA APOSTOLORUM PETRI ET PAULI’ (meaning ‘Sign of the Apostles Peter and Paul’). Only the top-right corner survives on this fragment, with the figure of St Peter holding a long cross in his right hand, one of the keys to Heaven over his left shoulder and the beginning of the inscription (‘SIGNA APO’). The cross is a reference to St Peter’s martyrdom by crucifixion. Rome was one of the most important pilgrimage centres in Christendom. It took about 49 days to travel there from England.