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Basque Country. Gudari Medal or Rosary from the Spanish Civil War
Religious medal used by the gudaris, the Basque soldiers, during the Spanish Civil War as a protective object and as a Detente, intended to protect its wearer from enemy bullets. The piece is shaped as a ten-pointed star and bears, in relief on the obverse, the Tree of Gernika over a cross. The reverse is completely plain, while the upper section retains a pierced projection for attaching a ribbon and wearing it around the neck, beneath the uniform. According to the tradition associated with these pieces, their protective function was linked to the daily recitation of the rosary: the ten points around the perimeter served as a guide for reciting the ten Hail Marys corresponding to each mystery. The Basque Museum of Bilbao preserves an almost identical example, dated 1936–1939, and states that these medal-rosaries appear to have been manufactured in Bilbao.
Original Gudari rosary from the Spanish Civil War.
