Saint Spyridon was born towards the end of the third century on the island of Cyprus. He appears in the 4th century writings Rufinus of Aquileia. He was a shepherd and is traditionally depicted wearing the ‘beehive’ shepherd’s hat of antiquity. He became a bishop and in 325 attended the Council in Nicea. He died on Cyprus in 348 where his relics were kept for over three hundred years. Following an Arab raid in the seventh century; the saint’s embalmed body was carried to Constantinople, where it was kept until the fall of the city to the Turks in 1453. In 1456 it was taken to Corfu where it is venerated to this day and of which island he is patron. The relics are shown in procession on five different festivals during the year.

The popular cult of Spyridon is developed in the second half of the 15th century and later which partly explains why there are so few early examples.