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Home>Medieval Metalworks and Enamels

# Medieval Metalworks and Enamels

**Overview**Each of the object types on this tour originally served sacred purposes. The Chalice of Abbot Suger, the Spanish ciborium, and the dove-shaped pyx were each associated with the celebration of the liturgy; the reliquary châsse formed a miniature "tomb" for the relic of a saint; the morse was a fastener for ecclesiastical garb; and the crucifix served as an object of devotion that could be inserted into a staff for processional use. The two aquamanile, or pitchers in animal or human forms, were used for either liturgical or secular handwashing.

**Mosan 13th Century** or **North French 13th Century**, *Aquamanile in the Form of a Lion*, c. 1200, bronze with traces of gilding, 13.8 x 17.5 x 7 cm, Widener Collection, 1942.9.281

This chalice, a vessel to hold wine for Mass, is one of the most splendid treasures from the Middle Ages. Acquired by Abbot Suger for the French royal abbey of Saint-Denis, near Paris, the stone cup was set in gold and probably used in the consecration ceremony for the new altar chapels of the church on 11 June 1144.Suger, abbot of Saint-Denis from 1122 to 1151, was not only a Benedictine monk but also a brilliant administrator who served as regent of France during the Second Crusade. With objects such as this chalice and the abbey's new Gothic architecture, he aimed to create a vision of paradise on earth that would awe beholders. In his writings, Suger equated Divine Light with the real light shimmering through stained glass and glistening from gems.The cup incorporated in Abbot Suger's chalice was carved from sardonyx, probably in Alexandria, Egypt during the second to first centuries B.C. Suger's goldsmiths mounted the cup in a gold and silver setting with delicate gold-wire filigree and adorned it with gems. On the foot, a medallion depicts the haloed Christ, flanked by the Greek letters signifying: "I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End."

**French 12th Century (cup Alexandrian 2nd/1st Century B.C.)**, *Chalice of the Abbot Suger of Saint-Denis*, 2nd/1st century B.C. (cup), 1137-1140 (mounting), sardonyx cup with heavily gilded silver mounting, adorned with filigrees set with stones, pearls, glass insets, and opaque white glass pearls, 18.4 x 12.4 cm, Widener Collection, 1942.9.277

**Rhenish 12th Century** or **Mosan 12th Century**, *Crucifix*, c. 1150/1175, gilded copper alloy with champlevé enamel, one jasper stone, and glass, 28.9 x 20.8 cm, Widener Collection, 1942.9.282

**French 12th Century**, *Reliquary Châsse*, c. 1175/1180, champlevé enamel on gilded copper with oak core, 19.1 x 26.7 x 11.5 cm, Widener Collection, 1942.9.278

**Mosan 13th Century** or **North French 13th Century**, *Aquamanile in the Form of a Lion*, c. 1200, bronze with traces of gilding, 13.8 x 17.5 x 7 cm, Widener Collection, 1942.9.281

**English 13th Century** or **Scandinavian 13th Century**, *Aquamanile in the Form of a Horseman*, 13th century, bronze, overall: 28.5 x 35.5 x 15.3 cm, Widener Collection, 1942.9.280

**French 13th Century**, *Pyx in the Form of a Dove*, c. 1220/1230, gilded copper with enamel, 18.2 x 22.6 x 19.1 cm, Widener Collection, 1942.9.284

**Spanish 14th Century**, *Ciborium*, c. 1330/1350, gilded copper and champlevé enamel, 36.1 x 17.7 cm, Widener Collection, 1942.9.279

**French 15th Century (setting western European late 19th Century)**, *Morse with the Trinity*, c. 1400/1410 (Trinity and Angels), 1884/1897 (setting), gold, enamel, and pearls, 12.6 x 5.9 cm, Widener Collection, 1942.9.287

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