Chalice

This chalice has a round base with a profiled rim. There is a row of beads running around the concave section of this profile and an egg and dart pattern around the convex section. The upper section of the base, which rises in a conical manner, is covered in Late Renaissance ornamentation composed of acanthus leaves and ribbons. This motif also appears on the olive-shaped node – nodo a olive as it is called in the Italian literature – located between two profiled stem rings. The bowl of the cup is bell-shaped and gilded on the inside. Three marks that are hard to discern can be seen on the outer lip of the cup (including the monogram master’s mark twice). Three stamps can also be seen on the inner side of the base. The first is a “GB” monogram in a quatrefoil frame with six-pointed stars near the edges of the lobes. The second is a winged lion’s head in a round frame, which is clearly the city mark of Venice (cf. Rosenberg, Marc: Der Goldschmiede Merkzeichen, 4. Frankfurt am Main, 1928, 380, Nr. 7485.). The third stamp probably indicates the standard of the silver, but this cannot be clarified at the present time.

This type of chalice form was quite widespread in the area of the Venetian Republic starting from the second half of the 16th century all the way to the 19th century, which is evidenced by the relics from the diocese in this territory (cf. the Italian ecclesiastical cultural heritage database: https://beweb.chiesacattolica.it/benistorici/ ).

by Szilveszter Terdik