’Drink ye all of it’ - A selection from the liturgical chalices of the Museum of Applied Arts in Budapest
The quote in the title comes from the Gospel of Matthew (Mat. 26:27b). With these words, Jesus offered the chalice full of wine to the disciples eating with him at the Last Supper after he had blessed the bread. With his blessings, he had designated the bread to be his body and the wine his blood. Through this act, he established the most important sacrament of Christianity, the Eucharist. To the present day, every Eucharistic feast (whether called the Divine Liturgy or the Holy Mass) is organized around these “foundational words,” since even the early church considered the blessed bread and wine to be the truest form in which Jesus appears amongst his followers.
The form and materials of the vessels holding the food and drink necessary for the Eucharistic feast (a plate and a cup/chalice) have changed greatly over the centuries. Differing forms and customs related to them have been adopted by the various Christian denominations, and these often indicate the differences in their theological ideas about the Eucharist. The objects displayed here, with the exceptions of one Orthodox and one Greek Catholic chalice, essentially represent without exception a half a millennium of Roman Catholic tradition from the Late Gothic period to Modernism. During this time, only the design of the chalices provided an opportunity to create diverse works from an artistic standpoint within the Catholic tradition. The paten (plate) on the other hand remained very simple, as the strict liturgical rules paid mindful attention to the reverence owed to the Eucharistic bread (wafer) and every morsel of it.
Geographically, the selection includes works of fine metal coming from the central European region taken in the broader sense. A significant proportion comes from Hungary and Transylvania, and it can be presumed that even the majority of the foreign objects were (also) used in our country.
Interested visitors can find several chalices that are pieces of outstanding significance in terms of this type of object. At the same time, we are also presenting chalices that are simpler and more modest and have never before been included in an exhibition. For those who immerse themselves in the written descriptions of the works as well as their photographs, numerous new scholarly findings that have not yet been published have been provided.
We also honor the 52nd International Eucharistic Congress held in Budapest in September of 2021 with our selections.
by: Szilveszter Terdik, PhD
