Combining precious metals, feathers, boxwood carvings, and rock crystal, this vessel stands out as one of the most complex works of sixteenth-century Mexican silversmithing. Long used by Indigenous artists and invested with sacred meaning, these materials were redeployed after the Conquest to create Christian objects, demonstrating an important level of local agency.
Chalices were an indispensable part of the Eucharistic ritual, during which the bread and wine are believed to transform into the body and blood of Christ, and great expenditure was often lavished on their creation. The cup is decorated with images of the Four Evangelists, while the hexagonal knop encloses carved wood figures of the twelve apostles set against shimmering feather backgrounds. The foot is decorated with chased medallions with scenes of the Passion, flanked by the four Doctors of the Church and the Four Evangelists. The glass-covered lobes contain additional micro-carvings of the Stations of the Cross. Although mostly deteriorated, the feathers once glistened with ambient light and motion, helping to channel the spirit of the divine.
Ilona Katzew
2024
