Collection Online as of September 29, 2023

Pyx

c.1300

Part of a set. See all set records

Austria, probably Salzburg, 14th century

Silver and gilt silver

Diameter: 4.8 x 7.8 cm (1 7/8 x 3 1/16 in.)

Gift of the John B. Putnam Foundation 1970.125

Location

109 Gothic Painting and Sculpture

Description

A pyx is a container designed to hold the consecrated Eucharist wafers between masses. It was probably used by the clergy to administer communion to the sick and dying; its small size made it easily portable. The decoration relates to similar liturgical objects made in the ecclesiastical and artistic center of Salzburg for the cathedral treasury of that city.

Provenance

Franz Trau, Vienna; (Blumka Gallery, Inc.).

Exhibition history

Year in Review: 1970. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 10-March 7, 1971).

Eucharistic Vessels. Fogg Art Museum/Harvard University, Cambridge, MA (organizer) (March 14-April 26, 1975).

Transformations of the Court Style: Gothic Art in Europe, 1270 - 1330. Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI (February 2-27, 1977).