Silver-gilt, Spain, León, ca.1540, possibly mark of Llorente Rodríguez.

Chalice consisting of a bowl, stem and foot. The plain bowl sits in an openwork cage (calyx) embossed with cherubs, skulls and animal heads. The stem is decorated with acanthus leaves with a protruding vase-shaped knop in the middle. The round foot is embossed with satyrs, foliage, animal heads and two shields.

Dr W.L. Hildburgh Bequest

The attribution to Leonese goldsmith Llorente Rodríguez was tentatively made in 1989 by Rafael Munoa (see Metalwork Object file), but although he published the marks on this chalice in his 1992 work (with Alejandro Fernández and Jorge Rabasco) on Spanish silver marks, he did not confirm this identification in print.

The Spanish Church
The Catholic church dominated public and private life in Spain. Money and labour were lavished on religious art and images played a central role in daily worship. To ensure that goldsmiths focused on work for the crown and the church, the authorities brought in a series of sumptuary laws that limited the secular display of gems and precious metals.

By 1550 the silver mines in Peru and Mexico were generating enormous wealth for Spain and feeding the traditional taste for massive silver forms. They included the custodia, a towering architectural canopy that was unique to Spain. It was paraded through parishes during the Corpus Christi festival to display the Sacred Host (consecrated bread). The custodia embodied many characteristics of Spanish church plate. It was sculptural, highly visible and richly imaginative in design.

With the Counter Reformation, Spain became a triumphant defender of a revitalised Catholic faith. Silver altar vessels and entire altars, processional crosses, custodias and sanctuary lamps frequently appeared in goldsmiths’ contracts.

The chalice is one of the most important vessels of the Roman Catholic church. It contains the wine consecrated by the priest during the service of Mass. In Catholic belief the wine miraculously transforms into the blood of Christ during this service, so chalices were usually made from precious metals to reflect the precious status of their contents.

In the 16th century, Spanish goldsmiths were very inventive in their designs for church silver. They often combined religious symbols and images with fashionable secular ornament, such as one might find on domestic vessels like ewers or dishes. On the foot of this chalice from León, fantastical creatures flank two coats of arms depicting the crown of thorns and the five wounds endured by Christ when on the Cross. The skulls on the bowl allude to Golgotha (Hebrew for 'the place of the skull'), the site of Christ's Crucifixion.

M.165-1956