The inscription around its base indicates that this chalice was made by Brother Bertinus in 1222. It is not known, however, where this accomplished goldsmith worked. The imaginary beasts swirling around the knop and the balanced proportions of the large round bowl and splayed foot typify North European style of the early thirteenth century.
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Title:Chalice
Artist:Brother Bertinus
Date:1222
Geography:Made in possibly Meuse Valley, Northern Europe
Culture:Northern European
Medium:Silver and silver gilt
Dimensions:Overall: 7 1/2 x 5 3/8 in. (19.1 x 13.7 cm)
Classification:Metalwork-Silver
Credit Line:The Cloisters Collection, 1947
Accession Number:47.101.30
Inscription: + AD . HOnORem . B[EATAE] . mARI[A]e . VIRGInIS . + . + F[RATER] . BeRTInVS . me . FeCIT + . + A[NN][superscript O] . MCCXXII (To the honor of the blessed Virgin Mary. Brother Bertinus made me in the year 1222)
Martin Hecksher, Vienna (sold 1898) ; his sale, Christie, Manson and Woods, London (May 4-6, 1898, no. 257) ; [ Durlacher Brothers, London (from 1898)] ; Sir Samuel Montagu, first Baron Swaythling 1832–1911, London (from at least 1901-sold 1924)) ; Swaythling Heirlooms sale, Christie, Manson and Woods, London (May 6-7, 1924, no. 71) ; [ Crichton Brothers, London (sold 1924)] ; William Randolph Hearst American, 1863–1951, New York and San Simeon (1924) ; [ Parish-Watson & Co. American, New York (sold 1938)] ; [ Brummer Gallery, Paris and New York (1938-1947) ]
Burlington Fine Arts Club. "Exhibition of a Collection of Silversmiths' Work of European Origin," 1901.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. "Arts of the Middle Ages: A Loan Exhibition," February 17–March 24, 1940.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Year 1200: A Centennial Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art," February 12–May 10, 1970.
Museum Schnütgen. "Ornamenta Ecclesiae: Kunst und Künstler der Romanik," March 7–June 9, 1985.
State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. "Dekorativno-Prikladnoe Iskusstvo ot Pozdnei Antichnosti do Pozdnei Gotiki," June–December 1989.
State Hermitage Museum, Leningrad. "Dekorativno-Prikladnoe Iskusstvo ot Pozdnei Antichnosti do Pozdnei Gotiki," February–July 1990.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "Hearst, the Collector," November 16, 2008–March 1, 2009.
Catalogue of the renowned Collection of Works of Art, chiefly of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries, formed by the late Martin Heckscher. London: Christie, Manson & Woods, May 4–6, 1898. no. 257, p. 50, ill. opp. p. 42.
Arts of the Middle Ages: A Loan Exhibition. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1940. no. 221, pp. 65–66, pl. XXXI.
Rorimer, James J. "A Treasury at the Cloisters." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 6, no. 9 (May 1948). p. 242.
Stoddard, Whitney S. Monastery and Cathedral in France: Medieval Architecture, Sculpture, Stained Glass, Manuscripts, the Art of the Church Treasuries. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1966. p. 383, fig. 426.
Kohlhaussen, Heinrich. Europäisches Kunsthandwerk: Volume 1, Vorromanik und Romanik. Frankfurt: Umschau-Verlag, 1969. no. 11, p. XXI.
Hoffmann, Konrad, ed. The Year 1200: A Centennial Exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 1. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1970. no. 127, pp. 123–124.
Deuchler, Florens. "The Cloisters: Ein Museum für mittelalterliche Kunst in New York." Du 32, no. 2 (1972). p. 115.
Howard, Kathleen, ed. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1983. no. 12, p. 364.
Legner, Anton, ed. Ornamenta Ecclesiae: Kunst und Künstler der Romanik. Vol. 1. Cologne: Museum Schnütgen, 1985. no. C37, pp. 405, 455, 457–58.
Pushkin Museum and State Hermitage Museum. Dekorativno-Prikladnoe Iskusstvo ot Pozdnei Antichnosti do Pozdnei Gotiki: Kratkii Katalog Vystavki. Moscow: Pushkin Museum, 1990. no. 26, pp. 11, 23.
State Hermitage Museum. Dekorativno-Prikladnoe Iskusstvo ot Pozdnei Antichnosti do Pozdnei Gotiki. St. Petersburg: State Hermitage Museum, 1990. no. 26, pp. 58–59.
Howard, Kathleen, ed. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. 2nd ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1994. no. 12, p. 397.
Franco Mata, Ángela. "Arte 1200: iconografía y función de los 'Ornamenta ecclesiae' hispánicos." In Actes du Colloque: Autour de Hugo d'Oignies, edited by Robert Didier, and Jacques Toussaint. Namur: Société Archéologique de Namur, 2004. pp. 266, 270, ill.
Barnet, Peter, and Nancy Y. Wu. The Cloisters: Medieval Art and Architecture. New York and New Haven: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005. no. 40, pp. 75, 195.
Levkoff, Mary L., ed. Hearst, the Collector. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2008. no. 41, p. 51, fig. 2.9.
Barnet, Peter, and Nancy Y. Wu. The Cloisters: Medieval Art and Architecture. 75th Anniversary ed. New York and New Haven: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012. p. 73.
Brennan, Christine E. "The Brummer Gallery and the Business of Art." Journal of the History of Collections 27, no. 3 (November 2015). p. 462, fig. 7.
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