Monstrance

Spanish

On view at The Met Cloisters in Gallery 14

This monstrance is constructed largely of silver sheets that have been decorated with elaborate pierced work, a technique favored by Spanish goldsmiths in the early sixteenth century. The enamel and niello medallions represent a lioness breathing life into its cubs and a pelican feeding its fledglings with the blood of its breast. Both subjects allude to the redemption of humankind through Christ's sacrifice, suggesting that the vessel originally displayed a Eucharistic wafer.

Monstrance, Silver, silver gilt, translucent and opaque enamels, rock crystal, Spanish

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Monstrance, Silver, silver gilt, translucent and opaque enamels, rock crystal, Spanish
Monstrance, Silver, silver gilt, translucent and opaque enamels, rock crystal, Spanish
Monstrance, Silver, silver gilt, translucent and opaque enamels, rock crystal, Spanish
Monstrance, Silver, silver gilt, translucent and opaque enamels, rock crystal, Spanish
Monstrance, Silver, silver gilt, translucent and opaque enamels, rock crystal, Spanish
Monstrance, Silver, silver gilt, translucent and opaque enamels, rock crystal, Spanish
Monstrance, Silver, silver gilt, translucent and opaque enamels, rock crystal, Spanish
Monstrance, Silver, silver gilt, translucent and opaque enamels, rock crystal, Spanish
Monstrance, Silver, silver gilt, translucent and opaque enamels, rock crystal, Spanish

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