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Monstrance

ca. 1500
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.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Monstrance
  • Date: ca. 1500
  • Geography: Made in Saragossa or Valladolid, Spain
  • Culture: Spanish
  • Medium: Silver, silver gilt, translucent and opaque enamels, rock crystal
  • Dimensions: Overall: 18 3/4 x 9 1/4 x 7 1/2 in. (47.6 x 23.5 x 19.1 cm)
  • Classification: Metalwork-Silver
  • Credit Line: The Cloisters Collection, 1999
  • Object Number: 1999.206
  • Curatorial Department: Medieval Art and The Cloisters

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