Monstrances

Image 1

Name: The Great Monstrance of Arfe, Toledo
Author: Enrique de Arfe
Date: c. 1517-1524
Medium: Silver, Gold, precious stones
Location: Toledo Cathedral
Photo by: Jack Zalium
Copyright: CC BY-NC 2.0 (Attribution Non-Commercial 2.0 Generic)
Permalink: https://flic.kr/p/cAfUhS
Description: This is the most important object kept in the Cathedral, measuring over ten feet tall. The monstrance is famous for being used in the annual feast of Corpus Christi of Toledo. The creator of the Great Monstrance was the metalworker Enrique de Arfe, born Heinrich von Harff, originally from Julich or Harff near Cologne, Germany.[28] Arfe labored on it from 1517–1524, on commission to Cardinal Cisneros. It is of late Gothic design. This triumph of the silversmith's craft is in the form of a Gothic temple, with all the architectural details, such as columns, arches, and vaultings, the whole resembling a delicate lacework. Scenes from the life of the Saviour are illustrated in relief. It has two hundred and sixty statuettes of various sizes, all exhibiting the same skill in workmanship.[29] The Great Monstrance has a hexagonal base, and rises on small exquisitely made columns, with adornments of gems and varied figurines of angels and saints, fleurons, small bells and clappers. The work is crowned in the uppermost section by a 17th-century cross. The pedestal on which it sits is in the Baroque style of the 18th century. Originally made of silver, Archbishop Quiroga commissioned its gilding to match the gold plated wood of the monstrance of the altar; it was gilded in 1595 by Valdivieso and Morino. Today it is encased under bulletproof glass and heavily guarded by an automatic security system within the grounds of the cathedral. (Wikipedia)

Image 2

Name: Spanish Monstrance, perhaps from Burgos
Author: unknown
Date: c. 1620
Medium: Gilt Silver, Crystals
Location: Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Copyright: Public Domain
Permalink: http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O379689/monstrance/
Description: Silver-gilt, set with enamelled bosses and crystals. The rayed gloria for holding the host is held in a larger rayed frame set with crystals. Images of birds pounced in rectangular or irregular-shaped geometric cartouches around the monstrance window, for example on the front side, at 12 o'clock: a flying bird (matched on the verso with a pounced image of a goose). The arms of the royal order of Carmelites surmounted by a crown engraved in an oval boss at the top of the stem, on both sides. The stem itself is formed of two urn-shaped sections with pounced scrollwork and set with oval bosses decorated with ornament against a ground of dark blue enamel. When the monstrance was acquired in Burgos in 1921, it was said to have come from the diocese of Vitoria, on the northern coast of Spain.(V&A Museum)

Image 3

Name: French Monstrance
Author: Pieter Joannes Baelde
Date: 1735
Medium: Silver, gilded silver and brass; the foot embossed and matted; cast and chased elements applied to the gilded rays emanating from the central window.
Location: Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Copyright: Public Domain
Permalink: http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O374317/monstrance-baelde-pieter-joannes/
Description: A monstrance (from the Latin 'monstrare', 'to show') displays the consecrated bread or Host, which in Catholic belief is the body of Christ. The ears of wheat on this monstrance allude to the wheat used to make the unleavened wafer that becomes the Host. The grapes and vine leaves that encircle the central window refer to the consecrated wine drunk by the priest during Mass which miraculously becomes the blood shed by Christ on the cross. The figure at the top of the monstrance is God the Father, while the dove below him represents God as the Holy Spirit. When the Host was displayed in the window, it would symbolise God's third, earthly, incarnation as Jesus Christ. Although the figure of God the Father here is probably a later addition, it is entirely appropriate to the theological message conveyed by the monstrance. The use of rays to frame the central window and create a radiant, sun-like effect, was common in eighteenth-century church plate designs. However, the origins of the device appear to date back to the late-sixteenth-century Hispanic world, where Catholic priests merged the imagery of Inca and Mexica sun-worship with Christian teachings that equated Christ and His teachings with the sun and light.(V&A Museum)

Image 4

Name: Flemish Monstrance from De Toren clandestine church
Author: unknown
Date: c. 1675
Medium: Silver gilt, glass, diamonds
Size: 69.0 × w 32.5 × 19.8 cm
Location: Rijksmuseum, Netherlands
Copyright: Public Domain
Permalink: http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.17870
Description: Roman Catholics believe that the consecrated bread is literally the body of Christ. The Host thus became an object of veneration, and containers were made in which to keep or display it to the faithful. The monstrance (from the Latin word for ‘to show’) is the most important of all of the Host containers, as is underscored by its sculptural design and the precious materials used to make it.(Rijksmuseum)