Title

Set of cruets and chalice

Anonimous

Generic classification

Object

Date

Century

Cultural context / style

Material

Technique

Iconography / Theme

Provenance

Current location

Inventory Number in Current Collection

Object history

This set of chalice and cruets came from the church of Santo Tomás Cantuariense in Salamanca (Spain). It is a Romanesque church dedicated to Thomas Beckett, Archbishop of Canterbury (Martínez Frías, 1994), who was canonized in 1172 by Pope Alexander III. It seems to have been founded by Richard and Randulph in 1175, however, the construction of the building must have taken place later, already in the 13th century, when the two cruets and the chalice are dated. According to Siracusano and Tudisco (2009) they were found in the tomb of one of the priests of the church. We do not know when they were found, but it probably took place at the beginning of the 20th century, when the building was renovated.

The pieces remained in the Salamanca church until 1947, when Héctor Schenone, an Argentine historian, bought them. He had received a grant from the Department of Cultural Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Madrid to study the Iberian antecedents of American colonial art. He took advantage of his trip to nourish his private collection with numerous pieces of Castilian, Flemish and Italian provenance, among others (Siracusano and Tudisco, 2009). According to Siracusano and Tudisco (2009), Schenone acquired them directly in Salamanca. Later the pieces traveled with him back to Buenos Aires, where they became part of his private collection. Schenone was appointed director of the Isaac Fernández Blanco Municipal Museum, where Schenone's collection is currently kept and where the cruets and chalice are located.

Description

The set found in Salamanca is composed of a chalice and two cruets, although the paten has been lost. The cup has a design that follows one of the most popular models of the 13th century. It stands on a wide base adorned with concentric fillets in relief and has decoration exclusively on the knot, which is divided into four sections. Each of them contains a quadrifolia with dots and the symbols of the tetramorphs. On the other hand, the cruets are smooth with fillets in relief, articulated lids and handles with a curvilinear design Siracusano and Tudisco (2009).

Locations

• XIII^th c. - ca. 1947

  church

  Church of Santo Tomás Cantuariense, Salamanca, Salamanca (Spain)

• ca. 1947 - ca. 2014

  private collection

  Héctor Schenone, Buenos Aires (Argentina) *

• ca. 2014 - present

  museum

  Museo de Arte Hispanoamericano Isaac Fernández Blanco, Buenos Aires (Argentina)