Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...

chalice A chalice (from Latin 'mug', borrowed from Ancient Greek () 'cup') or goblet is a footed cup intended to hold a drink. In religious practice, a chalice is often used for drinking during a ceremony or may carry a certain symbolic meaning. R ...

was created around AD 500-550. Currently it is on view at The

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

Fifth Avenue in Gallery 300. When it was discovered, the interior cup of the chalice was initially considered to be the

Holy Chalice The Holy Chalice, also known as the Holy Grail, is in Christian tradition the vessel that Jesus used at the Last Supper to serve wine. The Synoptic Gospels refer to Jesus sharing a cup of wine with the Apostles, saying it was the covenant in hi ...

, the cup used by

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

at the

Last Supper Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, Depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art have been undertaken by artistic masters for centuries, ...

. Recently, it has been concluded that it may have been a standing

oil lamp An oil lamp is a lamp used to produce light continuously for a period of time using an oil-based fuel source. The use of oil lamps began thousands of years ago and continues to this day, although their use is less common in modern times. Th ...

and not a chalice.

Description

The Antioch chalice is a

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

cup that is encased within an elaborate open-work gilded silver footed shell. It measures 19.6 x 18 x 15.2 cm with a 7.4 cm base. The body of the cup, originally ovoid, has been bent out of shape. When it was discovered, the chalice was covered in a heavy

oxidation Redox (reduction–oxidation, , ) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of substrate change. Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction is the gain of electrons or a ...

, which was cleaned off during the restoration process. Internal

corrosion Corrosion is a natural process that converts a refined metal into a more chemically stable oxide. It is the gradual deterioration of materials (usually a metal) by chemical or electrochemical reaction with their environment. Corrosion engi ...

has rendered the interior cup extremely brittle. On the base of the chalice there are lotus petals, with a palm wreath above it on the bulb of the short stem. Surrounding the rim of the shell is a row of rosettes and one star. The bottom of the outer shell has an open lotus flower, and the upper areas of the outer shell contain a fruited grapevine wrought into twelve loops, each of the loops containing a figure. Two of the figures portrayed in the loops are images of Christ, one showing Christ holding a scroll and the other showing Christ sitting beside a lamb, above a spread-winged eagle perched on a basket of fruit. The other ten figures were initially thought to be ten of the apostles but they have been variably identified as classical age philosophers, who had foretold the coming of Christ. On the outer shell there are also snails, doves, a butterfly, a grasshopper, and a rabbit.

History

The Antioch chalice was found in Syria in 1910 along with several other items, including a large cross and three book covers. It was believed to have belonged to a church in

, one of the five cities that led the early Christian church along with Rome, Constantinople, Jerusalem, and Alexandria. When it was discovered, the inner cup was thought to be the

, with the gilded, footed shell being added within the first century after the death of Christ to honor the grail. It was displayed as the Holy Grail at the Chicago World's Fair in 1933 and was later sold to

The Cloisters The Cloisters, also known as the Met Cloisters, is a museum in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City. The museum, situated in Fort Tryon Park, specializes in European medieval art and architecture, with a fo ...

in New York in 1950.

Recent events

Recently the Antioch chalice has been identified as having the shape of a standing lamp commonly used in churches in the first half of the sixth century. Potentially, it is decorated in recognition of Christ's words "I am the light of the world". It has also been determined recently that the Antioch chalice could have been a part of a larger group of silver objects that belonged to the Church of Saint Sergios in the small town of Kaper Koraon.

References

{{commonscat, Antioch Chalice Relics associated with Jesus Silver-gilt objects Metalwork of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 6th-century works Byzantine art