Pyx (c. 1170–1180): Art, History and Details

Pyx (c. 1170–1180) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The image of Christ’s crucifixion dominates this enameled box. Personifications of the Christian church, the Jewish faith, and the Virgin and Saint John flank the cross. Two Old Testament scenes--Abel’s sacrifice of sheep and Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac--appear on either side. The box once served as a pyx, a container for the consecrated host, itself a symbol of Christ’s sacrifice.

Object facts

• Title: Pyx
• Date: c. 1170–1180
• Culture: Germany, Lower Saxony, Hildesheim?, Romanesque period, enamels: 12th century; wood core: 19th century
• Type: Enamel
• Technique: gilded copper, champlevé and cloisonné enamel, wood core (modern)
• Dimensions: Overall: 5.4 x 21.3 x 9.3 cm (2 1/8 x 8 3/8 x 3 11/16 in.)
• Collection: MED - Romanesque
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1949.431

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund and the Fanny Tewksbury King Collection by exchange

Further reading listed by the museum

• Read, Herbert. "The Eumorfopoulos Collection: Western Objects-I." Apollo III, 16 (April 1926): 187-192.
• von Falke, Otto. "Hildesheimer Goldschmiedewerke des 12 Jahrhunderts im Welfenschatz." Pantheon V (June 1930): 266-274.
• Milliken, William M. “New Accessions of Champlevé Enamel.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 36, no. 9 (November 1949): 167–70.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.