Wednesday 17 October 2007

The Palermo Chalice


One of the great Cathedral treasures, the chalice is silver-gilt, the cast base with figures in purgatory beneath a representation of Christ feeding the five thousand, and the bowl (calyx) cast with the Last Supper. It was made in Palermo, Sicily, in 1691 by Giacinto Omodei.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

have you thought about selling it on ebay to pay for the roof repairs?

Anonymous said...

or bringing it to the antiques roadshow for a valuation?

Anonymous said...

This blog continues to surprise and delight. What a beautiful post - is this amazing chalice ever used for Mass? Under what circumstances?

Mark Langham said...

It is a principle, for us that all of our treasures are used, and none is simply locked away. The Palermo Chalice and others like it would be brought out for Pontifical Masses on major Feasts.

Sadly to say, in the past your approach was adopted, and some treasures were sold to make the financial books balance. I assure you we will do no such thing - not even on ebay!