The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 20, 2024

Pyx

Pyx

c. 1170–1180
gilded copper, champlevé and cloisonné enamel, wood core (modern)
Overall: 5.4 x 21.3 x 9.3 cm (2 1/8 x 8 3/8 x 3 11/16 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund and the Fanny Tewksbury King Collection by exchange 1949.431
Location: 106C Medieval Treasury

Description

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.
  • George Eumorfopoulos, London (sale, Sotheby & Co., London, 5-6 June 1940, no. 185); Joseph Brummer, New York (sale, Parke-Bernet, 23 April 1949, no. 713, pl. 713, p. 189)
  • Read, Herbert. "The Eumorfopoulos Collection: Western Objects-I." Apollo III, 16 (April 1926): 187-192. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 187-188, fig. I, II
    von Falke, Otto. "Hildesheimer Goldschmiedewerke des 12 Jahrhunderts im Welfenschatz." Pantheon V (June 1930): 266-274. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 272, abb. 7
    Milliken, William M. “New Accessions of Champlevé Enamel.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 36, no. 9 (November 1949): 167–70. Reproduced: P. 166; Mentioned: P. 168-170 www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 109 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 50 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 50 archive.org
    Verdier, Philippe. “The Cleveland Portable Altar from Hildesheim.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 61, no. 10 (December 1974): 339–342. Mentioned: P. 339-340; Reproduced: P. 339 www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 54 archive.org
    Winter, Patrick M. de. “The Sacral Treasure of the Guelphs.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 72, no. 1 (March 1985): 2–160. Mentioned: P. 78-79, 150; Reproduced: P. 64, 77, Pl. XII, fig. F www.jstor.org
    Brandt, Michael. Abglanz des Himmels: Romanik in Hildesheim : Katalog zur Ausstellung des Dom-Museums Hildesheim, Hildesheim 2001. Regensburg: Schnell + Steiner, 2001. Mentioned: P. 142, 194, no. 4.34; Reproduced: P. 180, no. 4.34
    Eikelmann, Renate, Holger A. Klein, Stephen N. Fliegel, and Virginia Brilliant. The Cleveland Museum of Art: Meisterwerke von 300 bis 1550. München: Hirmer, 2007. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 130-131, no. 43
    Klein, Holger A. Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 140-141, no. 47
    Fliegel, Stephen N. A Higher Contemplation: Sacred Meaning in the Christian Art of the Middle Ages. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 2012. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 97-98, fig. 75
    Kemper, Dorothee, and Clemens M. M. Bayer. Die Hildesheimer Emailarbeiten des 12. und 13. Jahrhunderts: mit einer kommentierten Edition der Inschriften von Clemens M.M. Bayer. Regensburg : Schnell + Steiner, 2020, 241-249 Mentioned and reproduced; pp. 241-249, Abb. 118-126.
    Couzin, Robert. Right and Left in Early Christian and Medieval Art. Boston : Brill, 2021, 24. Mentioned; p. 24, n. 13.
    Biro, Yaëlle, Christine E. Brennan, and Christel H. Force. The Brummer Galleries, Paris and New York: Defining Taste from Antiquities to the Avant-Garde. Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2023. Mentioned: p. 485; reproduced: p. 489, fig. c.5
  • Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. National Museum of Bavaria, Munich, Germany (May 10-September 16, 2007); J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA (October 30, 2007-January 20, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 13-June 7, 2009).
    Bavarian Nationalmuseum, Munich (5/10/2007 - 9/16/2007), the J. Paul Getty Musuem, Los Angeles (10/30/2007 - 1/20/2008) and Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, TN (2/13/2009 - 6/7/2009): "Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art"
    Reflection of Heaven--Romanesque in Hildesheim. Dom-Museum Hildesheim, Germany (August 15-December 16, 2001).
    Dom-Museum Hildesheim, Germany; August 15-December 16, 2001. "Reflection of Heaven--Romanesque in Hildesheim," exh. cat. no. 4.34, p. 181.
  • {{cite web|title=Pyx|url=false|author=|year=c. 1170–1180|access-date=20 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1949.431