Chalice of the Annunciation
2023- Materials
- 925 silver, fire gilding, rock crystal
- Dimensions
- H 280 × W 130 × D 130 mm
- Weight
- 612 g
- Techniques
- chasing, hand engraving, fire gilding, repoussé
- Fineness
- 925
- Status
- Private collection
The Chalice of the Annunciation was made for a small parish in Lombardy that wished to replace a worn vessel with something intended to serve for generations. Its programme begins in the moment the angel addresses Mary: a single lily rises along the stem, while the node carries twelve small settings, one for each apostle gathered at the first Eucharist.
Silver was chosen for the cup because it does not alter the taste of the wine and, once gilded on the interior, answers the liturgical requirement for a noble metal in contact with the Precious Blood. The exterior is left ungilded so that the hand-worked chasing catches the light of the altar candles rather than reflecting a single hard highlight. The rock crystal set beneath the foot is left unfaceted, kept close to its mineral form as a reminder of the material’s origin in the earth.
The iconography is deliberately quiet. There are no figures in motion; instead the Annunciation is suggested through the lily, the descending line of the engraving, and the inscription set around the base. A chalice is held only briefly by the priest but seen at length by the assembly, and so the object was designed to read clearly from across a nave while rewarding close inspection at the altar. [PLACEHOLDER COPY — to be replaced with the artist’s own description.]
Hic est enim calix Sanguinis mei — the vessel that holds the Precious Blood must itself speak of what it carries.