Monstrance

Author: Unknown

Date: 1534

Material: Gilt silver

Dimensions (cm): H 78,8 x W 35,5

Inscription: Esta custódia foi acabada na era de 1534.

Provenance: Guimarães, Colegiada de Nossa Senhora da Oliveira

Inventory No.: MAS O 6

Considered a National Treasure, this gilt silver monstrance has an inscription indicating it was finished in 1534. The base of the monstrance rests on fantastic animals in alternation with balls held by claws. In the upper plan of the foot, in horizontal position, the raised figures of Our Lady with the Child, of Saint John the Baptist, of Saint Elizabeth and of Saint Peter, remind us of Christ’s earthly family and that who was the foundation stone of his Church.

The knop is a small temple with intersecting arches, sheltering two statuettes of saints under baldachins.

Surrounding the Eucharist box – where the Host is exhibited – there are four angel musicians, moulded with Renaissance-like clothes that remind us of the importance of music in the religious ceremonies of the Colegiada de Nossa Senhora da Oliveira. Halfway up the buttresses, one finds the apostles, the witnesses to the institution of the Sacred Eucharistic at the Last Supper.

In the inventories of the Collegiate Church, it is referred to as the “rich monstrance”, due to its quality of execution and to the ornamental richness. It was donated by canon Gonçalo Anes. Expressing the donor’s personal devotion, who also ordered the Capela do Santíssimo Sacramento of the Collegiate Church to be remodelled at his own cost (1537 – 39), the monstrance also reflects the importance with which, from the Middle Ages, the festival of Corpus Christi was celebrated in Guimarães.

Updated and free translation of the inscription: This monstrance was finished in the era of 1534.