Receptacle for the ampulla of extreme unction
Author: José Coelho de Oliveira
Date: 1830
Material: White silver
Dimensions (cm): H 23,5 x W 19 x L 25
Provenance: Guimarães, Colegiada de Nossa Senhora da Oliveira
Inventory No.: MAS O 7
This receptacle for the ampulla of extreme unction is cylindrical and the cover has a cross on top. It is fixed to an oval tray with claw feet, having a pierced open work gallery. The simple geometric forms are enhanced by large flat surfaces ornamented only by engraved garlands.
In the beginning of the 19th century, after the French invasions and the consequent decrease of its treasure, the Colegiada de Nossa Senhora da Oliveira ordered new implements, where the neoclassical canons are already visible. This specimen illustrates the national production from the middle of the 19th century, when the models of neoclassicism were used until exhaustion.
This receptacle for the ampulla of the extreme unction was used to keep the blessed oils, used in the extreme unction of the sick and of the dying. The extreme unction, one of the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church, is administered by the priests to the faithful who are about to die, by applying the blessed oils in different parts of the body.