Chalice

The chalice, broadly decorated with scenes and elements related to the Passion of Christ, is set on a high smooth step. A festoon decorated with small leaves precedes the rise on which we found small figures in the round identifiable with the theological virtues: Faith, Hope and Charity. On three clipeus surrounded by garlands, which alternate with the above, are depicted the Last Supper, the Capture of Jesus and the same forward to Pilate. On the base, there is a continuous frieze that narrates the ascent to Calvary of the Saviour; at the centre of the stem there is a vase-shaped knot decorated with angelic heads, festoons and acanthus leaves rhythmically alternated with ovals containing the nuts, the nails and the column. Other scenes, depicting the Fall of Jesus, the Crucifixion and the Deposition from the cross, adorn the cup's saucer with leafy racemes and winged putti. The recess of the foot bears the coat of arms of Cassiodorus Margherita, Bishop of Gravina and Montepeloso, administrator of a church in Altamura from 1828 to 1848 (Denora - Tota 2012, p.116). Giovanni Boraccesi recognizes among the punches imprinted on the chalice the mark with the decussate keys dominated by the Triregno, symbol of the State of the Church. Inside a lozenge, we can read the acronym A27B, which identifies the roman silversmith Antonio Bottacci (Boraccesi 2016, p.71). 1838 is the post-quem term for the construction of the artefact, as it is the year of conferment of the license of silversmith to Bottacci - according to what Boraccesi writes (2016, p.71) -, while 1848 is the ante-quem one and coincides with the last year of the regency of Monsignor Cassiodoro Margherita.