Chalice

The chalice, already known to criticism thanks to Giovanni Boraccesi, rests on a large, mystical base, characterized by re-entering and protruding from each other lobes, bound by punches. Along the entire perimeter, there is a perforated decoration with a woven geometric lattice. Lily flowers adorn the lobed terminations. Tapered bands are connected to the shaped minor knot, hexagonal, enriched with beads. In the grooves of the tapering, inside a lozenge, a series of animals appears: a dragon, a rampant lion clinging to a shrub, a fawn with a rosette flower and two eagles close to arboreal branches, too. One of the lozenges has an archpriest coat of arms. In the middle of the shaft, decorated with geometric engravings, the major knot, hexagonal too, but slightly convex and marked by a perforated frieze, presents a scan with compartments adorned with rosette flowers. A gilded cup, with a sub-bowl with a raceme-like decoration - probably thistle leaves - is inserted on the stem. The plastic rendering of the ornamentation that clearly distinguishes itself in the artefact is evident. In the decorative shapes of the chalice, the late gothic influence is manifested, especially in the lobed base with a light and elegant zoomorphic decoration. As demonstrated by the example of the Cathedral of Matera and the extensive repertoire presented by Boraccesi, the artefact is linked to the fruitful production of similar specimens spread between the second half of the fifteenth century and the first half of the XVI in Sicily - known as Madonite style - and Naples. The realization of the chalice can be placed in the first half of the sixteenth century, as could confirm the dating of the coat of arm impressed on the base: a sheep that approaches, from right to left, to three ears of wheat. This effigy can be attributed to Niccolò Sapio, Altamuran archpriest from 1529 to 1548. The coat of arms of the prelate, visible in a series of works of the cathedral church, actually reproduces the elements that compose it in a mirroring way compared to what we see engraved on the chalice. The presence of the mitre, the three ears of wheat and the small sheep do not allow doubts about the identification of the emblem; it is possible to hypothesize that the specular reversal of the effigy is attributable to an executive imprecision by the silversmith who could have made the mould not in negative. Considering the strong bond between Monsignor Sapio and Naples, regarding the commission and construction of works (see in this regard the altarpiece of the Assumption Virgin and the wooden choir present in the Cathedral of Altamura), we can suppose its realization in the Neapolitan area.