The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 23, 2024

Chalice from the Beth Misona Treasure

Chalice from the Beth Misona Treasure

c. 500–700
Location: 105 Byzantine

Description

These four liturgical silver vessels—a paten and three chalices (1950.378–81)—form what is now called the Beth Misona Treasure, named for the village in northern Syria for which the objects were made. While nothing is known about the exact location and circumstances of the treasure's discovery, the people of the village of Beth Misona were, like other Christian communities in Syria and Palestine, probably forced to bury their church silver to hide it from the Persians or Arabs, who conquered their lands in the first half of the 600s. The paten, which held pieces of Eucharistic bread used during Mass, is decorated with an engraved Latin cross surrounded by a dedicatory inscription that names the paten's donor—Domnos—and its original location, the church of Saint Sergios in Beth Misona. The chalices, which contained the Eucharistic wine used during Mass, feature broad cups decorated with portrait busts of Saints Peter and Paul, Christ, and the Virgin. One chalice bears a dedicatory inscription naming its donor—Kyriakos, Domnos's son—and the priest of the church that received the pious gift—Zeno.
  • Jacques O. Matossian; Paul Mallon, New York).
  • Cleveland Museum of Art, “Recent Acquisitions Press Release,” July 9, 1951, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 51 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 38 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 38 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 38 archive.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art, and Holger A. Klein. Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 52-53, no. 9
    Leader-Newby, Ruth. "Early Christian Silver: Sacred and Domestic." In The Routledge Handbook of Early Christian Art. Robin Margaret Jensen and Mark D. Ellison, editors. Abingdon Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 2018. Reproduced: p. 244, fig. 15.2
  • Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. National Museum of Bavaria, Munich, Germany (May 10-September 16, 2007); J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA (October 30, 2007-January 20, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 13-June 7, 2009).
    Antioch: The Lost Ancient City. Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA (organizer) (October 7, 2000-February 4, 2001); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 25-June 3, 2001); The Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD (August 30-December 30, 2001).
    All That Glitters: Great Silver Vessels in Cleveland's Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 23, 1994-January 8, 1995).
    Baltimore, Walters Art Gallery: "Silver from Early Byzantium" 1986, cat. no. 57, p. 228
    New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 5, 1977-March, 1, 1978.
    Worcester Art Museum (10/7/00-2/4/01); The Cleveland Museum of Art (3/18/01-6/3/01);
    The Baltimore Museum of Art (9/16/01-12/30/01); "Antioch: The Lost Ancient City", exh. cat. no. 98, p. 211; color repr. p. 211.
    Bavarian Nationalmuseum, Munich (5/10/2007 - 9/16/2007), the J. Paul Getty Musuem, Los Angeles (10/30/2007 - 1/20/2008) and Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, TN (2/13/2009 - 6/7/2009): "Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art"
    35th Anniversary Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 20-September 30, 1951).
  • {{cite web|title=Chalice from the Beth Misona Treasure|url=false|author=|year=c. 500–700|access-date=23 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1950.378