Eucharistic Dove

Date1215-1235

Artist Currently Unidentified

CultureFrench

MediumChamplevé enamel, parcel gilt and engraved copper, circular base and hinged lid later

DimensionsOverall: 7 7/8 × 7 1/2 × 9 13/16 in. (20 × 19 × 25 cm)

Credit LinePurchase, gift of Mrs. Frederick Ferris Thompson, by exchange, in memory of Andrew J. Tallon, (Associate Professor of Art, Vassar College, 2007-2018)

On View

On view

Period13th c

Classification(s)

Decorative Art

BibliographyLa collection Spitzer: antiquité, Moyen-Âge, Renaissance, vol. I, Maison Quantin, Paris, 1890, p. 118, no. 66; Cataloue des objets d'art et de haute curiosite, antiques, du moyen-age & de la renaissance: composant l'importante et précieuse dollection Spitzer, vol. I, E. Ménard et Cie, Parist 1893, p. 49, no. 274, vol. III, no 274, pl. VI (illus.)ProvenanceFrédéric Spitzer (1815-1890), Paris; His sale, Paris, E. Ménard et Cie, 17 April 1893, lot
274; European Private Collection; purchased by Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center 2017.

Vassar Exhibitions

An Era of Opportunity: Three Decades of Acquisitions

Label TextThis opulent dove is one of about forty such objects known today, only six of which are in American museums. They were produced in thirteenth-century Limoges, a French city known in the Medieval period for its enamel industry. According to historical accounts, such a dove would be suspended by chains above the church altar. For contemporaries, an encounter with this object would have likely evoked the Holy Spirit, commonly represented in Christian imagery as a hovering dove. A small compartment, in this instance on the back of the bird, would have held wafers consecrated during the liturgy of the Eucharist.

Terms

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email loebcollections@vassar.edu