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Source Description
All Christians in the Middle Ages considered the bread sanctified during the Mass to be the actual body of Christ. The repeated monogram IHS (for the medieval Latin Ihesus, "Jesus") on this box attests to this belief. Known as pyxes, such boxes were used by the faithful to receive pieces of the Communion bread after Mass. They would partake of it later, usually in the family chapels that many wealthy laymen maintained in their homes.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
26246
label
Pyx
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
26246
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Pyx
description
All Christians in the Middle Ages considered the bread sanctified during the Mass to be the actual body of Christ. The repeated monogram IHS (for the medieval Latin Ihesus, "Jesus") on this box attests to this belief. Known as pyxes, such boxes were used by the faithful to receive pieces of the Communion bread after Mass. They would partake of it later, usually in the family chapels that many wealthy laymen maintained in their homes.
provenance
Raoul Heilbronner, Paris [date of acqusition unknown], by purchase; Henry Walters, Baltimore [date of acquisition unknown], by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
13th century (Medieval)
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Metal
pyxes
imageCount
1
pageCount
1
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
4.1
height
6.3
dimensionsRaw
H: 1 5/8 x W: 2 1/2 in. (4.1 x 6.3 cm)
Source extras
cul
French
style
Gothic
inscriptions
[Monogram] IHS
med
gilt and engraved copper
creator_ids
6229
collection_ids
MED
exhibition_ids
1957
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
017c7f56ef8a0f40