SILVER AND GILT SILVER PYX. 16TH CENTURY.

Cast and chiseled silver pyx. Spain, towards the end of the 16th century. Cylindrical box with a molded base under a wide frieze with lacework of bands and simplified plant elements. Molded stopper decorated with bands creating figures of 8 alternating with flowers, and flordelised motifs, finished in a small cone with pearl, on which rises a Crucified with three nails with purity cloth at the knees and cartouche. Due to the gilding on the inside, this footless host would be used to contain the Sacred Forms, perhaps, in the tabernacle of a church. The decorative elements of the work and the figure of Christ at the top respond to the influence of the Renaissance, but also show Gothic memories. The Renaissance appears in Castilian silversmithing a little before 1520, and only since the end of the reign of Philip III is it usually spoken of as Baroque. In the Crown of Aragon, the political and economic decline of the area caused a significant decline in the number and quality of production, with the striking exception of Aragon and, above all, Zaragoza, which later achieved unparalleled splendor. Something similar happens with the form: although there are similar examples during the Gothic period (hostiary of Diego de Abanza or one of his sons, made in Burgos, towards the end of the 15th century and preserved in the Diocesan Museum of Sigüenza, Guadalajara), this typology It would be maintained even in the Baroque with numerous variations. Compare it with works such as a host from the Museum of Málaga (BA/CE00305), with a similar cover and decoration, or, above all, with that from the Ángel Quílez collection (inventory CAQ-47) from the future Museum of Alcáñiz (Teruel), in profile. and similar decoration, both from the end of the 16th century. And note the difference with, for example, the Castilian from the last third of the century preserved in the National Museum of Decorative Arts (CE19659) or that of Juan de Bendígar from the Lázaro Galdiano Museum (inventory 02165) from the second third of the century, of greater influence Renaissance. Weight: 176 gr.

· Size: 10x10x9,5 cms.