Chalice

Description Family workshops were very common among goldsmiths, which can sometimes make attribution difficult. One of the most celebrated fourteenth-century goldsmiths, Tondino (active 1308-ca. 1338) was the son of a goldsmith, named Gerrino. Tondino's brother and son, both named Giacomo, were also in the profession. This chalice with the busts of the apostles was likely produced in that workshop, signed by Giacomo of Siena who might be either the son or the grandson of the elder Guerrino. The extent of the collaboration between this Giacomo and Paolo di Giovanni, whose name also appears on the chalice, is uncertain. Paolo could have been a permanent member of the workshop or an associate engaged only occasionally for specific commissions. The chalice is enhanced by the addition of basse-taille enamels, a technique developed in Italy during the late thirteenth century in which translucent enamels are applied to metal surfaces that have been chased and engraved in low relief, producing a brilliant, painterly effect. Siena was widely known as an important center for the production of basse-taille enamels.

Conservation

Examined; cleaned

Date	Description	Narrative
5/05/1948	Treatment	cleaned; coated
9/27/1962	Treatment	cleaned; coated
12/15/1977	Loan Consideration	examined for loan
8/31/2006	Treatment	cleaned; other; examined for exhibition
12/01/2007	Examination	examined for condition

Exhibitions

• The International Style: The Arts in Europe Around 1400. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1962.
• The Book of Kings: Art, War, and the Morgan Library's Medieval Picture Bible. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; Academy Art Museum, Easton; Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton; The Mitchell Gallery, Annapolis; Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown. 2002.
• For This is My Body: The Medieval Missal. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2006-2007.
• Realms of Faith: Medieval and Byzantine Art from the Walters Art Museum. Museum of Biblical Art, New York; Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville; Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha. 2008-2009.

Provenance Raoul Heilbronner, Paris [date of acquisition unknown], by purchase; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1913, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Inscriptions [Signature] around the stem: Paulo di Giovani e [and] Iacomo de Seni

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters, 1913