Chicago Catholic News: Historic chalices featured at Art Institute

Historic chalices featured at Art Institute

Chalices dating from the 1300s to the middle of the 20th Century are among the items featured in a new Art Institute of Chicago exhibition focusing on wine -- or, more to the point, "art through the vine."

Called "A Case for Wine: From King Tut to Today," the exhibit runs July 11 through Sept. 20 at the Art Institute's Regenstein Hall, 111 S. Michigan Ave.

The chalices date from "14th-century Siena to mid-20th-century Chicago" and "document the evolution of that form in both Catholic and Protestant worship," according to the Art Institute's web site. Many of the cups are on loan from Loyola University's Museum of Art.

European wine glasses hundreds of years old, as well as paintings, also are part of the exhibit.

In all, there are 400-plus pieces in the show.

"You might not think of the Art Institute when opening up your favorite bottle of vino, but wine has played a role in many of the artworks in the museum's collection," Art Institute spokesman Chai Lee said via email. "Presenting classical antiquities, sacred and secular drinking vessels, wine bottles and labels, corkscrews, and more, 'A Case for Wine' explores wine as a stimulus and source of inspiration for artistic endeavor."

The following text -- written by a curator from Loyola -- accompanies the chalice portion of the Art Institute exhibit and provides some historical perspective:

Keeping Religion: Wine in Its Sacred Context

This gallery features vessels created for the celebration of Catholic and Anglican Eucharistic traditions.

The chalices, in particular, embody the doctrines and liturgical practices of their respective churches.

Giacomo Guerrino’s 14th-century chalice [shown above, in a photo provided by LUMA] is a summation of centuries of Catholic dogma and ritual.

The church stipulated that chalices should be made of precious metals because, according to the doctrine of the Real Presence, they were repositories for Christ’s blood.

The chalice’s shape safeguarded its divine content: the broad polylobe base ensured its stability, and a smooth rim reduced the danger of drips.

The knop in the middle of the stem provided added security for the priest as he raised the chalice above his head to mark the moment of the wine’s transubstantiation.

By the 14th century, Mass had evolved into more of a spectacle than a participatory rite; indeed, the medieval congregant received the consecrated host only once a year and never drank from the chalice.

Protestant churches restored the cup to the people, who were expected to take communion regularly. To signify its repudiation of Catholic Eucharistic “superstitions,” the Anglican church systematically melted medieval chalices in the 1560s and 1570s, refashioning them into “decent communion cups.”

Their forms were modeled on domestic drinking vessels such as the covered, stemmed beakers exhibited here.

The readoption of the medieval form in the 19th century, as seen in the chalice by A. W. N. Pugin in this gallery, signifies a revival of medieval Eucharistic practices by movements within both Catholic and Anglican churches.

By ChicagoCatholicNews

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