拍品專文
The inscription reads: FAB[IO] MIRTo] [FRANGIPANI] EP[I]S[COPUS] CALETIN[ENSIS]
The lack of a complete documented cycle of Parisian date letters from this period makes dating of this chalice difficult, as does the fact that the form and decoration appears on a small group of surviving chalices dating from the 1530s to the 1590s. Of the existing known date letters, the mark on the present chalice, which appears to be a lower-case D, appears to correspond to that of 1532, which appears on a reliquary in the Bibliothèque Nationale. Certain small differences, such as the fact that the upper part of the sweep on the D on this chalice does not have a bezel suggest that, if it is indeed the letter for 1532, it is another punch used by the wardens for that year. It may be the D of the next cycle, of 1555, but no other examples are documented to provide a comparison. The D of the next cycle, of 1578, is an upper-case example of a totally different appearance. The examples in this note are those listed by Mich©ele Bimbenet-Private in her authoritative work Les Orf©evres Parisiens de la Renaissance, Paris, 1992.
Dating the chalice on stylistic grounds is equally difficult. The lobed foot and straight stem with knop applied with circular bosses appears as early as 1510 on a chalice in the church of La Trinit©e-Porhoët (Morbihan), while wavy vertical straps on a matted ground, with the same double-walled contruction, appear on the bowl of the chalice of the church at Cadayrac (Aveyron), dating from 1532, and on the foot of the chalice of Rodez Cathedral of 1539. Fleurs-de-lys appear on the stem of the chalice of Sens Cathedral, of 1544, while perhaps the most similar documented chalice to the present example is that from Nueil (Deux-Sèvres), of 1550, which is almost identical except that the bosses on the knop are busts rather than fleurs-de-lys. Other examples of similar form include one in the Mus©ee d©epartmental des Atiquiti©es, Rouen of 1581, one of 1597 in the church of Fr©ehel (Côtes-d'Armor) and another of 1598 with its paten in a private collection, on which the acanthus chased on the knop heralds the stylistic repertoire of the seventeenth century. Based on this stylistic progression, the date letter of 1555 is perhaps the most likely. It is interesting to note that the technique of double-walled construction is typically French of the sixteenth century and reserved, as John Hayward has pointed out, only for the most expensive commissions. A pair of tazze chased with scenes representing two of the four continents with similar construction, dating from 1583, have recently been acquired by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
The arms engraved on the foot are those of Frangipani, while the inscription refers to Fabio Mirto Frangipani (1514-1587), Bishop of Caiazzo in southern Italy from 1537 until his death. Scion of an ancient family of that province, Frangipani was an active voice at the Council of Trent in 1560 and 1562. From 1568 he was in France at the court of Charles IX where he played a part in the delicate diplomatic negotiations them ensuing between Spain, Portugal and France. He returned to Italy in 1572 but in 1585 he was once again appointed nuncio to France. Henry III, who suspected him of pro-Spanish sympathies however refused to allow him to enter France and, by way of retaliation, the Pope expelled the French ambassador. Frangipani was finally allowed to enter France in 1586 but died the following year in Paris. The present chalice may have been presented by Frangipani to a church in his diocese in Italy, or sent to a living that he held in France during his episcopate.
The lack of a complete documented cycle of Parisian date letters from this period makes dating of this chalice difficult, as does the fact that the form and decoration appears on a small group of surviving chalices dating from the 1530s to the 1590s. Of the existing known date letters, the mark on the present chalice, which appears to be a lower-case D, appears to correspond to that of 1532, which appears on a reliquary in the Bibliothèque Nationale. Certain small differences, such as the fact that the upper part of the sweep on the D on this chalice does not have a bezel suggest that, if it is indeed the letter for 1532, it is another punch used by the wardens for that year. It may be the D of the next cycle, of 1555, but no other examples are documented to provide a comparison. The D of the next cycle, of 1578, is an upper-case example of a totally different appearance. The examples in this note are those listed by Mich©ele Bimbenet-Private in her authoritative work Les Orf©evres Parisiens de la Renaissance, Paris, 1992.
Dating the chalice on stylistic grounds is equally difficult. The lobed foot and straight stem with knop applied with circular bosses appears as early as 1510 on a chalice in the church of La Trinit©e-Porhoët (Morbihan), while wavy vertical straps on a matted ground, with the same double-walled contruction, appear on the bowl of the chalice of the church at Cadayrac (Aveyron), dating from 1532, and on the foot of the chalice of Rodez Cathedral of 1539. Fleurs-de-lys appear on the stem of the chalice of Sens Cathedral, of 1544, while perhaps the most similar documented chalice to the present example is that from Nueil (Deux-Sèvres), of 1550, which is almost identical except that the bosses on the knop are busts rather than fleurs-de-lys. Other examples of similar form include one in the Mus©ee d©epartmental des Atiquiti©es, Rouen of 1581, one of 1597 in the church of Fr©ehel (Côtes-d'Armor) and another of 1598 with its paten in a private collection, on which the acanthus chased on the knop heralds the stylistic repertoire of the seventeenth century. Based on this stylistic progression, the date letter of 1555 is perhaps the most likely. It is interesting to note that the technique of double-walled construction is typically French of the sixteenth century and reserved, as John Hayward has pointed out, only for the most expensive commissions. A pair of tazze chased with scenes representing two of the four continents with similar construction, dating from 1583, have recently been acquired by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
The arms engraved on the foot are those of Frangipani, while the inscription refers to Fabio Mirto Frangipani (1514-1587), Bishop of Caiazzo in southern Italy from 1537 until his death. Scion of an ancient family of that province, Frangipani was an active voice at the Council of Trent in 1560 and 1562. From 1568 he was in France at the court of Charles IX where he played a part in the delicate diplomatic negotiations them ensuing between Spain, Portugal and France. He returned to Italy in 1572 but in 1585 he was once again appointed nuncio to France. Henry III, who suspected him of pro-Spanish sympathies however refused to allow him to enter France and, by way of retaliation, the Pope expelled the French ambassador. Frangipani was finally allowed to enter France in 1586 but died the following year in Paris. The present chalice may have been presented by Frangipani to a church in his diocese in Italy, or sent to a living that he held in France during his episcopate.