Pyx

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Pyxes (from the Greek for "boxwood vessel") are receptacles made to hold the consecrated bread, or Host, in reserve during Communion. The sacrament of Communion derives from the Gospel accounts of the Last Supper, in which Jesus gave bread to his disciples and said, "Take ye, and eat. This is my body" (Matthew 26:26)–an idea reiterated by the Latin inscription on the pyx.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Museum's collection of medieval and Byzantine art is among the most comprehensive in the world. Displayed in both The Met Fifth Avenue and in the Museum's branch in northern Manhattan, The Met Cloisters, the collection encompasses the art of the Mediterranean and Europe from the fall of Rome in the fourth century to the beginning of the Renaissance in the early sixteenth century. It also includes pre-medieval European works of art created during the Bronze Age and early Iron Age.

Metropolitan Museum of Art