Ciborium for the Coronation of Napoleon I

Ciborium for the Coronation of Napoleon I

Charles Percier

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Ciborium from a set of two design drawings for a communion service consisting of a ciborium and a cup. The foot and base of the two designs are the identical in their structure and decoration. The metal work is covered all over with decorations typical for the Empire period. Characteristic is the Imperial eagle which is depicted between palmettes on the node. The ciborium has a wide, covered cuppa. The lid is crowned by the symbol of a cross on a globe. Along the edge of the cuppa is a frieze with cherubs, interrupted in the center by a roundel with the IHS mark. Below is another frieze carrying the inscription: ‘SALVTARIS HOSTIA QUAE COELI (…)’.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Ciborium for the Coronation of Napoleon ICiborium for the Coronation of Napoleon ICiborium for the Coronation of Napoleon ICiborium for the Coronation of Napoleon ICiborium for the Coronation of Napoleon I

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.