Belém Monstrance
The Belém Monstrance (Portuguese: Custódia de Belém) is a significant monstrance made of gold and polychrome enamels. It is probably the most famous work by a Portuguese goldsmith, and is much-admired for its historical importance and artistic merit.[1] It is dated 1506 and attributed to the Portuguese goldsmith and playwright Gil Vicente, on a commission by King Manuel I for the Royal Chapel, and later left in the King's will to the Jerónimos Monastery in Belém, at the time an outskirt of Lisbon, whence it derives its name.
![](../I/Imagem169_Gil_Vicente%252C_Cust%C3%B3dia_de_Bel%C3%A9m.jpg.webp)
It is currently part of the collection of the National Museum of Ancient Art, in Lisbon.
Crafted in late Gothic style, it was fashioned of "1,500 mithqals of gold"[2] brought from Vasco da Gama's second trip to India in 1502 as a tribute from the petty king (régulo) of Kilwa (in present-day Tanzania), a sign of vassalage to the crown of Portugal.[1]
The base is inscribed:
- O. MVITO. ALTO. PRICIPE. E. PODEROSO. SEHOR. REI. DÕ. MANVEL. I. A. MDOV. FAZER. DO OVRO. I. DAS. PARIAS. DE. QILVA. AQVABOV. E. CCCCCVI.
- ("The Most High Prince and Powerful Lord, King Dom Manuel I, ordered this to be made from the gold of the tributes from Kilwa. It was completed in 1506.")
References
- "Belém Monstrance". Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
- Cortesão, Jaime (1978). Do império no Índico e no Pacífico. História dos Descobrimentos Portugueses. Vol. 3. Círculo de Leitores. p. 27. OCLC 490010912.