Museum reserves

Object of the month: the Ursuline Ciborium

Ciborium des Ursulines Thomas-Joseph Armand-Calliat, Lyon, 1884 Gilt silver, enamel, pearls, brilliantsH. 32.5 cm; bowl Ø 15.5 cm; foot Ø 15.7 cm

Presented by the alumnae of the Lyons College, February 24, 1885; exhibited at the Paris Universal Exhibition, 1889.

The ciborium is hexagonal in plan. The foot is divided into six domed lobes, each bearing an enameled medallion. The node is adorned with four medallions. The bowl is adorned with a false bowl cut into six lancets and adorned with an enameled medallion. The enamels on the chalice and paten stand out against a deep red background. The iconography centers on the life of Saint Ursula and Saint Angela Merici, founder of the Company of Saint Ursula in 1535. Scenes from the life of Saint Ursula unfold in six medallions adorning the foot: Ursula and the 11,000 virgins welcomed to Rome by Pope Cyriacus, Ursula in a boat sailing up the Rhine, the martyrdom of the saint and her companions under the walls of Cologne, the saint and her companions carrying a palm, and Bishop Cunibert in front of the tomb on which a dove has landed. Six episodes from Saint Angela’s life follow one another around the bowl: Christ appears to her and dictates her mission; she receives communion in the collegiate church of Brescia with her companions; she dons the habit of the Franciscan Third Order; she teaches children; she writes the rule under the dictation of an angel; the saint prays; during her agony, Christ stands by her side to collect her soul. The lid is adorned with six round enameled medallions, each featuring an angel. Three have their hands clasped and the other three are holding a sheaf of wheat, a pampre laden with fruit and an armful of reeds.

Discover the treasure and collections of Notre-Dame de Fourvière

Ex-voto

Fourvière has always been a place where the Lyonnais would come and invoke Mary. To thank her, they had paintings done and hung on the walls of the Chapel of Our Lady. Some pictures show that the walls and ceilings were once completely covered by paintings. Unfortunately, in the middle of the 20^th century, a very large part of the painted ex-voto was destroyed and the Lyonnais then chose to engrave their thanks on slabs of marble. It is possible today to see a small part of the painted ex-voto in the Chapel of Notre-Dame next to the Basilica. The rest of the collection is kept in the storehouse of the Museum.

Religious plate

The Museum mostly owns works of art from the 19^th century, created by local goldsmiths such as Armand-Calliat. The collection has also been enriched by 17^th and 20^th century items.

Liturgical vestments

The Museum of religious art of Fourvière owns a collection of more than 5,000 religious vestment items. Lyons, renowned for its silk, was one of the centres of religious clothing tailoring. The collection includes items from the 18^th, 19^thand 20^th centuries.

Statuary

It mainly includes wooden and stone Marian statues which date as far back as the 13th century. The Museum owns a little over 300 statues. Most of them come from a collection gathered by an old cannon of the basilica.

Treasure

The Treasury is representative of dates from the construction of the basilica at the end of the 19th century. the Treasury is very representative of 19th and 20th century goldsmiths, with pieces by Parisian artists (Froment-Meurice) or Lyon (Armand-Calliat).

A great name of the 19th century goldsmith: Armand-Calliat

Among many goldsmiths of the 19th century represented by treasury coins, Armand-Calliat is one of the most important in the history of Fourvière. This goldsmith from Lyon met the architect of the basilica, Pierre Bossan, in 1867. Their friendship opened the way to an original artistic approach that aimed to emancipate the neo-Gothic patterns of the time, when the artwork was designed as the manifestation of a religious thought.

Through their creations, they express a theological idea and make an act of faith. The monstrance of Fourvière is one of the most explicit examples of this ideal. The decor of the monstrance, whose function is to contain a host and show it to the faithful so that they come to adore Christ among them, will brings to light the reality of this coming. The monstrance is a poem at Epiphany, that is to say at the manifestation of God. At the foot, the three wise men and a shepherd represent the humanity coming to adore Christ made man.

They are preceded by the four evangelists, who announce the Good News. In the center, Mary introduces her son to the world. It supports the host, surrounded by the chorus of angels moving in the midst of the cosmos, who eternally sing the glory of God.