Chalice with medallions depicting saints

A silver-gilt chalice. It consists of an upward-flaring cup on a tall, profiled stem with a thickened "apple" (knop), and a round, stepped foot. The cup is double, with an openwork silver-toned floral casing (stylized shoots, flowers, and palmettes), into which gold-toned medallions are set, bearing an engraved depiction of the Crucifixion, and figures of the Mother of God and saints. The stem has two ring-shaped profiled knots with transverse "bands," one of which is worked with vertical fluting. Along the upper edge of the cup is the Church Slavonic inscription: "He who eats My body and drinks My blood abides in Me." The foot is decorated with chased, niello-blackened patterns and four oval medallions with scenes of the Passion from the earthly life of Jesus Christ.

The object belonged to the pre-war (pre-1941) part of the collection of the Historical Museum. It was evacuated in 1941 and returned to Kharkiv in November 1944.

Note: the chalice (potir) is the sacred liturgical cup used to consecrate wine and to celebrate the sacrament of Communion.

The chalice represents the cup given by Jesus Christ to his disciples at the Last Supper, with the words: "Drink of it, all of you, for this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins."