UNKNOWN GOLDSMITH, French
(active around 1250 in Limoges)

Pyx Depicting the Virgin and Child

c. 1250
Champlevé enamel on copper with glass, height 39 cm
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg

Pyx is a container in which the consecrated bread of the Eucharist is kept. This reliquary takes the form of the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child seated on a cubic throne; the pierced balustrade is identical to the characteristic decoration on the crests of Limoges caskets.