Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 3.djvu/154

130 claim attention, on account of the perfection or profuse variety of their decoration, bestowed by that unsparing liberality of former times in all occasions wherein veneration for the house of God, or the services of the Church, could be evinced. They present also the most choice examples of various decorative arts, of which such objects, preserved on account of their sacred character, now supply almost the only evidence, whilst the richest ornaments of personal and unhallowed use have been destroyed under the capricious influence of fashion. They are, however, still more interesting when regarded in connection with the successive changes in the discipline of the Church, or the modifications of ritual observance, in conformity with which, the forms of such hallowed accessories were at various times and in different countries modified or ordained. Thus it will be found that, in earlier times, whilst the communion of the faithful under both kinds was permitted, the chalice, termed ministralis, or communicalis, was of considerable capacity, and furnished not unfrequently with a handle on either side, (calix ansata,) so that it might be raised with greater ease and security. A curious representation of such a chalice occurs amongst the embroideries of the Imperial Dalmatic, of Byzantine workmanship, preserved at St. Peter's at Rome, as the "cappa di S. Leone III." (795—816,) but probably not more ancient than the eleventh or twelfth century. It may likewise be seen in the missal of the abbey of St. Denis, now preserved in the Bibliothèque Royale, where the miraculous appearance of the Saviour, and administration of the Eucharist, to St. Denis are portrayed. This MS. is attributed to the eleventh century. Theophilus, who wrote his treatise about the same period, as it is supposed, gives, with detailed instructions for the fabrication of the greater and lesser chalice, a chapter on fashioning the auricula, or aures, of such vessels, a term by which the side-handles appear to be designated. These large chalices furnished with handles were occasionally suspended in churches with coronæ and other ornaments, and are termed by Agnelli calices appensorii, they may be seen in the illuminations of the Bible of Charles le Chauve, and other MSS. In many cases the calices ansati appear to have been used as receptacles for wine, in place of