The Chalice of Doña Urraca from ca. 1060 is a precious composition made out of two antique cups of onyx, held together by bands of gold embellished with jewels

The chalice of Doña Urraca measures 18,4 cm in the height and has a diameter of app 17,3 cm. It is consists of an ancient cup and dish made of sardonyx joined by a gold knop and bands of sheet gold. The cup was originally lined with gold and has a gold rim richly adorned with pearls and gems held in oval and rectangular settings. A curious gem is made of glass paste and cut with a smiling face, which some believe is that of Doña Urraca, although the hair of the figure recalls the parallel locks, with bulbous endings, which can be found in the portrait of her father, Fernando the Great, and on other pieces of art from this period (e.g. the silver ‘arca’ in the same treasury in Real Colegiata San Isidoro and on the ivory cross now in the Archaeological Museum in Madrid.) This “gem” recalls the medieval practice of incorporating antique cameos in Christian Metalwork. The chalice is also decorated with gold filigree.

The materials and the decorative techniques have their closest parallels in the gold-works produced in the imperial workshops in Medieval Germany in the 11^th century, e.g. the Imperial Cross from ca. 1024 currently in Vienna.

Above the foot is an inscription made in beaded gold letters: In NOMINE D[OMI]NI VRRACA FERDINA[N]DI. It signals the chalice as a gift from Urraca to the palace church in Léon.

Doña Urraca (1032 -1101) was the eldest daughter of Ferdinand I, king of Castile-Léon (1015 – 1065) and sister to Alfonso VI, King of Castile-Leon 1040 – 1109. Together with her sister Elvira, she was in charge of the monasteries of the realm as long as she remained unmarried. The administration of these was conducted from Léon. About her a chronicle tells that she “all her life followed her desire to adorn sacred altars and the vestments of the clergy with gold, silver and precious stones” (Chronica Silense)