The Tassilo Chalice is one of the absolute highlights of the exhibition in Aachen 2014.
Normally it is kept in Kremsmünster, in upper Austria half between Munich and Vienna. Thus it is a very good example of the hassle, which serious medievalists have to endure in order to sample such treasures.
At present (summer 2014), though, it is one of the highlights in Aachen.
The chalice is made of bronze chalice gilded with silver and gold and decorated with niello and chip-carving. It stands 25.5 cm high and weighs 3 kg.
Around the cup five oval medallions show Christ and the four evangelists. Round the base are icons of Mary, John the Baptist and perhaps – the Lombard Queen Theodelinda. The portraits are interlaced with plants and animals. Around the foot is an inscription: Tassilo Dux Fortis + LiVTPIRG VIRGA REGALIS.
The chalice might have been made in Northumbria, but it might also be the work of a craftsman working in missionary contexts on the continent. The decoration is in the Hiberno-Saxon style, but it is also inspired by Italian (Lombard ) style
The chalice is nowadays used when mass is celebrated in the abbey of Kremsmünster on the memorial day for the death of the founder, Duke Tassilo, the 11th of December, 777 and on Maundy Thursday. The wine used at the Abbey has been continuously grown in the same fields since the 8th century.
The celebration takes the form of a mass for the dead. Apart from the use of the chalice, two other treasures are brought forth from the museum: the Tassilo-chandeliers and the Codex Millenarius Maior, also from the 8th century. This is not on show in Aachen, but a manuscript from the same scriptorium, the Mondsee or Tassilo Psalter is.
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