A Monstrance with Elements of a Gothic Chalice – Report on the Meeting

The Malbork Castle Museum Library hosted the second lecture in its summer series, devoted to an exceptional object: a monstrance assembled from elements of liturgical vessels from various periods and incorporating parts of a Gothic chalice. Once part of Kwidzyn Cathedral’s pre-war collection, the object had until recently been considered lost.

The speaker, Fr Łukasz Waszkielis, an art historian overseeing the care of historic objects in the Province of St Maximilian Maria Kolbe of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (Franciscans) in Poland, outlined the history of the object and recounted the story of his discovery. It should be emphasised that the identification of this historic object makes an important contribution to our knowledge of the history and post-war trajectories of objects lost during the Second World War and the years that followed. The chalice, along with other objects from Kwidzyn Cathedral, was registered in the Ministry’s database of wartime losses. Participants had the opportunity not only to hear about the history and complex fate of the monstrance, but also to examine it up close.

We would like to thank everyone for their participation and interest in this event, which contributes to the wider research into wartime losses.