The Belém Monstrance () is a significant

monstrance A monstrance, also known as an ostensorium (or an ostensory), is a vessel used in Roman Catholic, Old Catholic, High Church Lutheran and Anglican churches for the display on an altar of some object of piety, such as the consecrated Eucharisti ...

made of gold and polychrome enamels. It is probably the most famous work by a Portuguese goldsmith, and is much-admired for its historical importance and artistic merit. It is dated 1506 and attributed to the Portuguese goldsmith and playwright

Gil Vicente Gil Vicente (; c. 1465c. 1536), called the Trobadour, was a Portuguese playwright and poet who acted in and directed his own plays. Considered the chief dramatist of Portugal he is sometimes called the "Portuguese Plautus," often refe ...

, on a commission by

King Manuel I Manuel I (; 31 May 146913 December 1521), known as the Fortunate (), was King of Portugal from 1495 to 1521. A member of the House of Aviz, Manuel was Duke of Beja and Viseu prior to succeeding his cousin, John II of Portugal, as monarch. Manue ...

for the Royal Chapel, and later left in the King's will to the

Jerónimos Monastery The Jerónimos Monastery or Hieronymites Monastery (, ) is a former monastery of the Hieronymites, Order of Saint Jerome near the Tagus river in the parish of Santa Maria de Belém, Belém, in the Lisbon Municipality, Portugal. It became the nec ...

Belém Belém (; Portuguese for Bethlehem; initially called Nossa Senhora de Belém do Grão-Pará, in English Our Lady of Bethlehem of Great Pará), often called Belém of Pará, is the capital and largest city of the state of Pará in the north of B ...

, at the time an outskirt of

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

, whence it derives its name. It is currently part of the collection of the

National Museum of Ancient Art The Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga (; MNAA), also known in English as the National Museum of Ancient Art, is a Portugal, Portuguese national art museum located in Lisbon. With over 40,000 items spanning a vast collection of painting, sculpture, gol ...

, in

. Crafted in late Gothic style, it was fashioned of "1,500

mithqal Mithqāl () is a unit of mass equal to which is mostly used for measuring precious metals, such as gold, and other commodities, like saffron. The name was also applied as an alternative term for the gold dinar, a coin that was used throughout ...

s of gold" brought from

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea. Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

's second trip to India in 1502 as a tribute from the petty king (''régulo'') of

Kilwa Kilwa Kisiwani ('Kilwa Island') is an island, national historic site, and Hamlet (place), hamlet community located in the township of Kilwa Masoko, the district seat of Kilwa District in the Tanzanian region of Lindi Region, Lindi in southern Ta ...

(in present-day

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

), a sign of

vassalage A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerai ...

to the crown of Portugal. The base is inscribed: :''O. MVITO. ALTO. PRICIPE. E. PODEROSO. SEHOR. REI. DÕ. MANVEL. I. A. MDOV. FAZER. DO OVRO. I. DAS. PARIAS. DE. QILVA. AQVABOV. E. CCCCCVI.'' :("The Most High Prince and Powerful Lord, King Dom Manuel I, ordered this to be made from the gold of the tributes from Kilwa. It was completed in 1506.")

References

{{Portugal-hist-stub Monstrances Gothic sculptures Gold sculptures