--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Sjodahl, J. M. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 28 number: 5 published: 1925-03 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: "J. M. Sjodahl, “The Great Chalice of Antioch, or the “Holy Grail”,” *Improvement Era 28, no. 5 (March 1925)*: 407–411." source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2805unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera2805unse start_page: 407 end_page: 411 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1925-03) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2805unse publication_year: 1925 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1925, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # The Great Chalice of Antioch, or the “Holy Grail” Improvement Era Vol. XXVIII MARCH, 1925 No. 5 THE GREAT CHALICE OF ANTIOCH OR THE "HOLY GRAIL" By J. M. Sjodahl All armed I ride, whate'er betide, Until I find the holy grail. — Tennyson. In medieval legend the cup used by our Lord, when he instituted the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, is known as "the holy grail." It is supposed to have come into the possession of Joseph of Arimethaea, who collected in it a few drops of our Savior's blood, as the body was reverently lowered from the cross by loving friends. According to legendary lore, Joseph, or one of his descendants, brought the relic to the British isles. A vast amount of romance has been woven around the holy grail. One story has it that it was brought by angels to the top of a high mountain and there entrusted to the care of a body of knights. When approached by someone who was not perfectly pure, morally, it van- ished out of sight. Knight-errands of all nations then undertook to search for it. The legend of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table is founded upon this story. Perceval, or Parsifal, as he is called in Wagner's famous opera, comes to the Grail castle where he sees the sacred vessel borne in by a beautiful damsel. It is set with jewels, and all present show it reverence. Its companion relics were a bleeding lance and a silver plate. Within the last few years a question has arisen, as to whether the holy grail, the sacramental cup of our Lord, has actually been found. The interesting illustration on the opposite page is repro- duced from a photograph of "the great Chalice of Antioch," the property of Messrs. Kouchakji Freres, New York. Is the vessel in that container the very cup which our Lord handled and blessed on the memorable occasion of his last observance of the passover? According to the accounts published by the proprietors in a de Entered at the Post Office, Salt Lake City, Utah, as second class matter. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized on July Z, 1918, $2 per annum. Address Room 40 6, Church Office Building, Salt Lake City, Utah. 408 IMPROVEMENT ERA luxe work by Dr. Eiscn, the Chalice of Antioch was found in that city in the year 1910 by some Arabs engaged in digging, for some purpose or other. With it was unearthed six other valuable relics, all of which are thought to have formed part of some church treasure in the once great and famous city. Ownership to the entire collection was acquired by Kouchakji Freres of Paris, who, at the outbreak of the war in 1914, sent the valuable objects to New York for safe keeping. The magnificent work of Dr. Eisen appeared in 1923. The inner cup, which Dr. Eisen believes was considered by the original owners and guardians to be the identical chalice used by our Lord, is hammered out of a sheet of silver. It is plain, seemingly unfinished, without ornamentation. Fragments have been removed from the rim, presumably by relic hunters, many centuries ago. The container which holds this cup consists of an ovoid bowl or receptacle, a compressed spherical nodus, a very low stem and a nar- row, circular foot-disk. The bowl has also been hammered out of a sheet of silver. It is beautifully carved, and the spaces between the carvings have been cut away, so that the surface of the inner cup is exposed in the openings. The nodus and the stem are solid and turned on a lathe. The carvings represent twelve vines arranged in six pairs, which enclose twelve loops, six in the upper row and six, alternating with these, in the lower row. In the loops are twelve seated figures, one in each loop. In the spaces between, there are representations of birds and various other animals. Above the vines there is a horizontal band of fifty-seven rosettes, one being a six-pointed star. On the cup-shaped apex of the holder, below the ground line, there is a double row of lotus petals. The spacing is everywhere accurate and appropriate, and the artist has imparted to his work the effect of motion by the diagonality of the tendrils. Two seated figures in the descriptions numbered 1 and 8 are represented in front view, all the rest in side view. The ten figures seem to salute figures 1 and 8 by uplifted right hand. The right hand of figure 1 touches a plate, the left hand of figure 8 holds the open scroll of the law. Fig. 5 holds a purse. Fig. 1 and 8 are clad in togas, resembling that of the Roman emperor, the other ten figures are draped in mantles. The figures are arranged in two distinct groups of six in each, and the central figure in each is supposed to represent our Lord. The identification of the seated figures was slow work. Our Savior was identified in Fig. 1 and St. Peter in Fig. 2. In Fig. 8 a youthful likeness of our Lord was soon recognized. From the Greek headband and the absence of the Jewish hair lock, Fig. 6 was thought to represent Luke, the Grecian evangelist, and then it was thought prob- able that the ten figures surrounding the Master were the four evange- lists, and Peter, Paul, James the Lesser, Jude, Andrew and James the THE GREAT CHALICE OF ANTIOCH 409 Greater. James the Lesser and Jude were near relatives of our Lord, and Andrew and James the Greater were brothers of Peter and John respectively, and therefore likely to be represented in the group. The ornamentation is easily recognized as symbolic. The twelve vines represent Israel, first the twelve tribes, descendants of Jacob, and then the Church of Christ as represented by the twelve apostles. This symbol was well known in the earliest days of our era, which is proved by the fact that our Lord, in his last discourse said, "I am the ttuQ vine." The Twelve understood what he meant. He was the "branch out of the root of the stem of Jesse." (Is. 11:1.) The star is, na- turally, the Star of Bethlehem. The fifty-seven rosettes may, it is thought, indicate so many years. The animal figures may indicate the universality of the gospel, which was to be preached to "every crea- ture," a symbol appearing in the Revelation by John, where the "four living creatures" ("beasts") are among those who worship before the throne. (Rev. 7:11.) The dove is the "sign" of the Holy Spirit, and the lamb is in all probability the symbol of the atonement of Christ. On the chairs of some of the seated figures there are graffiti scratched by an unskilful hand at a later time, evidently with a view of preserving the identity of the figures. Such are the keys on the 410 IMPROVEMENT ERA chair of Peter, and the Egyptian ankh, or crux ansata, on the chair of Luke. The question whether the chalice is the identical cup of the pascal observance of our Lord is too technical for a thorough-going and in- telligent discussion in this paper. Suffice it to say, that works of industry and art have certain characteristics by which even laymen can judge in a general way of their probable age and origin. Indian pot- tery, Japanese paintings, Chinese carvings, the crude bone or horn implements of the Lapps, and so on — all have easily recognizable char- acteristics. And these are so real, that experts can without hesitation separate the genuine from the spurious. This is particularly true of works of art. A real expert can always point out a genuine Stradivarius or a Titian among any number of cleverly made copies. The same is true of books, manuscripts, coins, vases, tapestry, implements, etc. This being the fact, Dr. Eisen's conclusions, based upon expert knowl- edge and a thorough examination of the objects themselves, are not to be set aside lightly. The art revealed in these objects is mainly Greek and Hellenic, as found in works of the Augustan era. The figures give the impression of actual portraits rather than conventional representa- tions of later centuries. The form and proportions of the cup are similar to those of a painted cup in Pompeii. In the condensed Summary of the History and Characteristics of the remarkable relic, which the publishers have courteously plated at the service of the Era, the author says: "No one who has any knowledge of antique silver can fail to recognize the genuineness of the Chalice, which has become fragile on account of the crystallization of the matrix, due to burial in the soil. Those who have studied art with critical eyes will recognize the genuineness of the Chalice through its art, which no one in Renaisance or modern times could even copy, much less create. "The genuineness is confirmed by the nature of the portraits, which introduce new and hitherto unsuspcted elements of resemblance. The use of the Greek symmetry was unknown when the Chalice was excavated, nor can anyone point to a work from which the Chalice could have been copied." The following unsolicited testimonies conclude the Summary: This summary can best be concluded by the unsolicited words of Miss Grace D. Guest, of the Freer Museum of the Smithsonian Institute, Wash- ington, D. C, October, 1921. * * * a view of the Chalice — a view that was full of inspira- tion and interest. I have always rather resented the atmosphere and the character of what we have known as early Christian iconography — so arid repellant, and wholly lacking in beauty of spirit or of form, darkened, as the teaching of Christ came to be, by the thoughts and art of all those genera- tions who lived in fear and uncertainty from the Dark of the Middle Ages. This direct, beautiful, natural thing, full of worth and vitality, approaches so much more nearly to the actual source of the Christian movement, that it carries with it a fresh reassurance of the spirit of the orignal teaching." "Mrs. Adele Coulin-Weible, the pupil and secretary of Joseph Strzy- govsky relates that this archaeologist after having studied the photographs of the Chalice and the Chalice itself during two different visits, occupying THE GREAT CHALICE OF ANTIOCH 411 in all about five or six hours, exclaimed enthusiastically, 'The Chalice is not only real but it is also beautiful.' " The chief interest centers in the supposed likeness of our Lord. They are so different from anything offered by either painters or sculp- tors. In a previous article in the Era on the appearance of Jesus, it was pointed out that two classes of likenesses existed, one representing the "Man of Sorrow," and the other the perfect man with divine majesty and dignity. The first class may be said to have followed the earliest known tradition, in which Christ is the sufferer, the sacrifice. The second embodies a later tradition, which can be traced to Origen, who says that Jesus, even in his human form had superhuman charac- teristics, though the world did not recognize them. From the 4th cen- tury, the tendency is to represent Jesus as beautiful in his human form, and the picture of the Sufferer gives way to the picture of the mighty God-man. Even when pictured on the cross, he is surrounded by a gloria. Here on the Chalice we have a representation that seems to ante- date both these traditions, and therefore, offers very strong internal evidence for the high antiquity claimed for it. It is quite possible that the holy grail came into the possession of Joseph of Arimathaea. It is quite possible that it was used by the first Christians in Jerusalem at the sacrament services. It is pos- sible that, when the followers of Jesus were scattered through persecu- tion, the cup was brought to Antioch by some of the apostles, or some other fugitive. Antioch in Syria was the place where Paul and Barnabas commenced their missionary labors. It was there that the disciples first were called Christians. It had one of the most important churches in that part of the world. Then it is conceivable that some artist — some silversmith, as skilled as Demetrius at Ephesus, but a Christian — conceived the idea of making the container for the cup with Christian symbols and likenesses of leading men, either from actual observances as in the case of the apostles, or from descriptions of those who had been intimate with them, as in the case of our Lord.. All this is possible. Further investigation and discusion will undoubtedly throw more light upon the interesting subject. A Prayer Guide thou thy sheep, Dear Lord, Into a shelter, Past briary thorn and burr, And mire deep; Let not the young ones scatter Helter, skelter; Oh Lord, protect thy wayward, Wandering sheep. Salt Lake City, Utah A. HENDERSON