Toledo’s Monstrance of Arfe

One of the most important items in the Toledo Cathedral, it has its own special security room. It is enclosed in a bullet proof glass display case and guarded by a special security system. A limited number of people are allowed into the room at a time.

There is so much detail in the work of art that it is impossible to see it all in the limited amount of time allowed. Wikipedia reports it has 260 figurines, 5600 pieces held together by 12,500 bolts.

Originally built of 183 kilograms of silver, it was completed in 1524, seven years after it was commissioned. Seventy years later it was gilded with 18 kilograms of 18 carat gold. (supposedly the first gold brought back to Spain from South America)

Every year this monstrance is taken out of the cathedral and paraded around Toledo for the feast of Corpus Christi. It has a special float designed to keep this ten foot tall structure upright while moving through the ups and downs of the hilly streets.

In 2011 it was taken to the airport in Madrid for World Youth Day. There, Pope Benedict XVI used it for the Eucharistic Adoration. It was raining that day.

How do you care for such a treasure? There is an “owners manual” created by the original silversmiths when first assembling the monstrance. Over the centuries the routine maintenance procedures have been performed a few times. It involves cleaning, repairing or rebuilding broken or corroded parts. Most recently, extensive work was done in 1981.

Do you think there is something special about this ceiling above the display case?

– Where do you want to Go Today? –

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toledo_Cathedral#The_Great_Monstrance_of_Arfe

http://www.catedralprimada.es/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monstrance#/media/File:Toledo_monstrance.jpg

video of cleaning and repairing the Monstrance:

https://www.romereports.com/en/2016/08/06/the-great-monstrance-of-arfe-shines-again-restoration-of-the-masterpiece-of-spanish-goldsmithing/