Pyx for Provisur
The Christian community has always been conscious of the fact that illness can quickly isolate human beings and lead them to consider questions of life and death more urgently than their healthy fellow men. Early on, the community looked for ways to maintain contact with the sick. One important way was to let the sick person participate in the sacrament of Holy Communion not just before death but also as a part of the sick person’s normal religious routines. An object used to give this communion to the sick is the pyx for Provisur. It has various forms. In this example a pyx from the 12th century preserved in the cathedral treasure of Hildesheim the lower part recalls a church building and, more specifically, it recalls a centrally planned building with two rectangular annexes and two apses. It can be locked and has two small spaces inside for the consecrated wafer and, if necessary, oil for the patient. Over it a slim crucifix rises which is mediated optically by a small foot in two pieces and dominates the general impression. Both parts are directed to the purpose of this pyx. The sick person is reminded of the Christian community and confirmed as a part of it.