Chalice of Cardinal Giulio de'Medici in copper and gilded silver, with niello inlay, by Florentine craftsmen in the first half of the 16th century. Chalices are used during the Catholic Mass to contain the wine that is consecrated to become the blood of Christ. The rite of the Mass echoes the Last Supper Christ held with his Apostles as it is recounted in the Gospels. It was on this occasion that Christ distributed bread and wine to his disciples as his body and his blood, sacrificed for the salvation of men, instructing them to repeat the ritual in "his memory". The words spoken by Christ in the Gospel account of this episode are inscribed on the knop of the chalice. The chalice that once belonged to Cardinal Giulio de 'Medici, later Pope Clement VII, is decorated with lozenges depicting the Madonna and Child, the Pietà, the symbols of the Passion, and the Medici coat of arms surmounted by a cardinal's hat.