Artwork Page for Pilgrim's Ampulla with the Ascension (back)

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Pilgrim's Ampulla with the Ascension (back)

c. 600

Byzantium; Palestine, early Byzantine period, early 7th Century

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Medium
tin-lead alloy with leather fragments
Measurements
Overall: 6.3 x 4.6 x 1.5 cm (2 1/2 x 1 13/16 x 9/16 in.)
Credit Line
John L. Severance Fund 1999.46.b
Public Domain
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Location
105 Byzantine
Print

Description

The images found on the sides of surviving lead pilgrims' ampullae include scenes relating to the life of Christ, and by extension to the holy sites (loca sancta) where the events took place. Cast into the sides of this ampulla are scenes of Christ's Crucifixion on the front and the Ascension on the back. The use of such sacred images on these vessels illustrates the early Christian belief that images were carriers of divine power. This ampulla is known as a "Monza" or "Bobbio" type after caches of similar examples discovered in those two Italian towns.
A weathered, gray-brown metal flask has a flattened circular body and short neck wrapped in dark leather. Central relief carvings depict a figure ascending between two winged beings, their wings forming a rounded frame. Below, two groups of flattened, robed figures gesture upward. A circular border of Greek capital letters rings the scene. The surface is pitted and coarse, with irregular, jagged edges and leather fragments trailing down the left side.

Pilgrim's Ampulla with the Ascension (back)

c. 600

Byzantium; Palestine, early Byzantine period, early 7th Century

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