Pilgrim's Flask with Nimbed Figure (c. 400–600): Art, History and Details

Pilgrim's Flask with Nimbed Figure (c. 400–600) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Ampullae (small flasks) from pilgrimage sites were made of metal, terracotta, or glass. Because of their fragility, glass ampullae survive less abundantly than the other materials. This example was painted with the image of an unidentified saint bearing a nimbus or halo. It must have been used in conjunction with this saint's shrine.

Object facts

• Title: Pilgrim's Flask with Nimbed Figure
• Date: c. 400–600
• Culture: Byzantium, Syria-Palestine, Byzantine period
• Type: Glass
• Technique: opaque glass with paint
• Dimensions: Overall: 10.5 x 6.9 cm (4 1/8 x 2 11/16 in.)
• Collection: MED - Byzantine
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1999.236

Collection credit

Gift of Bruce Ferrini in memory of Robert P. Bergman

Further reading listed by the museum

• Cleveland Museum of Art, “Cleveland Museum of Art Acquires Rare Chinese Paintings, Baroque Porcelain Plaque and Other New Acquisitions Exhibited with Hanging Scrolls,” December 20, 1999, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.