On view
European Art
Ampulla with Saint Menas,
first half of the 7th century
Early Byzantine, ca. 330–842
y62
Pilgrimage and Portable Objects
These small, portable objects speak to the movement of people across expansive geographies over many centuries. Reliquaries and ampullae, or small flasks, contained physical reminders of pilgrimages to holy sites. Medallions, tokens, and amulets warded off perils on these arduous journeys and served as mementos of them.
Objects of personal adornment traveled with their wearers, but their materials also could connote distant places. Garnet, for example, came to Europe primarily via long-distance trade routes with South Asia, and glass imitating garnet was often made in Egypt and imported to Europe.
More About This Object
Information
Title
Ampulla with Saint Menas
Dates
first half of the 7th century
Medium
Ceramic
Dimensions
10 x 6.7 x 2 cm (3 15/16 x 2 5/8 x 13/16 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase in 1923
Object Number
y62
Place Made
Egypt
Period
Type
Materials
Subject
Purchased by the Museum in 1923
- Dorothy Eugenia Miner, Early Christian and Byzantine art: an exhibition held at The Baltimore Museum of Art, (Baltimore, MD: Baltimore Museum of Art, 1947)., p. 139, no. 709; pl. 51
- Slobodan Curcic and Archer St. Clair, Byzantium at Princeton: Byzantine art and archaeology at Princeton University: catalogue of an exhibition at Firestone Library, Princeton University, August 1 through October 26, 1986, (Princeton, NJ: Dept. of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University, The Art Museum, Princeton University, Princeton University Library, Dept. of Rare Books and Special Collections, 1986)., no. 171; p. 145
