Fragment of a Bowl
13th-14th century
Medium
Ceramic
Dimensions
3.8 × 9.5 × 8.3 cm (1 1/2 × 3 3/4 × 3 1/4 in.)
Classification
fragment
Department
Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
92650
Art Historical Context
This delicate *Fragment of a Bowl*, in the Byzantine Empire during the 13th14th centuries, offers a tantalizing glimpse into everyday life in one of history's most enduring Christian civilizations. Measuring just 3.8 × 9.5 × 8.3 cm, this ceramic shard hails from the waning years of Byzantium, a period marked by political upheaval—including the empire's brief fall to the Fourth Crusade in 1204 and its resilient revival under the Palaiologos dynasty. Such bowls were ubiquitous in households, markets, and monasteries, reflecting the blend of classical Greek-Roman heritage with Eastern influences ...
About the Artist
Byzantine
"Byzantine" is the collective attribution given to anonymous artists working within the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, whose creations spanned from the 4th to the 15th centuries, primarily in Constantinople and its cultural sphere. These masters produced a vast body of art that defined an era, with museums like the Walters Art Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago cataloging numerous works un...