Pilgrimage Jug with Christian Symbols
578–636
Medium
Glass, mold-blown technique
Dimensions
15 × 9.1 × 7 cm (5 7/8 × 3 9/16 × 2 3/4 in.)
Classification
vessel
Department
Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
62091
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Glass workshops outside the walls of Jerusalem mass-produced a series of hexagonal and octagonal jugs with Christian or Jewish symbols on their sides. The vessels with Christian symbols, like this example, have images of the cross alternating with diamond shapes. Such vessels were probably filled with oil from holy sites and sold to pilgrims.
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...