The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Pilgrim's Ampulla with Scenes of the Crucifixion (front) and the Ascension (back)

Pilgrim's Ampulla with Scenes of the Crucifixion (front) and the Ascension (back)

c. 600
Location: 105 Byzantine

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 and Ascension. 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.
  • Cleveland Museum of Art, “Major Contemporary German Painting Acquired by CMA,” June 9, 1999, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art, and Holger A. Klein. Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 54-55, no. 10
    Bagnoli, Martina. Treasures of heaven: saints, relics, and devotion in medieval Europe. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2010. Reproduced: cat. no. 23, p. 43
  • {{cite web|title=Pilgrim's Ampulla with Scenes of the Crucifixion (front) and the Ascension (back)|url=false|author=|year=c. 600|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1999.46