Pilgrimage Jug with Christian Symbols

Arts of the Ancient Mediterranean and Byzantium

578–636

Byzantine; Jerusalem

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.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Arts of the Ancient Mediterranean and Byzantium

Culture: Byzantine
Title: Pilgrimage Jug with Christian Symbols
Place: Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 578 CE–636 CE
Medium: Glass, mold-blown technique
Dimensions: 15 × 9.1 × 7 cm (5 7/8 × 3 9/16 × 2 3/4 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Theodore W. and Frances S. Robinson
Reference Number: 1947.958
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/62091/manifest.json

Wanda Odell, “Ancient Glass: The Mr. and Mrs. Theodore W. Robinson Collection, Gallery 5A, The Art Institute of Chicago,” 1940, unpublished catalogue in curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.
Kurt T. Luckner, Ancient Art at The Art Institute of Chicago. The Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies (1994), Vol. 20, No. 1, Cat. no. 67, pp. 88, 91 (ill. p. 31).
Christina M. Nielsen, Devotion and Splendor: Medieval Art at the Art Institute of Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 30, 2 (2004), pp. 23-25, cat. 6.

Art Institute of Chicago, Ancient Glass, Mr. and Mrs. Theodore W. Robinson Collection, June 28, 1940 –January 1, 1941.
Art Institute of Chicago, Ancient Art Galleries, Gallery 155 A, April 20, 1994 - February 6, 2012.
Art Institute of Chicago, Of Gods and Glamour: The Mary and Michael Jaharis Galleries of Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Art, Gallery 153, November 11, 2012 - July 24, 2018.

Theodore W. and Frances S. Robinson, Chicago, by 1931; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1947.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.