Fragment of a shallow bowl: Christ giving the law to Sts. Peter and Paul

Expand

IIIFView PDF

Images(3)

Fragment of a shallow bowl: Christ giving the law to Sts. Peter and Paul

Place of OriginRome, Italy

DateMid- to late 4th century CE

DimensionsH: 2 5/16 in. (5.9 cm); Max Diam: 4 7/8 in. (12.4 cm)

MediumColorless glass; blown, gold leaf

ClassificationGlass

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1967.12

Not on View

DescriptionVery thick interior (0.2) layer and exterior (0.1) layer of glass. Numerous small spherical bubbles, many result from fusion. Scene: Bearded Christ, with nimbus, wearing chiton, himation, sandals, stands on mound with suggestion of water beneath. A date-palm tree frames the scene on each side. Four gold-leaf ornaments of diamond shape surround square panel. Christ greets figure on left (St. Paul), and gives scroll with inscription to St. Peter on the right. Scroll reads: Dominus lege dat. Iconography not parallel on known gold-glass pieces. All known examples of these plaques were found in the catacombs at Rome. They seem to have been parts of larger vessels broken, perhaps as a funeral rite, and embedded in the plaster walls of the tombs. This piece retains traces of this plaster on the back. Transparent natural grayish green tint (near 10 GY 5/2). Two layers of glass thermo-fused. No pontil mark. Gold leaf applied to underside of thick inner layer of glass. Irregular fragment with slight curvature from base of bowl. Mold-formed base ring. Within base ring, square leaf of gold foil cut out, leaving a square frame around a scene of three male figures each with curly hair and dressed in chiton, himation, and sandals. The central figure is bearded and has a circular nimbus identifying him as Christ. There are two curly locks of hair at the nape of his neck not seen on the other figures. He stands on a mound with the suggestion of water beneath. Christ raises his right hand with open palm to the figure on his right (St. Paul?) and gives a scroll with the inscription: DOMINUS LEGE(M) DAT, to St. Peter(?) on his left. Date-palm trees frame the scene on both sides. Roundel fill ornaments occupy every empty space. In the center of the crescents of glass between the sides of the square and the base ring of the vessel are small gold triangles in outline within which are solid rounded elements with central incised circles.

Label TextGold glasses like the one on display would have adorned the bottom of cups and bowls that were probably used in ancient Roman funerary rituals. Although the scene depicted is Christian, similar objects have been found in Jewish and “pagan” contexts as well. The central figure is Christ, shown with a beard and short, cropped hair and standing atop a mound meant to symbolize Golgotha, the hill where he was crucified. Four streams, which allude to the four rivers of paradise, issue from the rocky outcrop. Dressed in a Greek chiton (tunic) and himation (cloak), Christ is flanked by his disciples Peter and Paul, to whom he offers an unfurled rotulus (scroll). The scroll reads “DOMINVS LEGE[M] DAT,” which translates to “the Lord giving the law.”Published ReferencesMorey, C.R., The Gold-Glass Collection of the Vatican Library, 1959, no. 78 for a fragmentary parallel.

Riefstahl, Rudolf M., "The Complexities of Ancient Glass," Apollo, vol. 86, no. 70, Dec. 1967, p. 432, repr. (b&w), fig. 13, p. 433.

"Recent Important Acquisitions," Journal of Glass Studies, vol. XI, 1969, p. 111, repr. no. 14.

Toledo Museum of Art, "Treasures for Toledo," Museum News, New Series, vol. 12, no. 4, Winter 1969, repr.

Toledo Museum of Art, Art in Glass, A Guide to the Glass Collections, Toledo, 1969, repr. p. 29.

Grose, David, "Ancient Glass," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, vol. 20, no. 3, 1978, p. 86, repr. o. 26.

Grose, David, "The Origins and Early History of Glass," in The History of Glass, London, 1984, repr. (col.) p. 35.

Tsuchiya, Yoshio, Fantasy in Glass, Kyoto, Tankosha, 1997, p. 28, repr. [text in Japanese].

Page, Jutta-Annette, The Art of Glass: Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio, Toledo Museum of Art, 2006, repr. (col.) p. 42.

Noga-Banai, Galit, Sacred Stimulus: Jerusalem in the Visual Christianization of Rome, New York, Oxford University Press, 2018, p. xiii, 46, 52-53, pl. 2 (col.) p. 203.

Exhibition HistoryNew York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Age of Spirituality, 1977-8, no. 503, repr. p. 560 (cat. entr. by Margaret E. Frazier).

Fort Worth, Kimbell Art Museum, Picturing the Bible: The Earliest Christian Art, 2007-08, no. 65, pp. 114, 243, repr. (col.) p. 243.