Flask with the Adoration of the Magi

Unknown

500s · Silver, silver-gilt · Medieval Art

The archangel Gabriel strides forward, dramatically leading the Three Wise Men bearing gifts for the Christ Child, who is seated in his mother's lap. The only text that describes the archangel as their guide is the Armenian Infancy Gospel, a popular early book elaborating on the Gospel descriptions of Christ's early life. The star that guides the magi to Bethlehem in the Gospel account (Matthew 2:1-12) appears over the Christ Child's head. Flasks like this may have been used as containers in a church. Depictions of the magi are frequently represented on early Byzantine art associated with pilgrimages.

Artist

Unknown

Date

500s

Medium

Silver, silver-gilt

Culture

Byzantine

Department

Medieval Art

Credit line

Purchase, Frederick C. Hewitt Fund, by exchange; Rogers Fund and Schimmel Foundation Inc. Gift; Gifts of J. Pierpont Morgan, Mr. and Mrs. Marc B. Rojtman, Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller Jr., Lucy W. Drexel and Anonymous, by exchange; Bequests of Mary Stillman Harkness, George Blumenthal, Gwynne M. Andrews and Michael Dreicer, by exchange; Theodore M. Davis Collection, Bequest of Theodore M. Davis, by exchange; Rogers Fund, by exchange; and The Cloisters Collection, by exchange, 1984