Bowl Base with Christ Giving Martyrs' Crowns to Saints Peter and Paul

Bowl Base with Christ Giving Martyrs' Crowns to Saints Peter and Paul

Saints Peter and Paul; Christ

This glass bowl base is made with gold foil sandwiched between two fused layers of glass to create what is commonly known as a gold-glass medallion. This medallion illustrates saints Peter and Paul, notably beardless, sitting in the foreground, while Christ, who is also beardless, stands in the background crowning each apostle. The Latin inscriptions read: “joyful in Christ, worthy of friends” and “Peter, Paul”. These hint to the medallion’s Roman provenance. This medallion was likely created in celebration of the feast day of saints Peter and Paul, and museum records indicate that it was discovered in an unknown catacomb.

Rome

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

350 CE

Hannah Mackey

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/463547?od=on&ft=byzantine&offset=280&rpp=40&pos=315

Glass, gold leaf; 13.8 x 12.5 x 5 cm (overall); 9.5 x 0.3 cm (medallion only)

Latin

Gold-glass medallion/bowl base

11.91.4