Yellow-Green Hexagonal Glass Bottle with a Stylite Saint

Yellow-Green Hexagonal Glass Bottle with a Stylite Saint

Yellow-Green Hexagonal Glass Bottle with a Stylite Saint, mid 5th-7th century, Syria (?), moulded glass, 8 9/16 x 2 1/2 x 2 9/16 in. (21.7 x 6.4 x 6.5 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art

The stylite saints depicted on tall glass vessels made in Syria were men who renounced the world and lived atop pillars (styloi). Most renowned was Saint Symeon the Stylite the Elder (389–459), whose pillar on the mountain of Qal‘at Sem‘an, near Antioch, became the center of a large pilgrimage complex. Pilgrims collected dirt from the base of his column.