Pilgrim's Ampulla with (Symbolic) Crucifixion and Marys at the Tomb

Pilgrim's Ampulla with (Symbolic) Crucifixion and Marys at the Tomb

Pilgrim's Ampulla with (Symbolic) Crucifixion and Marys at the Tomb, 6th to early 7th century, 4.6 cm, lead, Dumbarton Oaks

According to the inscription on this lead vial or ampulla, it contained oil from the wood of the true cross, obtained from the Holy Land. At the sites of sacred events, pilgrims could acquire “eulogiae,” literally “blessings,” in the form of tokens or cloth or oils that they believed shared in the sacred power of the Holy Sites and relics themselves. The Dumbarton Oaks ampulla shows the crucifixion on one side, and Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James carrying spices to Christ’s tomb on the other. In both images, the illustrations deviate from the Gospel accounts. Some Biblical details are selected and then mixed with aspects of the holy site as it would have appeared to a pilgrim hundreds of years later. So, in the case of the crucifixion, while there are details from the Gospels, such as the two thieves being crucified on either side, we do not see Christ’s body on the cross, but rather an emblematic cross surmounted by a bust of Christ. In fact, we know from pilgrims’ descriptions that this is what pilgrims would have seen in the basilica erected by Constantine over the traditional site of the crucifixion. In the case of the Marys at the tomb, the tomb is depicted, not as a cave, as it is described in the Gospels, but as a small porticoed shrine with grilles in front. This is what was visible in the Church of the Resurrection (Anastasis) in Jerusalem as it developed into a pilgrimage site. The shrine is surrounded by columns, and set under a row of windows, representing the windows around the bottom of the dome that rose over the sacred spot. So, these images, like those on other mementos of the Holy Land overlay Biblical details with aspects of the pilgrim’s visit, allowing the faithful to map his or her own experience onto sacred history.
J. Hanson