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Flask with the Adoration of the Magi

500s
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 300
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.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Flask with the Adoration of the Magi
  • Date: 500s
  • Culture: Byzantine
  • Medium: Silver, silver-gilt
  • Dimensions: Overall: 12 3/8 x 3 7/8 in. (31.5 x 9.9 cm)
  • Classification: Metalwork-Silver
  • 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
  • Object Number: 1984.196
  • Curatorial Department: Medieval Art and The Cloisters

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Flask with the Adoration of the Magi - Byzantine - The Metropolitan Museum of Art