Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 13 pages
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Source Description
State officials in the early Byzantine Empire often inspected newly made silver objects and stamped them to attest to the purity of the metal. Four such stamps on the bottom of this cup for Communion wine contain, together with the inspectors' names, the monograms of Emperor Justinian (ruled 527-65) and of his minister Peter (served 547-50). The donor of the chalice was a state official whose name is recorded in the text along the rim: "For the prayer and salvation of the imperial agent Symeonius and of his household."
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
39696
label
Silver Chalice
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
13
Source metadata
id
39696
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Silver Chalice
description
State officials in the early Byzantine Empire often inspected newly made silver objects and stamped them to attest to the purity of the metal. Four such stamps on the bottom of this cup for Communion wine contain, together with the inspectors' names, the monograms of Emperor Justinian (ruled 527-65) and of his minister Peter (served 547-50). The donor of the chalice was a state official whose name is recorded in the text along the rim: "For the prayer and salvation of the imperial agent Symeonius and of his household."
provenance
[Excavated in Syria, ca. 1908-1910]; Tawfic Abucasem, Hama and Port Said, ca. 1913, by purchase; Joseph Brummer, Paris, ca. 1928, by purchase; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1929, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
547-550 (Late Antique)
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Gold, Silver & Jewelry
chalices
imageCount
13
pageCount
13
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
12.5
height
11.9
dimensionsRaw
H at cup rim: 4 15/16 x Diam: 4 11/16 in. (12.5 x 11.9 cm); Diam at foot rim: 2 7/8 in. (7.3 cm)
Source extras
cul
Byzantine
inscriptions
[Translation] Encircling the top of the cup: + In fulfillment of a vow and [for] the salvation of SYMEONIOS
magistr[ianos]
and of THOSE WHO BELONG TO HIM; [Stamp] Five stamps inside the foot
med
silver, traces of silver sulfide inlay
creator_ids
6640
collection_ids
BYZ
exhibition_ids
1957
358
2244
246
2699
2752
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
5b5c935625a657cc
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
5bedcecf6a77972c
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
3
type
photo
mediaId
c210369f8170cded
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
4
type
photo
mediaId
4570884edffa61d1
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
5
type
photo
mediaId
82c20af62ac4da4d
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
6
type
photo
mediaId
401ae19f15632d87
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
7
type
photo
mediaId
faecfb3c376f7947
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
8
type
photo
mediaId
e9513bce6874def2
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
9
type
photo
mediaId
90aedf09321a8656
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
10
type
photo
mediaId
ce0806ebb4a2d2b7
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
11
type
photo
mediaId
7f029c415ff87f15
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
12
type
photo
mediaId
f6628276ad13d240
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
13
type
photo
mediaId
7ca635a6235d57b7
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no