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“Save me, Lord!” the apostle Peter cries out as his faith falters and he begins to sink into the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 14:30). On this sixth-century pewter ampulla from Jerusalem, the haloed Jesus, standing firmly on the water, at right, reaches out to rescue Peter while the other disciples look on from a distant boat.

Unlike most eulogiai, which depict Biblical scenes associated with holy places on the pilgrims’ itinerary, this flask illustrates a scene that was not commemorated at a specific site. The flask was probably made for pilgrims who traveled by sea to the Holy Land, with hopes that Jesus would keep them too from drowning.