Bobbio, Museo Di S. Colombano/from André Grabar, Ampoules de Terre Sainte

“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.