Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art

About this Work

The church encouraged pilgrimage—the practice of traveling to holy places and famous shrines. Although understood as an individual act of piety on the part of the pilgrim, the practice necessitated support for the large number of people who undertook these journeys. Pilgrimage sites were similar in scope to major tourist destinations today, prompting the growth of businesses that catered to travelers.

Pilgrim flasks were sold at sacred locations to devout visitors, who used them to collect water, oil, or soil from the site. Different media catered to a range of economic classes. Terracotta flasks were extraordinarily popular and must have been mass-produced. Those in glass would have been more expensive, but these, too, survive in large numbers.