Saxon & Medieval — Early Medieval; mid-late 13th century
St Thomas Becket
Ampulla from the shrine of St Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. This ampulla has an openwork penannular frame decorated with the scene of Becket’s burial. There are three figures next to Becket’s body; one is holding a cross-staff and another holds an open book. There are two other figures beyond this main group – one is holding a candle and the other holds a shroud or maybe a censer.
Canterbury ampullae contained holy water tinged with St Thomas Becket’s blood. The blood had been collected from his wounds by the monks of the cathedral after Becket had been murdered there by four knights of King Henry II on 29 December 1170. Holy water mixed with this blood became a miraculous cure for all kinds of diseases and was said to bring the dead back to life. Ampullae containing ‘Canterbury water’ were popular pilgrim souvenirs.
- Category:
- Saxon & Medieval
- Object ID:
- 82.8/1
- Object name:
- St Thomas Becket
- Object type:
- Artist/Maker:
- —
- Related people:
- Related events:
- —
- Related places:
- Production date:
- Early Medieval; mid-late 13th century
- Material:
- lead alloy
- Measurements/duration:
- H 65 mm, W 55 mm
- Part of:
- —
- On display:
- —
- Record quality:
- 100%
- Part of this object:
- —
- Credit:
- —
- Copyright holder:
- digital image © London Museum
- Image credit:
- —
- Creative commons usage:
- —
- License this image:
To license this image for commercial use, please contact the London Museum Picture Library.
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Download image file
You are welcome to download and use this image for free under Creative Commons Licence CC BY-NC 4.0
Credit: London Museum
To licence this image for commercial use please contact the London Museum Picture Library
Download image file
You are welcome to download and use this image for free under Creative Commons Licence CC BY-NC 4.0
Credit: London Museum
To licence this image for commercial use please contact the London Museum Picture Library
