Cleveland Museum of Art

Bowl with Engraved Figures of Vices

Date

1150–1200

Medium

bronze: spun, hammered, chased, and punched

Culture

Germany, Gothic period, 12th century

Department

Medieval Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

At the center of this bowl stands a female figure identified as SUPER[BI]A (pride). Represented along the curvature are four more bust-length figures: [I]DOLATRIA (idolatry), INVIDIA (envy), IRA (anger), and LUXURIA (self-indulgence). Bowls of this type were likely produced in medieval Germany and widely traded throughout northern Europe. Because of the moralistic symbolism employed in their iconographic programs, it has been suggested that such bowls were used in monasteries for hand washing during penitential activities. More recently, it has been suggested that they served as teaching aids for rhetorical instruction in medieval classrooms.

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