Historic Ornament, Vol. 2 (of 2): Treatise on decorative art and architectural ornamentWard, James
History
Historic Ornament, Vol. 2 (of 2): Treatise on decorative art and architectural ornament
Ward, James
Architecture -- History; Decoration and ornament -- History; Decorative arts -- History
There is still preserved in the Cathedral at Monza the Iron Crown of the
Lombard kings. It was given to the cathedral by Theodolinda the Lombard
Queen in 616. The Iron Crown is so called from its having a thin band of
iron encrusted in the inside, said to have been made from a nail from
the Cross. It is really a band or collar of gold, studded with
tallow-cut precious stones.
St. Eloi, who rose from the rank of goldsmith to a bishop (588-659) made
crowns and other articles for church uses for the Church of St. Denis at
Paris.
The bronze-gilt chair of St. Dagobert (Fig. 134) is ascribed to him. He
founded the Abbey of Solignac, near Limoges, where he established a
school of working goldsmiths, which supplied many important works for
various churches in France.
[Illustration: Fig. 134.—Chair of Dagobert; Seventh Century.]
In the year 1858 at Guarrazar, near Toledo, in Spain, another valuable
“find” was discovered, consisting of no less than eleven votive crowns
or diadems, with other valuables, all buried close to the surface of the
ground. The crowns are of pure gold, and are set with precious stones,
such as sapphires and pearls. The rest of the treasure consists of three
crosses, a large emerald stone, and several fragments of gold plates
with chains attached.
[Illustration: Fig. 135.—Votive Crown of King Suinthila; Seventh
Century.]
The stones in these crowns, like those in the Charlemagne and Lombard
crowns, and other jewellery of the Middle Ages, were “tallow-cut,”
that is, they were polished in the round or oval shapes, without
facets, and were also known under the name of “_Cabochons_.” On one of
the crowns of the above treasure—which is now in the Cluny Museum—is
the name of “Beccesvinthus Rex” (A.D. 649-672), and another has the
letters forming the name of King Suinthila (A.D. 621-631) (Fig. 135).
Others of a smaller size were probably those of Spanish queens. The
design and work of the articles forming this treasure are in a kind of
Romanesque-Gothic. The crown of Charlemagne has already been described
under the head of enamels (see Fig. 96). The art of the goldsmith was
fostered to a great degree under the rule of Charlemagne. This
monarch’s great friend and adviser, the prelate Alcuin (735-804), was
the chief spirit of his times in founding monasteries, which were,
apart from their religious character, also great schools of art,
especially in metal working, where all such articles as were required
for church uses, as well as shields, swords, and jewellery for the
king and nobles, were also made. Charlemagne was buried with most of
his treasures about him, but his enamelled sword and crown are the
only objects which belonged to him that now remain, both of which are
at Vienna. Gold, silver, and bronze were worked in by Franks on the
Continent and by the Saxons in England as early as the fifth and sixth
centuries, many examples of which, consisting chiefly of articles of
personal adornment, are now in our museums.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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