Owing to the complete decline of the glyptic art in the Middle Ages, antique cameos and intaglios, on account of some fancied assimilation in subject or idea to Christian symbolism, were occasionally used for devout subjects. Together with the general ignorance of classical art, and the consequent attempts that were made to give the pagan representation upon antique gems a Christian signification--frequently in a very forced and curious manner--there appears to have been a certain appreciation of their beauty. When small relics, such as particles of the wood of the cross, or larger relics, as bones of the saints, were enclosed either in portable reliquaries or in costly shrines, such receptacles were not infrequently encrusted with ancient cameos and intaglios, as representing the very choicest objects which the fervent devotion of the age could select for this sacred purpose. The Shrine of the Three Kings at Cologne[44] and the Treasure of Conques[45] are still enriched with many fine examples of the gem-engraver's art, and the magnificent gold shrine of Edward the Confessor in Westminster Abbey, long since despoiled, was formerly mounted with numerous cameos, all probably antique.[46] [44] Bock (F.), _Das heilige Köln._ _Schatzkammer des Kölner Domes_, p. 27. [45] The Abbey of Conques, near Rodez, in the Department of Aveyron. See Darcel (A.) _Trésor de Conques_, p. 66. [46] Rock (D.), _Church of our fathers_, III. 1, p. 393. [Illustration: _PLATE XVI_ ANTIQUE CAMEOS IN MEDIÆVAL SETTINGS] The history of the glyptic art has been sufficiently encroached upon here to demonstrate the prominent place occupied by antique gems in the personal ornaments of the Middle Ages. Their use for signet rings will be referred to again; but attention must be drawn to the three most remarkable examples of their application to other articles of jewellery--the Jewel of St. Hilary and the Cameo of Charles V in the Bibliothèque Nationale at Paris, and the Schaffhausen Onyx, preserved among the archives of the town of Schaffhausen in Switzerland (Pl. XVI).