The process employed in its production consisted in covering the under
side of a plate of glass or rock crystal with gold leaf. On this were
traced the outlines of the design intended to be reserved in gold, and
the remainder of the gold was then removed. In the painting which
followed, the finest details, the high lights, the shadows and flesh
tints were first executed. Then came in successive applications,
transparent varnishes of different colours and thicknesses, in
accordance with the value of the tones desired. Small pieces of silver
leaf were applied to certain parts to reflect the light and heighten the
effect; and the whole was finally backed with a sheet of metal.[129]
[129] _La collection Spitzer_, III, p. 53.
Verre églomisé appears to take its name from one Glomy, a French
craftsman of the eighteenth century, who produced a special black and
gold varnish which he applied to the back of glass. In a similar way
his countrymen the Martins gave their name to the varnish of their
invention. Verre églomisé, a somewhat unsatisfactory title, which came
first into use in the latter part of the century, and was wrongly
applied to paintings under glass of a similar order, has been retained
ever since.
A peculiar and characteristic species of pendent ornament, numbers of
which were produced in the seventeenth century chiefly at Barcelona, are
certain badges worn by members of religious corporations. They are of
open-worked gilt brass enriched with white, black, and blue opaque
enamels fused into recesses stamped in the surface of the metal. These
badges, which are either triangular, oval, square, or oblong in shape,
are formed of two parts--a frame surrounded with rayed patterns, and a
central portion ornamented with various designs (Pl. LIII, 5). Among the
latter designs are crowned monograms of Christ or the Virgin, with
emblems such as palm leaves, and the device of a nail and the letter S
interlaced--a rebus for "Esclavo." Fitted in the back is usually a
miniature under crystal. In point of technique these enamelled badges
offer an interesting comparison with the well-known English enamels of
the same date applied mainly to objects such as candlesticks and
fire-dogs. Pendent badges of the same designs exist in gold. The
collection of Señor de Osma at Madrid contains several examples.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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