Italian Bronzes.
The metal-workers from the sixth to the tenth centuries, when so many decorative bronzes were being made for St. Peter's and Italian churches, derived their inspirations from Byzantium, hence those early works were often inlaid with silver and gold, and were quite different from those of later date. Art developed, and gradually a more distinctive character was given to the bronze gates and candelabra which were made with such consummate skill. One of the greatest triumphs of that period was the great candelabrum in Milan Cathedral, wrought in the thirteenth century. Its height is 14 ft., and it has seven branches for candles, the stem being supported by four winged dragons. It is one mass of marvellous scrollwork, relieved by the introduction of figures, each one of which is perfect in itself—a study of expression and character. Casts of these remarkable pieces of metal-work may be seen at South Kensington.
In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the Florentine artists worked. It was then that statues in bronze were sculptured by Verrocchio, Donatello, and others. A century later the wonderful candlesticks in the Certosa, near Pavia, and in the cathedral at Padua, were made. It was about that time that Venetian metal-workers were fashioning so much that was beautiful in domestic utensils and the minor church ornaments.
From that time onward collectable brasses were made, and after long years of use they passed into the category of antiques, rendered beautiful by their artistic merits, and possibly by the touch of age. Even then there was an Oriental look about many of the designs, but it seldom intrudes, and does not spoil the effect of the forms and style so clearly Venetian. Such vessels were chiefly made for the then wealthy merchants of the city, and often their arms were incorporated into the design. Fig. 78 is a bronze oviform ewer made in Venice about 1530. Another beautiful vase is shown in Fig. 79. Other objects much favoured were candlesticks, hand-warmers, and perfume sprinklers, to which must be added the more strictly utilitarian.
The Spanish metal-workers do not appear to have developed a very well-defined school of metallic art of their own. They were especially noted for their highly ornamental jewellery; in the common metals they were influenced by Italy, and to some extent Germany. It is said that the finest piece of work accomplished in the country was the great sixteenth-century candelabrum or tenebrarium in Seville Cathedral, the work of Bart. Morel in 1562.