GOLD, SILVER, BRONZE, PEWTER, AND IRON.
The early Egyptian, Assyrian, Phœnician, and Primitive Grecian metal work has been noticed under the historic sketch of the art of these nations in the former volume.
We read in the Bible of the great magnificence of Solomon’s Temple, especially in the extreme richness and wealth of the gold, silver, and brazen vessels, utensils, and architectural decorations, in which the precious metals were used in the solid or plated manner on capitals, pillars, doors, seats, thrones, and on the decorations of the Ark; but no remains of all this magnificence have survived the wrecks of time or the greed and spoliation of the conquerors of Jerusalem.
The sculptured decorations of the Arch of Titus at Rome afford us the only tangible testimony as to the kind or shapes of the tables, vessels, and seven-branched candlesticks which were carried off by the Romans after the sacking of Jerusalem, A.D. 73. The workmanship and design of these objects were probably a mixture of Egyptian and Assyrian forms, passing through the hands of the probable Phœnician artificers.
Some of the earliest goldsmiths’ work that possesses a real artistic value consists of personal ornaments, such as wreaths, earrings, brooches, and diadems of Etruscan workmanship. Much of this work was made very thin, in plates or scales joined together, and was generally designed for funeral uses. Articles of personal adornment were very rich and beautifully made, having the usual character of Greek design (Figs. 128, 129).
Fig. 128.—Gold Brooch and Earrings set with Garnets; Etruscan. (J.)
Fig. 129.—Head of Bacchus, part of Necklace; Etruscan Jewellery. (J.)
Fig. 130.—Etruscan Bronze Vessel.
The Etruscans were greatly skilled in the making of all kinds of gold, silver, and bronze vessels, jewellery, cups, goblets, and articles of domestic use (Fig. 130). A remarkable bronze of a monster or chimæra was found at Arezzo, in Italy, in 1534, which no doubt was a representation of an Etruscan deity (Fig. 131). The art of the Etruscans was strongly imbued with a decided Oriental character of mysteriousness.
We have noticed before the gold and other metal work of primitive Greece that was found by Dr. Schliemann at Mycenæ and on the site of ancient Troy. Most of this work was in beaten and inlaid metals, but in later periods the arts of soldering grains and plates of gold, and fine wire drawing for delicate filigree work were well known. Minute grains of gold that had the appearance of frosted work were in reality soldered to the plate. Statues were made in gold, but more often were plated. Chryselephantine statues were common in the best days of Greek art, as those of Athene and Jupiter by Phidias, and the statue of Bacchus in his temple at Athens.
Crœsus made offerings of gold and silver vessels to the shrine of Delphi, and both he and Darius had images of their wives made in gold by Greek artists. Very few examples of Greek goldsmiths’ art have come down to us, for owing to the valuable nature of the material, nearly all such work has been, in the course of time, pillaged and melted down by the barbarians or conquerors, and it is only in a few isolated cases such valuables have been preserved by being buried or hidden purposely in the earth, and in late years have been brought to light. We are, therefore, indebted to the ancient historians for most of our knowledge concerning the goldsmithery of Greece and Rome.
Some very valuable finds have been brought to light, such as that of the Hildesheim treasures (Fig. 132), and the articles of bronze found at Herculaneum and Pompeii give a good idea of the richness and beauty of the metal work of ancient Greece and Rome. The wine crater (Fig. 132) is exceptionally beautiful in its delicate lines of arabesque tracery.
Fig. 131.—Bronze Chimæra at Florence.
There are some valuable examples in silver of the period of the late Roman Empire in the British Museum, which are the treasures of another “find.” They consist of a bridal casket 22 by 17 inches, and 11 inches in height; another round bridal casket; dishes on a low stand (Scutellæ); oblong-shaped dishes or trays (lances); horse trappings and ornaments (Phaleræ); seated figures representing Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, and Antioch; various vases and vessels for holding perfumes and unguents. This treasure was discovered in the vaults of a house in Rome in 1793, where it was supposed to have been hidden from the barbarians who invaded and captured Rome in the sixth century.
Fig. 132.—Wine Crater in Silver; from the Hildesheim Treasures. Antique Roman.
The bridal caskets have the portraits of the bride and bridegroom in hammered or repoussé work, and mythological marine subjects. The style and execution is in the usual coarse manner that characterized the work of the period of early Christian Art, with some of the antique traditions still asserting their influence in the style of the design.
Tripods, candelabra, vases, bowls, caskets, spoons, besides articles of personal adornment made in the precious metals, have been found in the buried cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii, and in other places in Italy, France, and Germany, of antique Roman design. (See Fig. 417 in the previous volume of this work.)
The names of a few Greek and Roman goldsmiths occur in the writings of Pausanias, Pliny, and Martial, one of the earliest of which is named Mentor, who probably lived in a subsequent near period to Phidias. Acragras and Mys were the names of two others of a little later time. Stratonicus and Tauriscus are two others who lived in the third century B.C. Antipater is mentioned as the name of a goldsmith by Pliny.
Pytheas was a famous worker in gold and silver, who engraved figure compositions, and Posidanius of Ephesus excelled in hunting and racing subjects. Praxiteles was a silversmith who executed animal representations from the life, and “Alexander the coppersmith” is mentioned in St. Paul’s Epistle to Timothy.
The metal work of the Byzantine period—from the fourth to the eleventh century—is characterized by a subservience of the design to the material employed; in other words, what was lacking in good drawing and modelling was replaced by splendour and magnificence in the general effect.
The use of gold with enamels was a great feature in Byzantine art and throughout the Middle Ages. When the great Church of Santa Sophia was rebuilt by Justinian in the sixth century, the best artists were employed to make the great altar screen, and to decorate the sanctuary in resplendent works in gold, silver, and enamels. The altar was made in marble plated with gold in which was set precious stones and crusted enamels. It was supported by pillars thickly plated with gold.[gold.] The canopy or ciborium of the altar rested on four silver-gilt columns, and this canopy was overlaid with plates of silver, on which were figures wrought in niello work. The canopy had an orb surmounted by a cross made of gold and inlaid with large precious stones. The screen in front of the altar had its dado or lower part of gilt bronze, and the pillars and architrave silver-plated. It had also statues and panels of silver, the latter being engraved with figures of saints in niello work. The ambo or pulpit had a canopy of plated gold set with precious stones. The sanctuary of Santa Sophia contained forty thousand pounds weight of silver, and the altar vessels were made of gold set with stones of the greatest value.
The above description is given by Mr. J. Hungerford Pollen, in his handbook of “Gold and Silver,” to whom we are indebted for many of the illustrations and some interesting information on the subject of the precious metals.
It will be seen from this that Justinian had established a great school of goldsmiths and enamellers at Byzantium, and when Leo the Iconoclast in the eighth century, and Theophilus in 832, finally drove out the image-makers and many other goldsmiths from Constantinople—checking in a great degree the art of the metal-worker in the Eastern Empire—they were received with great welcome in Italy, Germany, and France, where they followed the practice of their art under more favourable auspices.
Under Basil the Macedonian, who died in 886, the images were restored, and a great encouragement given to all kinds of art; and during the reign of Constantine, his grandson (912-959), Constantinople was again a great art centre from which Italy and Germany procured their chief artists. The celebrated Pala d’Oro, or Altar of St. Mark’s, Venice, and the bronze gates of San Paolo, near Rome, were made in Constantinople.
The splendour and treasures of the imperial city remained intact until its capture by the French and Venetians in 1204, when a general sacking of nearly all of its treasures took place.
The Byzantine style of the scroll-work and acanthus was of the Greek type, and was admirably suited to show to advantage the rich quality of the precious metals, and a modified character of this leafage appears in the Romanesque metal work. The vine-leaf, grapes, and twisting tendrils were first used in a symbolic sense in the Byzantine style and subsequently in the Romanesque. The acanthus and the vine are treated very much alike in the conventional ornament of the latter style, which is really a connecting-link between the Early Gothic foliage and the Byzantine. This may be seen in the illustration (Fig. 133) of a portion of the base of the great candlestick at Milan, a work of the twelfth century.
A celebrated “find,” known as the “treasure of Petrossa,” was brought to light in 1837 by some peasants who were digging on the banks of Argish River, a tributary of the Danube. It consists of vessels of pure gold, vessels made of slices of garnet and other stones, a torque or collar of gold, a great dish, and some brooches of a large size. They have all been inlaid with precious stones, and have simple but well-designed ornaments. The workmanship is Byzantine, or it may have been done by Gothic artists after Byzantine models.
This treasure is now in the museum at Bucharest. The influence of the Byzantine school of metal workers spread, not only over the continent of Europe, but as far as England and Ireland; and many portable altars, shrines, and reliquaries were made to order in Constantinople, or given as presents to foreign churches.
During the seventh, eighth, and ninth centuries it was customary for kings and queens to present votive crowns to their churches: these crowns were treasured with other precious articles, and hung up in the sanctuaries.
Fig. 133.—Base of Candlestick, Milan Cathedral. (P.)
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.
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.
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. That the goldsmith’s art was practised in England in the days of Alfred (871-900) we have evidence in the famous ring belonging to this king which is described on page 121.
Fig. 136.—Shrine of St. Patrick’s Bell. (S.)
Another gold ring belonging to Ethelwulf, of the early ninth or eighth century, the enamelled vase or situla found in Essex, the golden altar of St. Ambrose at Milan, and the beautiful Irish chalice found at Ardagh have been described in the chapter on enamels, all of which show evidence of the great skill of the European goldsmiths from the seventh to the tenth centuries.
Fig. 137.—The Tara Brooch. (S.)
Fig. 138.—Tara Brooch (reverse). (S.)
The tenth century was a barren one for Art in Europe, except in some of the monasteries of France, Italy, and in Ireland. In the latter country a great deal of good work was produced—in metals especially—in the ninth and tenth centuries. The amount of personal ornaments, such as torques or collars of gold, bracelets, brooches, belt-clasps, and croziers, shrines for sacred bells, and covers for the Gospels, that were wrought in gold, silver, or alloys must have been prodigious. The astonishing delicacy and intricacy of the Celtic ornamentation bear eloquent testimony to the great skill of the early Irish artists.
Fig. 139.—Irish “Trumpet Pattern.”
The shrine of St. Patrick’s bell, or the bell of Armagh, is a splendid specimen of Irish art (Fig. 136). It forms the cover of the ancient square-mouthed iron bell that formerly belonged to the patron saint of Ireland, and is plated with silver-gilt ornamentation and gold filigree work in both high and low relief. The ornamentation is composed of twisted and interlacing scrolls and knot-work, with some elongated animal forms in the composition. It has crystals and coloured gems set in the angles and other places. The large central stone is set in imbricated work.
There are five of these bells in Ireland and two in Scotland, but none of them are so fine as the St. Patrick bell. Another beautiful example of Irish metal work is the Tara brooch (Figs. 137 and 138). It is made of white metal, a hard bronze composed of tin and copper.
Fig. 140.—Cumdach or Case of Molaise’s Gospels. (S.)
The gold and silver ornamentation on this brooch and on the Ardagh chalice are of the same style of design and workmanship, which would point out that these two fine examples of Irish art were made about the same date, perhaps anterior to the tenth century. The “trumpet pattern,” which is not found on Irish work after 1050, occurs on the reverse side of the Tara brooch (Fig. 138). The ornamentation is of an extraordinary beauty, both in variety of style and pattern and in the execution. It is riveted or fastened with pins and held by means of slender bars to the foundation.
Fig. 141.—The Crozier of Clonmacnois. (S.)
Fig. 142.—Irish Crozier of Bronze, Edinburgh Museum. (S.)
The Cumdachs or book-cases used as covers for the books of the Gospels were also important works of the Irish goldsmith’s art. The illustration of the book-case or shrine for the cover of Molaise’s Gospels is a unique example (Fig. 140). This cumdach is made of plates of bronze, and on this foundation is riveted plates of silver with gilt patterns. In the panels may be seen rude and quaint figures or symbols of the four Evangelists, and in the centre is a cross in a circle. It dates from the first quarter of the eleventh century, and is one of the oldest of these Irish book shrines. Crosses and croziers were also made of bronze, with gold and silver inlays or relief ornamentation.
The Cross of Cong, of the twelfth century, now in the museum of the Royal Irish Academy, and the croziers of Lismore (end of eleventh century) and that of Clonmacnois (Fig. 141) are the most important examples of this kind of work, the latter being a very rich example. A simpler Irish crozier in bronze (Fig. 142) is in the Edinburgh Museum.