Leisure hours among the gems

by Augustus C. Hamlin

The late Duke of Brunswick had before his death a marvellous collection of diamonds, partly acquired in gratification of his eccentric tastes and partly obtained by inheritance. Among the latter was the famous Cumberland diamond of thirty-two karats, which had descended to the heir of the House of Hanover. We have not been able to obtain a description of these treasures, nor can we learn of their disposition by the remarkable will of their late possessor.

Among the church regalia of Catholic Europe, and the offerings presented in past times to the various shrines of the saints of their religion, are yet preserved many gems of great beauty and value, and among them a great number of diamonds. Some of them have been stripped during the ravages of war, or by the iconoclastic fury of civil disturbances; and the pious monks have, in instances, restored their loss by the substitution of paste, which has pleased the pilgrim’s eye quite as well. For instance, the celebrated shrine of the Three Magi at Cologne has been despoiled of a great part of its vast treasures. And the skulls of the kings, inscribed with their names—Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthazar—written in rubies, were once crowned with gold diadems, resplendent with brilliant gems, now replaced by silver, gilt, and paste, or imitations. The custodians of the relics and jewels still assert, through pious fraud or a convenient ignorance, that their value amounts to 6,000,000 francs.

Catholicism, when it had the means, spared no expense in decorating its shrines and beautifying its relics. It well understood the effect of the glitter of gold and the brilliancy of gems upon the human imagination. The examples of this barbaric and yet cultivated taste are to be seen in all parts of Europe. Relics and insignia were not only lavishly adorned, like the Remonstrance at Prague with its 6,666 diamonds, but the bones of their saints were committed to the earth ornamented with costly gems, like those of Cardinal Borromeo interred at Milan two hundred years ago. The shrine of Loretto in Italy has been the most favored of all in Europe in attracting gifts from the rich and powerful as well as from the sick and the conscience-stricken. If reports are true, it has been and now is the receptacle of many of the most beautiful treasures of the mineral kingdom. As its history is not generally known, we will briefly allude to it, and give a still briefer description of its jewels.

Casa Santa denotes the chapel of the Holy Virgin at Loretto in Italy. Its chief room is the chamber in which the Blessed Virgin is said to have been born, where she was betrothed to Joseph, where the angel saluted her, and where the Holy Ghost overshadowed her, etc. Tradition says it was carried, in May, 1291, through the air by angels from Galilee to Tersato in Dalmatia, and four and a half years afterwards was taken to Italy and set down in a wood in the district of Recanati, a thousand paces from the sea.

Strange to relate, it was more than two hundred years before any author in that country took any notice of the event or of the building. It was, when first brought to notice, simply a house of one room; but as religious enthusiasm became excited it also became necessary to repair its decayed condition and improve its appearance. Therefore, Clement VII. caused a vaulted roof to be placed upon it and new foundations to support its tottering walls. At a later period it was completely encased in the finest Carrara marble, under the directions of the most celebrated sculptors of the age and during the pontificates of Leo X., Paul III., and Gregory XIII. The edifice which encloses the chamber within its spacious walls was designed by Bramante, and its sculptures were designed and executed by the most famous artists. This is composed of Istrian stone resembling the Travertine stone so much used at Rome.

Within the ancient chamber, which is regarded as one of the holiest of all the holy precincts known, stands the sacred image, called the Great Madonna, five feet high, made of cedar, and carved, as tradition says, by St. Luke, who was a carver as well as a physician. Upon her head is placed a triple crown of gold, enriched with diamonds and pearls, a gift from Louis XIII. of France. Over her shoulders an ample robe is cast, glittering with jewels of all descriptions and said to be of inestimable price.

The niche in which the image is placed is also decorated with gems, and among them are seventy-one of the finest of the Bohemian topazes [quartz].

Adjoining the Virgin on the right side appears a statue of an angel cast in pure gold. This is also profusely enriched with diamonds and other gems. Some of these, which are said to have cost 50,000 ducats, were the offering of Eleanora of the House of Este, the Queen of King James II. of England, when she sought for the intercession of the Virgin to grant her an heir. The Pretender to the British Crown was born not long after, to the delight of all those who believed in miraculous intervention.

On the left side of the Virgin a silver statue of an angel is placed, and still further on the right appears another costly image. This last was the gift of Louis XIII. of France, in gratitude for the birth of the Dauphin, afterwards “Le Grand Monarque,” Louis XIV.

Seven lamps of solid gold are continually burning with a sacred flame before the image of the Virgin, and other parts of the room are illuminated with thirty-seven silver lamps.