About this time the method of painting on glass was introduced, which formerly was decorated by simply using the pieces of stained or coloured glass as in mosaic work, the only difference between the superficial glass painting and the painting in enamels being that in the latter the opaque enamel colours are used instead of the transparent as in glass painting. It was, however, a considerable time from the introduction of painting on enamels before any good specimens of the art were executed.
Among the earliest specimens of Cloisonné enamels was the golden altar given to the cathedral of Sta. Sophia at Constantinople by Justinian.
Fig. 94.—Altar Tray and Chalice, Cloisonné Enamel; Sixth Century (?).
This altar was dismantled and divided amongst the Crusaders at the taking of Constantinople in 1204. The next important works in date are the gold altar of Ambrose at Milan, made by Volvinius in 825; the votive crown of St. Mark, Venice, 886-911; the Limburg reliquary made for Basil II. (the Macedonian), 976; and the famous altar, the Pala d’Oro, in St. Mark’s, Venice, 976-1105, made at Constantinople, and brought from there to Venice by order of the Doge Ordelafo Faliero. This altar had precious stones added to it and was enlarged in 1209 and in 1345. If the crown of Charlemagne (Fig. 96) was used at his coronation it would make the date of the four enamelled gold plates with the figures of Solomon, David, and Our Lord between two seraphim and Esaias and Hezekiah, anterior to the year A.D. 800, when he was crowned. These enamels are enclosed in filigree bands and sunk into the metal in the Greek manner.
The sword of Charlemagne, made in the ninth century, has the golden scabbard inlaid with filagree Cloisonné enamels. Both the sword and crown are in the Imperial treasury at Vienna.
The gold altar tray and chalice (Fig. 94) were found near Gourdon, in the Department of the Haute-Saône. The altar tray has a cross in the centre, and lozenge and trefoil ornaments of Cloisonné garnet-coloured enamels. Greek coins of the sixth century were found with it.
The Byzantine reliquary (Fig. 95) is another example of Cloisonné work.
At Cologne, in the cathedral, is the shrine of the Magi that contains the skulls of the “Three Kings.” This is a magnificent reliquary made by the order of the Archbishop Philip von Heinsberg in two storeys, both of which have a series of arcades with figures in each. It is also an example of enamelled work in which the Cloisonné and Champlevé processes may be seen.
The first authentic or dated specimens of Champlevé enamels belong to the twelfth century, though some specimens are likely of an earlier date. Some crosses and other works of the dates 1041-1054 show a mixture of the two embedded varieties of enamels.