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.