BYZANTINE JEWELLERY
The peculiar interest of Byzantine jewellery lies, not only in its own
composite nature, but in the great influence it exercised on European
ornaments during the greater part of the Middle Ages. Byzantine
jewellery is the result of a compromise between Oriental and Western
influences. It retains the craftsmanship of ancient Rome and the dignity
of classical traditions modified by Christian ideas, and to these it
unites the skill in patient and exuberant decoration in which the
Oriental workman excels.
The new era, inaugurated in 330 A.D. by the transfer by Constantine of
the seat of empire to the old colony of Byzantium, was marked at first
by a retention of the Greek and Latin influences; but the quantities of
pearls and precious stones that passed through Constantinople, the
highway of commerce between Europe and the East, soon rendered the
workmen of the Empire susceptible to the magnificence of Oriental
decoration. Owing to the irruption of Oriental ideas in the sixth
century consequent on the sack of Antioch by the Persians and the
conquests of Belisarius, splendour of material began to supersede the
refinement of classical times. This tendency is admirably displayed on
the rich mosaics of the period, especially those in the church of San
Vitale at Ravenna in Italy, which represent the Emperor Justinian and
his wife Theodora. The Empress and her attendants are clothed in robes
stiffened with gold and set with precious stones; pearls, rubies, and
emeralds encircle her neck and shoulders, and, entirely covering her
head, hang down from the temples in rich festoons upon the breast.
Justinian also has a diadem upon his head, and a purple and gold
embroidered mantle fastened with a monstrous fibula hung with triple
pendants.
The outbreak of iconoclasm in the eighth century had its influence
on jewellery in causing the banishment of forms ornamented with the
proscribed figures. But the iconoclastic movement was also of very great
importance, since many goldsmiths driven from their country by the
decrees of Leo III established themselves in Italy, Germany, and Gaul,
carrying with them the processes and designs of Byzantine art.
The restoration of images by Basil the Macedonian in the ninth century
opened an important period of revival of industry and art, which lasted
until the sack of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204. The active
overland trade with India which had been kept up for many years, with no
small influence on the ornaments of the West, was much augmented; while
the commercial relations with Persia were maintained.
It was during the period from the tenth century onwards that the
influence of Byzantine art was most strongly felt in the West, owing
to the connection which was established between the German court and
Constantinople, through the marriage of the Emperor Otho II with the
Byzantine Princess Theophano, daughter of Romanus, in 972.
A considerable proportion of Byzantine ornaments, as shown by the
mosaics, consisted of gems sewn upon the dress. Actual specimens of
jewellery are naturally of considerable rarity. The British Museum
contains a small but representative collection.[4] They show a
difference from the jewels of classical times chiefly in the
substitution of coarse repoussé and open-work--the _opus interrasile_ of
later Roman work--for fine filigree and granulation; yet filigree was
employed with skill, and exercised a considerable influence on the work
of European craftsmen. In general form the ornaments of the Lower Empire
retained the character of ancient work, but added to it fresh designs to
suit the change of religion with its accompanying symbolism. Enamel and
coloured stones, employed with a reserve in antique ornaments, now
formed the chief artistic aspect of jewellery. Cloisonné inlay, that is
to say the incrustation of glass or garnet in cells, was made use of,
but cloisonné enamel was preferred. In the majority of ornaments,
however, precious stones appear to have predominated.[5]
[4] Dalton (O. M.), _Catalogue of early Christian antiquities
in the British Museum_. 1901.
[5] Cunynghame (H. H.), _European enamels,_ p. 40.
As ornaments for the head, wreaths were worn, especially upon festal
occasions. From the earliest Christian times the bride and bridegroom at
their wedding wore, as in some countries at the present day, crowns of
gold, silver, green leaves, or flowers, which were afterwards returned
to the church.
Early Byzantine earrings naturally follow the Roman patterns. Some take
the form of a penannular wire loop holding a thimble-shaped cage of
filigree, the flat end of which is closed, and has in the centre a
setting for a precious stone. The majority of Byzantine earrings are,
however, of a peculiar design. The most usual type, from the sixth
century onwards, is crescent-shaped, formed of gold repoussé and
open-worked in the form of a cross patée within a circle, supported on
either side by peacocks confronted. Dating from the finest period, i.e.
about the twelfth century, is a pair of earrings in the British Museum,
in the shape of a segment of a circle, ornamented on both sides with
figures of birds in blue, green, and white cloisonné enamel. Upon the
outer border of each segment are pearls fixed upon radiating pins,
alternating with pyramids of pellets; on the inner is a disc decorated
with similar enamels.
The cross is naturally the most favourite of pendants; yet this symbol
does not appear to have been commonly worn on the person till about the
fifth century. Among the most interesting pectoral crosses in the
British Museum is one inscribed with a text from Galatians VI. 14; upon
its arms and lower part are rings for pendent gems, and in the centre
the setting for a stone. Another cross, ornamented with nielloed[6]
figures of our Lord, the Virgin, and two angels or military saints, has
the name of its owner inscribed at the back. Both date from about the
tenth or eleventh century. One of the finest and the best known of such
ornaments is the gold and enamelled pectoral cross in the Victoria and
Albert Museum, known as the Beresford-Hope Cross. This remarkable
specimen of Byzantine jewellery, dating from about the eighth century,
is formed of two cruciform plates of gold, hinged so as to form a
reliquary, and set in a silver-gilt frame of later workmanship than the
cross itself. The figures upon it, executed in translucent cloisonné
enamel, represent on one part the Saviour on the cross, with busts of
the Virgin and St. John on either side, and on the other a full-length
figure of the Virgin and the heads of four saints (Pl. IX, 8). Jewellery
ornamented in this manner is of great rarity; being executed nearly
always upon pure gold, it has seldom escaped the crucible.
[6] Niello: a composition of lead, silver, sulphur, and borax.
Judging from the mosaics, as, for example, the portraits of Justinian in
the churches of San Vitale and Sant' Apollinare Nuovo at Ravenna,
brooches of the circular type appear to have been generally worn. Their
chief characteristic was the presence of three chains set with jewels
attached to them by loops. Coins, as in Roman times, were frequently
mounted as brooches in a beaded or open-work edging. Bow-shaped brooches
were worn, but not after the sixth century. Three inscribed examples of
the fourth century, one of them of gold, are in the British Museum.
[Illustration: _PLATE IX_ BYZANTINE JEWELLERY, AND ENAMELLED JEWELLERY
IN THE BYZANTINE STYLE]
Similar in workmanship to the crescent-shaped earrings described above,
and of about the same date, is a remarkable gold bracelet in the Franks
Bequest. It is formed of an open-work hoop decorated with swans and
peacocks enclosed in scrolls issuing from a vase. A circular medallion
with a repoussé bust of the Virgin forms the clasp.
Finger rings have survived in greater numbers than other Byzantine
ornaments. The majority are figured with the beautiful symbolism of the
Christian belief. Some are set with engraved gems, but on most the
design is produced by the more simple process of engraving the metal of
which the ring is composed. In early Christian times rings were often
offered as presents, and were engraved with expressions of good-will
towards the recipient, whose name is sometimes mentioned. The British
Museum contains a somewhat extensive collection of these rare objects in
gold. Bronze, often gilded, is naturally the commoner material. Silver
appears to have been scarcely ever employed. The interest of the
majority of Byzantine rings arises rather from the subjects with which
they are associated, than from the quality of their workmanship. There
is, however, in the British Museum a very beautiful example of pierced
gold work in the form of a key ring with projecting tongue, of a kind
much used in Roman times, which opened the lock by lifting a latch. Upon
the front of a wide hoop are the words _Accipe dulcis_, in letters
reserved in metal in a pierced ground. The remainder of the hoop
is divided into compartments, each containing one letter of the
inscription _Multis annis_. Above the inscription, in front, is a
rectangular projection, perhaps for insertion into a lock. It is finely
pierced with a design in the form of Greek crosses (Pl. IX, 10).
The sack of Constantinople by the French and Venetians dealt the
death-blow to Byzantine art. Until well into the thirteenth century the
Byzantine goldsmiths continued to exercise an important influence on
their contemporaries, and transmitted to the artists of mediæval Europe
such of the processes and designs of antique art as they had preserved.
Their intercourse was closest with Russia, whose jewellery for
centuries, even up to the present day, has followed the designs of the
old Byzantine workmen.