Mineral and the Visual - A Review (original) (raw)
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S. Greiff, A. Hilgner, D. Quast (edd.), Gemstones in the first Millenium AD. Mines, Trade, Workshops and Symbolism (RGZM Tagungen 30), Mainz 2017
In the most important early medieval churches, gemstones were employed to decorate a number of objects. Some contexts of use (chalices, patens, crosses, reliquaries, hanging crowns, etc.), are well known; others, on the contrary, have been scarcely examined: gemstones were also used to decorate icons, textiles and stone church furnishings (such as altars and ciboria): the material evidence for these types of objects, however, is scarce and scattered, and small pieces of evidence had to be put together in order to reconstruct the overview presented in this paper. Material, written and iconographic sources agree in indicating that stones of blue and green colour were highly regarded, almost always combined with pearls. These items generally had a very long life: throughout the centuries they could be damaged and might need renewals, often involving the replacement of gems. In bigger cities, the repairs were almost certainly carried out locally, whereas in some other cases – as the Testament of Patriarch Fortunatus indicates – it was necessary, or preferable, to send the objects away, in order to have the work done by specialised craftsmen not available nearby. The same source – the Testament of Fortunatus – includes a small mystery concerning diamonds, for which a possible solution has been proposed. The contemporary interpretation of the gems that decorate the church items that survive to this day is frequently based upon their symbolic meanings, related to the religious sphere and expressed in a number of written sources, from the Bible itself up to the medieval ecclesiastical texts. The interpretation of real objects according to these written sources, however, can be very problematic, as the same gemstone could have many disparate symbolic meanings, at times in the very same text. Moreover, interpreting the presence of a given gemstone on a real object with reference only to religious texts leaves out a number of relevant aspects. The production and the use of a church item involved many actors: the donor, the financers, the craftsmen and the »public«, i. e. the clergymen and the believers in the ecclesiastical building; many of these persons had no knowledge of the scholarly world of the ecclesiastical books containing the Christian symbolic meanings of the gems. The Church’s use of precious stones and metals was also related to its own self-promotion in the eyes of the faithful, being a clear indicator of its economic and political power: if unaware of the religious symbolic meanings, the believers could surely appreciate the elaborate craftsmanship of jewelled church items and decorations, which no doubt contributed to the creation of a mystical atmosphere in the church. Finally, the choice of specific types of gems was also influenced, simply, by the taste and the fashion of the period.
RGZM – Tagungen, Band 30
Researchers from different fields like archaeology, history, philology and natural sciences present their studies on ancient gemstones. Using precious minerals as an example, trade flows and production methods, but also utilisation and perception are discussed in a cross-cultural and diachronic approach. The present volume aims at three main questions concerning gemstones in archaeological and historical contexts: »Mines and Trade«, »Gemstone Working« as well as »The Value and the Symbolic Meaning(s) of Gemstones«. This volume contains the proceedings of the conference »Gemstones in the first Millennium AD« held in autumn 2015 in Mainz, Germany, within the scope of the BMBF-funded project »Weltweites Zellwerk – Universal Framework«.
Gemstones in the First Millennium AD. Mines, Trade, Workshops and Symbolism.
Researchers from different fields like archaeology, history, philology and natural sciences present their studies on ancient gemstones. Using precious minerals as an example, trade flows and craftsmanship, but also utilisation and perception are discussed in a cross-cultural and diachronic approach. The present volume aims at three main questions concerning gemstones in archaeological and historical contexts: »Mines and Trade«, »Gemstone Working« as well as »The Value and the Symbolic Meaning(s) of Gemstones«. This volume contains the proceedings of the conference »Gemstones in the first Millennium AD« held in autumn 2015 in Mainz, Germany, within the scope of the BMBF-funded project »Weltweites Zellwerk – International Framework«.
Ancient Gems in the Middle Ages: Riches and Ready-mades, 2011
K rÿ o Just an inch high, the intensely bhte head of lapis lazuli overpowers the shiny gilded body of a small bronze crucifix ( ).1 The body was made hi the eleventh cenO.lry; the head is at least a millemxium older and is, moreover, female. The combination is unsettling, or as Hans Wenÿzel once wrote, "off-putting" (befremdlich).2 To his contemporary Richard Hamann-MacLean, however, the dramatic setting of an antique gem in a contemporary Christian artifact was a deÿing example of the effective medieval cult object: "Strangeness and inviolable clarity of form work together to give the whole an incomparable radiance and mystery."3
Introduction: Casting new light on old stones
The purpose of this monograph is to take a new look at various aspects of stone artefact analysis that reveal important and exciting new information about the past. This invovles reorienting our methodological approach to stone artefacts as well as the questions asked of them. The papers making up this volume tackle a number of issues that have long been at the heart of archaeology’s problematic relationship with stone artefacts, including our understanding of the dynamic nature of past stoneworking practices, the utility of traditional classificatory schemes, and ways to unlock the vast amount of information about the strategic role of lithic technology that resides in stone artefact assemblages.