Искусства и ремесла Средневековья

Gold and Silver

5

" Though silver Ье ,vhite yet it maketh Ыасk lines and strakes in the body that is scored therewitl1." Marco Polo says that in the provincc of Carazan " the rivers yield great qнantities of ,vashcd gold, and also that \Vhich is solid, and 011 the mountains tl1ey find gold iв the vein, and they give one pound of gold f01· six of silver." ,v orkers iп gold or silveг usнally employ onc of t\vo methods - castiпg 01· beating, comЬined \vith delicacy of finish, chasing, and polishing. Thc tcchnical processcs are intercstingly desc1·ibcd Ьу tl1e \vгiters of the old trcatises on diveгs a1·ts. Iп the carlicst of these, Ьу 'tlю monk Theophilus, iп the eleventh ccntшy, we havc most graphic accounts of proccsscs vегу similar to those now in use. The na1vc шonastic iпstгuctor, in his preface, cxhorts his follo,vcrs to lюпcsty and zeal iн thcir good ,vorks. " Skilful iп tl1e a1·ts lct no one glorify himself," say TheophillЩ "as if 1·cceived fтш himsclf, апd not f1·om elsc,vheгc; Ьнt let him Ье thankful lшшЫу iп the I.Jo1·d, froш \Уhош all thiпgs аге гcceivcd." Нс then advises the cгaftsшan carnestly to stнdy tЪе Ьооk whicl1 follo,vs, telling hiш of the ricl1es of instruction therein to Ъе found; " you ,vill there find out whatcvcr . . . Tuscany kпows of пюsаiс work, or in variety of enamels, ,vhatcver АгаЬiа sho,vs forth in ,vork of fusion, dнctility or chasing, wlшtevcr Italy oгnaments ,vitl1 gold . . . ,vhatever France loves in а costly variety of windows; \vhateveг industrioнs Germaпy approves in \vork of gold, silver or copper, and iron, of woods and