Искусства и ремесла Средневековья

Gold авd Silver

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stones, nor could he in any ,vay oЬtain ,vhat he rcquired, until some monks came to blm and offered to sell blm а superb lot of stoncs wblch had formerly embellished the dinner scrvicc of Hcnry I. of England, whose �cphew had given them to the convent in exchange fог indul­ gences and masses ! In these carly and half-barbaric days of magnificcnce, form and delicacy of execution were not understood. Brilliaнcy and lavish display of spaгkling jewels, set as tblckly as possiЫe ,vithout reference to а general scheшe of composition, was the standard of beauty; and it шust Ье adшitted that, with such stones availaЫe, no more effective school of woгk has ever existed than that of wl1ich such works as Charlemagnc's crown, thc Iron Crown of Monza, авd the crowв of Кing Suiнtblla, are typical examples. Abbot Suger lamented wheв he lacked а sufficient supply of stones; but he did not complain ,vhen thcre occurred а deficiency in ,vorkmen. It ,vas comparativcly easy to train artists who could make settings and Ьind stones together with soldercd straps ! In 1352 а royal silversmith of France, Etienne La Fontaine, made а " fauteuil of silver and crystal deco­ rated with precious stones," for the king. The golden altar of Basle is almost as interesting as the great Pala d'Oro in Venice, of which mention is шаdе elscwhere. It was ordered Ьу Emperor Henry the Pious, before 1024, and presented to the Prime Minister at Basle. The ccntral figure of the Saviour has at its feet two tiny figures, quitc out of scale; these are