MEDIÆVAL BROOCHES (continued)—PECTORALS

ANOTHER species of brooch peculiar to the Middle Ages is the pectoral, an article for fastening on to the middle of the breast. It is similar to our modern brooch, but differs in that it did not always serve to hold the dress together. In earlier centuries it was often sewn on the garment, and was only occasionally supplied with a pin. It was worn by both sexes, as well as by ecclesiastics, who appear to have borne in mind the chief ornament worn by the Jewish High Priest.

The earliest and most remarkable example of this class is the great gold pectoral—the Eagle Fibula it is termed—found in 1880 at Mainz—that ancient and historical Rhenish city, known in former times from its commercial prosperity as "Goldene Mainz," which has proved extraordinarily rich in discoveries dating from classical and early mediÆval periods. This famous jewel, both on account of its size (4 by 3? inches) and good state of preservation, probably deserves to rank first among all golden ornaments that have come down to us from the early Middle Ages. "Its composition," says Herr Luthmer, "is extremely clear and conscious. An eagle, of heraldic form, it is true, but not with any of that unnatural emaciation peculiar to the later style of heraldry, fills the inner circle of a flat ring of stamped gold enriched with beaded filigree, which at its upper end—in order to give space for the head of the bird—is not closed, but connected by a curve in the circle of wire. The eight flowers inserted in the open-work of the ring, as well as the whole form of the eagle with the exception of the claws, are filled with cloisonnÉ enamel which unfortunately has disappeared from the body of the eagle, where only the punctured outlines of the feathers are perceptible upon the plate of gold. Otherwise the enamel, made of translucent green and blue, turquoise-blue, white and yellow, has been preserved in all its freshness."[75] This pectoral dates from the commencement of the twelfth century, and is one of the chief treasures in the rich collection of antiquities preserved in the Mainz Museum.

Jewels of this species and of this period are of the utmost rarity. Another very beautiful example was discovered at Mainz just five years after the Eagle Fibula, and is now in the collection of Baron von Heyl zu Herrnsheim at Worms. It is formed of repoussÉ gold, and represents an eagle standing upon a branch rolled up at both ends. A fine sapphire occupies the middle of the breast, in the centre of the wings are emeralds, the tail is set with lapis-lazuli, and the eye of the bird with a small ruby. This exquisite jewel dates from the early part of the thirteenth century. It measures 2? inches in height and 1? inches in width.[76] The most remarkable among jewels of about the same date (the twelfth century) are the splendid antique cameos already described—the Cameo of St. Hilary in the BibliothÈque Nationale, Paris, and the Schaffhausen Onyx—both of which were originally employed as pectorals or brooches.

A few brooches are attached, as was once the jewel of St. Hilary, as ex voto on the breast of reliquary figures, like that of St. Foy at Conques, which still exhibits an ornament of this kind. A brooch or fermail (for this latter term is not confined to the ring-brooch), 1¾ inches in diameter, which once formed part of the ancient jewels of the French Crown, is in the Galerie d'Apollon of the Louvre.[77] Two exceedingly fine brooches of about the end of the twelfth century, found at Mainz in 1896 and now in the treasury of the cathedral, are described by Dr. Schneider in the Jahrbuch der KÖniglich Preussischen Kunstsammlungen (Vol. XVIII); and a pectoral or brooch of a similar form, a large stone in the centre, surrounded by smaller ones—to take only one among many examples—is represented on the twelfth-century statue of a queen, probably intended for the Queen of Sheba, from the west portal of the church of Our Lady of Corbeil, and now at Saint-Denis.

In the case of original jewels of this kind, it is not always easy to determine whether they were articles of adornment for the clergy or the laity, and though those for ecclesiastical use probably predominate, it is only when they contain the figured representation of some religious subject that they can with certainty be identified as cope-clasps or morses, the French equivalent for which is mors de chape.

Morses were frequently of extraordinary size. Monumental brasses and tombstones, especially in Germany, exhibit many examples. Adalbert of Saxony, who was administrator of the archbishopric of Mainz, and died in 1484, is represented on his tombstone in the cathedral with one measuring more than 7 inches across. Existing examples vary from 5 to 7 inches in breadth.

The jewellers of the Middle Ages delighted in lavishing their utmost taste and skill on morses, which were of a variety of shapes, and were composed of every material. Some were enriched with precious stones, including ancient cameos, and others rendered attractive with coloured enamels.

Several lists of English morses are preserved. In the inventory of Sarum,[78] of the year 1222, gold, silver, and jewelled morses, firmacula, pectoralia, or monilia (as they were variously termed in the Middle Ages) are described at length; in that of St. Paul's,[79] drawn up in 1295, there are no less than twenty-eight; while the inventory of jewels (jocalia) preserved in York Minster[80] in 1500 includes an extraordinarily rich collection of these ornaments.

Though some were clearly made fast to one side of the garment, and were hitched to the other by hooks, or by a pin, like a brooch, they were not always employed to unite the two sides, but were sometimes used simply as a decoration upon the front of the vestment, and perhaps hung there by a chain round the neck.[81] Examples to be found in many museums are pierced with holes, or have loops behind them, showing that they were sewn to the vestment with purely decorative purpose.

From the close of the twelfth century champlevÉ enamel upon copper was much employed for the decoration of morses. In the fourteenth century champlevÉ was largely superseded by transparent enamel on silver relief (basse-taille), many of the finest specimens of which were produced in Italy. Two fine morses displaying this species of work are preserved; the one in the British Museum[82] and the other at South Kensington.

The use of ancient cameos as personal ornaments has already been mentioned; and there is in the British Museum a mediÆval intaglio, the finest of its kind, which was used as a morse. It is known as the Crystal of Lothair, since it was made, in all probability, for Lothair II, King of the Franks from 855 to 869. It is a lenticular plaque of rock crystal, 4½ inches in diameter, engraved in intaglio,[83] with the history of Susanna.[84]

Public collections at home and abroad possess a variety of examples of Gothic morses of exquisite design. One of the most remarkable of German workmanship of the fourteenth century is in the MusÉe Cluny at Paris;[85] while among the finest German jewels of the fifteenth century must be ranked a morse of beautiful execution in the Victoria and Albert Museum.[86] Other noteworthy examples are, three in the treasury of the cathedral of Aix-la-Chapelle, one of them[87] containing a representation of the Annunciation—a subject which, judging from the inventories, appears to have been a very favourite one for the purpose, particularly in England. Three more are in Paris: one—the beautiful morse of St. Louis—in the Galerie d'Apollon,[88] a second in the Rothschild Bequest[89] in the Louvre, and a third in the Dutuit Bequest.[90] In the Kunstgewerbe Museum at Berlin is a silver-gilt morse which was made in the year 1484 for Albert von Letelen, canon of Minden, by the goldsmith Reinecke van Dressche of Minden. It is a circular disc 5½ inches in diameter, filled with three elaborate Gothic tabernacles, each containing a figure. Entirely symmetrical in composition, it follows a design commonly found on the seals of the same date (Pl. XXII, 3). An excellent idea of the extraordinary beauty of the morses in use at the close of the Middle Ages can be obtained from fifteenth-century paintings, particularly of the Flemish school. Few of the latter can surpass what is one of its finest examples in the National Gallery—Gerard David's beautiful picture of the "Canon and his Patron Saints," in which are displayed, in almost all their pristine freshness, some of the most magnificent representations of the jeweller's art.

Besides these pectorals, which sometimes served a practical, but often a purely decorative purpose, there were various other ornaments that acted as clasps (agrafes). These agrafes are similar to those still made use of in our day, working on a system of a hook fitting into a loop. Clasps for mantles were sometimes made of massive loops fastened on either side of the border of the mantle, like parts of a hinge, which could be clasped by a pin being thrust through them, or by a cord or strap.

A heavy ornamental mantle was often worn by both sexes over the dress. It was open in front, and displayed the dress underneath. Upon its opposite edges were fixed two ornamental rosettes or lozenges, connected by cords terminating in tassels, or by a band across the breast. In the case of ceremonious attire this band was of metal, profusely jewelled, while the ornamental pieces or clasps at each end were of elaborate goldwork set with precious stones. On the monumental effigy of Henry IV in the Chapel of St. Thomas À Becket, at Canterbury Cathedral, the cloak is secured by a rich band fastened at each end by diamond-shaped clasps of fine design. Henry's Queen, Joanna of Navarre, who lies beside him, has clasps of almost the same form, fixed near the shoulders, and united by a simple band. Somewhat similar ornaments, rosette-shaped, can be seen on the effigy of Anne of Bohemia, first wife of Richard II, in Westminster Abbey.

Since the pectoral is sometimes worn together with these clasps, it is evident that it often had nothing to do with closing the mantle; but when a pin is attached behind, and it is employed for secular purposes, it assumes the ordinary type of the modern brooch.

The English word for this smaller and secular variety of morse, which is distinct from the fermail or ring-brooch, was nouch.[91] It was also called ouch, by misdivision of a nouch as an ouch, and was variously spelt nuche, nowche, owche, etc. That the nouch is the actual English equivalent to the morse or pectoral is proved by a will dated 1400,[92] in which among the jewels bequeathed to the shrine of the Head of St. William of York was "unum monile, AnglicÈ nouche auri, cum uno saphire in medio, et j. dyamand desuper, et circumpositum cum pereles et emeraudes." Nouches were attached to the front of the garment, but were occasionally worn upon the shoulder. On the effigy of Henry II, at Fontevraud, and on that of Henry III[93] in the Chapel of Edward the Confessor at Westminster Abbey, the mantle in each case is fastened upon the right shoulder with a brooch of this kind.

It would be an almost impossible task to describe all the motives selected for the English brooches of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, their numerous compositions of human figures and animals of all sorts, and the various stones with which they were set. The old inventories give endless descriptions, but hardly any actual examples, apart from the ring-brooches and William of Wykeham's magnificent nouch at New College, have survived. In the British Museum is a silver-gilt brooch in form of St. Christopher leaning on his staff and bearing the infant Saviour on his shoulder. It is of fifteenth-century workmanship, 2¾ inches long, and was found at Kingston-on-Thames (Pl. XX, 7). This brooch is of peculiar interest, since in the Canterbury Tales that worn by the "Yeman" is described as "A Crystofre on his brest of silvyr shene."

Brooches and nouches, mentioned frequently in the English inventories of the fourteenth century, became even more numerous and elaborate in the century following. Foreign influence, strong at this period, left its imprint upon all works of art; and the most extensive commerce was carried on with Flanders, which was then the workshop of the world. Yet though the following descriptions of brooches drawn from the inventory of Henry IV in the Inventories of the Exchequer[94] show a striking similarity to the continental jewels of the same date, there is no reason to suppose that these were not actually produced in England by English workmen. Five nouches, probably very similar in form to the splendid jewel at New College, Oxford, and dating approximately from the same period, are thus recorded: "Item v. nouches de letres M apparellez de perles et diverses peres de petit value." Other brooches exhibit a variety of forms: "Item i. g^ant nouche dun griffon seisant un deyme ove i. saphir en my lieu iij. baleys et vi. grosses perles"; "Item i. nouche [dor] ove i. damoysell es blancz flours portant i. papingey en la mayn apparellez ove i. baleys iij. saphis iij. troches de perles ove trois diamantz contrifaitz." Similarly enriched jewels have for their subjects: "i. enfant dor et i. blanc deime enaymellez"; "i. damoisell et i. unicorn [dor]"; and "un damoisell seant en un solaill." Finally we meet with the following entry: "Item i. nouche d'un aungell blanc tenant en sa mayn un saphir feble garnisez de vi. perles enterfoiles."

Of all the immense wealth of jewellery of the Dukes of Burgundy in the fifteenth century almost every vestige has disappeared, and the public museums of the Continent are practically destitute of Flemish-Burgundian jewellery of this date. Yet the British Museum, through the generosity of the late Sir A. W. Franks, is in fortunate possession of several exquisite examples, which were dredged a few years ago from the bed of the River Meuse. The most remarkable is a gold brooch of delicate workmanship, the centre of which is occupied by a female figure: a garland encircles her head, a flower set with a small triangular diamond adorns her breast, while her hands hold in front a large faceted sapphire. Around, in the midst of foliage, are three cabochon rubies, and the settings of other stones and pearls which have disappeared (Pl. XX, 11). The form of this jewel is peculiarly interesting in comparison with the above-quoted aungell tenant en sa mayn un saphir of the inventory of Henry IV. A smaller circular brooch of similar fabrique has a diamond above and a pale ruby below, and is encircled by radiating buds of flowers, the centre of each bud being formed of a ball of white enamel.

Of the few examples of jewels of similar character that exist at the present day upon the Continent, there is in the treasury of the Collegiate Church of Essen in Rhenish Prussia, amongst several fine objects of the goldsmith's art, a remarkable and comparatively unknown collection of enamelled jewels of the fifteenth century.[95] Each of the sixteen objects of the series possesses what appears to be a characteristic of most jewels of this date—that is to say, it is enclosed by an encircling wreath-like ornament of the naturalistic late Gothic style formed of a circular tube of gold to which are affixed leaves of stamped gold, enamelled and enriched with pearls. The centres of the jewels are occupied by a variety of motives. Seven are of a purely formal composition, enriched with small white flowers, the stalks of which, covered with green enamel, resemble with their interlacing design the necklace worn by Maria Portinari in the Van der Goes triptych at Florence. The remaining and more elaborate jewels contain enamelled figures of men and animals executed with extraordinary minuteness and vivacity. The finest, and on the whole the best preserved, has in the centre a female figure in full relief clothed in a white robe and long green cloak and a head-dress in the form of leaves. She is seated in a field sewn with flowers in the manner of the pictures of the period, and behind are golden rays[96] (Pl. XX, 9). The figure upon another jewel has a somewhat similar background. Her robe is white, and her head-dress and the edges of her wing-like sleeves red. In front of both figures is a small cluster of precious stones. Though all the objects in this remarkable collection are of about the same date, they differ sufficiently to make it clear that, like the treasures from Saragossa, they owe their presence here to the devotion of perhaps more than one wealthy person to a highly revered shrine. In spite of the fact that the majority are considerably damaged, they are yet eloquent proofs of the magnificent style of living at the period of their production, and valuable examples of the ornaments of the Middle Ages of which no other collection possesses so large and choice a variety.

In date one is disposed to place these brooches (or nouches, as they would be termed in old English inventories) in the first half of the fifteenth century—at least as far as the figured pieces are concerned, for jewellery in pictures of the second half of the century is mostly formed of pearls and precious stones alone. Jewelled brooches of this kind ornamented with figures in relief are particularly well represented in the works of the older German painters and above all those of Stephan Lochner (d. 1451), in whose masterpiece in Cologne Cathedral, known as the "Dombild," the Virgin is seen wearing on her breast a brooch ornamented with clusters of pearls and the figure of a seated maiden, with a unicorn resting one foot on her lap.[97] In another celebrated picture by Master Stephan—the "Virgin of the Rose-Arbour," in the Cologne Museum—the same subject is represented on the mandorla, or almond-shaped, brooch which closes the Virgin's robe; while in a third picture by him in the Episcopal Museum of the same city—a picture which, like the rest, bears traces of Flemish influence—the Virgin's brooch or morse is ornamented with a female figure seated, full face, after the manner of the British Museum and Essen brooches.[98]

Such is the extraordinary quality and extreme rarity of jewels of this type that attention must be drawn to yet two more examples: one in the Imperial Collections at Vienna, and the other in the Carrand Collection in the Bargello at Florence. The former is a jewel of quite remarkable character. Within the usual circle of gold wire is a pair of lovers standing side by side each holding the end of a wreath. The figures, dressed in Burgundian costume of the fifteenth century and enamelled with various colours, breathe the spirit of the mediÆval amourette as represented upon ivory mirror-cases and jewel-caskets and in miniatures of the twelfth to the sixteenth century. Between them is a triangular diamond set like the example in the British Museum, and below it a pale cabochon ruby. Around are five pearls (Pl. XX, 8).[99] The jewel at Florence (2 inches in diameter) has a border of green enamelled leaves set with pearls, and in the centre a finely modelled figure of a dromedary in white enamel. This brooch, which is in splendid condition, was perhaps intended to be worn, as were some other of these pieces, as an enseigne on the hat or cap (Pl. XVII, 12).

Whatever may have been their nationality, a glance at each, from those in the British Museum to the one last described, is sufficient to determine the identity of their source of inspiration. All bear the stamp of the Flemish-Burgundian art, which throughout the fifteenth century dominated the creations of the goldsmiths, as well as the sculptors, miniaturists, and tapestry workers, of the entire west of Europe.

Every one of these brooches is worthy of the most careful examination, particularly by the craftsman of the present day, for unlike the ornaments of more ancient times, they possess qualities which render them peculiarly appropriate to the circumstances of our later civilisation. In the refinement and simplicity of their arrangement and design these mediÆval examples of the jeweller's art transcend many of the greatly admired and more famous jewels of the Renaissance.