Engraved gems of the Carolingian empire
Medieval Europe offers a pageant of almost incredible richness: King Arthur and his round table, demons cathedrals, Charlemagne paladins. The Carolingian culture the late 8th to 10th centuries (in what is now France, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, northern Italy) more than its fair share achievements. This illustrated study examines one revealing legacy Charlemagne's heirs people - gems rock crystal, jet agate engraved with complex figural scenes, which have never before been studied as group. These objects largely ignored in scholarship medieval art, partly because difficulty access. Genevra Kornbluth assembles for first time all 20 surviving gems, from small seal matrices 41-figure Susanna crystal London, along information about lost works. unique features each gem are made visible over 200 detailed black-and-white photographs, often highly magnified produced using new techniques developed record transparent engraving. analyses manufacture, style, chronology, iconography, patronage their social functions, organisation status artisans who created them, relations between media. presented evidence rich diversity culture, rather reflections an artistic programme dictated by imperial courts; they also seen be essentially creations, drawing on earlier visual traditions but adapting sources address contemporary concerns.
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