In Italy during the eleventh century an endeavour was made to revive the art of the goldsmith, and many objects of Byzantine workmanship were brought from Constantinople, and also many articles for church uses were made within the walls of the great Benedictine monasteries throughout Italy. An important Romanesque example of metal work of the time of the Emperor Henry II. (1003-24) is now in the Cluny Museum. It is a golden altar front (Fig, 151) that was given by this Emperor to the cathedral of BÆ'sle, and is nearly 6 feet in width. Figures of the Saviour, three archangels, and a figure of St. Benedict, are in relief of beaten gold and stand each under Romanesque arches.

In England we read of reliquaries being made in the eleventh century having images of gold, the work of Richard, an abbot of St. Albans. Brithnodus, an abbot of Ely, Leo, and Elsinus are names of others who made reliquaries and objects in metal.

Hildesheim In Hanover

Hildesheim In Hanover was a centre of great activity in metal work in the eleventh century, and in the CathedraL of Hildesheim there are candlesticks, crucifixes, and chalices of this period.

At this time in Germany were made great coronas or crowns of light that sometimes spanned the nave of the churches, like that made by Bishop Bernaward (992-1022), and his successor Hezilo for the Cathedral of Hildesheim, a cast of which is now in the Kensington Museum.

The twelfth century was very fertile in important works in gold, silver, bronze, and copper. Metal work was carried to a high degree of elaborate finish and intricacy of design.

Some wonderful achievements in casting, plating, and gilding of metals have been performed during this prolific period. The celebrated Gloucester candlestick, now in the Kensington Museum, is a good example of the elaborate style of the twelfth-century metal work (Fig. 152). This is one of the most elaborate and intricate examples of ornamentation that could well be seen in the metal work of any period. Nothing could exceed the fanciful ingenuity of its design: it would, perhaps, have been better if some parts of the design had been left plainer, as a foil for the others.

The material of its composition is a kind of white bronze, with a good proportion of silver in the alloy.

The churches of this century were, as a rule, furnished with large standing candlesticks or coronas for holding lights, many of which were of good design, were made of silver, and sometimes enamelled. The large seven-branched candlestick of the Cathedral of- Milan - before mentioned - is an important work of this period, a copy of which is in the Kensington Museum. The material is gilt bronze, and the candlestick is over 14 feet in height; the design is extremely rich (Fig. 153), the base being composed of four winged dragons with voluted tails; the spaces between the dragons are filled with elaborate scroll-work, and symbolic subjects fill the volutes (Fig. 154). The lower boss is richly ornamented, but the other five are plain. Three pairs of graceful branches spring from the central stem to hold the lights.

The whole design is a reminiscence of the Jewish seven-branched candlestick. One smaller in size is in the Brunswick Cathedral, and another one is at Essen.

Censers, Reliquaries, And Shrines

Censers, Reliquaries, And Shrines were made at this period in the shape of little churches (Fig. 155). The reliquaries contained the bones of saints or other precious relics.

Sometimes they were made in the form of a human head, with a band or ribbon around it set with gems. This kind of reliquary was called a "chef"; one of this description is in the Cathedral at BÆ'sle.

The Bronze Censer

The Bronze Censer (Fig. 156) of the twelfth century is a good specimen of the architectural design in the Romanesque metal work of this time. The reliquaries are usually of copper-gilt and enamelled, or are occasionally in gold. These objects have been noticed in the chapter on enamels. The larger coffer-shaped ones with sloping roofs are called chÆ'sses, some of which are six and seven feet in length. Most of them are of copper-gilt and enamelled, and are German work, made for the most part at Cologne and in the Rhenish Provinces, and were generally of Romanesque or Gothic design even up to the sixteenth century.

The Shrine Of St. Sebaldus By Peter Vischer

The Shrine Of St. Sebaldus By Peter Vischer already mentioned is a curious mixture of Gothic and Italian forms. The celebrated shrine or silver reliquary of the Church of Orvieto is made to represent the church itself; it is said to weigh 600 pounds, and is enriched with panels of translucent enamel and small statuettes. It is the finest work of the Italian goldsmith's art of the fourteenth century, and was made by Ugolino (1338), an artist of Siena. Heads of the croziers and bishops' pastoral staffs were often designed in elaborate architectural compositions, and generally speaking Gothic ornamentation is enthralled by architectural forms even to the smallest details when the plan of the object to be decorated is architectural, which happens in most cases; when, however, the plan is not so, the freedom and fancy of the designer revelled in the beauty of the curving, twisting, foliage, and grotesque work, as may be seen in the metal work of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The Gloucester and Milan candlesticks will afford examples of this.

In the twelfth century Limoges was very active in the making of articles for secular purposes as well as for religious uses. Common jewellery of enamelled bronze was exported to all parts, such as brooches or morses, buckles, armour decoration, and monumental plates with effigies, one of the latter being that of Aylmer de Valence in Westminster Abbey, made at Limoges and brought to England.