The Vase of Gourdon, a chalice of massive gold with two handles, conformable in type with the gold pieces (tiers de sols) which have been dug up with it, is embellished with coloured glass imitating the garnet, and with turquoises forming vine-leaves, the whole set in cells of beaten gold, the handles terminating in eagles' heads, with garnets in the eyes. The tray or plateau belonging to it has a cross in the middle, and is decorated in similar style, with the same filigree work to heighten the ornamentation. On either side of the cross, which stands out in relief, both above and below, are cavities which seem as if intended for holding two small cruets (burettes), one of which might possibly be the vase mentioned above. This special feature of the incrustation of red glass places the Gourdon Vase in the same category with the arms of Childeric discovered at Tournay.

We enter now on a special series, and one sought after above all others in the present day ; that of monuments of the Middle Ages, in which the traditions of antiquity have vanished before the new ideas, and Art becomes essentially Christian.

It is known that two opinions are held by the learned as to the character of this transformation : one set would ascribe it altogether to the influence of the Eastern Empire and the Byzantine Schools; the other, to which we ourselves incline, assign a large share in this new style of art to the local genius of the people, and the influences proceeding, on the one hand, from the north, that is, by the Norman invaders, on the other from the extreme East.

It must be borne in mind that it was by the far East that the art of enamelling was introduced into Constantinople. But at the very time that it was being there installed, Gaul, as yet almost uncivilised, and the British Isles were incrusting their primitive jewellery with enamels and coloured pastes. Later, gold took the place of bronze, and, as wc see, had inserted in its cells plaques of coloured glass, employed according to a system foreign to the Byzantine, but analogous to the works of the Sassanides, and especially to the cup of Chosroes described further on.

As for the ornaments of these early specimens of our civilisation, we must assuredly assign a large share to the inspirations of the empire of the East. But we must at the same time restore to the Norman and Anglo-Saxon ideas all those grotesque monsters of distorted shapes, those interlacings where first appear the opening blossoms of the chestnut, the delicately-cut leaves of the plane, and of the ivy; in a word, all that national flora, so far removed from the acanthus, transmitted by Roman Art. These views, which the study of monuments will more and more confirm, have been, in some respects, adopted by M. Francois Lenormand, and by M. Alfred Darcel in his notice upon the Gold and Silver Work of the Museum of the Louvre. The works of the Merovingian goldsmiths are then purely national, and the schools of Rheims, notwithstanding ancient traditions, formed one of the centres of the northern Renaissance. Chilperic was justified, then, in priding himself before Gregory of Tours, who relates the incident, "on all he had done for the glory and honour of the Frank nation," and this, too, at the very time he was receiving treasures of Byzantine Art, which the Emperor Tiberius had sent to him.

If, pursuing the course of time, we seek to read the characteristic features of gold and silver work by the monuments which are within our reach, we shall cite as one of the finest examples of the art under the Gothic kings, the famous crowns of Guarrazar, preserved at Cluny, the most important one bearing letters hanging from its rim, forming the inscription, Reccesvinthus rex offeret, gives us the exact date; as we know that this king of the Goths reigned from 649 to 672. In an artistic point of view the pieces comprising the Guarrazar treasure show us the combination of precious stones and pearls with the use of incrusted red stones. It partakes, then, of the character both of Merovingian and Byzantine goldsmiths' work.

The distinguishing characteristic of this latter school, is the perfection of the filigree work, and the regularity displayed in the arrangement of the stones. We must likewise add that hagiography furnishes a capital means of distinguishing between Greek and Latin monuments, wherever they are ornamented with figures, and assists us greatly in many instances in determining their dates. The mode of giving the benediction was different among the Greeks and Latins. Councils have fixed the manner of representing Christ and the Holy Virgin. The Quinisextine Council decided that the representation of Christ under human lineaments, should be substituted for the symbols of the Lamb and the Good Shepherd. The cross, in the middle of the fourth century, began to receive the figure of Christ, painted only in bust; a little later, the effigy was entire and draped; but after the Council of 692, the figure of the Saviour began to stand out in relief. However, it was not until the end of the eighth century, in the Pontificate of Leo III., that we meet with the crucifix complete, having the figure of Christ carved in full relief. And it was only after the Council of Ephesus that the Virgin was represented holding the Infant Jesus on her lap.

At the Louvre we have monuments of special interest, dating from the eighth to the ninth century; we allude to the arms and ornaments connected with the consecration of the Kings of France, so long preserved in the Abbey of St. Denis : here we have the celebrated sword of Charlemagne, Joyense; the hilt, of which only a small part is modern, represents on the pommel two birds interlaced, and on the cross-guards winged monsters, conceptions entirely northern in character, and which wc meet with in all the ornamental letters of the illuminated MSS. of the period. There is in this part of the workmanship remarkable firmness and a clearly defined style. It is essentially the Carlovingian French Art, somewhat barbarous as yet, and retaining, beneath the practices of Christianity, some part of the old superstitious offspring of the ancient northern faith, which have peopled our primitive monuments and literature with monsters, dragons, and supernatural spirits, engendered in the depths of the old Gallic forests. The spurs also, in form of a cone inserted in a ball, and supported by a straight stem, are also characteristic of the epoch.