The Christmas Story from Santa Maria Foris Portas

  Happy Christmas and good riddance to a year that I am sure most of us would just as soon forget.

"The Annunciation to the Shepherds", a scene from the 
Christmas story as depicted in Santa Maria Foris Portas, Italy.
The pock-marks are from where the surface was "keyed"
to allow a new layer of plaster to adhere to the old. It was
this layer that preserved these paintings, albeit in an
incomplete and damaged state, for us today.

As has become my tradition, I wish to present another glimpse of a Medieval view of the Christmas story. This particular installment comes from an amazingly happy accident in the form of some remarkably preserved early medieval paintings in a small chapel some 50km north-west of Milan. It seems that the church, along with the rest of the town was mostly destroyed in the 13th century and never re-built, but by the time of the destruction, the paintings had become old and outmoded and were thus covered over with new plaster, which helped to preserve the frescoes until their rediscovery in 1944. 

What is left of the Annunciation scene and part of the 
Visitation between Mary and Elisabeth. 
Incidentally, the "annunciation" scene evolved and changed
considerably over the course of the Middle Ages, but the 
"Visitation" scene has already been firmly established and 
is no different from that still in use in the 13th century.

There seems to be a lot of debate as to when these frescoes were painted, and small wonder that, because there are simply no other paintings like them to have survived from the Middle Ages. It is important to realise, however, that this sort of decoration was normal and common in the early Middle Ages, and there were probably dozens of buildings dotting the surrounding landscape, decorated by this anonymous artist (or artists). Someone with the skills this artist had does not do "one-off jobs". He obviously made an entire career of painting and it is a shame that so little of what he or his peers produced has come down to us- which is also what makes this find all the more spectacular, having survived at all.

Gifts of the Magi. Because only part of the painting was done
"al fresco" (in the wet plaster) much of the colour and details
have been lost to time, or pealed away by the removal of the
overlaying plaster layer. Of particular note is that nearly 
every trace of Mary's chair has been lost, only a bit of the 
foot-stool remains. 

Carved to imitate contemporary metalwork of the time, 
this relief from the "Ratchis Altar" seems to have been 
inspired by the same model as that used by the Santa Maria
painter.
In a world without photography, artist relied on one another's
work and certain models became more popular and iconic,
 in time becoming the "standard" design from which to work.
 This did not mean wholesale copying, just a point from
which to begin. Each artist left his own nuances and stylistic
contributions. This adaptation and individuality is what leads
to stylistic and chronological changes in art. If every artist
simply copied exactly what he saw, then art would have been
stagnant.

Now in the Vatican, this 3rd century sarcophagus front
has a different version of the same scene. It was this version
which would become the "standard" method of depicting the
scene. Note the more natural and spacial depiction from 
Santa Maria Foris Portas.

I prefer to join the camp of those who opt for a 6th century date of these works as the iconography of many of the scenes is very different to much of the Western art tradition by the 9th century (the alternate proposed date). One example would be that, although the style is very different, the basic model of the Three Magi seems to be the very same one used for the right-hand end of the famed 8th century "Ratchis Altar", down to the little round hats worn by the three Magi and the angel flying overhead. Neither of these details is in the 3rd century catacomb depiction of the scene (now in the Vatican Museum) which seems to have become the more popular model and the one which most western art followed from the 4th to the 10th century. Most early depictions, also opted for the Phyrgian Cap, as opposed to these little round hats. By the time of the Ottonian dynasty, the hats had changed to crowns and the "wise men" had become "kings". 

Another reason for my view of the earlier date is the very fact that these frescoes do not follow the more "conventional" model of many of the scenes. At the dawn of the "Middle Ages" there was a lot more variation on any number of themes, but as time wore on, "conventional norms" fashioned "iconic" models from which various subjects were depicted giving rise to instant recognition of biblical narrative depictions across a broad spectrum of art forms. In Sana Maria Magiore, In Rome, there is another version of this scene which is neither like the Vatican version nor that of Santa Maria Foris Portas. There were probably still other versions which have not survived at all. These painting then, in my opinion, are from the period when Christian art was still young and finding its form.

The Flight into Egypt, in this scene Mary rides
an ass led by a nearly obliterated figure; Joseph trails behind.
As time wore on, the figure leading the ass morphed into that
of Joseph leading; the other figure fell by the way. Also taken
from the same original model, a panel from the so-called 
Throne of Maximian, in Ravenna informs us that the streaks
above the donkey's head is a wing of an accompanying
angel, another figure that often dropped out of the
pictorial lexicon by or before the 11th century. 

Lastly, because of the style of the paintings themselves, I opt for an early date. The similarity of "Byzantine" art and these paintings have been noted, but it has also been noted their many differences. It is important to realise that "Byzantine" art was, in fact, Roman art in its beginnings. Byzantium was the new Roman capital city (called Constantinople) set up by the Roman emperor, Constantine in the 4th century. What was artistically produced there was simply the natural evolution of Roman/Western Mediterranean art at the time. The fact that a similarity of style between what was produced in Constantinople and Rome would occur only some two hundred years after the shift from one place to the other as the capital should come as no surprise to anyone. 

The angel warns Joseph in a dream, to flee to Egypt.
Unfortunately, much has been lost in this picture as well but
the remnants of Roman artistic style is still very evident.

This depiction of the same scene comes
from the "Throne of Maximian" an ivory
chair in Ravenna, from the 2nd quarter of
the 6th century, It is interesting to note 
that this and the Santa Maria painting share
the same model for this scene; the one of 
the Flight into Egypt, below, however,
comes from a different one than that
used in Santa Maria.

This fresco from sometime between
the 6th & 8th centuries in Santa
Maria Antigua, in Rome is 
somewhat similar in style to those
we are discussing, but this "simi-
larity is only like saying a 1955
Borgward is similar to a 1955
Cadillac. If we are comparing it to
a 2010 Prius, then yes, it is "similar"
The "similarity" is only from
a lack of additional items with 
which to compare it. This illustrates
the problem of art history. Sometimes
we have nothing much to compare
.
(All pictures for this article sourced
from Wikipedia and the "web".)

Regardless of the whom and the when of these frescoes, they are indeed the remnants of a master artist, and give us a tantalising glimpse of how churches, and even small chapels were decorated in the early Middle Ages. Nearly 1500 years have come and gone since these paintings were finished, but part of a Christmas Miracle remains in that they still live and we are again able to view these works today. Thanks to the power of the internet, even those who have no ability to travel to Italy can now, too, view them.

Happy Christmas.

Videre Scire

Fabeltier

There is doubtless no definitive, universally accepted reason why, but since the beginning of time, man has been inventing fantastic, made up creatures. Forty some years ago I even once read a book that proffers the view that the dinosaurs were actually living experiments in crossbreeding by an antediluvian society, for the purpose of gladiatorial type sports. Probably a very far-fetched notion, but the point is, that somehow, humans (myself included) have always had a fascination with making up fantastic creatures, known in German, as Fabelwesen or Fabeltieren.('en' makes a noun plural in German)

Fabeltier

Some eleven or twelve odd years ago, looking through a book, I came across a drawing of an early medieval decorative motif for some metal object, in the form of an unidentified, (to me) rather contorted, creature in a roundel. I found it fascinating and wound up drawing him myself. That led to to the concept of creating a carved chest somewhat following after the manner of a small casket in the MET, which has a series of roundels with animals. With this idea in mind, I began making up additional creatures that might suit the purpose.

My dabblings with Fabelwesen. Somehow, they seem to fit more
appealingly in a roundel. They are numbered in the order in which they
were drawn over a couple of days. Number one is the one that started it all
and I believe number three was at least partially inspired by an historical
creation as well; the rest were figments of my own imagination.

The little casket from the MET which was the second part of the inspiration
for this project

That chest is yet to materialise, but in the autumn of the year of this initial conceptualisation, the organisers of a local event asked me to do some demonstrating. I decided to try carving one of my creatures, which I had recently finished drawing. In my wood-rack were several planks of pine left from a project, and as it was rather soft, seemed like a good wood to make the carving "easy". (As it turns out, carving pine is not particularly easy, - no forgiveness in grain direction and it is easily dented - oak would have been a much better candidate)

The carving progressed slowly over the course of the one day event, and by the end of day, his head and part of his body were defined inside a circular perimeter, his tail was also fairly well finished. After that day, however, he spent more than a decade in storage, almost completely forgotten.

Recently, in need of some material for a project, I was rummaging in the storage and happened upon this unfinished work. As I had been trying to think what meaningful gift I could give to my friend, Steffen, for his birthday, this suddenly presented itself as a good candidate. I got the carving out and took it back to my shop. It took me parts of four days to complete him because I completely re-carved every last millimetre in order to get the background much deeper than it had been. I "took a picture" of the piece as it was, but like many times before, there was no memory card in the camera, so no picture of how he was at that stage.

By the time I realised there was no memory card in the camera, the carving
was almost complete. The exposed dark colour is due to the 12+ years of
waiting in the storage building to be finished. Another plank of timber
 partially covered it, resulting in the lighter coloured upper half.

As I like to do with this blog, a bit of historical context to these imaginary creatures is warranted. I have no idea of the origin, and have not found any pre-medieval examples that show a very close connection, though there no doubt are such prototypes. The Gundestrup Cauldron shows on the "exterior plate A", two lion/dog looking creatures. Perhaps this is part of the tradition that eventually was codified by the early Middle Ages. The earliest versions that I know of, come from the 7th and 8th centuries. I do not profess or pretend to be an expert on the topic, however; the purpose of the following is simply to show some examples of the evolution of one branch of the Fabeltier through the course of the Middle Ages.

These characters, here shown in an 8th century iteration, will continue
in the ever changing styles throughout the course of the medieval period

It is hard to say what they are, or if they were actually, originally intended to be a real animal and, over time, became so stylised as to become Fabeltieren. Whatever the earliest intentions, by the 8th century they were already canonised as decorative repertoire for almost any ornamental purpose.

Amiens BM MS Lescalopier 030 fol 10v 4. V. 12jh Weissenau

In this late 12th century manuscript, from Weissenau Abbey, God is depicted creating the animals and fish on the fifth day of creation. (Latin; "Dies V") The interesting thing is that the "animals" portrayed are all mythical creatures. The "sea dog" and flying "sea lion" both have faces similar to our character.

Kölner Diözesan- und Dombibliothek MS Cod 83ii Fol 146r
798 (Detail)

Petrischrein, Domschatzkammer Minden
Carolingian Enamel plate re-used in an 11th century reliquary

Sometimes these creatures take on more of the characteristics we would ascribe to our notion of "dragons" such as those shown in the last example above, but often both these and dragons are shown together. Generally, the dragons will have thicker and often split tails, as well as wings, whilst the other, unnamed guys have neither of those.

Sometimes they take on more lion-like features, whilst other representations have them more dog-looking. My Fabeltier is a nice mixture of the two, which is also often found, as is exemplified in the following French miniature of the late 12th century. (middle left)

Getty MS Ludwig XIV 2 fol 126r um 1170-80 Umkreis Paris

These creatures seem to be prevalent throughout Europe, with slight regional artistic nuances, but generally recognisable as stemming from the same tradition, they can be found in all types of surviving artworks from as far apart as Spain and Norway.

Anglo-Saxon Stone Fragment from Jedburgh, Scotland, 9-10th cent.

North Italian or French Capital, now in the Louvre, 11th cent.

From a former frieze of Cluny Abbey, 12th cent.

Schaffhausen, Stadtbibliothek, Ministerialbibliothek Ms Min. 15 fol 45v
ca. 1100

One of my favourite characteristics of a sub-group of these creatures are those with a propensity to bite something (fruits, flowers, vines - see the Jedburgh stone carving above) or even their own backs or tails. In my opinion, they work best in a rounded fatter form, such as that shown in the Cluny fries-fragment above.

(A not very good picture of a detail from the) Basler Antipendium (altar)
now in the Musee de Moyen Age (Museum of the Middle Ages) in Paris
1st decade of the 11th cent., gifted to Basel Cathedral by Emperor Henry II 

In this roundel, the creature is biting his foot, which is another version of the biting theme. This is the sort of image I had in mind when designing my creatures for the box.

Taking advantage of some nice afternoon light to have a look
at the progress of my own carving

Once my animal was carved it was down to thinking about how to finish off the whole thing as a stand-alone piece of art. I took a cue from 12-13th century ivory mirrors and put "ears" (stylised leaves) on the four corners. In all, I think it worked out good. Once it was all done, I rubbed it down with some abrasive leaves and linseed oil, then I put it in the sun to give it a bit of a "tan" in an attempt to eliminate the piebald effect from a decade of being half buried and half exposed. I should mention that Steffen's Christmas gift to me aided my carving of his birthday gift; he gave me some very narrow carving chisels which worked great for getting into the gap between the border and the feet and rump. (1.5mm)

My Fabeltier - finished and delivered

Furniture From the Utrecht Psalter - Part VII

Time flies and somehow more than five months have passed us by; it is time for the next-to-last installation of the Furniture of the Utrecht Psalter. We have now reached the letters 'S' and 'T' which are for stand and table. We have already looked at round tables, but this time we will be discussing those with  rectangular forms.

A servant returns a wine jug to a round stand next the dining table
after serving the guests in this scene from the Utrecht Psalter

This illustration is so abstract that it is
almost impossible to say what is on
the pedestal, but sculpture and artwork
would often be placed on such objects

Examples of pedestals and stands abound in medieval manuscripts and other artwork, but these mostly serve as candle or ink stands in scenes depicting the Four Evangelists. Unfortunately, like most forms of furniture from the first seven centuries of the Middle Ages, there are no surviving examples; the Utrecht, and Stuttgart Psalters, especially, inform us that there were many forms and uses for stands other than in the scriptorium. We see that, in addition to holding candles and ink, they could be used as a sideboard or serving stand, as a pedestal for a sculpture, (as they still are) and as a base to support artwork.

Essentially a stand, this "Pricina Pillar" serves
as a bowl for the holy water in a church

The forms and ornamentation for these usually followed after contemporary columns of the period and so we can draw some idea for design of them from looking at the holy water fonts in churches, such as this one from St Mary's Chapel, Marlston, a small hamlet some 40km west of where I used to live in Berkshire. It is made of stone, as are all of the others that one will find, still extant. It is probable that many such stone pedestals would have been found in the great houses, castles and palaces as well. It would also stand to reason, however, that wooden examples also existed, and would have been carved or decorated the same as the more permanent stone examples.

Bellow are some other examples from various artworks which demonstrate various forms and uses for pedestals and stands

From an 11th century book cover, in the MET, this stand
serves as a lectern

A relief sculpture in Maastrich  Cathedral, this shows
a servant tending the king; his towel is on a pedestal

From a 10th century ivory book cover
from Metz, this pedestal holds two
seated figures

From Dumbarton Oaks, this 11th century Italian ivory plaque shows a jug
supported on a tripod stand. Such a stand would clearly have been made
of wood. I saw a small example of this design, used to hold a glass, in the
Louvre, when I visited last year

Due to the somewhat loose execution of many medieval artworks, it is sometimes
 difficult to discern if an object was intended to represent a stand with a level top,
or a sloped surface, as one finds on a lectern. In the case with this sculpture,
however, there can be no ambiguity of the artists intention; he depicted both.
This is part of a beautiful late 12th century tympanum on the cloister church
of St Benoit Sur Loire, (Flurey) in France.

There are 13 of these pedestals or stands depicted in the Utrecht manuscript, each of them different from the others, but none of them, as with all of the other furniture illustrated, has any particularly well defined details.

Similarly, there are also seven tables, shown to have a rectangular form, (but usually not having much more detail than that.) All of them have legs on each of the table's four corners; two of them have the addition of a lower stretcher rail in the manner we are familiar with from tables of the 16th and 17th centuries. 

A rectangular table with a lower stretcher connecting the four legs

Another table, a thousand years newer, (but which most people would consider
very old) showing the same basic design

This mosaic from Ravena shows, again, the same basic table design; this
one was three hundred years old at the time of the Utrecht Psalter. 
It seems that this table design had staying power.

There are several factors which make it very difficult to trace the stylistic trends of tables over the course of the Middle Ages. First, as already stated, there are no examples of any table before the 12th century, and very few from before the 16th. Artists used what they wished, to portray the message they intended to convey,but  this is not always the same as depicting stylistic development and trends. One medieval trend, in fact, was to depict tables with no legs at all. This puts an huge gap in what could be a more informed segment of design history, but because from at least the 9th century, into the 13th, most tables are depicted as a flat or moulded plane with an elaborately draped table cloth, which seems to float in space having no legs at all, we are left to ponder what sorts of supports these tables had.

An ivory fragment from an 11th century box, which shows the typical trend
of portraying a table with no legs. This table does seem to show a moulded
frame around the perimeter. (from the Archaeological Museum, Madrid) 

Much is made of the so-called trestle table, and the table set upon donkeys or horses (depending on where your English comes from), which are supposed to have been so common in the medieval period. From the artwork, there is nothing to support the idea that these were the most prolific forms of tables. In fact, the earliest depiction I have found, to date, clearly showing such a medieval table comes from the 13th century. However, there is a Roman sculpture which shows such a table, so, like many other pre-medieval inventions, they must have continued on, un-portrayed in the artwork, all through the "dark ages", until they reemerged at the end, at which time there was a more prolific campaign of illustrating ordinary objects, and we again find them depicted. In other words, just because no one illustrated one, or more precisely, no illustration of one survives, we cannot say that they did not exist. There are dozens of tools (jeweler's tools, and vices for example) and objects which we have no illustrations of, but deductive reasoning tells us that they were there.

3rd century Roman depiction of a flower and vegetable vendor
His table is the familiar "A-frame" table of the late Middle Ages...

...Very much like this table, but without the Gothic ornament.

There is no such table portrayed in the Utrecht Psalter; the other rectangular tables (four of them) simply have four posts at the corners, and one more has cross stretchers at the ends, but no lateral braces.

A table with end stretchers but none running length-wise

A rare example of a table actually depicted with its legs. This one from the
middle of the 12th century and found in BSB Clm 2929

It is a shame that almost no early medieval furniture still exists, and therefore we have no real idea of what a 9th, 10th, or 12th century table would have actually looked like. We can, by studying the artwork however, at least see that our pre-conceived ideas are generally flawed. (I read a "history of medieval furniture" which stated that "early" [in that authors vocabulary, meaning pre-14th century] days, tables were simply "rough planks placed upon tree-trunks".) Even if the manuscripts present no life-like depiction of a table, we may still be able to realise that there were many forms and styles of tables, just as there are now. When we combine that with the knowledge that all objects were decorated and ornamented according to the the station of the person possessing them, and followed stylistic trends, we can begin to gain some insight into the potential appearance of medieval tables as they may have been.

Videre Scire

Oh, The Possibilities

Before the artist, stands a blank canvas; he is a creator, and the worlds, places, or events which he might bring to life are endless. His only limitation are his skill and his time; what will he create?

Back view of my 10th century box; ready to begin... what?

The same held true for the medieval furniture maker, there was an almost infinite range of possible ways he could ornament a box, trunk, or chest and we cannot always appreciate that from the few remains that we might encounter in museums, or from the limited details in the iconographic depictions found in illuminated manuscripts or paintings. (this blog is generally referring to the pre-13th century medieval world)

A modern person would be completely satisfied with some paint, varnish, or perhaps some veneer or at best some marquetry to this box, but in this blog I will show, from actual surviving examples, some of those endless possibilities just mentioned.

Some of the pictures are my own, some came from the websites of the museums where the objects are found, and others from image searches on the web. I have tried to list the source of all the photos for this post.

A painted box, in the MET
(own photo)

It would be nice to list the types of potential finish organised by the cost of work which went into the making of them, but there are not enough records to know how much workers were paid for the various types of work done, also there are so many degrees of quality and skill level, so that a very finely painted casket might cost more than a quickly done bone laminated one or a finely wrought repoussé chest might cost more than an ivory one. Because of the huge amount of grey area, after a few obviously less expensive examples, I will just try to group them by type.

(Incidentally, this casket which I photographed at the Cloisters is labeled as being early 13th century, and supposedly depicts scenes from "the capture of Orange" a specific incident in 9th century French history. However, I see nothing of particular on this box to identify it as such. To me it looks like a generic box with stock period decorations, done purely for the sake of ornament. I have sent a message to the museum to inquire about any supporting evidence for their theory, but as yet have not received a reply. In addition, I take issue with the dating, because, based on the style of artwork and the costumes, it could come from any time between circa 1100 and the early 13th century. [See another chest below, from the late 11th century which has a very similar style of artwork in a different medium.] I much prefer when Museums give the whole range of possible dating unless they have specific evidence to point to a particular date, in which case they should state that evidence.)

Early 13th century casket covered in embroidery

I am only making a guess that a chest covered in silk embroidery would be more expensive than a painted one, but it is only a guess. Silk is, and always has been, expensive, but the work of covering the box in linen and then applying and scraping the gesso smooth also consumes a lot of time before the painting actually even gets started; it is probably impossible to say which one would have actually cost more?

13th century bead-covered pyx in the Schnütgen Museum, Köln
(own photo)

I have not encountered any box with the form such as those we are discussing, covered in bead-work, but the fact that there are a few surviving small boxes finished in that manner, and the fact that bead work was a means of ornamenting numerous objects, I find it highly probable that this was a viable option.

Leather covered coffret in the Germanischen Nationalmuseum Nürnberg

Another similar type of covering to cloth would be leather. This was a very popular medium for finishing boxes, cases, and satchels. It could be flat and punched, or, as this example, highly embossed and worked. In addition the leather would have been painted and gold or silver leaf could, and was, used to further enhance the more expensive examples. (Yet another form of ornament known only from writing, would be mosaic made of crushed eggshells. Perhaps the finished result would look something like the bead-work pictured on the pyx, above.)

12th century casket covered in silver leafed gesso
St-Servatiusbasilika Maastricht
(Wikipedia)

Speaking of metal leaf, here is a chest which has been coated in thick gesso and then ornamented with a punch to trace out a leaf and vine motif, it was then covered with silver leaf. Similar work was done in gold leaf as well, another variation on this idea was moulded gesso, referred to as pastiglia.

Carved, painted and partially gilt wooden casket from the 12th century
(Victoria and Albert Museum)

Probably the single most common form of ornamentation for boxes, chests and caskets would have been carving, which would have almost always been painted or gilded before the 14th century. (The only exceptions would have been something carved from a "precious [i.e. figured or box] wood" There are a handful of surviving carved boxes in various states of preservation going back to the 9th century and they exhibit a wide range of carving quality which has nothing to do with the time period in which they were made, and everything to do with the amount of money someone was willing to pay for them,

German casket with inset carving 12th century
(from a book)

As with every other art form, there was an endless variety to the style and quality of carving. Some carving was done in the solid body of the box, but more expensive pieces had carved filigree work. This allowed for cleaner details on the sides of the carving and facilitated quicker and neater work in the painting or gilding of the background. The oldest chests of this type that I know of are from the 12th century, but there exist many ivory examples of this type of work going back to the 7th century and there are wooden examples from Egypt going back at least to the 4th century which suggests that such caskets probably also existed throughout the entire medieval period in Europe as well. (The dry climate of Egypt allowed many more artifacts to have been preserved there.)

Painted Italian ivory casket, 11th century in Sankt Maria im Kapitol, Köln
(own photo)

Because it is a more durable material, as well as being more valuable, there are many more ivory caskets which survive, than wooden ones; except that most "ivory caskets" are actually wooden, with ivory or bone plates laminated to them. Because there are more of them which have survived, we can see a much wider range of technique and quality to this type of box. The simplest are made up with thin smooth plates which have been painted, partially gilded, or both, as is the case with the one pictured above. Other examples used simple geometric incisions to form decorative schemes, and could also be enhanced with colour and gilding. Moving up the cost scale, there were carved bone and carved ivory, and then ivory carved and enhanced with gold and gems. As I said, the potential is nearly infinite.

A line incised carved casket of the 11th century enhanced with colour
and gilded copper foil visible through the openwork design.
The style of this artwork is rather similar to the painted casket at the
beginning of this article
(Sotheby's)

Early 12th century bone casket with colour and gilded copper foil, its
original lock-plate would have been gilded
(Heilbronn)

Carved ivory plates overlay another gilded foil backing on this  12th century
reliquary shrine, now housed in the Cloisters.
(own photo)

The red and green colour has been infused into a resin (probably glue) which originally filled the incisions left by the tool used to make the circular geometric ornaments to this piece.

9th century ivory casket from Metz. The metal hardware is a later addition.
The ornament of this casket has traces of gilding to parts of the carving
(web)

For some curious reason, a workshop in the city of Köln, in the 12th and 13th
centuries, seems to have produced a large number of pieces done in an archaic
style. The work of this group of carved ivory containers, reliquaries, chests,
boxes, book covers, and game tables, is much more in keeping with the 10th
than the 12th and 13th century. This piece is now in the Cluny Museum -
the corner braces are a later addition.
(own photo)

Although from the standpoint of an artifact, it is sad to see this piece half
destroyed by thieves stealing the gold foil and gems from it, it is nonetheless
very informative for the study of such objects. Here we clearly see the method
of construction on such a piece. Several of the examples we have just seen
 had the gold foil behind the ivory, but this one employs it as framing.
This Spanish box is dated to 1059.
(web)

This brings us to the next type of decorated casket, which is variations on a metal covering. As we see with the last example, there is not always a clear line of distinction between various mediums and metal coverings were often further enhanced by other techniques.

Embossed silver foil casket ca 1150
(Chicago Art Institute)

Insular style metalwork over a wooden core.
This is not a very pretty example and there are similar objects in a much better
state of preservation, but this clearly shows, once again, the wooden chest
which is at the core of all of these objects.
(Norwegian University Databank)

This type of decoration is based on gilt cast metal ornaments, applied over
gilded metal foil, on a wooden core. This one is from the 13th century and is in
the Cluny Museum
(own photo)

I chose this particular casket because of its legs which are in keeping with the
style of box that my "9th century box" project is based on. Caskets with post-
type legs persisted through the medieval period and (perhaps) originated in
Egypt, from which numerous examples survive going back 4000 years BC.
The Champleve enamel work adds yet another layer of ornament.
(Sotheby's)

Yet another variation on metal ornament, is engraving. This sort of work led up
to the copperplate etchings made famous by artists such as Albrecht Dürer at
the end of the Middle Ages.This box comes from the early 11th century, the
gems are a later addition to this piece, but are original on other similar work.
(Romanesque art of Aragon, website)

I have been searching for years for a picture of this large chest in the Sion
Cathedral treasury. It is in rather rough shape because all of the silver
had been stripped from it but now has been put back as well as possible on a
reproduction wooden core. This 11th cent. casket also has projecting corners
(web)

A priceless treasure of the Oviedo Cathedral is this agate chest, which was
made in 918, and donated to the cathedral. It is made of gold foil which
encases pieces of cut and polished agate, applied over a wooden core.
It is further enhanced with precious and semi-precious stones.
(Wikipedia)

Coming from about the same time as the last example, this casket is in the
cathedral treasury in Astorga and is another example of north Spanish work.
It is made of embossed and chased gilded foil and is further enhanced with
cloisonne enamel decoration.
(web)

My earliest example is of the 7th century (only slightly older than the Insular
example above) it is made of gold wire and cell-work soldered to a foil base
and infilled with garnet and other gems. This type of work had been
practiced in Europe for over a thousand years by the time this box was made.
Originally, all of the empty cells in the fields of this box were filled with enamel,
some of which still remains on the bottom.
(Catharijneconvent Museum, Utrecht)

These last three examples are probably of the most expensive type of work done, but since I love wood, I will finish with a couple of the most precious of wooden treasures that I know of, both German work of the 12th century. (Theophilus mentions Germany as specifically being a place producing noteworthy wood-work.)

Marquetry chest, 12th century, with bone accent
(Hildesheim Cathedral Museum)

This is one of the most phenomenal pieces of medieval woodwork that I know of, and completely flips the cover off of most people's concept of woodworking at this time in history. In addition to the intarsia certosina work on the main box, the border has been made of a veneer comprised of two separate pieces of wood, one light, the other ebony, which have been repeatedly slit in such a way that they could be forced into one another, creating a stripped effect which does not go all the way across the width. (the intention was to give the illusion of a twisted column.) In an early 20th century work, which has been cited by many authors since, the opinion was put forth that marquetry was first re-introduced to Europe (the Romans practiced the art in their time) into southern Italy by Arab workers in Sicily in the 14th century. This is obviously clear proof against that notion.

12th century casket from the treasury of Essen Cathedral with 13th century
metal mounts
(Flicker)

Even more amazing than the last piece is this, my absolute favourite; not only does it have more of the fine intarsia work, it also incorporates carved and painted decorations. In my humble opinion, one could not have a finer medieval wooden casket than this.

So with all of this information to work from, what will I be doing with my box?

covered in linen
(if it was still 1960 I would be finished, it looks just like several books and my
radio from when I was a kid)

eight coats of gesso

lots of scraping

These photos which show the current status of the box will give a hint. I first made some size from parchment, as directed by Cennini, and then applied the size and linen as directed by him (and also Theophilus) I then made some gesso with the size and applied it to build up a good thick layer and then scraped it down very smooth and even... After all that, - I am still facing a blank canvas.