Arts and Crafts in the Middle Ages | Page 4

in congenial

occupation--that is the only thing worth while. The life of a craftsman
is a constant daily fulfilment of the final ideal of the man who spends
all his time and strength in acquiring wealth so that some time (and he
may never live to see the day) he may be able to control his time and to
use it as pleases him. There is stored up capital represented in the life of
a man whose work is a recreation, and expressive of his own
personality.
In a book of this size it is not possible to treat of every art or craft
which engaged the skill of the mediæval workers. But at some future
time I hope to make a separate study of the ceramics, glass in its
various forms, the arts of engraving and printing, and some of the many
others which have added so much to the pleasure and beauty of the
civilized world.

CONTENTS
CHAPTER INTRODUCTION
I. Gold and Silver II. Jewelry and Precious Stones III. Enamel IV.
Other Metals V. Tapestry VI. Embroideries VII. Sculpture in Stone
(France and Italy) VIII. Sculpture in Stone (England and Germany) IX.
Carving in Wood and Ivory X. Inlay and Mosaic XI. Illumination of
Books Bibliography Index

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Examples of Ecclesiastical Metal Work Crown of Charlemagne
Bernward's Cross and Candlesticks, Hildesheim Bernward's Chalice,
Hildesheim Corona at Hildesheim. (detail) Reliquary at Orvieto
Apostle spoons Ivory Knife Handles, with Portraits of Queen Elizabeth
and James I. Englis The "Milkmaid Cup" Saxon Brooch The Tara
Brooch Shrine of the Bell of St. Patrick The Treasure of Guerrazzar
Hebrew Ring Crystal Flagons, St. Mark's, Venice Sardonyx Cup, 11th
Century, Venice German Enamel, 13th Century Enamelled Gold Book

Cover, Siena Detail; Shrine of the Three Kings, Cologne Finiguerra's
Pax, Florence Italian Enamelled Crozier, 14th Century Wrought Iron
Hinge, Frankfort Biscornette's Doors at Paris Wrought Iron from the
Bargello, Florence Moorish Keys, Seville Armour. Showing Mail
Developing into Plate Damascened Helmet Moorish Sword Enamelled
Suit of Armour Brunelleschi's Competitive Panel Ghiberti's
Competitive Panel Font at Hildesheim, 12th Century Portrait Statuette
of Peter Vischer A Copper "Curfew" Sanctuary Knocker, Durham
Cathedral Anglo-Saxon Crucifix of Lead Detail, Bayeux Tapestry
Flemish Tapestry, "The Prodigal Son" Tapestry, Representing Paris in
the 15th Century Embroidery on Canvas, 16th Century, South
Kensington Museum Detail of the Syon Cope Dalmatic of
Charlemagne Embroidery, 15th Century, Cologne Carved Capital from
Ravenna Pulpit of Nicola Pisano, Pisa Tomb of the Son of St. Louis, St.
Denis Carvings around Choir Ambulatory, Chartres Grotesque from
Oxford, Popularly Known as "The Backbiter" The "Beverly minstrels"
St. Lorenz Church, Nuremberg, Showing Adam Kraft's Pyx, and the
Hanging Medallion by Veit Stoss Relief by Adam Kraft Carved
Box--wood Pyx, 14th Century Miserere Stall; An Artisan at Work
Miserere Stall, Ely; Noah and the Dove Miserere Stall; the Fate of the
Ale-wife Ivory Tabernacle, Ravenna The Nativity; Ivory Carving
Pastoral Staff; Ivory, German, 12th Century Ivory Mirror Case; Early
14th Century Ivory Mirror Case, 1340 Chessman from Lewis Marble
Inlay from Lucca Detail of Pavement, Baptistery, Florence Detail of
Pavement, Siena; "Fortune," by Pinturicchio Ambo at Ravello;
Specimen of Cosmati Mosaic Mosaic from Ravenna; Theodora and Her
Suite, 16th Century Mosaic in Bas-relief, Naples A Scribe at Work;
12th Century Manuscript Detail from the Durham Book Ivy Pattern,
from a 14th Century French Manuscript Mediæval Illumination
Caricature of a Bishop Illumination by Gherart David of Bruges, 1498;
St. Barbara Choral Book, Siena Detail from an Italian Choral Book

ARTS AND CRAFTS IN THE MIDDLE AGES
CHAPTER I

GOLD AND SILVER
The worker in metals is usually called a smith, whether he be
coppersmith or goldsmith. The term is Saxon in origin, and is derived
from the expression "he that smiteth." Metal was usually wrought by
force of blows, except where the process of casting modified this.
Beaten work was soldered from the earliest times. Egyptians evidently
understood the use of solder, for the Hebrews obtained their knowledge
of such things from them, and in Isaiah xli. 7, occurs the passage: "So
the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the
hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, 'It is ready for the soldering.'"
In the Bible there are constant references to such arts in metal work as
prevail in our own times: "Of beaten work made he the candlesticks,"
Exodus. In the ornaments of the tabernacle, the artificer Bezaleel "made
two cherubims of gold beaten out of one piece made he them."
An account of gold being gathered in spite of vicissitudes is given by
Pliny: "Among the Dardoe the ants are as large as Egyptian wolves,
and cat coloured. The Indians gather the gold dust thrown up by the
ants, when they are sleeping in their holes in the Summer; but if these
animals