Folia Historica 28. (Budapest, 2013)

II. KÖZLEMÉNYEK - Ewa Letkiewicz: The Hungarian King's Daughter Kinga's 13th Century Jewel in Polish Collections

disappeared.7 The breakdown of demands for gems can be explained by changes taking place in the European art of ornamenting in mature middle ages, when instead of round cut stones there appeared facet cuts that increased the glitter and shine of jewels. The matt, opaque stones of the antiquity lost to the power of shining, transparent, faceted stones.8 Again, the antique gems and intaglios gained great interest among the first Italian humanists at the beginning of the 15th century. Their fascination with antiquities inspired the European rulers to restart gem collecting.9

In the middle ages the period of extreme popularity of gems fell between the 9th and 14th century. The peak point in gem application is reached by Rhine, Mosan and French gold- smithing in the period of crusades, and especially after Constantinople was conquered in the year 1204, when precious stones and gems came to the west of Europe10 and served as decorations of reliquaries, crosses, manuscript bindings. A frequently applied practice of that time became the Christian interpretations of the relics of antique glyptic, or even their material alterations, involving introduction of permanent changes by cuts and engravings made on the antique works. These procedures were aimed at changing their pagan context into Christian.

4. photo

Gem with the so-called St. Dionysus Ring, 12th century, after: Skarby swiata...

7 Krug, Antje-, Gemmy antyczne w sredniowieczu. Meander 48. (1993) no. 5-6.255.

8 Idem 255-256.

9 Miller, Anna M.: Cameos. Old and New. Woodstock, 2002.175-192.

10 Wentzel, Hans: Mittelalterliche Gemmen. Versuch einer Grundlegung. Zeitschrift des Deutschen Vereins für Kunstwissenschaft 8. (1941) 45-98. 51-52; Wenlzel, Hans: Portraits

„A l'antique" on French Mediaeval Gems and Seals. Journal of the Wartburg and Courtauld Institutes 16. (1953) no. 3-4.342-350. 342.

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