A gemmological study of the reliquary crown of Namur, Belgium
<p>The reliquary crown, hosted in the diocesan museum of Namur, was produced during the beginning of the 13th century to shelter a fragment of the holy crown of thorns. This beautiful piece of goldsmithery is made of eight gold plates, topped by round lobes, and connected to each other by hing...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2021-04-01
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| Series: | European Journal of Mineralogy |
| Online Access: | https://ejm.copernicus.org/articles/33/221/2021/ejm-33-221-2021.pdf |
| Summary: | <p>The reliquary crown, hosted in the diocesan museum of Namur, was
produced during the beginning of the 13th century to shelter a fragment
of the holy crown of thorns. This beautiful piece of goldsmithery is made of
eight gold plates, topped by round lobes, and connected to each other by
hinges blocked with a pin decorated by a pearl. The crown is decorated by
filigrees, flowers, and approximately 400 pearls and coloured (green,
reddish pink, turquoise, red, blue) stones showing simple cutting with
various sizes and shapes. Raman and portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (pXRF) techniques have been used to
determine the nature and sources of all samples, as well as the composition
of filigrees. Analyses have identified emeralds from Pakistan, reddish pink
spinels from Tajikistan, red almandine garnets from India, turquoise from
Iran, blue sapphires from Sri Lanka or Myanmar, and European pearls. The
filigrees contain approximately 86 wt % Au, 7 wt % Ag, and 7 wt %
Cu, thus confirming a gold-rich composition. The gemstones, contemporary
with the crown, probably arrived in Europe by the silk trade road.</p> |
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| ISSN: | 0935-1221 1617-4011 |