CHAPTER XLIII.

GOLD AND SILVER.

APOLEON'S reign was an epoch of the renewal of the goldsmith's art; that art which, by the richness of its work, is so appropriate to the pomp of religious ceremonies, and to ornaments for handsome apartments, as well as table-services.

The gold and silversmith's art has been known to a greater or less degree among all nations who have been accustomed to luxury and opulence. From the most remote antiquity, gold and silver were used for vessels, as the accounts in the Bible, and the descriptions given by Homer, Virgil, and other poets of antiquity, testify.

According to Goguet, Achilles' shield, as described by Homer, renders it certain that, at the time of the Trojan war, this art had reached no very great degree of perfection in Asia. The Scriptures speak of an artist called Bezaleel, who, by the aid of great talents in that line, constructed all the ornaments in the Temple at Jerusalem.

Among the artists of this kind who were distinguished at Rome, history has preserved the name of Praxiteles, a contemporary of Pompey, whom, however, we must not confound with the Athenian sculptor of that name. The lower empire had also its artificers in gold and silver; but bad taste had begun to invade the dominion of the arts, and the graceful and natural designs of the ancients were succeeded by others, entirely wanting in both those qualities.

In the middle ages, the piety of the faithful contributed much to the progress of this art. What could be more beautiful than the work displayed in the shrines, the reliquaries, the vases and

other church ornaments in use in the different centuries of that religious epoch! "In studying the arts and the industry of the middle ages," says M. Capefigue," what masterpieces of beauty do we not meet with! What finish in carving and shaping! Who, in the present day, among gold and silversmiths, could vie with Saint Eloi of antiquity, an account of whom has been handed down to us by a legend?"

This Saint Eloi, now read of only in old songs, was distinguished in the seventh century by a rare skill in the art of working in gold and silver. King Clotaire II., having commanded him to construct a seat or throne of royal magnificence, sent the young workman the quantity of gold deemed sufficient for the execution of his charge. But Eloi, with the material provided him, made, instead of one throne, two of exactly similar appearance, equally well made, and equally magnificent. The artist could in no better manner have proved not only his skill, but also his scrupulous honesty. This act made his fortune. He was made public treasurer; distinguished himself in several negotiations intrusted to him; became a priest, and was elected Bishop of Noyon. After his death, which took place on the first of December, 659, he was canonized in remembrance of his virtues and his benefits.

In a manuscript edition of this saint's prayers, the pious bishop is represented standing, in his cope and mitre, holding in one hand the episcopal cross, and with the other blessing the fire kindled in his workshop. An anvil is in front of his furnace, and on it a compass and a hammer; a simple homage to the dignity of the useful arts.

The annals of the middle ages are very sparing of the names of the pious artists who consecrated their leisure hours to ornamenting churches. It is with great difficulty that in the eighth and ninth centuries we discover those of Sens, Bernelin, and Bernuin, who, by their united efforts, constructed a table of gold, enriched with precious stones and inscriptions.

Under the reign of Philip the Bold, at the end of the thirteenth

BENVENUTO CELLINI.

209

century, a goldsmith named Raoul, renowned for his talents in this line, was ennobled. This was the first instance of honour conferred on one belonging to the working classes, which ever took place in France.

In the year 1330, the goldsmith's art was particularly noticed by Philip of Valois, who instituted laws governing it, and gave to it a coat of arms, consisting of a notched cross on a field gules, accompanied by two crowns, and two cups of gold, surmounted by the French standard.

Afterwards, King John permitted the body of goldsmiths to build a chapel, under the name and invocation of Saint Eloi.

Under Francis I. appeared the Florentine, Benvenuto Cellini, an artist of the first order, who gave his art a brilliancy it had never before possessed, and which has never been since surpassed.

Francis I. evinced a great admiration for the talents of Benvenuto Cellini, and loaded him with benefits. But this artist was unreasonably proud. He could not endure the disdain and the insolent treatment of the Duchess d'Etampes, who was all powerful at the court; and leaving France, where he had lived at his ease, he retired to his native village, and died there in poverty, in 1570.

Benvenuto, in his memoirs, relates the circumstance which induced him to leave France. He had executed a small silver vase, of exquisite workmanship, which he designed as a present for the Duchess d'Etampes, and which he set out to convey to her, in the idea that she was offended, because in a visit paid by the king and herself to his residence, at Nesle, his majesty had admired the various models prepared for ornamenting Fontainebleau, when the lady had differed from him in opinion.

"I took the pretty little vase," says Benvenuto, "which I had made for her, thinking to regain her good graces, and carried it myself. I spoke to one of her women, to whom I showed the present. . . . This person loaded me with compliments, and said she would go immediately and speak to her mistress, who was not yet dressed. She went to Madame, who replied, an

grily, Tell him to wait.' I overheard her say this; I armed myself with patience-a very difficult thing to me and I waited, without growing angry, until she had dined. As it began to grow late, hunger put me in a passion which I could not resist at all. I cursed her a thousand times in my heart, and then took my leave. I went to see Cardinal Lorraine, to whom I presented the vase, only entreating him not to injure me with the king.

"The cardinal replied that such a request was entirely unnecessary, but that he would remember to speak favourably of me whenever the occasion should present itself; then he called his treasurer and whispered in his ear. The latter waited until I had taken leave of the cardinal, when he said to me: Come with me, I will give you a glass of wine."

The animosity of the Duchess d'Etampes pursued Benvenuto Cellini unceasingly. The haughty favourite said to herself frequently, "How is this! I govern the world, and a mere nobody like Cellini pays me no respect!" Francis I. gave the artist possession of the domain of the Chateau de Nesle; the duchess persuaded the king to instal in one of the out-buildings a distiller who had made her a present of some scented waters, considered efficacious in beautifying the complexion. Cellini violently opposed this invasion; he complained of it to the king, who laughed at him, and signed a paper giving him unreserved possession of the chateau. At last, the duchess, determined to injure Cellini, endeavoured to represent him to the king as an enemy of the holy rosary, a heavy crime in those days.

Benvenuto Cellini executed some very large works in France, namely, the plan for a fountain, in which the principal figure, representing Francis I. as Mars, was fifty-four feet high; the silver figure of Jupiter, estimated at a thousand gold crowns; the ornaments on the gate at Fontainbleau, and various others.

Of all his performances, there remains now in France only the bronze figure of a nymph in bas-relief, to be seen in the Museum of the Louvre.

As to his vases, salt-cellars, and other small articles of gold made by him, the revolution dispersed them. Nevertheless, a golden salt-cellar representing the earth and the ocean, is said to be existing at the present day, in the Belvidere at Vienna, as well as the four divisions of the day, made by this great artist for Francis I., and presented by Charles X. to the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria.

There have been few modern artists who have equalled Cellini in renown. He is considered as the perpetual type of an artist par excellence. M. du Sommerard, a competent judge, says of him: "The colossal Benvenuto Cellini is as perfect in the execution of his gigantic bronze figures as in the microscopic details of the clasp on the cope of Clement VII." This clasp of sculptured gold is ornamented with precious stones, and carved in bas-relief and fret-work.

The reign of Louis XIV., so fertile in every species of talent, had many distinguished artists in this line.

John Varin, an engraver and goldsmith, a native of Liege, died at Paris in 1672. He directed the stamping of medals and

counters.

Claude Ballin, who succeeded him in this occupation, won by his skill the admiration of Cardinal Richelieu, and afterwards of Louis XIV. It was by copying Poussin's pictures that he improved his taste for drawing. At the age of nineteen, he executed four large silver vessels, upon which the four ages of the world were represented with admirable precision. Cardinal Richelieu, struck with admiration at these masterpieces of sculpture, purchased them and ordered four antique vases as accompaniments to them.

Ballin made silver tables for Louis XIV., stands, candelabra, vases, and various other articles. The first golden sword, and the first gorget worn by this monarch, were the work of Ballin. His bas-reliefs representing Pharoah's dreams were much esteemed.

All Ballin's performances were distinguished by their infinite