The Curious Lore of Precious Stones Being a description...

The knowledge of classical mythology was so slight among the ecclesiastics of the Middle Ages that some very queer attributions of the subjects engraved on Greek and Roman gems were made during this period. A reliquary containing a tooth of the Apostle Peter, preserved in the Cathedral of Troyes, was set with antique gems which had been plundered by French and Venetian crusaders from the treasure-house of the Greek Emperor in Constantinople, when that city was sacked in 1204 during the Fourth Crusade. Among these gems was one representing Leda and the Swan—certainly a curious subject for the adornment of a Christian reliquary. Another Greek or Roman gem, long preserved in a church, was furnished by its Christian owners with an inscription indicating that the figure engraved upon it was that of St. Michael, while in reality it was a representation of the god Mercury. Still another gem was provided with an inscription signifying that the subject was the temptation of Mother Eve in the Garden of Eden, but the Greek gem engraver’s intent had been to carve the figures of Zeus and Athena, standing before an olive tree, a design which appears on some Athenian coins; at the feet of the divinities appears a serpent. In a similar way the grain-measure crowning the head of Jupiter-Serapis led to the attribution of a gem so engraved to the patriarch Joseph.386

An engraved amethyst bearing the figure of a little Cupid is said to have been worn in a ring by St. Valentine. While this may be somewhat doubtful, it is by no means impossible, for many pagan gems were worn by pious Christians, who reconciled their consciences to the use of these beautiful but scarcely religious ornaments by giving to the pagan symbols a Christian meaning. Certainly, in view of the time-honored customs connected with St. Valentine’s Day, there seems something peculiarly appropriate in the design of the ring supposed to have been worn by St. Valentine.

That precious stones had sense and feeling was quite generally believed in medieval times, and a legend told of St. Martial illustrates this idea. The gloves worn by this saint were studded with precious stones, and when on a certain occasion a sacrilegious act was committed in his presence, the gems, horrified at the sight, sprang out of their settings and fell to the ground before the eyes of the onlookers.

The St. Sylvester or St. James stone is a banded agate in two colors, the one dark and the other light, with a cat’s-eye effect so that both colors are equally visible. The light side represents the old year, with its known occurrences, and the opaque side represents the new year, which is dark like futurity. This is a typical stone for a New Year’s present or for one born on St. Sylvester’s Day, the last day of the year. The popular tradition is that the member of a family or a household who is last to arise on that day will be the last to arise all the year around.

The famous “Sacro Catino” preserved in Genoa was long believed to be made of a single immense emerald, but careful investigation proved that it was of no more valuable material than green glass. A legend still current in the early part of the sixteenth century represented this cup, or dish, as having been used by Christ at the Last Supper, and stated that it was one of the utensils which King Herod ordered to be brought from Galilee to Jerusalem for the celebration of the paschal feast; but his purpose having been changed by Divine Providence, he made other use of it.387

A queer story has been told regarding the Genoese emerald. At one time when the government was hard pressed for money, the Sacro Catino was offered to a rich Jew of Metz as pledge for a loan of 100,000 crowns. He was loath to take it, as he probably recognized its spurious character, and when his Christian clients forced him to accept it under threats of dire vengeance in case of refusal, he protested that they were taking a base advantage of the unpopularity of his faith, since they could not find a Christian who would make the loan. However, when some years later the Genoese were ready to redeem this precious relic, they were much puzzled to learn that a half-dozen different persons claimed to have it in their possession, the fact being that the Jew had fabricated a number of copies which he had succeeded in pawning for large sums, assuring the lender in each case that the redemption of the pledge was certain.

Among the celebrated emeralds noted by George Agricola388 (1490-1555) was a large one preserved in a monastery near Lyons, France. This is also mentioned by Gesner, who states that it was shaped as a dish, or shallow cup, and was held to be the Holy Grail, like its rival at Genoa.389 Another of Agricola’s emeralds was somewhat smaller, but nevertheless measured nine inches in diameter and was in the chapel of St. Wenceslaus, at Prague; this may have been a chrysoprase, as at the present day many fine specimens of this stone can be seen in St. Wenceslaus, where the walls are inlaid with the golden green gem-stone. Still another, larger than the last named, was set in the gold monstrance in Magdeburg, and was believed to have been the handle of Emperor Otho I’s knife, since it was perforated. Possibly, however, the emerald, if genuine, was an Oriental stone, for it was customary to pierce rubies, sapphires, emeralds, etc., in the East so as to string them for necklaces or attach them as pendants to a jewel.

In the convent-church of St. Stephan, in Persian Armenia, erected about the middle of the seventeenth century, it is related by the French traveller Tavernier that there was preserved a cross said to be made out of the basin in which Christ washed the feet of the Apostles. Set in this cross was a white stone, and the priests asserted that when the cross was laid upon the body of one seriously ill, this stone would turn black if he were about to die, but would regain its white hue after his death.390

No jewelled sacred image has been the object of greater reverence than has been accorded to the rude little wooden carving popularly known as the “Sacro Bambino” or “Sacred Baby,” in the old church of Ara Coeli in Rome. This figure was carved, in 1847, by a monk, out of a piece of olive-wood from one of the ancient trees growing on the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem. The carving was executed in the Holy Land and was sent thence to Italy, and although the ship bearing it was shipwrecked, this precious freight was miraculously preserved and is supposed to have been conveyed to its destination in some mysterious way. The reverence of the thousands of pilgrims who in the course of time have gazed with veneration upon this quaint and curious work of art, has found expression in the bestowal of a wealth of gems and jewels, including necklaces, brooches, rings, etc., with which the silken dress of the image is studded. A crown of gold adorned with precious stones rests upon the head of the olive-wood figure, which is jealously guarded by the priests and only shown to the faithful as a particular favor, except on the occasion of certain religious festivals.

One of the most renowned emeralds in the world surmounted the elaborately jewelled imperial crown that was placed upon the head of the venerated image of the Virgen del Sagrario in the Cathedral of Toledo. This emerald, of a rich green color, was cut as a perfect sphere and measured about 40 millimetres, or 1½ inches, in diameter. The crown itself was the work of the Toledan goldsmith, Don Diego Alejo de Montoya, who began his task in 1574 and devoted twelve years to its completion. It is described as being of almost pure gold and executed in the Renaissance style. Curiously chased in arabesque designs and enamelled in various colors, the framework of the crown served as a magnificent background for the gems constituting its adornment, which comprised rubies, emeralds, and Oriental pearls; a row of angels and cherubs sustained the arches which bore at their summit the allegorical figures of Faith, Hope, and Charity; upon that representing Faith rested the splendid emerald. This precious ornament was still preserved in the Cathedral in 1865, but was so carelessly guarded that it was stolen in 1869.391

If we are to believe the following anecdote, the emerald disappeared at an earlier date: It is said that in 1809, during the French occupation of Spain, Marshal Junot visited this cathedral, and the emerald was pointed out to him as one of the chief glories of the shrine. As soon as the marshal’s covetous glance rested upon the gem, he plucked it from its setting, remarking, coolly, to the astonished and horrified bystanders, “This belongs to me.” Then, smiling and bowing, he left the cathedral with the emerald safely ensconced in his waistcoat pocket. Later, it was replaced by an imitation in glass.

The famous collection of jewels gathered together in the treasury of the Santa Casa, at Loreto, Italy, was plundered during the French occupation in 1797, and all trace of most of the magnificent ornaments has been lost. These represented the gifts of many crowned heads and titled personages; among the former was the unfortunate Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I, who donated a golden heart-shaped jewel with the words “Jesus Maria” incrusted in diamonds. This jewel is described as being “as big as both a man’s hands, opened onto two leaves, on one of which was the figure of the Blessed Virgin and on the other a portrait of the queen herself.”392 Of the many rich vestments for decorating the statue of the Virgin in the sanctuary, the most splendid was the gift of the Infanta Isabel of Flanders, and was valued at 40,000 crowns. In a seventeenth-century account by an English traveller it is thus described:393

The same writer tells us the niche in which the statue was placed was bordered with a row of precious stones of great number, size, and value, the colors being so varied that this bordering formed “a rich Iris of several colors.” There is also said to have been a great pearl, set in gold, and engraved with the image of the Virgin and Child.394 It seems probable that this was a jewel made of a baroque pearl, or pearls, completed by enamel-work so as to represent the sacred figures.

The pectoral cross worn in solemn processions by the prior of the monastery of San Lorenzo del Escorial was adorned with eight perfect emeralds, five diamonds, and five pearls. From it hung a splendid pear-shaped pearl, the gift of Philip II in 1595, and one of the finest of those acquired by this monarch. In 1740 the cross was valued at 50,000 crowns, Philip’s great pearl not being included in this valuation.395

The monastery of Streoneshalh, later Whitby Abbey, was founded about 656 A.D. by Oswy, King of Northumbria, in fulfilment of a vow made before his victory over the pagan king Penda, at the battle of Winwidfield, fought in November, 654. St. Hilda was made abbess of this monastery, and Oswy’s daughter Aelfleda took the veil and eventually, in 680, succeeded Hilda as abbess; she died in 713.396 Tradition relates that at this early date crosses and rosaries were made for the inmates of the monastery from the jet found in the neighborhood. The “Whitby jet,” so popular and fashionable in the eighteenth century, was largely derived from the same source, and since then has had several revivals, until replaced by black-stained chalcedony, the so-called onyx, and, later still, by steel carved with glass and glass itself.

Many are unaware of the fact that a number of ornamental objects made of nephrite and jadeite—unquestionably of European origin—are to be seen in the quiet little town of Perugia. These objects, collected principally in central and southern Italy, constitute the Belucci Collection, in that city. This collection also contains other specimens of worked jadeite, which must have been brought to Europe at the time of the Spanish conquest of Mexico and Peru. A very interesting example shows us the utilization of a pagan celt to form a Christian emblem. By the removal of a rectangular piece from each of the four corners of the jadeite celt, a perfect cross has been made, the back and front of which still offer the original polish given to the material centuries ago by the native American worker. The superstitious belief propagated in Europe by the returning Spanish sailors, very probably an invention of their own to enhance the value of their jade and jadeite, that these minerals were worn by the natives as a cure for diseases of the kidneys, whence the name lapis nephriticus, rendered the material exceptionally precious in the eyes of many, and quite possibly it may have been thought that, by transforming this object into the sacred form of the cross, a talisman would be produced that would not only effect the cure of a special disease, but would also by its superior virtue guard the wearer from harm and danger of all kinds. Here may also be seen some celts of European jade sewed up in little bags to be worn on the loins.

3. Celt, Aboriginal. A small stone hatchet made of jade nephrite, of the kind believed by the peasants to be thunderbolts. Mounted in silver to be worn as a charm. This specimen, tied over the loins, is said to have been worn as recently as fifty years ago by a Scottish gentleman as a cure for kidney disease. British Museum.

Certain curious amulets called magatama (crooked jewels) have been found in Japanese graves of the iron age;398 they are formed of various materials, among others of steatite, jasper, carnelian, agate, rock crystal, chrysoprase and nephrite (jade). In the shell heaps of a period preceding the iron age, the magatama are frequently made of horn, or of boar’s or wolf’s teeth, and their peculiar form, which is variously explained as a symbol, may have been conditioned by the shape of the materials originally used. The magatama were evidently regarded as amulets. “They are generally perforated at the thick end, and were worn on a string, together with beads and bugles of the same material.” These peculiar ornaments were used to adorn the statues of the gods and were also employed as imperial insignia and distinctive marks of high rank. At the present day they are numbered among the three emblems of sovereignty in Japan.

A green and a red magatama are combined in the national emblem of Korea and a similar figure is used in China to symbolize the union of the masculine and feminine principles (Yang and Yin) in nature. Dr. Baelz believes that the swastika emblem, encountered in so many different parts of the world, belongs to the same order of ideas.

The Bghai tribes of Burma have many superstitions in regard to stones, such as garnets, rock-crystal, chalcedony, carnelian, agate, onyx and others of less value, their repute not depending entirely or principally upon their quality as gem-stones. In almost every household is installed a stone fetish, and blood offerings are on occasion made to this. A question as to the reason for this offering elicited the following reply: “If we do not give it blood to eat it will eat us.” A common belief was that spirits good or bad dwelt in the stones, and in case a great misfortune befell a family, this was sometimes laid to the charge of such a spirit. The father of a family having died, his widow commanded her son to throw away their magic stone. This he did, but the spirit was not to be denied, for shortly afterward this very stone was found to have returned to its accustomed place, and had even brought two companion stones with it!399

Many other examples of these “natural gems” are noted by early writers. Among them was an agate gem in the treasury of the Basilica of St. Mark, in Venice. Upon this gem appeared the head of a king, adorned with a diadem, the whole design being figured naturally by the veining of the agate, and not owing anything to artifice. In the same city, upon a column in the church of San Georgio Maggiore, could be seen the likeness of Our Lord, hanging from the Cross.401