DOI issue:
Churchill. Sydney J.A.: The Goldsmiths of Rome under the papal authority. Their statues hitherto discovered and a bibliography
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.70348#0196
i8o The British School at Rome.
countersigned with the R. C. A. stamp, and those bearing Arabic numerals
with the N. R. stamp.
Watches mounted in gold or silver of foreign manufacture are
exempted from the mark. Watch cases made in the Roman states require
the mark.
Pl. XVI, Fig. i, shows specimens of copperplates with Goldsmiths’
names and marks, mostly of the 17th century, now the property of the
Corporation of Goldsmiths of Rome. In the centre, at the bottom
are standards of gold of different qualities—pieces of copper tipped with
gold for testing on the touchstone alongside of the rubbing from the object
to be tested.
Pl. XVII, Fig. 1, on which will be seen the mark used by the Gold-
smiths of Rome in the seventeenth century, is a photograph of two small
boxes of wood discovered by me in the Museum at Como. These boxes
have let in them the marks employed by gold- and silversmiths in thirteen
of the principal cities of Italy, besides the Malta mark. They are probably
unique as a collection. The marks of Palermo, Rome, Genoa, and Venice
are all of the seventeenth century. Those of Naples and Florence are
earlier. Pl. XVII, Fig. 2 shows marks belonging to the Papal States out-
side Rome: these are also preserved in the Archives of the Corporation of
Goldsmiths of Rome.
Papal Patronage of the Goldsmiths.
The wealth of the Papal Court under Boniface VIII (1294-1303)
may be estimated by the Inventory published by Molinier. Nicholas V
and Paul II both spent vast sums of money in jewellery and plate.
Besides this there must have been an equally great store of gifts in the
shape of jewels, sacred and profane objects, which were presented to the
Popes by religious orders and private individuals.
To go into any detail of the many wonderful objects wrought by the
goldsmiths, Romans as well as foreigners, for the Popes is beyond the
scope of these notes, but the mention of some examples of work which is
recorded in Treasury orders for payment or in Papal inventories and other
documents may be useful in stimulating the desire of the student to learn
more, and thus some further light may be thrown on the arts and crafts of
Papal Rome, and on the history of costumes and personal adornment
during the Mediaeval and Renaissance periods.
countersigned with the R. C. A. stamp, and those bearing Arabic numerals
with the N. R. stamp.
Watches mounted in gold or silver of foreign manufacture are
exempted from the mark. Watch cases made in the Roman states require
the mark.
Pl. XVI, Fig. i, shows specimens of copperplates with Goldsmiths’
names and marks, mostly of the 17th century, now the property of the
Corporation of Goldsmiths of Rome. In the centre, at the bottom
are standards of gold of different qualities—pieces of copper tipped with
gold for testing on the touchstone alongside of the rubbing from the object
to be tested.
Pl. XVII, Fig. 1, on which will be seen the mark used by the Gold-
smiths of Rome in the seventeenth century, is a photograph of two small
boxes of wood discovered by me in the Museum at Como. These boxes
have let in them the marks employed by gold- and silversmiths in thirteen
of the principal cities of Italy, besides the Malta mark. They are probably
unique as a collection. The marks of Palermo, Rome, Genoa, and Venice
are all of the seventeenth century. Those of Naples and Florence are
earlier. Pl. XVII, Fig. 2 shows marks belonging to the Papal States out-
side Rome: these are also preserved in the Archives of the Corporation of
Goldsmiths of Rome.
Papal Patronage of the Goldsmiths.
The wealth of the Papal Court under Boniface VIII (1294-1303)
may be estimated by the Inventory published by Molinier. Nicholas V
and Paul II both spent vast sums of money in jewellery and plate.
Besides this there must have been an equally great store of gifts in the
shape of jewels, sacred and profane objects, which were presented to the
Popes by religious orders and private individuals.
To go into any detail of the many wonderful objects wrought by the
goldsmiths, Romans as well as foreigners, for the Popes is beyond the
scope of these notes, but the mention of some examples of work which is
recorded in Treasury orders for payment or in Papal inventories and other
documents may be useful in stimulating the desire of the student to learn
more, and thus some further light may be thrown on the arts and crafts of
Papal Rome, and on the history of costumes and personal adornment
during the Mediaeval and Renaissance periods.