Agate box from Oviedo

The Oviedo agate box ( Caja de las Ágatas ) is a reliquary container . It has been part of the church treasury since 910, which is kept in the Cámara Santa in the Cathedral of Oviedo , Spain .

history

The Oviedo agate box was made at the beginning of the 10th century and given to the cathedral in 910 by Prince Fruela of Asturias , later King Fruela II, and his first wife, Nunilo ("Jimena"), which is recorded in the donor's inscription. Since then it has been part of the cathedral's treasury.

During the Asturian miners' strike in 1934 , the revolutionaries set off a bomb under the Cámara Santa . The objects kept there, including the Oviedo agate box, suffered severe damage. The restoration lasted until 1942 . However, no precautions were taken to later enable the original substance to be distinguished from the added parts.

In 1977 the Oviedo agate box was stolen from the Cámara Santa along with other items and dismantled by the thief. Before he could sell the loot, however, he was caught.

→ Main article : Burglary at Cámara Santa

On the occasion of the now re-needed restoration, a commission was chaired by the Provost formed to appoint to the process and monitor. After the work was completed, the cross returned to Cámara Santa on September 14, 1985.

description

The Oviedo agate box is a rectangular box made of cypress wood . Its dimensions are 16.5 × 42.4 × 27.1 cm. The lid is designed as a truncated pyramid, the flat top of which is covered with a second-hand goldsmith's work measuring 150 × 100 mm. The box weighs 7.4 kg.

It is clad with embossed gold sheet and decorated with stylized vegetable motifs. There are 99 openings in the gold sheet, most of them horseshoe-shaped or semicircular or semi-elliptical, a few also ellipsoidal, all of irregular shape and different sizes. In the 99 openings there are agate plates about 3 mm thick. These give the box its name. On the sides of the box, the agate plates are arranged in two rows one on top of the other, and more on the slopes of the lid. A total of 212 agates were used here. Some are replacement pieces that were used after the severe damage in 1934 and 1977.

The rectangular plate that covers the flat part of the lid is older than the rest of the agate box. It refers to Carolingian art, was used here a second time and created before the middle of the 9th century. Originally it could have been a belt buckle or a fibula . The base of the plate is made of gold on which cells rest, which contain fragments of garnet and form a curved pattern. On the plaque there are 655 garnets, 4 pearls, 12 enamels and 13 cabochon- cut gemstones. The space between the stones is filled with enamel work depicting dragons, animals and stylized trees.

The bottom of the Oviedo agate box is made of solid silver and is attached to the cypress wood body with 129 nails. Here there is an inscription with the names of the donors and a representation of the evangelist symbols in Mozarabic style. The evangelist symbols are arranged around a stylized representation of the Cross of Victory , which is also kept in the Cámara Santa in Oviedo and was founded by King Alfonso III in 908 . of Asturias and his wife, Queen Jimena of Navarre, the parents of Prince Fruela (II), to Oviedo Cathedral. The inscription on the bottom of the Oviedo agate box is punched and reads:

• Above: SVSCEPTVM PLACIDE MANEAT HOC IN HORE DI QVOD
• Right: OFFERVNT FAMVLI XPI FROILA ET NVNILO COGNOMENTO / SCEMENA HOC OPVS PERFECTVM ET CONCES
• Below: SVM EST SCO SALVATORI OVETENSIS QVISQVIS
• Left: AVFERRE HOC DONARIA NSA PRESVNSERI FVLMINE DIVINO / INTEREAT IPSE OPERATVM EST ERA DCCCCXLVIII

Translated: Let this be done in honor of God, offered by the servants of Christ 'Fruela and Nunilo, called "Jimena". This work was made and donated to the Church of San Salvador in Ovieto. Whoever intends to steal this, our gift, is to perish by the divine ray. It was made in the epoch 948 .

Art historical evaluation

The agate box from Oviedo is one of the four top works of Asturian, pre-Romanesque goldsmithing , along with the Cross of Victory , the Cross of Angels and the Arqueta de San Genadio . Stylistically, he points to references to Central Europe as well as to the southern Spanish, then Arab region.

literature

• Dietrich Höllhuber and Werner Schäfke: The Spanish Way of St. James. History and art on the way to Santiago de Compostela . DuMont, [Cologne] 1999. ISBN 3-7701-4862-2
• Pedro de Palol , Max Hirmer : Art of the early Middle Ages from the Visigoth Empire to the end of the Romanesque. Hirmer, Munich 1965, ISBN 3-7774-5730-2

Remarks

1. ↑ Also: Scemena .
2. ↑ 910 AD according to today's count.
3. ↑ The Arqueta de San Genadio is located in the treasure of the Cathedral of Astorga .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Höllhuber: The Spanish Way of St. James , p. 248.
2. ↑ Fernando Rayón Valpuesta and José Luis Sampedro: Las joyas de las reinas de España: la desconocida historia de las alhajas reales . Editorial Planeta SA, 2nd edition 2004. ISBN 84-08-05119-9 .
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Palol: Spain , p. 35.