Expertise, Artifacts, and Time in the 1534 Inventory of the St-Denis Treasury

Abstract

The inventory of the monastery of St-Denis's treasury evaluates more than three hundred objects, from classical cameos to sixteenth-century metalwork. The inventory was the product of collaboration between court secretaries, Parisian goldsmiths, and monastic administrators. Deploying their specialized expertise, the goldsmiths identified the materials and techniques used in the objects, while the monks presented their identity and history. Careful comparative scrutiny allowed the group to document losses, revealing the treasury's fragility, and to recognize the complex fabrication history of composite objects, like the martyrs' shrine. The same comparative scrutiny undergirded the provenances contemporaries invented for several works in the treasury. Keywords

Publisher

Taylor & Francis / College Art Association

Publication Date

4-8-2016

Publication Title

Art Bulletin

Department

Art

Document Type

Article

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00043079.2015.1074843

Language

English

Format

text

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS