Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/536

Rh 494 N I E N I E and he himself is kept almost entirely in the background. He was a genuine peasant in many respects to the end of his life, having many of the peasant s virtues as well as failings. French and Dutch translations of his narratives were published during his lifetime, and a condensed English translation, by llobert Heron, of the first three volumes in Edinburgh, 1792. His distinguished son Barthold published a short Life at Kiel in 1817 ; an English version was issued in 1838 in the Lives of Eminent Men, published by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. NIELLO (Italian form of Latin nigellum, diminutive of niger, &quot; black &quot; ; late Greek, pcXavov), a method of producing delicate and minute decoration on a polished metal surface by incised lines filled in with a black metallic amalgam. In some cases it is very difficult to distinguish niello from black enamel ; but the black sub stance differs from true enamel in being metallic, not vitreous. Our knowledge of the process and materials employed in niello-work is derived mainly from four writers, Eraclius the Roman (a writer probably of the llth century), Theophilus the monk, who wrote in the 12th or 13th century, 1 and, in the 16th century, Ben. Cellini 2 and Giorgio Vasari. 3 These, with the exception of Eraclius, whose account is slightly different, agree closely in their description of the process. The design was cut with a sharp graving tool on the smooth surface of the metal, which was usually silver, but occasionally gold or even bronze. An alloy was formed of two parts silver, one-third copper, and one-sixth lead ; to this mixture, while fluid in the crucible, powdered sulphur in excess was added ; and the brittle amalgam, when cold, was finely pounded, and sealed up in large quills for future use. A solution of borax to act as a flux was brushed over the metal plate and thoroughly worked into its incised lines. The powdered amalgam was then shaken out of the quills on to the plate, so as to completely cover all the engraved pattern. The plate was now carefully heated over a charcoal fire, fresh amalgam being added, as the powder fused, upon any defective places. When the powder had become thoroughly liquid, so as to fill all the lines, the plate was allowed to cool, and the whole surface was scraped, so as to remove the superfluous niello, leaving only what had sunk into and filled up the engraved pattern. Last of all the nielloed plate was very highly polished, till it presented the appearance of a smooth metal surface enriched with a delicate design in fine grey-black lines. This process was chiefly used for silver work, on account of the vivid contrast between the whiteness of the silver and the darkness of the niello. As the slightest scratch upon the metal received the niello, and became a distinct black line, ornament of the most minute and refined description could easily be produced. The earliest specimens of niello now existing belong to the Roman period. Two fine examples are in the British Museum. One is a bronze statuette of a Roman general, nearly 2 feet high, found at Barking Hall in Suffolk. The dress and armour have patterns partly inlaid in silver and partly in niello. The dark tint of the bronze rather prevents the niello from showing out distinctly. This statuette is apparently a work of the 1st century. 4 The other example is not earlier than the 4th century. It is a silver casket or lady s toilet box, in which were found an ampulla and other small objects, enriched with niello- work. 5 From Roman times till the end of the 16th century the art of working in niello seems to have been constantly practised in some part at least of Europe, while in Russia and India it has survived down to the present day. From the 6th to the 12th century an enormous number of most massive and splendid works in the precious metals were 1 Div. Art. Sched., iii. 27-29 (see Hendrie s edition, 1847). 2 Trattato dell Oreficeria. 3 Tre Arli del Disegno. 4 See Soc. Ant. Vet. Mon., iv., pis. 11-15. 6 See Visconti, Una Antica Argentaria, Rome, 1793. produced at Byzantium or under Byzantine influence, many of which were largely decorated with niello ; the silver dome of the baklacchino over the high altar of S. Sophia was probably one of the most important of these. Niello is frequently mentioned in the inventories of the treasures belonging to the great basilicas of Rome and Byzantium. The Pala d Oro at S. Mark s, Venice, 10th century (see METAL-WORK), owes much of its refined beauty to niello patterns in the borders. This art was also practised by Bernward, artist-bishop of Hildesheim (ob. 1023) ; a fine silver paten, decorated with figures in niello, attributed to his hand, still exists among the many rich treasures in the church of Hanover Palace. Other nielli, probably the work of the same bishop, are preserved in the cathedral of Hildesheim. In France too, judging both from existing specimens of ecclesiastical plate and many records preserved in church inventories, this mode of decoration must have been frequently applied all through the Middle Ages : especially fine examples once existed at Notre Dame, Paris, and at Cluny, where the columns of the sanctuary were covered with plates of -silver in the llth century, each plate being richly ornamented with designs in niello. Among the early Teutonic and Celtic races, especially from the 8th to the llth centuries, both in Britain and other countries, niello was frequently used to decorate the very beautiful personal ornaments of which so many specimens enrich the museums of Europe. The British Museum possesses a fine fibula of silver decor ated with a simple pattern in niello and thin plates of repousse^ gold. This, though very similar in design to many fibulae from Scandinavia and Britain, was found in a tomb at Kertch (Panticapseum). Several interesting gold rings of Saxon workmanship have been found at different times, on which the owner s name and ornamental patterns are formed in gold with a background of niello. One with the name of Ethelwulf, king of Wessex (836-838), is nov in the British Museum (see figure). Another in the South Kensington Museum has the name of Alhstan, who was bishop of Sherborne from 823 to 867. The metal-workers of Ireland, whose skill was quite un rivalled, practised largely the art of niello from the 10th to the 12th cen- Gold ^Niello Ring, tury, and possibly even earlier. Fine croziers, shrines, fibulae, and other objects of Irish workmanship, most skil fully enriched with elaborate niello-work, exist in consider able numbers. From the 13th to the 16th century but little niello-work appears to have been produced in England. Two specimens have been found, one at Matlask, Norfolk, and the other at Devizes, which from the character of the design appear to be English. They are both of gold, and seem to be the covering plates of small pendent reliquaries, about an inch long, dating about the end of the 15th century. One has a crucifix between St John the Baptist and a bishop ; the other, that found at Devizes, has the two latter figures, but no crucifix. 7 It is, however, in Italy that the art of niello-work was brought to greatest perfection. During the whole mediaeval period it was much used to decorate church plate, silver altar-frontals, and the like. The magnificent frontals of Pistoia cathedral and the Florence baptistery are notable instances of this. 8 During the 15th century, especially at Florence, the art of niello-work was practised by almost all the great artist- 6 See Antiquities of Kertch, pi. v. 7 See Proc. Norfolk Archaso. Soc., iii. p. 97. 8 See METAL-WORK ; and Gori, Thesaurus Velerum Diptychorum, vol. iii., Florence, 1759.