mosaic work of the later Roman period, in vases and other objects of the best times of Greek art, and in Asiatic and archaic works. It may be affirmed that the ornamentation of the goldsmith's work of the north and south of Europe are derived from a common origin; from the oriental civilization which in the first centuries of the Middle Ages penetrated into Europe; it may also be affirmed that its manufacture and technical proceedings are precisely similar. Later on, the ornamentation and manufacture of these jewels received from the western nations some slight modifications; but this artistic industry by no means proceeded from them.

One example will be enough to prove this. Setting apart the famous cloisonné pectorale at the Boulac Museum, Cairo, and other jewels of the queen, Aah-Hotep, 17th century B.C.; the hawk of a similar period, Louvre Museum (Paris), and a number of analogous objects in the British Museum, we have enough specimens of this kind to show that cloisonné work was known in the east from the very earliest period. I will draw especial attention to the plaque in the Museum of Wiesbaden, found at Wolfsheim in 1870. It is formed of gold, with a circular and triangular ornamentation and squares, découpés à jour, set with jacinths, or red glass paste. At the back may be read an inscription in Persian characters, which gives the name of a Sassanide king, Artachshaber, of the 3rd century of our era. (See A. von Cohausen, "Roemischer Schmelzenschmuck," Wiesbaden, 1873). I know no more ancient specimen in the north of Europe of these jewels with coloured stones, nor can I give a better example of their oriental origin. Those who may wish to make a more profound study on this subject, can also examine the interesting jewels with stones found at Petrossa, Wallachia, in 1835, now in the Museum of Bucharest. They are attributed to the Visigothic King Athanaric, who lived towards the middle of the 4th century of our era, and are considered in the present day of undoubted Sassanide origin.

The artistic and technical origin of the jewels of Guarrazar must be looked for in the East; their manufacture was most probably Spanish. On part of these jewels, inscriptions of the names of the donatarios appear, and it is highly improbable that they were made in another country. We cannot imagine the extraordinary magnificence of the Visigothic court, so similar to that of Constantinople and other contemporary ones, without the presence at each of a group of artists whose task was to satisfy these demands.

The Visigothic style continued to be followed in Spain at the court of the Christian kings, until the 11th century, notwithstanding the Moorish invasion, and the poverty of the kingdom. The specimens at the treasury of the cathedral of Oviedo, and others which will be described farther on, will give a good idea of the manufacture of jewels of this period. Among the relics which are kept in the shrine called the Camara Santa, at Oviedo, are two most interesting gold processional crosses studded with stones, which are known by the names of Cruz de los Angeles, and Cruz de la Victoria or de Pelayo. The Cruz de los Angeles is 16½ inches high, by 16 inches wide, it is covered at the back with an ornamentation in fine filigree work, set with different stones. In the front are five medallions, and an inscription in the vacant spaces. Among the gems there is a good cameo, and seven engraved stones in the Gnostic style. (Consult "Monumentos Arquitectonicos de España, Camara Santa"). The inscription on this cross shows us that it was made, A.D. 808.

The cross of Victory is supposed to have been the same wooden one borne by Don Pelayo when he began, early in the 8th century, his struggles against the Mahomedan invasion, it was decorated in the next century with gold platings and precious stones. It is 36 inches high by 28½ inches wide; the ornamentation is similar to the former one, and in the vacant spaces at the back appears the following inscription, by which we learn it was made at the Castle of Gauzon, Asturias, A.D. 828.

Another most interesting object at this shrine is Don Fruela's casket, which is ornamented with agates set in gold, and is similar in style. The inscription, which appears outside, gives the date A.D. 910.