The Iconography of a 17th Century Amber Casket: Problems of Reconstruction and Context
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu15.2024.310Abstract
This paper explores the problems of reconstructing the iconography of amber artworks when some parts of their original ornamentation are lost. This research focuses on a mid-to-late 17th century frameless amber casket, popular as both a diplomatic gift and collectable. The history of attribution of the original casket from the collection of the Tsarskoe Selo State Museum and Heritage Site, as well as that of the creative replicate made in 1979 for the Amber Museum in Kaliningrad, is given. A consideration of the written and visual sources reveals connections between the various texts (Biblical and theological writings, and emblematic and “iconological” essays) and images which have influenced the development of iconographic themes employed. Taking into account the features of decoration of the amber casket mentioned in the inventories, a new interpretation of its iconography is suggested and justified. The figure on the lid of the casket can be identified as an allegorical representation of Hope, one of the theological virtues. The attributes of the personification of Hope are defined, their sources are revealed and the context of their use is reconstructed. The versions of mentioned but not survived attributes are proposed. In special focus is connection between visual content of the allegory and its context. The Allegory of Hope, a theme widespread in Europe both in visual and applied arts, was a popular decorative motif in Prussian amber artworks dating from the 17th and 18th centuries. The well-grounded interpretation of the decorative motifs on amber artworks sent from Prussia as diplomatic gifts can provide a basis for further research into the items and their links to literary and archive sources.
Keywords:
amber artworks, Prussia, 17th century, amber casket, iconography, reconstruction, context, Allegory of Hope, museum
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
References
Литература
1. André, Gustaw. “Architektur und Kunstgewerbe als Gegenstand der Ikonographie”. In Festschrift Richard Hamann zum sechzigsten Geburtstage 29. Mai 1939, 3–11. Burg bei Magdeburg: August Hopfer Verlag, 1939.
2. Ванеян, Степан. Архитектура и иконография. “Тело символа” в зеркале классической методологии. М.: Прогресс-Традиция, 2010.
3. Didron, Adolphe Napoléon. “Iconographie de l’Espérance”. In Annales archéologiques (1860): 293–306.
4. Маль, Эмиль. Религиозное искусство XIII века во Франции. Пер. с фр. Анны Пожидаевой и Дильшат Харман. М.: Ин-т философии, теологии и истории св. Фомы, 2009.
5. Варбург, Аби. Великое переселение образов. Исследование по истории и психологии возрождения античности. Пер. с нем. Елены Козиной, пер. с итал. Н. Булаховой, пер. с лат. Д. Захаровой. СПб.: Азбука-классика, 2008.
6. Sauer, Josef. Die Symbolik des Kirchengebäudes in der Auffassung des Mittelalters: mit Berucksichtigung von Honorius Augustodunensis, Sicardus und Durandus. Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder, 1924.
7. Panofsky, Erwin. Meaning in the Visual Arts. Papers in and on Art History. New York: Doubleday Anchor Books, 1955.
8. Panofsky, Erwin. Studies in Iconology: Humanistic Themes in the Art of the Renaissance. Boulder; Oxford: Westview Press, 1972.
9. Panofsky, Dora, and Erwin Panofsky. Pandora’s box. The Changing Aspects of а Мythical Symbol. New York: Pantheon Books, 1956.
10. Gombrich, Ernst Hans. Gombrich on the Renaissance. Symbolic Images. 2 vols. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985, vol. 2.
11. Pelka, Оtto. Bernstein. Berlin: Richard Carl Schmidt & Co., 1920.
12. Rohde, Alfred. Bernstein: Ein Deutscher Werkstoff. Seine künstlerische Verarbeitung vom Mittelalter bis zum 18. Jahrhundert. Berlin: Deutscher Verein für Kunstwissenschaft, 1937.
13. Tait, Gerald Hugh. Catalogue of the Waddesdon Bequest in the British Museum: The Curiosities. 3 vols. London: British Museum, 1991, vol. 3.
14. Reiter, Silke. “From Design to Amber Artefact — a Study on the Use of the Graphic Arts in Amber Working”. In Bernstein-Kostbarkeiten europäischer Kunstkammern. — Amber — Treasuries for European Kunstkammer, hrsg. von Georg Laue, 68–71. München: Kunstkammer Georg Laue, 2006.
15. Калугина, Елена. “Ларец Готфрида Турау. Гравюрные источники и легенда о происхождении”. В сб. Россия — Польша. Два аспекта европейской культуры: материалы XVIII Царскосельской научной конференции, Гос. музей-заповедник «Царское Село», 219–34. СПб.: Серебряный век, 2012.
16. Sobecka, Anna. “A new interpretation of the mythological iconography of the Malbork Castle”. In International Symposium ‘Amber. Science and Art’. Gdańsk. Poland. 22–23 March 2018, 153–5. Gdańsk: International Fair Co. Amberiff, 2018.
17. Werwein, Erich, und Leonie von Wilckens. “Die Rekonsruktion eines Bernsteinkabinetts”. Monats Anzeiger, no. 39 (1984): 310–1.
18. Воронов, Михаил, и Анатолий Кучумов. Янтарная комната: шедевры декоративно-прикладного искусства из янтаря в собрания Екатерининского дворца-музея. Л.: Художник РСФСР, 1989.
19. Григорович, Наталья, сост. Художественный янтарь XVII — начала XX века из собрания Екатерининского дворца-музея. Каталог выставки. Л.: Внешторгиздат, 1990.
20. Бардовская, Лариса, авт. ст. и аннот. Янтарь: из собрания государственного музея-заповедника «Царское Село»: каталог выставки, 24.06 — 30.08. 2005. [Калининград; Царское Село: Калинингр. музей янтаря], 2005.
21. Аксентон, Юрий. “Янтарь: секреты древнего мастерства”. В сб. Советское декоративное искусство, сост. Татьяна Стриженова, 162–9. М.: Советский художник, 1983, вып. 6.
22. Бенуа, Александр. Царское Село в царствование императрицы Елисаветы Петровны. СПб.: Тов. Р. Голике и А. Вильборг, 1910.
23. Григорович, Дмитрий. Царское Село. Опись предметам, имеющим преимущественно художественное значение. СПб.: Тип. В. Киршбаума, 1888.
24. Hinrichs, Kerstin. “Bernstein, das ‘Preußische Gold’in Kunst- und Naturalienkammern und Museen des 16.–20. Jahrhunderts”. PhD diss., Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 2007.
25. Аполлодор. Мифологическая библиотека, под ред. Владимира Боруховича. Л.: Наука, 1972.
26. Гесиод. Полное собрание текстов, вступ. ст. Виктора Ярхо, коммент. Олега Цыбенко и Виктора Ярхо. М.: Лабиринт, 2001.
27. Зайцев, Александр, сост. Гомер. Илиада. Пер. Николая Гнедича. Л.: Наука, 1990.
28. Гаспаров, Михаил, сост. Публий Овидий Назон. Элегии и малые поэмы. Пер. Фёдора Петровского. М.: Худож. лит., 1973.
29. Тахо-Годи, Аза, ред. Гигин. Мифы. Пер. Дмитрия Торшилова. СПб.: Алетейя, 2017.
30. Alciato, Andrea. Emblematum liber. Augsburg: Heinrich Steyner, 1531.
31. Ripa, Cesare. Iconologia overo descrittione dell’ imagini universali cavate dall’antichita et da altri luoghi (etc.). Roma: Heredi di Gigliotti, 1593.
32. Ebermeier, Johann. New poetisch Hoffnungs-Gärtlein. Tübingen: Kerner, 1653.
33. Stauch, Liselotte. “Anker als Symbol und Attribut”. In Reallexikon zur Deutschen Kunstgeschichte (RDK), hrsg. von Otto Schmitt und Karl-August Wirth, Bd. 1: 705–8. Stuttgart: Metzler, 1937.
34. Kraus, Franz Xaver. Real-Encyklopädie der christlichen Alterthümer. 2 Bd. Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder, 1882, Bd. 1.
35. Abeele, Baudouinvan den. “The Hooded Falcon as an Allegory of Hope (15th–17th Century”. In Visual Engagements: Image Practices and Falconry, ed. by Yannis Hadjinicolaou, 125–52. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2020.
36. Kraus, Franz Xaver. Real-Encyklopädie der christlichen Alterthümer. 2 Bd. Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder, 1886, Bd. 2.
37. Friedrich, Andreas. Emblemata Nova. Francoforti: Iennis, 1617.
Источники
I. РГИА. Ф. 487. Оп. 13. 1765. Д. 60.
II. РГИА. Ф. 487. Оп. 13. 1787. Д. 8.
III. РГИА. Ф. 487. Оп. 15. 1794. Д. 68.
IV. РГИА. Ф. 487. Оп. 21. Д. 577.
V. ГАКО. Ф. 1226. Оп. 1. Д. 61.
VI. Российская академия художеств. Словарь терминов. Дата обращения май 10, 2023. https://rah.ru/science/glossary/?ID=19944&let=%D0%9F.
VII. РГИА. Ф. 487. Оп. 5. 1808–1917. Д. 1998.
VIII. РГИА. Ф. 487. Оп. 6. 1911–1912. Д. 2146.
IX. An Amber Games Board attributed to Georg Schreiber Expert adviser’s statement [Arts Council England]. Case 19 2012/13. Accessed May 12, 2023. https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/sites/default/files/download-file/amber_board_ea.pdf.
References
1. André, Gustaw. “Architektur und Kunstgewerbe als Gegenstand der Ikonographie”. In Festschrift Richard Hamann zum sechzigsten Geburtstage 29. Mai 1939, 3–11. Burg bei Magdeburg: August Hopfer Verlag, 1939.
2. Vaneian, Stepan. Architecture and iconography. ‘The body of the symbol’ in the mirror of classical methodology. Moscow: Progress-Traditsiia Publ., 2010. (In Russian)
3. Didron, Adolphe-Napoléon. “Iconographie de l’Espérance”. In Annales archéologiques 20 (1860): 293–306.
4. Mâle, Émile. L’art Religieux De 13 Siecle En France. Rus. ed. Transl. by Anna Pozhidaeva, and Dil’shat Kharman. Moscow: Institut filosofii, teologii i istorii sviatogo Fomy Publ., 2009. (In Russian)
5. Warburg, Aby. The Great Migration of Images: A Study of History and Psychology of the revival of Antiquity. Rus. ed. Transl. by Elena Kozina, N. Bulakhova, and D. Zakharova. St. Petersburg: Azbuka-klassika Publ., 2008. (In Russian)
6. Sauer, Josef. Die Symbolik des Kirchengebäudes in der Auffassung des Mittelalters: mit Berucksichtigung von Honorius Augustodunensis, Sicardus und Durandus. Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder, 1924.
7. Panofsky, Erwin. Meaning in the Visual Arts. Papers in and on Art History. New York: Doubleday Anchor Books, 1955.
8. Panofsky, Erwin. Studies in Iconology: Humanistic Themes in the Art of the Renaissance. Boulder; Oxford: Westview Press, 1972.
9. Panofsky, Dora, and Erwin Panofsky. Pandora’s box. The Changing Aspects of а Мythical Symbol. New York: Pantheon Books, 1956.
10. Gombrich, Ernst Hans. Gombrich on the Renaissance. Symbolic Images. 2 vols. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985, vol. 2.
11. Pelka, Оtto. Bernstein. Berlin: Richard Carl Schmidt & Co., 1920.
12. Rohde, Alfred. Bernstein: Ein Deutscher Werkstoff. Seine künstlerische Verarbeitung vom Mittelalter bis zum 18. Jahrhundert. Berlin: Deutscher Verein für Kunstwissenschaft, 1937.
13. Tait, Gerald Hugh. Catalogue of the Waddesdon Bequest in the British Museum: The Curiosities. 3 vols. London: British Museum, 1991, vol. 3.
14. Reiter, Silke. “From Design to Amber Artefact — a Study on the Use of the Graphic Arts in Amber Working”. In Bernstein-Kostbarkeiten europäischer Kunstkammern. — Amber — Treasuries for European Kunstkammer, hrsg. von Georg Laue, 68–71. München: Kunstkammer Georg Laue, 2006.
15. Kalugina, Elena. “The Casket of Gottfried Turau. The Engraving Sources and the Legend of Origin”. In Rossiia — Pol’sha. Dva aspekta evropeiskoi kul’tury: materialy XVIII Tsarskosel’skoi nauchnoi konferentsii, Gosudarstvennyi muzei-zapovednik “Tsarskoe Selo”, 219–34. St. Petersburg: Serebrianyi vek Publ., 2012. (In Russian)
16. Sobecka, Anna. “A new interpretation of the mythological iconography of the Malbork Castle”. In International Symposium ‘Amber. Science and Art’. Gdańsk. Poland. 22–23 March 2018, 153–5. Gdańsk: International Fair Co. Amberiff, 2018.
17. Werwein, Erich, und Leonie von Wilckens. “Die Rekonsruktion eines Bernsteinkabinetts”. Monats Anzeiger, no. 39 (1984): 310–1.
18. Voronov, Mikhail, and Anatolii Kuchumov. The Amber Room: Amber Masterpieces of Decorative art in the collection of the Catherine Palace-Museum. Leningrad: Khudozhnik RSFSR Publ., 1989. (In Russian)
19. Grigorovich, Natal’ia, comp. The 17th — early 20th centuries amber artworks from the collection of the Catherine Palace-Museum. Exhibition Catalogue. Leningrad: Vneshtorgizdat Publ., 1990. (In Russian)
20. Bardovskaia, Larisa, art. Amber: from the Collection of the State Museum and Heritage Site Tsarskoe Selo. The Catalogue of Exhibition, 24.06 — 30.08.2005. [Kaliningrad; Tsarskoe Selo: Kaliningradskii muzei iantaria Publ.], 2005. (In Russian)
21. Aksenton, Iurii. “Amber: Secrets of the Old Art”. In Sovetskoe dekorativnoe iskusstvo, comp. by Tat’iana Strizhenova, 162–9. Moscow: Sovetskii khudozhnik Publ., 1983, iss. 6. (In Russian)
22. Benua, Aleksandr. Tsarskoe Selo during the Reign of Empress Elisabeth Petrovna. St. Petersburg: Tovarishchestvo R. Golike i A. Vil’borg Publ., 1910. (In Russian)
23. Grigorovich, Dmitrii. Tsarskoe Selo. The Inventory of Items of Mostly Artistic Value. St. Petersburg: Kirshbaum Publ., 1888. (In Russian)
24. Hinrichs, Kerstin. “Bernstein, das ‘Preußische Gold’in Kunst- und Naturalienkammern und Museen des 16.–20. Jahrhunderts”. PhD diss., Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 2007.
25. Apollodorus. The Library, ed. by Vladimir Borukhovich. Leningrad: Nauka Publ., 1972. (In Russian)
26. Hesiod. The Complete Works, introd. art. by Viktor Iarkho, comment. by Oleg Tsybenko and Viktor Iarkho. Moscow: Labirint Publ., 2001. (In Russian)
27. Zaitsev, Aleksandr, comp. Homer. Iliad. Rus. ed. Transl. by Nikolai Gnedich. Leningrad: Nauka Publ., 1990. (In Russian)
28. Gasparov, Mikhail, comp. Ovid. Elegies and Short Poems. Rus. ed. Transl. by Fedor Petrovskii. Moscow: Khudozhestvennaia literatura Publ., 1973. (In Russian)
29. Takho-Godi, Aza, ed. Hyginus. Myths. Rus. ed. Transl. by Dmitrii Torshilov. St. Petersburg: Aleteiia Publ., 2017. (In Russian)
30. Alciato, Andrea. Emblematum liber. Augsburg: Heinrich Steyner, 1531.
31. Ripa, Cesare. Iconologia overo descrittione dell’ imagini universali cavate dall’antichita et da altri luoghi (etc.). Roma: Heredi di Gigliotti, 1593.
32. Ebermeier, Johann. New poetisch Hoffnungs-Gärtlein. Tübingen: Kerner, 1653.
33. Stauch, Liselotte. “Anker als Symbol und Attribut”. In Reallexikon zur Deutschen Kunstgeschichte (RDK), hrsg. von Otto Schmitt und Karl-August Wirth, Bd. 1: 705–8. Stuttgart: Metzler, 1937.
34. Kraus, Franz Xaver. Real-Encyklopädie der christlichen Alterthümer. 2 Bd. Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder, 1882, Bd. 1.
35. Abeele, Baudouinvan den. “The Hooded Falcon as an Allegory of Hope (15th–17th Century”. In Visual Engagements: Image Practices and Falconry, ed. by Yannis Hadjinicolaou, 125–52. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2020.
36. Kraus, Franz Xaver. Real-Encyklopädie der christlichen Alterthümer. 2 Bd. Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder, 1886, Bd. 2.
37. Friedrich, Andreas. Emblemata Nova. Francoforti: Iennis, 1617.
Sources
I. RGIA. F. 487. Op. 13. 1765. D. 60 [Russian State Historical Archive. Stock 487. Inventory 13.1765. Dossier 60]. (In Russian)
II. RGIA. F. 487. Op. 13. 1787. D. 8 [Russian State Historical Archive. Stock 487. Inventory 13.1787. Dossier 8]. (In Russian)
III. RGIA. F. 487. Op. 15. 1794. D. 68 [Russian State Historical Archive. Stock 487. Inventory 15.1794. Dossier 68]. (In Russian)
IV. RGIA. F. 487. Op. 21. D. 577 [Russian State Historical Archive. Stock 487. Inventory 21. Dossier 577]. (In Russian)
V. GAKO. F. 1226. Op. 1. D. 61 [State Archive of Kaliningrad Oblast. Stock 1226. Inventory 1. Dossier 61]. (In Russian)
VI. The Russian Academy of Arts. Glossary. Accessed: May 12, 2023. https://rah.ru/science/glossary/?ID=19944&let=%D0%9F.
VII. RGIA. F. 487. Op. 5.1808–1917. D. 1998 [Russian State Historical Archive. Stock 487. Inventory 5.1808–1917. Dossier 1998]. (In Russian)
VIII. RGIA. F. 487. Op. 6.1911–1912. D. 2146 [Russian State Historical Archive. Stock 487. Inventory 6.1911–1912. Dossier 2146]. (In Russian)
IX. An Amber Games Board attributed to Georg Schreiber Expert adviser’s statement [Arts Council England]. Case 19 2012/13. Accessed May 12, 2023. https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/sites/default/files/download-file/amber_board_ea.pdf.
Downloads
Published
2024-08-29
How to Cite
Polyakova, I. A. (2024). The Iconography of a 17th Century Amber Casket: Problems of Reconstruction and Context. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Arts, 14(3), 615–633. https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu15.2024.310
Issue
Section
Decorative and applied arts
License
Articles of "Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Arts" are open access distributed under the terms of the License Agreement with Saint Petersburg State University, which permits to the authors unrestricted distribution and self-archiving free of charge.
