Ferenc Pulszky's Lecture on Gems
London, 1853
Transcription by Andrea Hasznos
This paper was not handwritten by Pulszky, it is somebody else's very fine and even handwriting, it is therefore much easier to read that the ones written by Pulszky himself. Most probably he either dictated it or his own notes were given to somebody to make a fair copy of it. In one place, page 5 (108), Pulszky himself inserted a sentence into the text and at the end of the paper again he writes an additional passage of 1,5 pages starting from page 7. Unlike Pulszky's eight lectures, this paper has no title and no number.
Notes to the transcription
The Copyist always writes the first word of the following page at the bottom of each page probably in order for the pages not to be mixed, it is retained in the transcription; as Pulszky does not follow this practice, it is not to be found on page 7. The Copyist's text and spelling were closely followed: his usage of capitals (e.g. egyptian) and word division has been preserved as well as his punctuation. It is recommended to study the manuscript itself with the transcription.
The following signs can be found in the transcription:
(1) numbers of the lines of the manuscript (not present in the original)
<r> used for punctuation marks, letters or words not present in the manuscript but necessary
{the} a superfluous word
(1) Pliny describes the gems as "in arctum contracta
(2) rerum naturae majestas" (1) and when they are besides
(3) stamped by the genius of great artists it is impossible
(4) to behold something more splendid than a collection of
(5) carved precious stones, where the coastly (2) material is
(6) ennobled by art. In ancient as well as in modern
(7) times they have therefore been always highly prised as
(8) princely ornaments. By their small size unfit for pub-
(9) lic monuments, and their coastliness (3) exceeding the means
(10) of private citizens in the ancient republics the art of car-
(11) ving gems remained attached to the courts of the Kings
(12) and emperors. Whilst the precious carved stones and
(13) vessels of Mithridates form a most prominent feature
(14) of the spoils of the Pontian realm in the triumph of
(15) Pompejus, even Julius Caesar did not think it fit to
(16) own a Dactyliothake and consecrated it to temple of
(17) Venus Victrise. The most renowned ancient artists in
(18) this line Pyrgoteles Dioscurides and Solon lived at
(19) the courts of Alexander and Augustus, and when we
(20) throw a glance over the collections of gems handed
(21) over to us by the bygone centuries, we find that all
the
page 2:
(22) the great and beautiful Cameos have reference to the
(22) Ptolomais, to Augustus and his family, to Claudius,
(23) Hadrian and Constantine, gems remained always an
(24) imperial treasure. At the time when the monuments
(25) of art were destroyed by barbarians, the gems escaped
(26) this fate because they were easily hidden or trans-
(27) fer<r>ed to the victors and the solidity of the {the} ma-
(28) terial resisted fortuitous destruction. Many of them
(29) found their way into the treasury of the Cathedrals
(30) of Kings, and we can take it for granted that but
(31) the smaller part of them were hidden in the earth.
(32) The soil of Greece and Italy, so fertile in all other mo-
(33) numents of art, yields but very few gems, and since
(34) the middle ages their number has not been materially
(35) increased. At the revival of arts it were again mostly
(36) the princes who formed collections of this kind. Lorenzo
(37) Medicis with the surnoun il Magnifico, had one of
(38) the most beautiful, and had its name engraved
(39) on every stone belonging to it, it is now divided bet-
(40) ween Florence and Naples. The finest of them all
(41) belonged to Emperor Rudolph II of Gremany till
(42) now preserved in Vienna, it contains the great
Cameos
page 3:
(43) Cameos of the Ptolomians, of Augustus and Claudius.
(44) Second to it is the collection of Paris with the Apotheose
(45) of Tiber, and several Augustinian and Claudian gems,
(46) and that of Russia with the splendid gem of Ptolo-
(47) maeus and Berenice. In the last century it was
(48) principally the Duke of Orleans and Baron Stosch who
(49) collected gems, the Intaglios of the latter were bought
(50) by the Court of Prussia. Several of the precious stones
(51) found their way into the treasures of English noblemen
(52) and the celebrated cameo of Tryphon adorns (4) till
(53) now the Halls of Blenheim. A collection of gems
(54) seemed to be the natural appendage of a great house,
(55) in Italy as well as in the other parts of civilized Europe.
(56) But as the supply was much smaller than the demand
(57) the prises (5) of them rose highly, and modern sculptors
(58) were tempted to sell their works as antiques, so much
(59) the more as the vicissitudes of times leave but small
(60) traces on gems, and their corrosion by the action of
(61) centuries is often imperceptible, they have therefore always
(62) to be judged by their internal merits. The elder Pichler
(63) especially, probably the best carver of gems in modern
(64) times, studied the character of the antique Intaglios, and
(65) imitating them he gave his works for ancient (6)
ones
page 4
(66) ones, resorting often even to the trick of fracturing
(67) the edges and breaking the gems to (7) pieces. Many collectors had
(68) been deceived in this way, especially Prince Poniatovsky;
(69) but whilst the false coins of Becker have not dimi-
(70) nished the ardor of the collectors of medals, the collection
(71) of ancient gems came altogether into discredit, they
(72) were looked upon with suspicion, and the strange
(73) idea began to prevail that modern sculptors are able
(74) to imitate them so, as to make detection impossible;
(75) it is just the same, as if we would say our Etty's and Turners
(76) could forge Titians and Ruysdaels, and our Sir Bulwer
(77) Lyttons write Tragedies of Shakespeare. Every time every
(78) artist have their own individuality, it can be equalled
(79) or even surpassed but not counterfeited. - In our time
(80) it was principally the Emperess Josephine, later the
(81) Duke of Blacas in France, Dr Nott and Mr Herz the
(82) jeweller in England, Capranesi the dealer of antiquities
(83) in Italy, a general with an unspellable name, who
(84) was the chief of the disastrous expedition to Khiva in
(85) Russia, and Mr Fejérváry in Hungary. It is the
(86) collection of this most distinguished antiquarian,
(87) who unfortunately died the last year, which I have
the
page 5
(88) the honour to exhibit to the Archaeological Society. It
(89) contains few stones but all of them of first rate beauty.
(90) There are amongst them five signed with names of artists,
(91) a Dioscurides, an Ammonius, a Nearchus, an Alesea, and an
(92) Allion. It is unnecessary to speak about their beauty,
(93) the stones themselves speak more eloquently than I could
(94) do. The collection was formed principally by the choice
(95) of the Dactyliothek of Count Wiczay, the celebrated
(96) owner of the Museum Hedervarium, and of Count Lam-
(97) berg, whose vases are now in the imperial collection
(98) of Vienna; some of the stones belonged to the Emperess
(99) Josephine, others to the eccentric Lord Bristol, a few (8) to
(100) Dr Nott, some were bought from Capranesi and from
(101) Vascorali in Rome, others belonged to Sestini the cele-
(102) brated numismatist. Most of them are exquisite
(103) and give to this collection, though it consists but
(104) of 200 pieces, high importance.
(105) During my repeated visits in Italy I especially
(106) turned my attention to restaurations and forgeries of
(107) antiquities, Bronzes, vases, Terracottas, and Gems,
(108) and to the way how to detect the forgeries. - (9)
(109) As to the gems it is usual to give a coating of a fine
(110) stone to brittle intaglios or to those which have a
(111) pale colour. This is scarcely a forgery, but forgers
join
page 6
(112) join in the same way glasspastes of antique gems
(113) to real stones, whilst the gold-setting of the ring
(114) covers the imposture. The fractures on the stones
(115) and even the corroded surface are not always
(116) an evidence of antiquity; Italian dealers force modern
(117) gems down the throats of turkeys whose chyle
(118) in short time corrodes a little (10) the surface. The
(119) most dangerous forgery and the most difficult to
(120) discover is the engraving of names of celebrated
(121) Greek artists into a real antique stone, and the
(122) "gemmae literatae" are therefore much discredited,
(123) so much the more as Mr Köhler the antiquarian
(124) of St Petersburgh, where the fine collection is very
(125) poor in stones with artist names, has passed a very
(126) severe and nearly always unfounded criticism on the
(127) most celebrated stones signed by the ancient carvers.
(128) In this respect we find that the ancient artists have
(129) always managed a convenient place for the inscription
(130) in an artistical way, - in the same manner as on the
(131) egyptian monuments of the best periods, the hierogly-
(132) phics are always subordinated to the architectural
arrang.
page 7
(133) arrangement of the structure; for instance the splendid
(134) Sardonyse of Dioscurides exhibited here the (11) head
(135) is bearing towards the left, leaving on the right
(136) hand a larger place intended to receive the in-
(137) scription which fills it inconveniently. As often
(138) as the name is approaching too near the figure
(139) or disturbing the symmetry we may be sure that
(140) it is modern. - (12)
(141) Ladies and Gentl. (13) I must apologize for having
(142) called your attention to monuments neither
(143) british nor found on british ground, but if the
(144) romans are not your ancestors in blood they
(145) are your fathers in civilization, in fact
(146) they are the fathers of every thing what (sic)
(147) is grand and beautiful in arts and litera-
(148) ture all over Europe, roman arts and civiliza-
(149) tion are the great link between the
(150) nation<s>, and are the ground on which I the Hungarian (14) claim
(151) (15) a relationship with you the
(152) English. And as regards the English especially
page 8
(153) whoever sees your canals and railways and
(154) monuments for public utility and
(155) knows something about the Romans
(156) must voluntarily exclaim, They
(157) are the real sons and heirs of
(158) the spirit and grandeur of Rome.
(1) Precisely: "in artum coacta rerum naturae maiestas" (Naturalis Historia, xxxvii,1); "the majestic might of Nature (presents itself to us), contracted within a very limited space" (J. Bostock - H.T. Riley (eds. and transl.), Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, London 1855)
(2) i.e. costly
(3) i.e. costliness
(4) originally adorning, later corrected
(5) i.e. prices
(6) antique had been written first but then was erased and ancient was written instead
(7) gems to inserted later, written above the line
(8) some had been written first but then was erased and a few was written instead above the line
(9) The line beginning with and to the way... was inserted above line (109) later by Pulszky.
(10) a little was inserted later, written above the line, previously greatly had been written before corrodes but later was erased.
(11) A horizontal line was drawn in here with pencil later.
(12) This is where the nice handwriting ends and an additional passage follows written in a different hand, probably by Pulszky.
(13) i.e. Gentlemen
(14) the Hungarian written above the line, inserted
(15) myself originally written here but erased
Last modified: 2014-04-12 16:11:51
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