THE SHIP MOTIF IN WESTERN EUROPEAN PENDANTS OF THE RENAISSANCE AND MANNERISM

Abstract

The article’s field of scientific research is the jewelry art of Western Europe of the Renaissance period and the age of Mannerism. The subject of analysis is a pendant in the shape of a ship as the main type of personal decoration of the 16th century. Its functions, stylistic features of the late Renaissance and Mannerist stages, reasons for its popularity in later times are analyzed. The importance of the marine theme for the decoration of pendants of the given era is emphasized, the ship is singled out as the main motif of the decoration of pendants, the varieties of this type of jewelry are characterized, the peculiarities of their decoration by jewelers of the leading European schools (French, Italian, German, Spanish, English, Austrian). Suspensions without staffing, suspensions with staffing, and suspensions with gondolas are highlighted as the most popular. The existence of planar ornaments and designed for a comprehensive view, i.e. voluminous, was noted, which was explained by different means of wearing them. The main materials and jewelry stones used by artists to decorate this type of jewelry, the attraction to enamels, the tradition of using mainly pearl bands are highlighted. It was established that the dominant metal for jewelers was gold, and the most popular gems for decorating pendants in this period were emeralds, wood, shell, horn or even glass were used, baroque pearls were very fond of, which could become the basis of the entire pendant. The popularity of ship motif pendants in the 19th century, when this ornament once again entered jewelry fashion, is emphasized, and the differences between Renaissance models and their later counterparts are considered. The causes of problems with the dating and attribution of jewelry are characterized, the solution of which is one of the promising tasks of art history. The analysis was made on the basis of works from the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum (London), the State Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg), the Metropolitan Museum (New York), and the Museum of Instrumental Art (Budapest).