Natural Forms of Gems

Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo, who travelled in the East during the years 1403-1406, gives a description of a slab of stone bearing the outlines of a "natural picture," and placed in the church of St. Sophia, in Constantinople:

"In the wall, on the left-hand side, there is a very large white slab, on which, among many other figures, was drawn, very naturally, without any human artifice of sculpture or painting, the most sacred and blessed Virgin Mary, with our Lord Jesus Christ in her most holy arms, with his most glorious forerunner, St. John the Baptist, on one side. These images, as I said before, are not drawn or painted with any color, or inlaid, but the stone itself gave birth to this picture, with its veins, which may be clearly seen; and they say that when this stone was cut, to be placed in this most holy place, the workman saw these most wonderful and fortunate images on it, and, as this church was the most important one in the city, that stone was deposited in it. The said images appear as if they were in the clouds of heaven, and as if there was a thin veil before them."

(Narrative of the Embassy of Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo to the Court of Timour, trans. by Clement R. Markham, London, 1859, Hakluyt Soc. Pub.)

Many other examples of these "natural gems" are noted by early writers. Among them was an agate gem in the treasury of the Basilica of St. Mark, in Venice. Upon this gem appeared the head of a king, adorned with a diadem, the whole design being figured naturally by the veining of the agate, and not owing anything to artifice. In the same city, upon a column in the church of San Georgio Maggiore, could be seen the likeness of Our Lord, hanging from the Cross. (Chiocci, "Museum Calceolarium," Veronae, 1622.)

Such stones, with peculiar markings indicating the form of human heads and figures, were regarded as the work of higher powers.

Another remarkable example is described by Kircher as follows:

"In Rome, in the Chapel of the Sacred Virgin, near the organ to the right hand of those who enter the Church of St. Peter, an image may be seen in which the Blessed Virgin of Loreto is so artistically depicted by Nature that it appears to be the work of an artist's hand. She is attired in a triple garment, divided by a zone, and holds in her arms the child, who is distinguished by a crown, as is the mother. Around may be seen the figures of angels."

(Kircher, "Mundus Subterraneus," Amstelodami, 1665.)

The red spots upon the bloodstone were said in Christian legend to represent the blood of Christ. This idea has been beautifully utilized in some gems cut from this stone, whereon the thorn-crowned head of Christ is so placed that the red spots of the bloodstone figure the drops of blood trickling down the hair and face of the Saviour. Such a gem might well be looked upon as a Christian amulet and one that could be reverently worn by any believer.

The ignorance in the Middle Ages of the art of gem-engraving often induced the belief that engraved stones were the work of nature. A striking instance of this was the celebrated stone over the figure of the Mother of Jesus, on the tomb of St. Elizabeth of Marburg. On this gem appeared two heads touching each other, and it was, according to tradition, not a work of art, but a freak of the sculptress Nature. An oft-repeated legend tells us that a former Elector of Mainz offered the whole district of Amoneberg for this costly stone, which robber hands removed at Cassel. It is in reality a fine onyx engraved with the heads of Castor and Pollux. (Creuzer, "Antik geschnittene Steine vom Grabmahl der heiligen Elizabeth," Leipsic and Darmstadt, 1834)

We might be disposed to regard rather sceptically the tales regarding wonderful stones bearing the image of Christ, or that of the Virgin Mary, and we may be inclined to believe that the old accounts are exaggerated or distorted by the pious imaginations of the writers. Nevertheless, in our own time we have a well-attested case of the discovery of such a stone.