The Belluno Treasure is an important
Lombardic hoard found at
Belluno,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
in the nineteenth century that has been part of the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
's collection since 1897.
Discovery
The hoard was apparently found in a grave near the town of Belluno in the region of
Veneto
it, Veneto (man) it, Veneta (woman)
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, northern
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
. Dating to the late 6th or early 7th centuries AD, the rich grave group probably belonged to a female member of the
Lombardic court. It was later purchased by the curator and philanthropist
Augustus Franks, who bequeathed it to the British Museum in 1897.
British Museum Highlights
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Description
The Belluno Treasure is largely composed of gold and gem-encrusted jewellery. The style of decoration from the hoard reflect contemporary fashions in the Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...
. It includes two gold cross pendants (one with punched ornamentation), a gold and garnet cloisonné
Cloisonné () is an ancient technique for decorating metalwork objects with colored material held in place or separated by metal strips or wire, normally of gold. In recent centuries, vitreous enamel has been used, but inlays of cut gemstones, ...
disc brooch, a finger-ring, a gold pin with a terminus in the form of a hand (which may have once held a pearl
A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...
), and gold beads.
Gallery
Image:Arte longobarda, da sutri, crocetta d'oro, fine VI-inizio VII sec.JPG, Gold cross, which indicates that the person buried was Christian
Image:Arte longobarda, da sutri, spillone d'oro a forma di mano, fine VI-inizio VII sec.JPG, Gold pin with terminus in the shape of a small hand
Image:Arte longobarda, da sutri, anello d'oro, fine VI-inizio VII sec.JPG, Finger ring with punched decoration
Image:Arte longobarda, crocetta d'oro sbalzata, VII sec.JPG, Another cross from the hoard with perforated loop
See also
* Artres Treasure
* Domagnano Treasure
* Sutri Treasure
* Bergamo Treasure
References
{{Reflist, 2
Further reading
*S. Marzinzik, Masterpieces: Early Medieval Art (London, British Museum Press, 2013)
*N. Christie, The Lombards (Oxford, Blackwell, 1995)
*A. Castagnetti and G.M. Varanini (eds.), Il Veneto nel medioevo. Dalla (Verona, Banco Popolare di Verona, 1989)
Medieval European objects in the British Museum
Medieval European metalwork objects
Treasure troves of Italy
Italy–United Kingdom relations