Benvenuto Cellini Benvenuto Cellini, an Italian sculptor, and goldsmith who lived from 1500 to 1571 is regarded as the most important Renaissance era goldsmith. Working on commissions for clients that included several popes and royalty, he created intricately carved...
Victorian Hair Bodkin. Bodkin A bodkin is a hairpin worn by Renaissance ladies to keep long hair in a knot at the rear of the head. Eventually, the bodkin evolved into...
Carcanet Portrait of Queen Elizabeth wearing a richly jeweled carcanet. Image courtesy of The Tate Collection. Carcanet or carcan is a jeweled collar or necklace, from the old French, carcan, meaning collar. Carcanets were typically quite elaborate and formal, worn...
Closed-Back Setting Closed settings are used when it is desirable to have metal behind the stone so that no part of the stone below the girdle is visible. Early rings were set this way. Sometimes foil or paint was put on the...
Decade Ring 18th Century Decade Rings.Victoria & Albert Museum Collection. A decade ring has ten bumps around the outside of the shank for use as a prayer counter. The bumps correspond to the ten Aves of the rosary and the bezel, usually having a religious...
Difficulta Difficulta refers to the tendency to be innovative in the arts and at the same time making it hard on the artist to be able to create such a work. It is a characteristic of the late Renaissance mannerist...
