A reimagined medieval gem ‘returns’ to Chillon

In 2011, as part of a project in collaboration with Ripaille Castle, Chillon Castle Foundation began work on a reproduction of the ring of Saint Maurice.

A reproduction, not a restoration. A very important distinction. And we’re about to find out why.

In a previous article, we explained that the jewel had been lost in the late 18th century. How did Bernese jeweller, Rolf Nopper, who took on this exceptional artistic commission, go about working on it? Did he start from scratch, or did he go off the elements already attested to?

The ring may have disappeared, but that doesn’t mean it left no trace.

We know about it from a sketch produced in the 16th century by Baron Emmanuel-Philibert de Pingon, historiographer at the Court of Savoy. He gave us two different descriptions. The first depicts a gold ring with two peacocks engraved on an agate stone. After some additional research, he painted a second, more detailed portrait:

“It is a large, regular oval-shaped sapphire set in the absolute purest gold, weighing around eight crowns. The sapphire is engraved, so as to serve as a seal, with a knight dressed in a paludamentum (St. Maurice), holding in his right hand a lance whose tip is pointing downwards. On the other side (on the ring), we see a peacock facing to the left.”

This description implies that the stone was quite large, which explains the sheer diameter of the ring. However, Pingon’s work should be taken with a pinch of salt. The fact that he gave two different descriptions of the ring proves that he had never seen it, and that his work is based solely on older sources he had read. As it stands, however, it is the oldest description of what the ring of Saint Maurice looked like.

The gemstone is engraved so that it can be used as a seal. This artisanal feature is called ‘intaglio’ and helps us date its creation. In fact, the practice of engraving semi-precious gemstones disappeared from Western Europe between the end of Roman Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (the last known example dates back to the 6th century).

The description given by Pingon shares some similarities with certain seals used in the first ‘barbarian’ kingdoms of the West. These kings had sapphires engraved, sometimes depicting themselves holding a lance or wearing a paludamentum (the purple cloaks worn by victorious Roman generals, and later emperors). This symbolised their special link with Rome. Added to this, through Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, the dead were often buried with their signet rings on their fingers.

The Abbey of Saint Maurice, from which the ring supposedly hails, is home to some very old tombs from the heyday of intaglio. It is not unrealistic to think that the stone might have been exhumed at a later date and re-set onto another ring. This practice of reusing older materials was commonplace in the Middle Ages.

The pattern and type of stone give us hints of its age, as does the fact that the ring undoubtedly belonged to a high-ranking individual. It is, however, impossible to accurately date it. Sources from around the time the Savoy family left a paper trail of the ring – the mid-13th century – suggest only that the ring was ancient, large and made of gold.

The presence of the peacocks is interesting but gets us no closer to finding an exact date. In terms of iconography, peacock depictions are frequent in Early Christian and later Byzantine art. In the West, the peacock’s popularity boomed in the 6th century before waning and making a comeback in the 12th century. The ring could, therefore, have been created at any point within this timeframe. The first date coincides with the period in which the Saint Maurice jewel was created and the second with when the Savoys became the protectors of the Abbey that housed the saint’s relics. This places it either as an ancient item, possibly from the Early Middle Ages, that was repurposed by the Savoys to mount the intaglio, or an item created from scratch in the 12th-13th centuries but made to appear ancient.

Either way, leaning on the past afforded the Savoys a certain legitimacy. In other words: they were just doing it for the fame and glory.

How do you show off your prized possessions?