The Belluno Treasure is an important
Lombardic hoard found at
Belluno
Belluno (; lld, Belum; vec, Belùn) is a town and province in the Veneto region of northern Italy. Located about north of Venice, Belluno is the capital of the province of Belluno and the most important city in the Eastern Dolomites region ...
,
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 re ...
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
Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona.
Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...
, 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 re ...
. 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 and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
. 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
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
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
The Artres Treasure is an important Merovingian hoard found at Artres, northern France in the nineteenth century. Most of the treasure is now in the collection of the British Museum in London.
Discovery
The rich grave group was found in 1855 un ...
*Domagnano Treasure
The Domagnano Treasure is an important Ostrogothic hoard found at Domagnano, Republic of San Marino in the late nineteenth century. The treasure is now divided among various institutions, including the Louvre Abu Dhabi, although the bulk of the ho ...
*Sutri Treasure
The Sutri Treasure is an important Lombardic hoard found at Sutri, Italy in the late nineteenth century that is currently in the collections of the British Museum in London.
Discovery
The rich grave group was found in 1878 near the town of Sutr ...
*Bergamo Treasure
The Bergamo Treasure is a large Lombardic and Ostrogothic hoard found near the city of Bergamo in northern Italy in the nineteenth century. It was mostly acquired by the British Museum in 1897.
Discovery
The hoard was supposedly unearthed in th ...
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