The Emblematic Jewels of Alfonso the Magnanimous

Abstract

Emblematic jewelry was without a doubt one of the most original aspects of Gothic metalwork. Refined princes chose unique personal devices that lead heralds of arms to come up with imaginative solutions, which at their turn demanded a high level of technical expertise from goldsmiths involved in their manufacture. Like other rulers of his time, Alfonso the Magnanimous (1396-1458) gave in to this trend and wanted to see his devices represented in sophisticated pieces of jewelry (necklaces and brooches) made for his personal adornment. Alfonso’s devices –Siege Perilous (burning throne), the open book, the ear of millet and the knot– were represented everywhere next to the jar and the griffin, the emblems of the chivalric order that his father, Fernando de Antequera, had founded. While the objects themselves disappeared long ago, images and documents still allow for the evocation of those extraordinary pieces of jewellery: they clearly indicate that they had not been conceived as anodyne but as intentionally exquisite products loaded with rich meaning, and they embodied the courtly aesthetics during the waning years of the Middle Ages.