of Christ in glory, and in other compartments may be
seen even such secular personages as the Empress Irene, and the
Doge who was ruling Venice at the time this altar piece was put
in place--the year 1106. The Pala d'Oro is worked in the champleve
process, the ground having been cut away to receive the melted
enamel. It is undoubtedly a Byzantine work; the Doge Orseolo, in
976, ordered it to be made by the enamellers of Constantinople.
It was not finished for nearly two centuries, arriving in Venice
in 1102, when the portrait of the Doge then reigning was added
to it. The Byzantine range of colours was copious; they had white,
two reds, bright and dark, dark and light blue, green, violet,
yellow, flesh tint, and black. These tints were always fused
separately, one in each cloison: the Greeks in this period never
tried to blend colours, and more than one tint never appears in
a compartment. The enlarging and improving of the Pam d'Oro was
carried on by Greek artists in Venice in 1105. It was twice
altered after that, once in the fourteenth century for Dandolo,
and thus the pure Byzantine type is somewhat invaded by the Gothic
spirit. The restorations in 1345 were presided over by Gianmaria
Boninsegna.

One of the most noted specimens of enamel work is on the Crown of
Charlemagne,[1] which is a magnificent structure of eight plaques
of gold, joined by hinges, and surmounted by a cross in the front,
and an arch crossing the whole like a rib from back to front. The
other cross rib has been lost, but originally the crown was arched
by two ribs at the top. The plates of gold are ornamented, one
with jewels, and filigree, and the next with a large figure in
enamel. These figures are similar to those occurring on the Pala
d'Oro.

[Footnote 1: See Fig. 1.]

[Illustration: DETAIL; SHRINE OF THE THREE KINGS, COLOGNE]

The Shrine of the Three Kings in Cologne is decorated both with
cloisonne and champleve enamels,--an unusual circumstance. In Aix
la Chapelle the shrine of Charlemagne is extremely like it in some
respects, but the only enamels are in champleve. Good examples
of translucent enamels in relief may be seen on several of the
reliquaries at Aix la Chapelle.

Theophilus gives us directions for making a very ornate chalice
with handles, richly embossed and ornamented with mello. Another
paragraph instructs us how to make a golden chalice decorated with
precious stones and pearls. It would be interesting as a modern