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47 A Gemmarium for the Recognition of Precious Stones in the Cracow Chapter Library, MS 140: A Study on the Unity of Exegetical Themes MAŁGORZATA KRASNODĘBSKA-D’ AUGHTON Introduction The gemmarium, or text on gemstones, copied in the Cracow Chapter Library, MS 140, fols. 2v–3r, was written, according to its author, as an aid to recognizing precious stones.1 The text lists the following thirteen stones and briefly describes their quality: smaraddus (emerald), iaspis (jasper), iacintus (jacinth), sardonius (sardonyx), crisolitus (chrysolite), virillus (most likely berillus, beryl), safphirus (sapphire), ametistus (amethyst), thopatius (topaz), onicinus (onyx), carbunculum (carbuncle), sardinus (sard) and alabandina (see Appendix at the end of this essay). Except for alabandina, the stones from the gemmarium derive from biblical sources, namely Exodus 28:17–21 and Revelation 21:19–20. The Cracow MS 140, once described as ‘one potentially significant, and almost entirely unknown manuscript’,2 is usually identified with its homiletic collection, commonly referred to as the Catechesis Cracoviensis.3 The collection may have originated in the circle of Virgil of Salzburg, and the manuscript itself was most likely copied in northeastern Italy or southeastern Germany around the year 800.4 The manuscript was in Cracow by the eleventh century, if not before.5 While most of the manuscript comprises the twenty-seven homilies of the Catechesis, fols. 5r–100ra , it also contains other texts as well as a single surviving full-page miniature of the four evangelist symbols, fol. 100v. All these items, with the exception of a fragmentary eleventh-century inscription on Aron, fol. 3r, appear to have been executed at the same time as the homilies. This suggests that the manuscript was planned as an entity from the onset.6 The manuscript’s decoration (the miniature and initials), its exegetical themes and linguistic phrases, and an interrelationship between its visual and textual components, 48 Małgorzata Krasnodębska-D’Aughton which may seem at first sight to be assembled rather arbitrarily, all point to the original Insular milieu.7 The present paper seeks to identify some of the exegetical sources of the gemmarium text. It looks at the placement of the text, suggesting that the gemmarium had a wider meaning in the structure of the book. It considers the link between the gemmarium and the note on Aron that follows it, a possible link first pointed out to me by Dr Jennifer O’Reilly, whose knowledge guided me in my doctoral work on the manuscript. The paper then looks at the gemmarium in relation to the homilies and the miniature of the four evangelist symbols. The Text of the Gemmarium and Its Sources A pivotal event in Exodus was the covenant made between God and the Israelites on Mount Sinai. As Moses went up to the Mount, where he spent forty days and forty nights, he received from God the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1–17) as well as very detailed instructions regarding worship. The instructions concerned the making of the tabernacle, the ark, the altar, the lamp stand and various altar paraphernalia, together with directions on the design of priestly vestments and insignia. Amongst the priestly vestments commanded by God to be made for Aaron, the high priest, was a breastplate of judgement studded with twelve precious stones. The stones were to be mounted on the breastplate in four rows and each engraved with the name of one of the twelve tribes.8 Carried by Aaron as he entered the Holy of Holies, the breastplate acted as a memorial to the names of the sons of Israel and a symbol of the high priest’s ability to judge the Israelites before the Lord (Exodus 28:15–30, 39:8–14). Written and visual exegesis harmonized the stones on Aaron’s breastplate with the stones that adorned the foundations of the heavenly Jerusalem.9 John’s vision describes the city laid out like a square that had twelve gates, with twelve angels at the gates and the names of the twelve tribes of Israel written on those gates. The wall of the city had twelve foundations with the names of the twelve apostles written on them and each foundation was decorated with a different precious stone, eight of them mentioned in Exodus (Revelation 21:19–20).10 The association between the two accounts was set within broader themes of priesthood and sanctuary : the Levitical priesthood represented by Aaron was superseded by Christ’s sacrifice (Hebrews 9:6–11), while the earthly tabernacle where...

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