Byzantine polychromy at its finest: art, craft and aesthetics of the noblest Avar period jewel reconstructed

Abstract

The richest Avar burial ever found in the Carpathian Basin was discovered more than fifty years ago at Kunszentmiklós-Kunbábony in Hungary. The prominence of the deceased is indicated by the grave goods, anthropological observations and recent archaeogenomic results. This article presents an integrated examination of the key artefact of the assemblage, an exceptional gold belt buckle that combines the highest quality of lapidary and goldsmith work with exotic, symbolic, and abstract elements of early Byzantine art. The scientific and stylistic analyses provide insights into the supply of the garnets, the metalworking and gem-cutting processes, and the artistic colour application at the time. Compensating the continuous deterioration of the buckle, a reconstruction of the original polychromy was made, reflecting its particular art, craft and aesthetic. The stone marquetry incorporated into the buckle is absolutely unique not only in the Carpathian Basin, but also in the late Antique, early Byzantine Europe and Mediterranean. As a forerunner of medieval commesso work, it represents a fusion of traditions from the classical West and the ancient Near East, as well as innovations later perfected in the Italian Renaissance. Surface and subsurface analyses were combined to specify garnet provenances, revealing further details of cultural connections.