Cintamani and the Green Man

8/11/2019 Cintamani and the Green Man

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The Green Man of Cercles

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THREE HARES AND CINTAMANI: TWO WELL-TRAVELLED MOTIFS:

PART TWO: ANOTHER THREE IN ONE SYMBOL, CINTAMANI

CONTENTS: PageINTRODUCTION 2CINTAMANI IN ANTIQUITY 9A LOMBARD ARTIFACT, KING AGILULF'S HELMET, 590-616 and othercircular shields decorated with the triple-dot motif 79CINTAMANI ON SASSANIAN SILVER 83THE IMPORTANCE OF TEXTILES 105SIR MARC AUREL STEIN AND THE SILK ROUTES 108CINTAMANI ON TEXTILES OF THE OTTOMAN PERIOD 111

CINTAMANI OF THE OTTOMAN STYLE ON CARPETS 117CINTAMANI OF THE EASTERN STYLE ON OTHER ARTEFACTS 124CINTAMANI ON ROMANESQUE ARTEFACTS MANUSCRIPTS 126CINTAMANI ON ROMANESQUE ARTEFACTS WOOD 161CINTAMANI ON ROMANESQUE ARTEFACTS FRESCO 169CINTAMANI ON ROMANESQUE ARTEFACTS IVORY 199CINTAMANI ON ROMANESQUE ARTEFACTS ENAMEL 201CINTAMANI ON ROMANESQUE ARTEFACTS OTHER METALS 205CINTAMANI ON ROMANESQUE ARTEFACTS STONE SCULPTURE 210

WESTERN-STYLE CINTAMANI ON INDIAN MINIATURES 227WESTERN-STYLE CINTAMANI ON MODERN RUSSIAN BOXES 231WESTERN-STYLE CINTAMANI ON MODERN NETSUKE 232ART IN THE MELTING-POT OF EAST-WEST ENCOUNTERS 234CONCLUDING THOUGHTS THUS FAR: CINTAMANI ON UNCONNECTEDARTEFACTS THE MOTIF MAY APPEAR SPONTANEOUSLY 235NOTE 241BIBLIOGRAPHY 247


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INTRODUCTION

In part one of this article:

http://www.green-man-of-cercles.org/articles/three_hares_east_and_west.pdf

I wrote about the motif of three hares that chase each other round in a circle, a visual puzzlein which each appears to have a pair of eyes and ears, but in fact there are only three of each.

In part two, I will describe another decorative symbol of three in one: cintamani, intamani

or chintamani, the triple-dot motif in which the dots are organized in a triangularconfiguration.

The story of the cintamani seems to me to march in step with that of the Three Hares in

that, in each case, we have what may be an Eastern motif that travelled West from the sixthcentury with the development of the silk industry or it may have been already established in

the West from Antiquity, moving East with the merchants and missionaries from the second

century. In both parts of this article, it is possible that the motif found favour (or came backinto favour) in the West from Romanesque times because it was capable of being interpreted

as a symbol of the Trinity. The evolution and development of the cintamani motif seems to

me to mirror that of the Three Hares on a vast scale. Until recently, the cintamani(however it is spelt) has been seen as a purely Eastern, Buddhist symbol. The word is

Sanskrit and means Precious jewel.

It will be seen that there is a difference between the Buddhist cintamani of the East and thoseon artifacts in the West. The former are larger and resemble beads or mistletoe berries,

sometimes with a further decoration like the pupils of squinting eyes. Interspersed betweenthe groups of triangulated beads there are sometimes Chinese clouds, pairs of lips orwaves, said to represent tiger stripes. These will be shown on later examples of the design

during the Ottoman period, from the 15th century.

Western cintamani are simply three triangulated dots, usually but not always in a pyramid

formation. They are seen on their own or, less frequently, interspersed with another design

such as five dots or stars. They are usually much smaller than Eastern cintamani.

It is the purpose of my article still at the Notes & Queries stage to:

a) Collect examples of the triple-dot motif in the West from its earliest appearance, in all

mediab) To try to formulate a hypothesis of its geographical progression


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c) To try to determine whether most cintamani whether of Eastern or Western type are linked in some way, or whether this simple design sprang up spontaneously in

different places and times, with little connection between the groups.

Within this broad base I will consider certain questions as they arise, such as:

Why was it more favoured as a motif at some and not other times? The South Italian potteryof the 4th century BC, Roman silverware of the 4th century AD and the late 12thc Limousin

enamels are cases in point.

The use of cintamani in MS was very inconsistent. Is it possible to identify a reason for their

appearance in certain MS ?

Professor Jaroslav Folda drew my attention to this subject, beginning with reference to pages

from the Book of Kells:

Figs 1 & 1a: Cintamani on the Virgin's cloak from the Book of Kells, 8thc, Dublin


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Figs 2 & 3: Cintamani on Christ's skirt and cushion from the Book of Kells, 8thc,Dublin

More examples can be seen in the 9th century book of Mac Durnan now in the library at

Lambeth Palace:


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Fig 4: Cintamani on St Luke's cloak Fig 5: Cintamani on a page fromfrom the Book of Macdurnan, the Book of Macdurnan,9thc, Lambeth Palace 9thc, Lambeth Palace

Folda wrote in 2007 (in an essay entitled An Icon of the Crucifixion and the Nativity atSinai: investigating the Pictorial Language of its Ornamental Vocabulary: Chrysography,

Pearl-dot Haloes, and intemani) in In Laudem Hierosolymitani, pp 170- 171:

One early example of intemani is found on frescoes in the Buddhist shrine at Miran in

Turkestan from the third century AD.


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Fig 6 & 6a: Cintamani on a fresco at Miran, Turkmenistan, 3rd c.

What Folda fails to mention, is the Greco-Roman influence you can see in his first example,from 3rd century Turkmenistan. Comparison with my photo of part of a frieze from

Gandhara of earlier date demonstrates this influence unequivocally.

Fig 6b: Frieze with Greco-Roman wreath and musicians, 1st-3rdc, Gandhara, MuseGuimet, Paris

Shekhar Athavale writes from India, Miran is not in Turkestan, which would be present day

Turkey. The present day Xinjiang province of China was known as Turkmenistan, and Miranand other places Stein investigated are from this province. It is his belief that the triple-dot


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motif must have come over from the West, presumably with Alexander the Great. ShekharAthavale has written a blogpost on this wavy garland design:

http://chandrashekharasandprints.wordpress.com/2012/02/15/garland-bearers-of-the-buddha

Folda continues, With reference to its means of transmission, we know that sericulture the

production of silk was introduced into the Byzantine world from China in the sixth century

and presumably the intemani design came from the Turkestani or Indian region along the

silk routes and sometime later. Because there is no word yet signifying it in medieval art and

no modern English equivalent for the Turkish word, I propose to refer to the medieval design

also as intemani, with the understanding that the Sanskrit word is much older than the

medieval period and our usage pertains to the design only, and carries none of the Hindu or

Buddhist religious content. . .

What we can see, however, is the existence of intemani on early silk from central Asia that

made its way westward. One such example from the (circa) seventh/eighth century, is the

Shroud of St Colombe and St Loup, now in the cathedral treasury of Sens.

Fig 7: Suaire de St Loup, Muse de Sens 7th-8thc.


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Cintemani appears on the shoulders and haunches of the blue quadrupeds above and below

the paired lions. A second early example is found on the silk of St Josse, now in the Louvre,

where the design appears on the paired elephants.

Fig 8: Suaire de St Josse, Muse du Louvre, 10thc.

Fig 9: Suaire de St Josse, Muse du Louvre, 10thc., detail of cintamani


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These examples seem to indicate that, in the early period, the design appeared on eastern

silks that came to western Europe as gifts, rather than being the products of a

Mediterranean-based silk industry. . .

We find that during the eleventh century and later on. . . versions of the intemani design

begin to appear with greater frequency in the West.(End of quotation).

CINTAMANI IN ANTIQUITY

The triple dot motif in the West already appears in Etruria around 600 BC in the painted

necropolis of Tarquinia. Bertram Frauenknecht writes of these on the web site:http://rjohnhowe.wordpress.com/2007

the Cintamani is considered a fertility symbol, to be found under Ottoman rule. The

version without the lips is much older. It is called cat paw design nowadays. I found theoldest version on the dress of a female Etruscan dancer, 600 BC, in an Etruscan tomb north

of Rome, Italy. It is said that the Etruscans came to Italy from Anatolia.

Following Bertram Frauenknechts citation of cintamani on the dress of an Etruscan dancer,

of circa 600 BC, I found photographs of the murals and of these illustrations from a book

published in the 19thc:

Fig 10: Cintamani on the clothing of Etruscan musicians of 600 BC, sketches by CarloRuspi of motifs in the Tomb of the Triclinium, 1831.


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Figs 11 & 12: Cintamani on the clothing of Etruscan musicians of 600 BC, sketches byCarlo Ruspi of motifs in the Tomb of the Triclinium, 1831.


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These can be seen here: http://w3.uniroma1.it/cma4ch/08/logo.html. The frescos are now inthe National Museum of Tarquinia.

There are cintamani on the clothing of one of the banqueters in the Tomb of the Leopards,

too:

Fig 13: Cintamani on the clothing of Etruscan banqueters in the Tomb of theLeopards, Tarquinia, 600 BC


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Fig 14: Cintamani on the clothing of Etruscan banqueters in the Tomb of theLeopards, detail, Tarquinia, 600 BC

Cintamani can also be seen on the skirt of an Etruscan bronze statuette in the Louvre:

Figs 15 and 16: Cintamani on the clothing of an Etruscan statuette, 6thc BC, Paris,Muse du Louvre


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and on an Etruscan mirror from Vulci, in the Cabinet des Medailles, Paris.

Fig 17: Cintamani on an Etruscan mirror in the Cabinet des Medailles, Paris

The triple dots are not easy to see here, but are illustrated in a sketch by Massimo Pallottino

of which I show the top left quarter:


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Fig 18: Cintamani on an Etruscan mirror, sketch by Massimo Pallottino

My thanks to Mel Copeland, from whose site, Maravot, I borrowed this image.

While initially dubious about the relevance of cintamani on the Etruscan frescos at Tarquinia,

their appearance on many more artifacts begins to be impressive.

More recently, I became aware of gold jewellery from tombs in Vulci of the 6th-4thcenturies, now in the Louvre and Vatican Museums:


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Fig 19: Cintamani on an Etruscan gold Bulla, 4thc BC, Vatican Museum:

This amulet comes from a tomb at Vulci, and represents the goddess Turan with her husband

and son. There is also a pair of gold ear-rings:

http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/x-Schede/MGEs/MGEs_Sala07_03_028.html

similar to a single ear-ring in the Louvre:


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Fig 20: Etruscan gold ear-ring, Vulci, 4thc BC, Muse du Louvre

composed of triple balls, large and small, finishing with triple granulations. These are not,

perhaps, comparable with those on the bulla. A 7thc BC Etruscan brooch in the Louvre:


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Fig 21: 7thc BC Etruscan brooch, Mistress of the Animals, Louvre

Fig 22: 7thc BC Etruscan brooch, detail, Louvre

is topped with bosses decorated with granulated crosses in each quarter of which is a triple-dot motif in granulation, reminiscent of a detail from the Missorium of Theodosius of 388

AD:


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Fig 23: Detail of the Byzantine Missorium of Theodosius, I, 4thc, Real Academia diHistoria, Madrid

and the Emperors orbs on Byzantine weights of the same period:


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Fig 25 & 25a: Cintamani on an amphora, Panagyurishte Treasure, 4th-3rdc BC


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Fig 25b: Cintamani on an amphora, Panagyurishte Treasure, 4th-3rdc BC


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Fig 25c: Cintamani on an amphora, Panagyurishte Treasure, 4th-3rdc BC


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Fig 26: Cintamani on a rhyton, Panagyurishte Treasure, 4th-3rdc BC


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Figs 26a & 26b: Cintamani on a jug, Panagyurishte Treasure, 4th-3rdc BC

In 1974 another hoard of Thracian silver decorated with gold was found. This is known as

the Borovo Treasure. Cintamani can be seen on the dresses of the Maenads above theDionysiac feast and on the dress of Ariadne (or possibly, Semele):


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Figs 27 & 27a: detail of cintamani on a vase, Borovo Treasure, 4th-3rdc BC

Fig 27b: detail of cintamani on a vase, Borovo Treasure, 4th-3rdc BC


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Fig 27c: cintamani on a vase, Borovo Treasure, 4th-3rdc BC

Fig 27d: cintamani on a vase, Borovo Treasure, 4th-3rdc BC


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Fig 27e: cintamani on a vase, Borovo Treasure, 4th-3rdc BC

It is believed that these artifacts were made locally, and not imported from Greece orelsewhere. Cintamani on Hellenic pottery from Southern Italy are seen, particularly in

connection with the Thracian goddess, Bendis, (equivalent to Artemis) at a similar date; see

Figs 39-41. However, we have already observed the motif almost two centuries earlier,

among the Etruscans (Figs 10-16).The importance of Hellenic art as an influence on Etruscan art is not in doubt, but so far I

have found almost no sets of triple dots on artifacts from mainland Greece. However, in

Moscow, I saw this design by Bakst which may be based on a Hellenic original:


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Fig 28: Cintamani on a sketch by Bakst, 1914

While this cheerful Swiss poster of 1905 shows more cintamani on the skirts of twoBacchantes:


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Fig 29: Cintamani on a poster, 1905

Perhaps there was at least one Greek vase in a museum somewhere, on which they are based.

In the Greek colonies of Southern Italy, however, cintamani abound on vases of around 500-

350 BC.


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Fig 30: Cintamani on a dress, Campanian vase, c. 400 BC

Cintamani are sprinkled over the dancers dress, like the illustration of the Etruscan dancer inRuspis sketch, and on this one from Apulia:


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Fig 31: Vase by the Eumenides Painter, Apulia, 380-370 BC, Louvre

They are also on the dress of Medea on this Campanian vase, c. 400 BC, from the Cleveland

Museum of Art:


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Fig 32: Medea Vase c. 400 BC, Cleveland Museum of Art

as well as on the loincloth of another figure on the same vase:


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Fig 33: cintamani on a loin cloth, Medea Vase c. 400 BC, Cleveland Museum of Art

Fig 34 Apollo and Dionysus at Delphi; early 4thc BC, Hermitage Museum


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Fig 35: Sketch by Eduard Gerhard.

Here is the detail of an arm, dotted with cintamani:

Fig 36: detail of the arm, dotted with cintamani


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Cintamani are on the cloak of Hermes on a vase by the Python painter:

Fig 37: Hermes and a goat, 360-350BC, Campania, The Louvre:

And on this figure in Lycian dress:

Fig 38: vase by the Policoro painter, Campania, c. 400 BC.


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Patroculus kills Sarpedon Glaucus comes to help.

Bendis, a goddess from Thrace, is another version of Artemis. She appears on a Campanian

vase in the Louvre, 380-370BC, with cintamani all over her helmet and her dress:

Fig 39: vase by the Bendis painter, Campania, 380-370BC, Louvre

The same painter has her on another vase, this one in the Museum of Fine Arts at Boston:


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Fig 40: Bendis on a vase by the Bendis painter, Campania, 380-370BC, Museum of FineArts, Boston

Fig 41: detail of Bendis on a vase by the Bendis painter, Campania, 380-370BC,Museum of Fine Arts, Boston


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where they only appear on her helmet. The figure on the right (Hermes) has cintamani on hiscloak, too. The cult of Bendis was introduced into Athens and celebrated there by the

Thracians, but it did not catch on in other parts of Greece. If Bendis came from Thrace,

wearing the triple-dots, may there be a connection with the Thracian treasures of

Panagyurishte and Borovo?

There are several pots showing the legendary Scythian Arimaspes, with the griffins whoguarded the gold of the Gobi desert, always wearing their cintamani-dotted Phrygian

helmets:

Figs 42 & 43: Arimaspus with griffin and detail of Phrygian helmet, c. 340 BC,Antikensammlung, Berlin


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Fig 44: Arimaspus with griffin on a vase, Campanian, 375-350 BC, Louvre, Paris

In Romanesque manuscripts, the triple dot may be used to represent more elaborate patterns

on silks and other luxury materials. This can not be true for these paintings on vases where

the most intricate woven or embroidered patterns are illustrated with breath-taking bravura.

We see the motif on bowls like this one:

Fig 45: Detail from Italic low-footed red figure bowl, 4thc BC, Philadelphia


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and on others where the triple-dot is more obviously a simplified flower decoration:

Fig 46: Campanian kylix, 400-350 BC, Metropolitan Museum, New York

Nearer home, I spotted the triple dot motif on the base of a Campanian vase now in the

museum of St Germain, Auxerre, in Burgundy:

Fig 47: Campanian dish, 400-350 BC, Museum of St Germain, Auxerre, Burgundy


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Perhaps the most spectacular example of the triple dot motif on a Hellenic vase is this onefrom the museum at Boston, where they decorate the lower border:

Fig 48: Campanian vase, 400-350 BC, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Fig 49: Campanian vase, 400-350 BC, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, detail of lowerborder


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Figs 52 & 53: Cintamani on vases by a Leagros painter, Athenian, c. 510 BC, BritishMuseum and Louvre, Paris

Cintamani are as rare on pottery from mainland Greece as they are common on pottery fromSouthern Italy.

Pottery from Greece was exported to the colonies in Italy in large quantities, but Campanian,

Lucanian and Apulian potters developed their own, more ornate style of painting. No doubt,

some of their work was shipped back to Greece as well, and I believe the use of the triple dotmotif on the mainland was as a result of this two-way traffic.

Following my reading of Trendall, I have added further examples of S. Italian vases

decorated with dishes of food and sometimes the triple dot motif.

The Royal Athena Galleries:

http://www.royalathena.com/pages/greekcatalog/Vases/SouthIt/PK1010K.html has a

number of fine examples. The vase below shows both of these, though the one set of tripledots (hanging from the females wreath) may be accidental.


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Figs 54 & 55: Apulian red-figure kantharoid skyphos from the Liverpool group, Ca.340-320 BC.


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Figs 54 & 55: Apulian red-figure kantharoid skyphos from the Liverpool group, Ca.340-320 BC.

The dishes may represent offerings of food for a funeral or symbolic food for the dead. The

large dish is sometimes described as a phiale and at other times as a patera. In these imagesit is said to be filled with eggs. The dots on the youths cap (described as a sakkos) are just

dots. Female headgear on S. Italian pots is often decorated with cintamani, as on the two-handled mug below, also from Royal Athena:

http://www.royalathena.com/PAGES/GreekCatalog/Vases/SouthIt/PK1002K.html


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Figs 56 & 57: Campanian red-figure skyphos from the circle of the Cassandra painternear the Laon painter, Ca. 365-350 BC

On the reverse is a prancing, spotted deer. This is a very unusual combination. Food on apatera and also cintamani appear on this jug:

http://www.royalathena.com/PAGES/GreekCatalog/Vases/SouthIt/PK0966K.html


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Figs 58 & 59: Paestan squat lekythos from the Asteas-Python school, third quarter ofthe fourth century.

The offerings are described as eggs. There are two sets of cintamani, one on each side of

the handle.

http://www.royalathena.com/PAGES/GreekCatalog/Vases/SouthIt/GMX20.html


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Fig 60: Apulian red-figure situla from the Patera painter, Ca. 345-325 BC

Here, too, we have a combination of a patera and on this view two small sets ofcintamani. On another web site:

http://www.christies.com/Lotfinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=5358507


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Fig 61: Apulian red-figure mug, possibly by the Menzies group, Ca. 340-330 BC

this mug features Eros holding a phiale where the offerings whether eggs, fruit or flowers

are in the form of cintamani. Everything is described except the cintamani!

Of the nearly 600 illustrations in Trendall I would surmise that barely a third are decorated

with cintamani of any kind. It seems to me that where cintamani are depicted, they are mostoften stylized flowers or flower patterns:

Fig 62: Paestan red-figure lekanis lid attributed to Asteas - Muse and box Muse duLouvre, Ca. 360-340 BC


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Fig 64: Dionysos rhyton, 4thc BC, British Museum

Less often, the cintamani appear as decorations on female clothing especially head-gear

Sakkos or Phrygian cap. Amazons, in particular, are often shown with cintamani on their

clothes.

Occasionally they seem to be just decoration, often only one or two tiny sets of triple dots:


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Fig 65: Detail from the neck of a volute-krater with a naiskos scene by the Ganymedepainter, Antikenmuseum, Basel

From Red Figure Vases of South Italy and Sicily by A D Trendall, Thames and Hudson,1989. This is a small detail from a large vase. The two small sets of cintamani shown here

are a tiny part of the overall decoration. Sometimes these may be accidental this may be

the case with the end of the wreath on the first image.

Very rarely, they are seen on male clothing, usually indicating outlandish dress from Asia

Minor:


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Fig 66: Paestan red-figure bell-krater attributed to the Python painter, Antikenmuseen,Berlin, Ca. 340 BC, Odysseus and the sirens

Fig 67: Paestan red-figure bell-krater attributed to the Python painter, Antikenmuseen,Berlin, Ca. 340 BC, Odysseus and the sirens


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Figs 68 & 69: Judgement of Paris detail from lebes gamikos (wedding vase) inTrendall no. 404 Geneva museum of art & history.

It would seem that the fashion for depicting cintamani in Etruria either arose spontaneously

and moved South, to the Greek colonies in Southern Italy, or came over from Thrace withcraftsmen going to work in the colonies. The question remains, did antiques, prized by

later Romans give rise to the re-appearance of cintamani in the 4th century AD? I am nowinclined to believe that this may have been the case.

Thanks to a high-definition photograph kindly sent by the British Museum, I noticed 4thccintamani on the scarves of the nymphs below the head of Okeanos in the centre of the great

dish of Mildenhalland also on other details.

Fig 70: detail of cintamani on the Mildenhall plate, 4thc, British Museum

There are also cintamani below a head on a small plinth:


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Fig 71: detail of cintamani on a plinth, Mildenhall plate, 4thc, British Museum

on a vase:


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Fig 72: detail of cintamani on a vase, Mildenhall plate, 4thc, British Museum

and on the tambourine of one of the nymphs:

Fig 73: detail of cintamani on a tambourine, Mildenhall plate, 4thc, British Museum


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Fig 76: detail of cintamani on the Corbridge lanx, 4thc, British Museum

on a second altar between a stag and a griffin,


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Fig 77: detail of cintamani on the second altar, Corbridge lanx, 4thc, British Museum

on the stool:


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Fig 78: detail of cintamani on a stool, Corbridge lanx, 4thc, British Museum

on garlands and on the curtain:

Fig 79: detail of cintamani on garlands and curtains, Corbridge lanx, 4thc, BritishMuseum


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They also appear as flower petals, a stylistic motif which appears on the Lion Hunt dishfrom Carthage:

Fig 80: cintamani flowers on the Carthage lion hunt dish, 4thc, British Museum

However, it is on the famous Projecta casket from the Esquiline Treasure, that the silversmith

has really exploited cintamani to the full:

These are not apparent without a magnifying glass or high-definition photography:

Fig 81: the Projecta casket, 4thc, British Museum

The top of the lid shows Projecta, and her husband, Secundus:


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Fig 82: the Projecta casket, 4thc, British Museum

This can be enlarged to reveal cintamani on Secundus cloak, though not on Projectas robe:


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Fig 83: Projecta and Secundus on the casket, 4thc, British Museum

Furthermore, enlargement of a side panel:

Fig 84: Projecta casket, side panel, 4thc, British Museum

shows cintamani on the casket, the curtains and on Projectas dress:


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Fig 85: Projecta casket, detail of servant, 4thc, British Museum


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Fig 86: Projecta casket, detail of Projecta, 4thc, British Museum

The British Museum also has a pair of silver chair ornaments from the Esquiline Treasure,probably made in Rome in the 4thc, representing Constantinople and Rome:


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Fig 88: Silver chair ornament personifying Rome, detail of her lap, 4thc Rome, BritishMuseum

The dresses of both figures are scattered with cintamani.

In Constantinople itself, at about the same time or later, this weight was engraved withcintamani on the emperors clothes and on each quarter of their orbs:


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Fig 89: Byzantine lead weight, 4thc-5thc, British Museum

The curator comments, Each emperor is diademed and nimbate, wears a cuirass and

paludamentum and holds a scepter and an orb.

Compare the design on the Byzantine lead weight with this detail from the Missorium ofTheodosius, Madrid:


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Fig 90: Detail of the Byzantine Missorium of Theodosius I, 4thc, Real Academia de

Historia, MadridA restored copy of the Missorium in the museum at Merida, Spain, shows cintamani not only

on the orbs, and on the corner of the embroidered skirt, but neatly round the second shield:


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Fig 91: Missorium of Theodosius, (copy) Museum of Merida

and decorating the footstools:


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Fig 92: Missorium of Theodosius, Madrid, (copy) Museum of Merida

This salver was made a short time after the Mildenhall Great Dish.

If the British Museum has several pieces of 4thc Roman and Byzantine silver with the three-

dot motif, it is reasonable to suppose that other museums will have some too, not to mentionthose that may be in great houses and private collections.

The Mildenhall Treasure has everything to do with Romans in Britain, but what circuitsmight have led a motif from Thrace, Etruria and the Roman Empire to Greek-influenced

Afghanistan or back to the West via India or Persia?

On stylistic and chronological grounds, it would seem that the motif travelled from Rome to

Constantinople; certainly the nymphs dancing with scarves can be seen again on the 11thccrown of Constantine Monomachus, parts of which are in the V&A and in the National

Museum of Budapest.

The motif may then have travelled to Persia from Constantinople. Artisans in the Byzantine

Empire certainly influenced Sassanian artists in Persia, as will be demonstrated by figs 106 et

seq.

In seeking examples of triangulated dots similar to cintamani on artifacts of a period between

the 4thc and 8thc, I noted some on a mosaic found at Bordj-el-Djedid, Carthage - late 5thc to

early 6thc, now in the British Museum. This work is described as representing a Vandal


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rider, presumably executed by Romans since it is thought that the Vandals were destroyerswho produced no works of art.

Fig 93: Mosaic from Bordj-el-Djedid, Carthage - 5thc to early 6thc, British Museum

The triangulated dots on the horse could be seen as mere decoration, but the crux gammatasurely signifies that the rider is Christian; perhaps the cintamani indicate that he is a rich

man.

Cintamani decorate Goliaths helmet on a 6thc Byzantine plate showing David & Goliath, in

the Metropolitan Museum, New York:


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Fig 94: Byzantine plate, David & Goliath, 6thc, Metropolitan Museum, New York


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Fig 95: 6thc Byzantine plate showing David & Goliath, Metropolitan Museum, New

York, detail of helmet

Even the miniature helmet which has fallen below the miniature combatants is decorated

with cintamani:


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Fig 96: 6thc Byzantine plate showing David & Goliath, Metropolitan Museum, New

York, detail of miniature helmet

The craftsman who made this plate has introduced an original element in mingling thecintamani with larger single dots. This can also be observed on the clothing of Secundus, Fig

83. The craftsman used this decoration on both helmets but nowhere else on this work.

My feeling is that cintamani appear on Roman Empire silver as a simple decoration with no

significance greater than the desire to indicate silk and luxury.

Whether one believes that there is no particular significance to the motif, whether there is

sometimes significance intended and at other times none, whether the motif may havedifferent meanings for different people in various locations and at different periods, there isno gainsaying that the motif travelled great distances between the Roman Empire in the 4thc

and relatively modern times connected or not.

Before leaving the Byzantine world, let us consider my only other example of cintamani on

early mosaic, the decoration in the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna:


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Figs 97 & 98: Byzantine mosaic decoration, Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, 5thc.,

Ravenna

Obviously the craftsmen here were not thinking about cintamani just fitting triple or fivedot tesserae in, to bring their patterns to life. Nevertheless, this example is significant in the

evolution and dispersal of the triple dot motif as it may be the source of inspiration for later

works in manuscript such as the Gero and Echternach codices in the 10thc., the StavelotBible in the 11thc., and in sculpture such as on a tympanum at La Charit sur Loire in the

12thc. I will show images of all these presently.


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A LOMBARD ARTIFACT, KING AGILULF'S HELMET, 590-616 and othercircular shields decorated with the triple-dot motif

Fig 99: Fragment of King Agilulf's helmet, 590-616, Bargello Museum, Florence

Compare this image with the detail below. Cintamani can be seen on the circular shield.

There are four sets of triple dots decorating the shield. King Agilulf's gown is spotted with

small dots at random.

Fig 99a: details of King Agilulf's helmet, 590-616, Bargello Museum, Florence


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A metal circle with three bosses found in Czechoslovakia (fig 102) and dated to roughly thesame period, might be part of a larger shield.

This early Romanesque reliquary, carved in ivory also has circular shields with four groups

of cintamani:

Fig 103: Ottonian Reliquary, ivory, British Museum, c.1000

See also, the Cloisters Cross, 12thc, where the cintamani are on the soldiers' shields and are

also seen on the Virgins cloak:


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Fig 104 & 104a: Cloisters Cross, Metropolitan Museum, New York, 12thc

The circular shields have now been curved, and may be decorated with a larger number of

groups of cintamani.

An 11thc mural from the Hermitage of San Baudelio de Berlanga near Soria in Spain showsa soldier holding a circular shield decorated with triple dots as well as another 3-in-one

design:


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Fig 105: Soldier with cintamani on a shield, Detail of a mural from the MozarabHermitage of San Baudelio de Berlanga near Soria, 11thc, Prado

It may be that there is no connection of any kind between any of these images, and thatcraftsmen in various parts of Europe and at various times, simply used this decoration on

circular shields independently of each other, and with no significance intended.

USE OF CINTAMANI ON SASSANIAN SILVER


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There are a number of Sassanid artefacts of 5thc-8thc in metal, now in the Sackler Gallery inWashington where cintamani can be seen clearly. As I surmised, the cintamani design seems

to have travelled to Persia under the Sassanids after the fall of the Roman Empire.

Fig 106: Sassanian dish with cintamani decoration, 5thc-8thc,Sackler Gallery, Washington

The text beside the photograph reads: This complex scene, which decorates the interior of ashallow plate, testifies to the lively cultural interaction that took place between the easternMediterranean and Central Asia in the first millennium. In the center, the Greek god

Dionysos (depicted here with female-like breasts) sits next to the princess Ariadne; to the

right stands the hero Herakles. The plate depicts the triumphal arrival of the Greek godDionysos in India. A popular subject of Roman imperial art, it was later depicted over a wide


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area of the Byzantine Empire in textiles, gemstones, and metalwork, and transferred throughsuch portable media to neighboring Sasanian Iran.

Compare the dancer with the veil to one on Fig 7. This image was still popular in Byzantine

work and, as already mentioned, can be seen on enamels of the 11thc in the V&A and inBudapest. The leopards spots are indicated by cintamani.

Fig 107: Sassanian dish with cintamani decoration, 7thc, Sackler Gallery, Washington

http://www.asia.si.edu/collections/singleObject.cfm?ObjectNumber=S1987.113

Cintamani decorate the crowned womans robe and cloak and also the couch.


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Fig 108: Sassanian dish with cintamani decoration, 7thc-9thc, Sackler Gallery,Washington

Fig 109: details on Sassanian hemispherical bowl with cintamani decoration, 7thc-9thc,Sackler Gallery, Washington


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Fig 110: details on Sassanian hemispherical bowl with cintamani decoration, 7thc-9thc,Sackler Gallery, Washington

Have the columns been influenced by Roman altars such as the one on the Corbridge Lanx,Fig 76?

http://www.asia.si.edu/collections/singleObject.cfm?ObjectNumber=F1964.10

A silver bowl of similar style and date is conserved in the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore:


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Fig 111: Sassanian silver dish with King and attendants, 7thc Walters Art Museum,Baltimore

The enthroned king in the center of this hammered and carved bowl is flanked on the right

by an attendant waving a fly whisk and on the left by a noble or princely figure holding abeaded diadem. The ends of the bowl are adorned with dancing girls, whose long scarves fly

backward toward the central scene. Although associated with silver vessels made in Iranduring the Sassanian dynasty (AD 224-651), the vessel's shape and decoration suggest that

this object dates from the early Islamic era.

It is just possible to make out the scarves of the girls, which are decorated with larger, bead-like cintamani. Similar cintamani engraved like beads or pearls can be seen on another 6th-

7thc Sassanian silver dish from the same museum.


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Fig 112: Sassanian silver dish with King and Queen, 6thc-7thc Walters Art Museum,Baltimore

As with the Roman Empire silver, the cintamani are sometimes difficult to see without highdefinition photography. I have added further examples of Sassanian silver of the IV-VIII

centuries where they can be found, from several museums:


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Fig 113: Sassanian dish with King Shapur hunting deer, 5thc-7thc, British Museum

Fig 114: Sassanian dish with cintamani decoration, 5thc-7thc, British Museum


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The cintamani here are discreet: a row of five above King Shapurs crown, but they are alsopresent as berries or beads on the crown.

Fig 115: Sassanian dish with a mounted king hunting lion, 5thc-7thc, British Museum


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Fig 116: Sassanian dish with cintamani decoration, 5thc-7thc, British Museum

Here, they are on the kings saddle cloth, and they are the Eastern, mistletoe berry type setamong larger, single beads.


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Fig 117: Sassanian dish with King Bahram V hunting, 5thc, Metropolitan Museum

Cintamani are on the kings skirt, his saddle cloth, and on the robe of the kings musician,Azadeh, seated behind him. They are of the Western, small triple-dot design, as on the

Roman and Byzantine silver. Two or three hundred years later, a musician at a royal feast is

the only participant to have cintamani on his tunic:


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Fig 118: Sassanian dish showing a royal feast, 8thc, Hermitage Museum

Fig 119: Sassanian dish showing a royal feast, 8thc, detail of cintamani on the clothes ofthe musician, Hermitage Museum


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Fig 120: Sassanian dish with King hunting, 6thc-7thcc, Bibliothque Nationale, Paris


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Fig 121: Sassanian dish with King hunting, 6thc-7thc, Bibliothque Nationale, Paris

Again, the cintamani are on the kings saddle cloth, the Eastern, mistletoe berry type, more

casual and less deliberate than on the previous example.

Fig 122: Sassanian dish with King Yazdgard hunting deer, 5thc-7thc, MetropolitanMuseum, New York


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Fig 123: Sassanian dish with King Yazdgard hunting deer, detail, MetropolitanMuseum, New York

King Yazdgard has cintamani decorating his halo. Halos were used to indicate majesty as

well as sanctity.

In the National Museum, Teheran, this dish shows various trades folk at work:


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Fig 124: Sassanian dish with trades folk, National Museum, Teheran

In both these details, the cintamani are on the womens clothing.


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Fig 125 & 126: Sassanian dish with tradesfolk, National Museum, Teheran


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Fig 127: Sassanian dish with man stabbing lion, Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg

In addition to the cintamani on the mans clothing, this vase has the interest (for me) of a ringof chubby senmurvs round the top.


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Fig 128: Cintamani on the clothing of Sassanid Royalty and nobility; sketches are from:

http://www.transoxiana.org/Eran/Articles/gadjiev.html

Fig 128:3 is taken from the dish seen as Fig 108, above. I have offered a large number of

cintamani depicted on silver as they have outlasted all other media not only because of thedurability of this material but because the value of the objects exceeds that of the silver whenmelted down. We will observe the same phenomenon when we come to look at Western

artifacts of the medieval period.

The reliefs in the grottoes at Taq-e-Bostan have not fared so well, and (as with the Etruscan

frescoes) it is fortunate that they were sketched in detail at a period when they could still beseen in a less damaged state:

http://www.transoxiana.org/Eran/Articles/tanabe.html


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Fig 129: Cintamani on the clothing of Ahura-Mazda from Taq-e-Bostan

Fig 130: Cintamani on the head-dress of Sassanid king from Taq-e-Bostan

On the Taq-e-Bostan relief, the god Ahura Mazda on the right, crowns King Khosro I(Chosroes); the goddess Anahitah is on the far left.


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Figs 131 and 132: Sassanid cave sculpture from Taq-e-Bostan


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There are many variations on the way this Persian place-name is spelt in English. It is

unfortunate that after 1700 years of being exposed to the elements, the cintamani on the

skirts of Ahura Mazda have nearly disappeared, but a few can be made out on a high

definition photograph.

Fig 133: Cintamani on the skirt of the goddess Anahita from another archaeologicalsite, Bandiyan (or Bandian), photo by Sassanika.com.

Compare the design of the cintamani above, with those on a bead, said to be 10thcByzantine, fig 157.


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Fig 134: Cintamani on the shoulder of a king, centre of a Sassanian or Sassanian-styledish found at Mtskheta, Georgia

Was this dish, believed to have belonged to a governor over part of the land that was to

become Georgia, instrumental in the introduction of the triple-dot motif to the culture of that

country? This will be considered at the end of the section on frescoes, p.192, Fig.240.

Sassanian Persia of the 4th-8th centuries, already part of the Silk Routes, is where the

Eastern and Western types of cintamani mingle and overlap. It will have been noted that thecintamani on the clothes of the sculptures at Taq-e-Bostan are of the Eastern style, which is

less common on silverware. The reason for this may simply be the need to work in

a large scale, although this does not explain the inconsistency in the use of the different sizeson silver.

THE IMPORTANCE OF TEXTILES

The importance of textiles, as one of the principal means by which the cintamani motif(among others) was transmitted, can not be overstated. Inevitably, much of the evidence has

disappeared as textiles are the most vulnerable medium both by their nature and in

consideration of the way they are used. Those scraps which have survived from before 1200in the West are usually associated with the transportation of relics, or were princely gifts.

These have been conserved in the treasuries of cathedrals where some can still be seen;


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others can be found in museums all over the world. Those featuring cintamani are rare; infact, the evidence that they existed at all is more likely to be in the form of illustrations of

clothing on all media including the silver shown above. However, examination of other

popular motifs such as confronted animals in pearl-framed roundels shows how Sassanian-

style designs dominated the Silk Routes for centuries, especially between the 6th and 10thcenturies. Such designs were much copied in silk and woven fabrics both in the East and the

West, and eventually found their way into the marginal art of manuscript books, intoRomanesque sculpture and all media of the Middle Ages.

A rare and fascinating survival is this china and wooden doll with cintamani on her shawl:

Fig 135: Cintamani on the shawl of Lady Qu, Astana, Turfan, 688 AD

You would be excused for thinking she was a relatively modern creation. Unbelievably, sheis one thousand seven hundred and thirty-two years old! She was made for Lady Qu, and she

lay preserved in a tomb with her husband and other artifacts until they were excavated in

Astana, Turfan, in the Uighur autonomous region in 1973. This guardian figure is not


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dressed in scraps: each garment was made separately. The pearled medallions on her bodicereflect the taste for Sassanian-style patterns in China in 688, the year of her burial.

Figs 136 & 137: Cintamani on the Shroud of Sainte Colombe and St Loup, SensCathedral Treasury

The Shroud of Sainte Colombe and St Loup is in Sens Cathedral Treasury. This textile is

described as "Byzantine", 9th century, by the museum at Sens. It is very close to another

textile in the Victoria and Albert Museum where it is said to be Sassanian:

Fig 138 Textile in the V&A, Sogdian, 9th century. This was originally in VerdunCathedral.


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The chief difference between the two fragments is that the dogs at Sens have the triple dot

motif on their bodies, while those on the textile in the V&A have spots all over.

The V&A tells us that these are Sogdian silks from Zandanji, a village near Bukhara. Someone, some time during the 9th century deliberately changed the spots to the triple dot motif,

or the other way around, while changing very little else!

Cintamani of the small scale triple-dot design that seem to have been favoured in the West,and of the larger, bead-like variety associated with the East were both used by Sassanian

craftsmen. I would surmise that the former were particularly favoured on smaller items and

the latter when big surfaces were used such as the carpets and big caftans of the laterOttomans. It may be that the miniature triple-dots were used as a kind of shorthand to

indicate silk and to give an impression of wealth and luxury.

SIR MARC AUREL STEIN AND THE SILK ROUTES

For over a thousand years, from the 2nd century BC, silk and other luxury merchandise wascarried along the Silk Road, the Eurasian trade route linking China with the Mediterranean,

to be exchanged in the towns and oases. It was also a conduit of ideas, beliefs, styles of art

and technologies. Chinese, Indian, Iranian and classical Western culture intersected there anddeveloped a new synchretistic culture.

The Caves of the Thousand Buddhas are situated in the Chinese province of Gansu, some 15

kilometers to the south-east of Dunhuang. From the mid-4th century a Buddhist communityflourished there. In 1900 a Daoist monk discovered a secret cell in a cave whose entrance

was closed in the 11th century. Thanks to the extreme aridity, an exceptional collection ofthousands of manuscripts and silk paintings in very good condition was conserved there. SirMarc Aurel Stein bought most of them, in 1907; they are now in the British Museum. (See

Fig. xx).

Sir Marc was convinced of the influence of Sassanian art on some Chinese silk designs in

what we may loosely term pre-Romanesque times. In his book, Serindia published in

1921, Stein writes:

That Persian designs of Sassanian type were imitated on figured silk fabrics produced in

China during the 7th-8th century is a well-known fact, proved beyond all doubt by thefamous Ito textile from the Horiuji temple of Nara, where it had been deposited in AD 756.

The composition and a number of characteristic details of the hunting scene represented in itsround medallions are as unmistakably Persian as the execution of the whole design and the

ornamental motifs of the foliage in the interspaces are Chinese. There is adequate reason to


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believe that the reproduction of Persian and other Near-Eastern designs in Chinese textilescan be traced for centuries later. . .

Pairs of confronting beasts or birds form one of the most persistent and popular motifs in

textiles of Sassanian style, whether produced in Persia or outside it, while the framing ofthis motif and of other principal designs in medallions, round or oval and repeated over the

whole surface of the fabric, is the regular and most characteristic feature of the Persian styleof textile decoration.

Steins writings can be accessed online here:http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/language/en.html.en

This MS of 1200 from the National Library, Vienna, illustrates Steins point about thecontinued appeal of Sassanian style design in textiles:


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Fig 139: The Byzantine Emperor, Alexius V, c.1200, Vienna, National Library

Please click here:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/1335393@N20/pool/


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to see many further examples of ancient textiles confirming the importance of Sassanian

design on sericulture both further East and in the West throughout late Antiquity and the

medieval period.

The Byzantine Empire was the heir to the Roman Empire. Its Christian emperors ruled from

Constantinople over many provinces around the Mediterranean Sea. Constantinople was alsothe centre for the production of works of art for the court and church. The artistic traditions

that were created in Constantinople spread throughout the empire, reaching distant provinces

like Coptic Egypt.

The Sassanian Empire emerged in 224 as another in the series of great cultures in the area

covered by Iran and Iraq. The Sasanian kings rivalled the Byzantine Empire for dominance inthe Middle East, inspired by their state religion, Zoroastrianism.

The first Muslim troops in Central Asia encountered great cultural diversity. There were still

traces of the Hellenistic culture that had followed in the wake of Alexander the Greatsconquests in the 4th century B.C. In the ensuing period, the network of caravan routes that

connected China and India with the Eastern Mediterranean had brought many people and

goods through the mountainous region. Many different religions were practiced in CentralAsia, where Muslims came in contact with Buddhism and its rich imagery.

CINTAMANI ON TEXTILES OF THE OTTOMAN PERIOD

The David Collection, Copenhagen further explains the later development of cintamani:

http://www.davidmus.dk/en/collections/islamic/dynasties/ottomans/art

The chintamani pattern is most often associated with the art of the Ottoman Empire, but it isolder and probably originated with the Central Asian Turkic peoples. It has been

convincingly interpreted as a combination of the tigers stripes and the leopards spots, and

as such refers especially to manly courage.

The pattern is found in different variations, and both the number of the elements and their

position may differ. In this striking example,


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Fig 140: Velvet with chintamani design, Turkey,mid 16thc, David Collection, Copenhagen

each spot was given two extra spots and the stripes were placed diagonally. In addition, an

almost octopus-like Chinese cloud ornament was added. The famed Ottoman textile industryhad its center in Bursa, but many of the patterns were designed in the royal studio in

Istanbul.

Fig 141: Textile from the Topkapi Museum, Istanbul

These 15thc velvet fragments are from Bursa, in Anatolia:


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Fig 142: 15thc velvet cloth from Bursa, Fig 143: 15thc velvet cloth from Bursa,

Metropolitan Museum, New York Brussels, Royal Museum of Art and History

With regard to so many examples of cintamani on clothing of so wide an area in time and

place, on media of every kind, one might suppose that numerous actual fragments may be

seen in museums. Not so: they are almost unknown, especially for periods before the 16thcentury, despite the high value placed on silk and the fact that very ancient silk fragments

have been preserved from Egypt to China and all along the silk routes of Central Asia.

However, three garments decorated with cintamani were shown in an exhibition at the

Sackler Gallery, Washington, in 2005:

Fig 144: Cintamani on silk tunic of the16thc Sackler Gallery, Washington, 2005


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There may be a connecting thread between some of these flowerings of the triangulated dots,

of which those connected with the Silk Routes were likely to have been the most linked. If

as seems likely - there is a connection between those that appear on Roman Empire silver,

Byzantine and Sassanian silver, it is reasonable to suppose that the design may have reachedthe Far East via luxury goods taken from Constantinople and Persia, into Asia. This brings

into question the direction of the flow of the image. The earliest known representation ofcintamani in the East is given as 3rd century, so it is possible that the motif reached the

Roman Empire soon afterwards. There remains the mystery of the Etruscan frescoes of 900

years before this time and the Thracian and Hellenic artifacts displaying the triple-dot motif.It may be that there is there no connection between the cintamani seen on Etruscan items, and

those observed on Roman silver a millennium later, despite the fact that they share the same

geographical area. Of course, the motif may also have appeared in the East and West,independently of each other.

At a recent exhibition of Ottoman kaftans and textiles at the Topkapi Palace were several

decorated with cintamani:

Fig 145: Kaftan from the Topkapi Museum, Istanbul


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There seems to be a set of cintamani one each side of the Madonnas skirts. A similar pair of

dangling cintamani appear on an enamel from the Stavelot retable, fig. 89, below. On the

other hand, the dangling group of three pom-poms may not be intended as cintamani. ThisCoptic fragment from the Louvre, brought to my attention by Miguel Martin has bunches of

grapes that might be mistaken for cintamani, but I do not think this was intended:

Fig 148: Coptic Textile from the Louvre Museum

Cintamani appear on a Coptic orbiculus of the 9th-10thc now in the Muse Dpartementale,

Rouen:


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Fig 149: Textile from Rouen Museum, detail of orbiculus, Coptic 9th-10thc

CINTAMANI OF THE OTTOMAN STYLE ON CARPETS

From: Tea & Carpets, The Mysterious World of Chintamani and Bird Carpets

http://tea-and-carpets.blogspot.com/2009/12/mysterious-world-of-chintamani-and-bird.html

Fig 150: Carpet from the Topkapi Museum, Istanbul


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Fig 151: Usak carpet from the Topkapi Museum, Istanbul and detail, photo by Anne-Marie Harrison


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Fig 152: Konya-Karapinar carpet from the Topkapi Museum, Istanbul, photo by Anne-Marie Harrison

The mysterious icons are the chintamani, three balls hovering over a pair of cloud-likewavy lines. And for much of the 16th and 17th centuries, they held a special fascination for

Ottoman court artists. The chintamani appear on silks, ceramic plates, tiles, book-bindings,and embroideries. Sometimes, they even appear on the kaftans worn by the Ottoman sultans.

The chintamani design was so popular in all the decorative arts of the time that it wasprobably inevitable it would spill over to carpets as well. And that is exactly what many rug

experts believe happened. Rug expert Louise W. Mackie writes in A Turkish Carpets with

Spots and Stripes (Textile Journal, 1976) that it is highly probable that the origin of thechintamni carpet design can be traced to the symbols popularity in the art of the Ottoman

court in Istanbul. But what is much harder to explain is where the symbol of the chintamaniitself originated and what it means.

In carpet literature, the design is often said to derive from a Buddhist emblem. The word

chintamani itself comes from Sanskrit and in Buddhist philosophy signifies a treasure ball orwish-granting jewel. A Buddhist background for the design is an appealing argument

because it also recalls the distant past of the Turkic tribes who migrated to Anatolia fromCentral Asia and created the succession of dynasties that culminated in the Ottoman Empire.

The original cultures of the Turkic tribes were based on religions like Buddhism andShamanism for millennia before they converted to Islam. But if the three-ball pattern


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appears in early Central Asian painting and even is associated with the badge of the greatTurkic-Mongol conqueror Timur (Tamerlane) in the 14th century, there are still parts of the

symbol that a Buddhist origin cannot easily explain.

In carpet literature, the design is often said to derive from a Buddhist emblem. The wordchintamani itself comes from Sanskrit and in Buddhist philosophy signifies a treasure ball or

wish-granting jewel. A Buddhist background for the design is an appealing argumentbecause it also recalls the distant past of the Turkic tribes who migrated to Anatolia from

Central Asia and created the succession of dynasties that culminated in the Ottoman Empire.

The original cultures of the Turkic tribes were based on religions like Buddhism andShamanism for millennia before they converted to Islam. But if the three-ball pattern

appears in early Central Asian painting and even is associated with the badge of the great

Turkic-Mongol conqueror Timur (Tamerlane) in the 14th century, there are still parts of thesymbol that a Buddhist origin cannot easily explain. (End of quotation).

The waves or stripes from the back of the tiger continued to be reproduced on some

Turkish carpets which were exported in quantity to Transylvania from the sixteenth centuryand have come to be known as Transylvanian rugs. Many of these can still be seen in

Transylvanian churches, and there are two examples of cintamani (or intamani) rugs in the

Museum of Applied Arts (Iparmvszeti Muzeum) in Budapest:


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Fig 153: 17thc Cintamani rug made in Cairo. Museum of Applied Arts (IparmvszetiMuzeum), Budapest

and:


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Fig 154: 17thc Cintamani Prayer Niche rug ?made in Selendi ? Purchased fromTransylvania,Museum of Applied Arts (Iparmvszeti Muzeum), Budapest

On the first of the two examples the stripes are like lips but the dots are not triangulated. On

the second example we have triangulated dots but no stripes. Here is a further example of a

similar rug made in Selendi from: http://rjohnhowe.wordpress.com/2007


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Fig 155: 17thc Cintamani Prayer Niche rug ?made in Selendi

The three illustrations below are from the same site.

a b


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cFig 156: Three examples of cintamani on textiles

a a semi-antique Pao Tao Chinese saddle cover from a recent Bukowskis auction inSweden shows how the 3 balls can exist independently from the stripes. This arrangement,without stripes, is also observable in 16-17century Ottoman textiles and ceramics.

The saddle cover is reminiscent of those depicted on the silver dishes, Similar saddle rugs

are still made and used in Mongolia, and elsewhere in Central Asia.

b a black and white image of the cintamani design on the fabric from a garment of aknown Ottoman sultan, of the 15th century.

c a Karapinar fragment from the 15th century, which has the cat paw on the whitefield.

CINTAMANI OF THE EASTERN STYLE ON OTHER ARTEFACTS


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I conclude this section regarding cintamani on clothing with a photograph of a bead thatseems to be decorated with cintamani and some other, similar beads used with Sassanian

clothing.

Fig 157: Cintamani on a bead, said to be Byzantine, 10thc

Compare the cintamani on this bead with those on the skirt of the goddess Anahita, fig 133.

Fig 158: Beads, said to be Sassanian

from http://www.bead-database.org/modulesnuke/Gallery/slideshow.php?set_albumName=album01


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Before returning to Medieval Christendom, a glance at cintamani on some typical tiles of theOttoman period shows the difference between the simple triple-dot motif that we have seen

from Etruscan frescoes to Roman and Sassanid silver, and the larger, more flamboyant

decorations that are the cintamani of the Buddhist and Moslem heritage. Those on the left

have extra, smaller circles picked out in red and green, like squinting eyes as well as pairs oflips. The tiles on the right have smaller subsidiary spots and stripes like squiggles.

Fig 159: Iznik Ottoman tiles with cintamani design, Topkapi Museum, Istanbul

In the Victoria and Albert Museum there is a panel with tiles that are reminiscent of the

textiles Figs 34-36. One tile on this panel seems to be part of the set depicted on Fig 44. It isthe opinion of the curator (but not of Folda) that there is No connection with Buddhist

cintamani.


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Fig 160: Cintamani on Islamic tiles, Victoria & Albert Museum, London

This is what the curator at the Victoria & Albert Museum has written below these tiles:

Pairs of wavy lines and groups of three large dots represent the pelts of the striped tiger and

spotted leopard. In the Islamic world, the designs acquired powerful associations. The

Iranian hero Rustam, for example, is usually depicted wearing a tiger-skin coat. By 1500these designs were popular on Ottoman Turkish textiles, and were often combined. They

soon appeared in other media, such as tilework.

The triple-dot design has been confused with the Buddhist precious jewel motif (Sanskrit

cintamani), which is sometimes shown in groups of three. But there is no connection.

CINTAMANI ON ROMANESQUE ARTEFACTS - MANUSCRIPTS

Returning to cintamani on Western medieval objects,after their probable introduction byway of silver and textiles, these would appear to have commenced with manuscripts. Wehave already noted their presence in the 8th century, in the book of Kells and of Macdurnan.

Triple dots have been applied with care to just the hem of St Marks underskirt on this pagefrom the Carolingian Ada Gospels of the 8th to 9th century:


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Fig 161: Ada Gospels, 8th-9th century, Trier

while, on another Carolingian bible known as the Vivian Bible, now in the Bibliothque

Nationale, Paris, three prelates on the right of the main picture are beautifully clothed withcintamani all over their silken robes.

Fig 162:Vivian Bible, 9th c, Paris, Bibliothque Nationale

This masterpiece was painted in the monastery of St Martin de Tours.


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They also make a dramatic appearance on one page from the 10thc Paris Psalter:

Fig 163: Paris Psalter, 10th c, Paris, Bibliothque NationaleIsaiah is at prayer, Dawn is shown as a child with a torch, while Night, wearing a cloak of

stars, douses her torch. The border is decorated with cintamani on each side of the lozengesas well as 5-dot flowers.

This MS, of the Byzantine Macedonian School suggests a possible link with the 4thcMildenhall plate, where the similarity to the nymphs with cintamani on their scarves can


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surely not be accidental. Women flaunting scarves (albeit, without the cintamani) can alsobe seen on the Byzantine enamels decorating the Constantine Monomachos crown.

Fig 164: Byzantine dancing girl, 11thc Fig 164a: Byzantine dancing girl, 11thcfrom the crown of Constantine from the crown of Constantine Monomachos,Monomachos, Budapest V&A Museum, London

A female figure in motion waving a scarf (with or without cintamani) above her head, is a

Hellenistic motif. It appears, for example, on the Sassanian plate, Fig 126, of 5th-8thc, aswell as on several Sassanian vases of the same period, where cintamani are not apparent.

The Sacramentary of Charles the Bald dates from the 9thc:

Fig 165 & 165a: The Sacramentary of Charles the Bald, St Paul expounds theScriptures to Eustochium, BNF, Paris

The next photo shows the triple-dots on the womens cloaks more clearly:


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Fig 165 & 165a: The Sacramentary of Charles the Bald, St Paul expounds theScriptures to Eustochium, modern reproduction

Fig 165b: The Sacramentary of Charles the Bald, 9thc, BNF, Paris

The Carolingian School produced numbers of influential works of art that were diffusedthroughout the Empire of Charlemagne and his descendants such as The Gospels of Lothaire

I, 9-10thc:


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Fig 165c: The Gospels of Lothaire I, 9-10thc, BNF, Paris

of Otto III:

Fig 166: cintamani on saints clothing Gospel of Otto III, c.1000, Munich

and the Sacramentary of Warmondo or Warmund, Bishop of Ivrea, . These volumes are

embellished with cintamani, especially on the clothing of holy persons and grandees.


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Fig 167& 167a: Sacramentary of Warmondo, Crowning of Otto III by the Virgin Mary,10thc., Ivrea Biblioteca Capitolare, nr. Turin

Fig 167b& 167c: Sacramentary of Warmondo, Letter V, 10thc., Ivrea BibliotecaCapitolare, nr. Turin

On the next slide from the same book we see the triple-dot motif of both Eastern and

Western form on the altar cloth. This is the only place where they appear on this page:


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Fig 167d: Sacramentary of Warmondo, 10thc., Ivrea Biblioteca Capitolare, nr. Turin

It is possible that the triple-dot motif on these manuscripts made and kept near Turin gave

rise to the appearance of the motif on frescoes at churches in the area. I will give examples

of these in the appropriate section.

I illustrate the later development of cintamani in Romanesque France with some images from

my article on The Nazareth Master and the Master of Plaimpied:

http://www.green-man-of-cercles.org/articles/nazareth_capitals.pdf

starting with manuscripts, where cintamani are found most frequently. Below are examplesfrom France, Germany, Spain, Italy and England:


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Fig 168: St Amand Collationes Patrum, c.1050, St Theodore

On this Entry into Jerusalem one can even see the clavus and patches of embroidery that

we know outstandingly from Coptic fragments.


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Fig 169: cintamani on the clothes of Jesus and a disciple, c. 1100Sacramentary of Saint-tienne in Limoges, Bibliothque Nationale, Paris

Throughout the evolution of cintamani, we have examples of works where they are seen on a

small number of the figures in any work where they appear. Where these are on theirclothing I believe that this is to indicate persons of high status who are given silken clothing

to emphasize their importance. In the case of the illuminated manuscript above, Jesus and

his disciples are further dignified by being given costly embroidered panels, as well.


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But on this marginal image of a triple-headed drinking Janus, the cintamani are a decoration

of stars in a rusty sky;

Fig 170: cintamani on the background of a Janus or Trifrons,13thc, Beaune, Bibliothque Municipale

On this MS the Virgin Mary wears a cloak with cintamani, uniquely among the saints beside

and below her:


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Fig 171: cintamani on the cloak of the Virgin Mary, c1200, Vatican Museum

Fig 172: cintamani on the loincloth of Christ, Helmarshausen MS, 1190-1200, Trier


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Fig 173: cintamani on saints clothing St Albans Psalter, Hildesheim, c.1120

Both Gabriel and Mary have cintamani on their cloaks in this Annunciation from a12thc.German MS. Those interested in the question of the ordination of women will notice

that Mary has been dressed as a priest:

Fig 174: cintamani onGabriels and Marys cloaks WrttembergischesLandesbibliothek, Stuttgart


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The Hitda Codex, 1000-20, is a rich source of cintamani. On this page, only Jesus has them:

Fig 175: The Storm at Sea, from the Hitda Codex, 1000-20, Darmstadt, HessischeLandesbibliothek

but on my next example, they are also on the cape of the man with the withered hand.


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Fig 175a: Hitda Codex Healing the man with the withered hand

In the Gero Codex, another Christ in Majesty, 950-70, also in Darmstadt, cintamani decoratethe border:

Fig 176: Gero codex, Christ in Majesty, 950-70, Darmstadt


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while in the Echternach Codex Aureus, cintamani decorate architectural features, as on the

tympanum at La Charit sur Loire, Fig. 259a:

Fig 177: Echternach Codex Aureus, 10thc, Cologne School

Similar designs surround the Christ in Majesty of the Stavelot Bible c.1093, now in theBritish Library:


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Fig 178: Christ in Majesty, Stavelot Bible,1093-7, British Library

Christs lap is sprinkled with cintamani and they also decorate the border and the angels

robe:


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Fig 178a: Christ in Majesty, detail, Stavelot Bible,1093-7, British Library

As I mentioned earlier, the border design may have evolved from the 5thc. Byzantinemosaics surrounding the arch in the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna.

There are 3-dot and 5-dot patterns on Christs cloak on this Christ in Majesty from theBamberg MS, 1045-75, now in Cologne:


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Fig 179: Christ in Majesty, Bamberg MS, 1045-75, Cologne

Cintamani illumine the night sky on this page from the prayer book of Hildegard of Bingen,now in Lucca:

Fig 180: Prayer book of Hildegard of Bingen, c.1200, Lucca state library


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Fig 182: cintamani on the clothing of the evangelist, Beatus of St Sever, 11thc

Cintamani are depicted on many more pages from the same Beatus, both on clothing and

curtains.


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Fig 183: cintamani on two backdrops, Beatus of Las Huelgas, 11thc

Another Beatus showing extensive use of cintamani is that of S Andrs de Arroyo from theabbey there, in Palencia:


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Fig 184: Beatus of S Andrs de Arroyo, c.1215, The Woman clothed with the sun

Fig 184a: Beatus of S Andrs de Arroyo, St Michel and the Dragon

The border around this image is also decorated with cintamani.


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Fig 185: Beatus of S Andrs de Arroyo, c.1215, The Last Trump

Fig 186: Beatus of S Andrs de Arroyo, c.1215, The Last Trump


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Where it is the background that is decorated with cintamani, it may be mere decoration orit may be a wish to add dignity to the person depicted in the form of a star-studded sky. At a

certain period it seems to be a convention used in many parts of Christendom.

Fig 187: cintamani on the Fig 188: cintamani on thebackground of Alfonso VI background of King Fernando


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Fig 189: cintamani as the night sky, and on St James robe, Monza, private collection


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Fig 190: cintamani on a MS showing Wisdom Crowned, Libro di Morimondo, orBibbia Mugellano, Biblioteca Laurenziana, Florence,


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Fig 191: cintamani mixed with stars & planets on the background of Adam weeding,

c. 1180, the Haag, Royal Library

This Sicilian Madonna from Messina, now in Madrid, is interesting as she has both Eastern

& Western kinds of triple dots on her lap, as well as more on the grey cloth below her feet:


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Fig 192: Madonna and Child, 1182-95, Messina, now in Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional

Fig 193: Madonna and Child, 1182-95, Messina, now in Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional


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I have several examples from England starting with the manuscript book known as theHunterian Psalter, c.1170, is presumed to be from the North of England, and is now in the

Glasgow University Library. The images on this site:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hunterian_Psalter_c._1170_digging.jpg

are thick with cintamani:

Fig 194: cintamani as background in three examples from the Hunterian Psalter, 1170

Fig 195: cintamani as background, Fig 196: cintamani as background &on head of Christ by Matthew Paris, 13thc King Johns clothes, Matthew Paris

Note the similarity of the mixed background on fig 62a, where flower-like decorations are

mingled with the cintamani and fig 66b, where a similar design is seen on King Johnsclothing. St Bedes night sky, fig 67, shows stars among the cintamani. The mixture of


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Fig 199: cintamani on Initial E, 1347, Bristol Records Officeis one of eighteen illustrations from various medieval manuscripts, English, French, German,and Italian. This one is the illustration from a historiated initial letter 'E' (introducing the

name of the king, Edward III) to the royal charter in the form of letters patent, dated 24 April

1347, granting Bristol the right to imprison night walkers and fraudulent bakers, the latter

being depicted in the lower half of the initial. Here, the person with cintamani on his robe issecular and not obviously distinguished. My thanks to William Smith, of the Bristol Records

Office, for this interesting information.

Here is a curiosity: an Arabian manuscript of 1337:


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Fig 200: Cintamani on an Arabian manuscript of 1337


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Fig 200a: Cintamani on an Arabian manuscript of 1337, detail

The central figure may be Sultan Baybars; the winged creatures might be angels or devils,

but there are cintamani on the object they are holding over his head.

This Persian miniature illustrates Kaikus, (the Persian Alexander the Great) rising to heaven

on a throne borne aloft by eagles baited with meat on spears.


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Figs 201 & 201a: Cintamani on a Persian manuscript of the 14thc.

There are golden cintamani on the scarlet cloth. A full explanation of the story can be read

here:

http://www.green-man-of-cercles.org/articles/alexander.pdf

And here is a Persian miniature illustrating Eskander (Alexander the Great) at the Kaba:


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Fig 202: Cintamani on a Persian manuscript of the 15thc.

Both these manuscripts are in the 2010/11 Shahnameh exhibition at the FitzwilliamMuseum, Cambridge. I have found these manuscripts featuring cintamani to be very rare in

comparison to the European examples.

CINTAMANI ON ROMANESQUE ARTEFACTS WOOD

A famous icon from the Monastery of St Catherine, Sinai, of Christ Pantocrator is one of the

earliest representations of what became the canonical face of Jesus as a mature, bearded man:


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Fig 203: Christ Pantocrator, Monastery of St Catherine, Sinai, 6 th-7thc

There are four sets of triple-dots on each side of the cross on the Gospel book in Jesus lefthand. These may represent the Holy Trinity, or the cardinal points as on an orb, symbolizingthe universality of the Gospel message.

Sets of triple dots on Gospel books presented as pearls decorating the covers, possibly to

represent pearls of wisdom and surely to symbolize the Holy Trinity are seen frequently,such as on this 12thc fresco from San Eldrado, Novalesa Abbey, Piedmont, Italy, Fig 219e:which is covered more fully in the next section:

Cintamani and the Green Man

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