Length: 16.500 cm
M&ME 1851,8-6,10
Room 41: Europe AD 300-1100
Gilded silver brooch
Lombardic, late 6th-early 7th century
AD
From Tuscany, Italy
Decorated with animals, and birds' heads
This brooch was worn to fasten a cloak or mantle. The decoration of every available space is typical of Germanic jewellery from the fifth century onwards and is often referred to as horror vacui, a Latin phrase meaning 'fear of an empty space'. The animals and visual puzzle of the design may have been intended to protect the wearer from evil influence.
The brooch is
H. Tait, Seven thousand years of jewe-1, exh. cat. (London, The British Museum Press, 1986)
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