The basis for the development of Christian symbolism of precious stones is the Bible. In the later period, the symbolism developed and received a deeper interpretation in the works of Christian writers. The most famous, and with the most authority in the Church, are the interpretations of the "Apocalypse"; of St. Andrew, Archbishop of Caesarea (end of the 5th century) and an even older treatise of St. Epiphanius of Cyprus (end of the 5th century) on the 12 jewels.
Gems are mentioned in the Bible both directly and figuratively. The direct indication of the Lord that selected precious stones are used in objects of religious purpose is found in the book of Exodus (28 8-30), where 12 gems are named after the names of the tribes of Israel. According to the Judean historian Josephus (1st century), these stones had the miraculous property of conveying God's will during judicial proceedings and served as evidence of God's presence during sacrifices. It served as a transmission of Divine energy and symbolized the spiritual qualities of God. In the medieval Jewish tradition about the families of Israel, stones, as an element of the breastplate, in the form of "family jewels" carried zodiacal symbolism.
In most of the biblical passages with the prophets, precious stones serve as a symbolic description of the idea of the Holy Glory of the Lord. In the Old Testament, it is the prophet Ezekiel's vision of the Lord's throne, which he compares to a sapphire (Ezek. 1.26), as well as Moses' description of the "dwelling place of the God of Israel" on Mount Sinai, where it is said, "And he saw the God of Israel, and under his feet as a work of sapphire stone and like the sky when it is clear". (Exodus 24.10). We see that here the basic symbol of the Lord is sapphire, a dark-colored stone, which symbolizes truth, mystery and transcendence. This kind of symbolism is completely in line with the Old Testament experience of God.
In the New Testament, in the book of the Revelation of John the Theologian, we find an incorporeal description of the Lord Almighty (Rev. 4 2-3), which is: "In appearance similar to jasper and sardius stone; and around the throne was a rainbow that looked like an emerald." And in the representation of the Heavenly Jerusalem, the apostle describes the glory of God, which illuminates the city: "...its light was like a precious stone, like a jasper stone shining like crystal" (Rev. 21.11). Jasper has always meant a green stone, traditionally green jasper or, more likely, nephrite or jade. The name emerald also referred to a green stone, primarily emerald. Sardis is a red stone, or red jasper or cornelian. In the New Testament, a green or red stone appears as a symbol of the Lord, representing the Son of God. Green jasper or emerald represents Christ as the source of Eternal Life, and the red color of sardines reminds us of His Sacrifice.
The best symbolic material is given by the apostle John's description of the Heavenly Jerusalem (Rev. 21 11-23). The twelve foundation stones of the city walls, which bear inscriptions with the names of the apostles, "are decorated with all kinds of precious stones. The first stone is jasper, the second is sapphire, the third is chalcedony, the fourth is emerald, the fifth is sardonyx, the sixth is sardolic, the seventh is chrysolite, the eighth is beryl, the ninth is topaz, the tenth is chrysoprase, the eleventh is hyacinth, and the twelfth is amethyst. Andrew of Caesarea indicates that the 12 jewels from the foundations of the walls of the Heavenly Jerusalem and from the breastplate of the High Priest testify to the unity of the Old and New Testaments. He was the first to establish and associate the foundation stones with the names of the apostles by comparing their virtues with the symbolic meaning of gems. At the same time, St. Andrew emphasizes that "by pointing to the individual virtues of each apostle, we do not reject their generality and unity, but we want to reveal their complete characteristics, which connect them together like a chain."
In the later period, we come across other versions of the lists. Differences occur in the order of the apostles in the Gospels and the fact that the apostle Paul is, in fact, the thirteenth apostle. There, the brothers Jacob and John are represented by one stone. Let's look at the list of foundation stones and their analogies in the apostles according to the list of Andrew of Caesarea (contemporary designations are indicated in parentheses). Jasper (jasper or jade) — Peter; sapphire (lazurite) — Pavle; chalkidon (garnet) — Andrei; smaragd (immorud) — Jovan; Sardonyx - Jakov Alfejev; sard (serdolik) — Philip; chrysolite - Bartholomew; viril (beryl) — Thomas; topaz — Matthew the Evangelist; Chrysoprase — Thaddeus, Hyacinth — Simon the Zealot; amethyst - Matthias.
In some cases, when the "cornerstone" referred to Christ alone, the gems of the Heavenly City symbolized the attributes of the Lord himself. For example: jasper - atonement for sins, sapphire - soul, chalcedony - striving for truth, emerald - goodness, sardonyx - power of spiritual life, carnelian - willingness to give one's own blood for the Church, chrysolite - divine beauty, beryl - humility, topaz - honesty, chrysoprase — invulnerability to sin, hyacinth — imperial dignity and amethyst — perfection. Since man is obliged to realize himself through the image of God, to adopt divine qualities, so the stones from the Apocalypse can denote the qualities of a Christian. Similar examples can be found in the writings of Raban the Moor, archbishop of Mainz (beginning of the 9th century). - "Truth and faith are reflected in jasper; in sapphire — height of heavenly hope; in a garnet — the flame of eternal mercy. The power of faith is expressed in the emerald; in sardonyx — humility of the saint; in carnelian — the holy blood of the martyr. Chrysolite reflects true spiritual preaching; beryl — the perfection of prophecies. And finally, chrysoprase reflects the work of the blessed martyrs and their reward; in the hyacinth — the ascension to heaven of lofty thoughts and their descent to earthly deeds; in amethyst — the permanence of thoughts about the Kingdom of Heaven in the souls of the humble." The same author treats the 9 jewels that decorate the clothing of the king of Tire in the book of Ezekiel (28.13), as 9 ranks of angels. The foundations of the new Jerusalem are also compared to the twelve angels (Rev. 21.12). For the above associations, we should keep in mind that we cannot talk about the scientific precision of the names in today's sense of science, but as basic guidelines.
In general, we can say that in the ancient Church, precious stones appear, mainly, as a symbol of spiritual qualities, independent of their personification, because they fully belong only to the Lord and His Church through the representation of the Heavenly Jerusalem. This explains the abundance of jewels on the shackles of holy miracle-working icons, Gospels and other church relics.
The fact of the use of precious stones in the gold and jewelry art of ancient Egypt, India and ancient Europe in magical rites and for therapeutic purposes cannot be ignored. Precious stones and their properties were the subject of many treatises by medieval Christian writers. The miraculous properties of gems are often associated with symbols of spiritual qualities and attributes. There are well-known compositions, called lapidaries, which were very popular among the people, because in addition to spiritual symbolism, they also carried concrete advice for the magical and therapeutic use of precious stones. Similar pragmatic methods of using precious stones were not known in cathedral church art, and if they were present, then it was on an individual level, in personal sanctuaries with a protective purpose. Thus, in the secular art of the medieval period, the magical properties of precious stones played a very important role. It is also known that the Russian emperor Ivan the Terrible had a special affection and faith in the magical properties of precious stones.
In later centuries, the use of precious stones in church art was increasingly influenced by secular aesthetics, in which psycho-physical theories about color prevailed. With the development and wide application of the cutting and faceting technique, which provides an amazing physical shine to the stone (especially the diamond), we come to a situation where it becomes self-sufficient and ceases to symbolize spiritual light.
However, the powerful force that radiates from the works of ancient church art sometimes forces the master, who strives for the Truth, to return again to the old principles of creation, in which the change of his own worldly knowledge is in the first place.
