Everything about Corinthian Bronze totally explained
Corinthian bronze, also called
Corinthian brass or
æs Corinthiacum, was a highly valuable
metal alloy in
classical antiquity. It is thought to be an alloy of
copper with
gold or
silver (or both), although it has also been contended that it was simply a very high grade of
bronze, or a kind of bronze that was manufactured in
Corinth. It is referred to in various ancient texts, but no known examples of Corinthian bronze exist today.
In classical antiquity
Of the known types of bronze or
brass in classical antiquity (known in
Latin as
aes and in
Greek as χαλκός), Corinthian bronze was the most valuable—even more valuable than
gold.
Statues,
vessels, or other objects that were formed of this metal were priceless. Vases and other ornaments that were made by the
Romans of this metal were of greater value than if they'd been made of silver or gold. Those who accurately documented this metal, including
Pliny the Elder, distinguished it into three kinds, depending on the metal that's added to the copper base: in the first, gold is added (
luteum); in the second, silver (
candidum); in the third, gold, silver, and copper are equally blended.
Plutarch and
Cicero both comment that Corinthian bronze, unlike many other copper alloys, is resistant to tarnishing. Pliny also refers to a fourth, dark, alloy, known as
hepatizon.
According to legend, Corinthian brass was first created by accident, during the burning of
Corinth by
Lucius Mummius Achaicus in 146 BC, when the city's immense quantities of gold, silver, and copper melted together. Pliny (HN, xxxiv. 7), however, remarked that this story is unbelievable, because most of the creators of the highly-valued works in Corinthian brass in
Ancient Greece lived at a much earlier period than second century BC. although some sources describe the process by which it's created, involving
heat treatment,
quenching,
leaching, and
burnishing, in a process similar to
depletion gilding.
The lost ability to give an object made from bronze the appearance of gold or silver may be one strand behind the later
alchemical quest to turn
base metals into
precious metals.
Outside classical antiquity
Articles made of Corinthian brass are mentioned in the
Bible. The
Beautiful Gate (or Nicanor Gate) of the
Second Temple in
Jerusalem, mentioned in the
Book of Acts 3:2–10, was a large, 18
metre (60
feet) wide structure said to be either solid, or covered in plates of, Corinthian brass. Another Biblical reference, in
Book of Ezra 8:27, is usually translated "fine copper [orbronze], precious as gold".
Similar alloys are found outside Europe. The
Hông-hee vases (1426) of China were said to be made of a similarly-mixed metal allegedly formed when the Imperial palace was burnt to the ground. These vessels are of priceless value.
An alloy of gold and copper, known as
tumbaga was in widespread use in
Pre-columbian Mesoamerica, and has an essentially identical composition to Corinthian brass.
A similar
metallurgical process for the "the colouration [chrôsis] of gold" is described in the 15th recipe in Leiden Papyrus X, from
Thebes in
Egypt, dated to the 4th century AD.
Quotations
Further Information
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