I'm watching a video about "the crown of St Wenceslas" which is from 1346 in Prague.

[futurebird@sauropods.win]

I'm watching a video about "the crown of St Wenceslas" which is from 1346 in Prague. All these comments and the guy in the video keeps saying how 'beautiful' it is and I'm just not seeing it? Ugliest thing I've ever seen in my life.

I guess it's "beautiful" that it's from 1346 and so well preserved. And naturally it's not made for the "modern eye". But... good lord. It's like someone broke a stain glass window and cleaned it up with tape.

Am I being unfair?

[futurebird@sauropods.win]

A few people have suggested it was meant to be "seen from a distance" and "in candle and torchlight for reflections"

And that's an OK theory... but if someone said that about my face I would not think it was a compliment.

[sinituulia@eldritch.cafe]

@futurebird Just completely off the top of my head I can recall seeing crowns, headdresses and such from the 1200s equivalent of Persia, China and Japan with much finer gold-smithing, and maybe better cut gems? But also it just looks a bit clumsy and like the stones poke out instead of being integrated at all. Sorry to the original artisans, but it looks a bit like somebody got told to make a crown out of sheet brass and party jewellery for a LARP. 😅

[sinituulia@eldritch.cafe]

@futurebird It's not like people of the past didn't know how to make nice things with very rudimentary supplies! The Lascaux cave paintings are literally dirt on rock and they're elegant, dynamic and expressive!