Black Stone

Abstract This chapter centres on an analysis of the black stone used to make the epitaph for Hadrian, and the cultural connotations of the choice of a coloured marble for a major inscription at this time. It analyses the textual and geological evidence for the sourcing of the stone in Francia, specifically from the carboniferous limestones quarried in the Carolingian heartlands, around the river Meuse and further east, near Aachen. A comparison is made between the black stone used for the inscription and the Blaustein that was used in the construction of the chapel at Aachen and in its Carolingian-era decoration. The comparative geological analysis demonstrates that local sources of black marble were being selectively exploited in the vicinity of Aachen in Charlemagne’s reign. It draws attention to early medieval texts that discuss black stones, especially Charlemagne’s letter to King Offa of Mercia written in 796, in the same year as the commission of the epitaph for Hadrian. The use of black, carboniferous limestones in the masonry and opus sectile flooring that survives in a few places in the chapel at Aachen is discussed, alongside the presence of two very rare black porphyry columns. The symbolic importance and practical significance of Roman spolia, especially columns, in the design and making of the chapel is stressed. The chapter argues that by selecting black stone from Francia for Hadrian’s epitaph, Charlemagne, as its patron, was drawing on classical connotations of coloured stone and demonstrating his imperial-style control over rare natural resources. The structural and decorative evidence from Aachen makes it clear that black stone was locally available to Charlemagne in the later eighth century and that, at the same time, these local resources were used for Hadrian’s epitaph that was sent from there to Rome.