Medieval Enamels

BRIMO DE LAROUSSILHE PARIS

BRIMO DE LAROUSSILHE

Exhibition from September 15th to October 14th 2023

7, quai Voltaire - 75007 Paris

T +33 1 42 60 74 76

www.brimodelaroussilhe.com

e-mail: galerie@brimodl.com

MEDIEVAL ENAMELS

MARIE-AMÉLIE CARLIER

Translated from the French by FRANK DABELL

Enamel work is not a Medieval innovation, but the development of enamelling, especially on copper, from the Romanesque period on, is one of the most remarkable and perhaps most seductive phenomena in the history of precious works of art in the Medieval period.

While enamels in the region of the Meuse can be counted among the most beautiful works of the period, the evolution of the art of enamelling in Northern Europe was relatively brief. In France, on the other hand, the flowering of Limoges Work endured for nearly two centuries, from roughly the middle of the twelfth century to the beginning of the fourteenth century. Limousin enamel owes its success especially to the combination of colour, with the predominant presence of lapis blue, and sculpture, crafted on copper sheets. The aesthetic qualities of these works, their powerful visual impact, the readability of their decorative content, the solidity of the pieces, and their cost, quite reasonable with respect to works in gold or silver enhanced with hardstones and precious stones, also account for the extraordinary spread of Limoges enamels throughout Europe.

The decline in of champlevé enamels of Limoges at the beginning of the 1300s corresponds in part to the increased popularity of translucent enamels in gold or silver basse-taille. This technique, invented in Siena at the end of the thirteenth century, gradually emerged in France, particularly at the beginning of the fourteenth century, and lasted until the end of the Medieval period around 1500, as seen in the three pages in gold and translucent enamel from an enamelled gold book made for Anne of France (cat. 36).

Brimo de Laroussilhe holds a special place in the history of the reception of Medieval enamel work. Founded in 1908 by Nicolas Brimo, with the association of his brother-in-law Lucien Lascombe de Laroussilhe, the gallery very soon began to specialize in precious works of art from the Middle Ages. Photographs of the gallery’s early twentieth-century display cases show a profusion of enamelled pieces, principally consisting of Limoges Work.

Fig. 1. Phylactery from the Abbey of Lobbes, Meuse Valley, circa 1160-1170. London, Wyvern Collection.

Fig. 2. Chasse of the Three Magi, Limoges, circa 1200. Paris, Musée de Cluny - Musée national du Moyen Âge.

Fig. 3. Diptych leaf: Nativity and Adoration of the Magi , Paris, circa 1320-1330. Paris, Musée de Cluny - Musée national du Moyen Âge.

Some of the most important pieces of Medieval enamel work now housed in great museums were handled by Brimo de Laroussilhe. Among these is the so-called Armilla of Frederick Barbarossa (fig. 5) from the Cathedral in Vladimir, purchased by the gallery during the sales made by Soviet Russia in 1933 and sold to the Musée du Louvre in 1934.

Since the 1990s, with the decision to focus exclusively on Medieval and Renaissance art, the gallery’s interest in enamel works never flagged, and we have had the good fortune of seeing many major works pass through our hands.

Among these we can make mention of the phylactery from the Abbey of Lobbes (fig. 1), now in the Wyvern Collection in London; the three medallions crafted in Silos or Limoges (fig. 6), formerly in the Stoclet collection and now housed in the Louvre; the Christ in Majesty from the altar frontal of Ourense Cathedral (fig. 7), now in the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles; the beautiful chasse of the Three Kings in the Musée de Cluny, Paris (fig. 2); and the small translucent enamel diptych leaf dating from between 1320 and 1330, also in the Musée de Cluny (fig. 3).

These works, like those presented in this catalogue, bear witness to the startling richness and variety of Medieval enamel work, which continue to fascinate us to this day.

Marie-Amélie Carlier

Fig. 5. Armilla (armlet) with the Resurrection , Meuse Valley, circa 1170-1180. Paris, Musée du Louvre.

Fig. 6 .Three medallions with bird motifs, Limoges or Silos, circa 1150-1170. Paris, Musée du Louvre.

Fig. 4. A selection of objects at the Brimo de Laroussilhe Gallery, photographed between 1919 and 1925. Brimo de Laroussilhe’s Archives.

Fig. 7 Christ in Majesty from the altar frontal of Ourense Cathedral, Limoges, circa 1188. Los Angeles, The J. Paul Getty Museum.

CATALOGUE

FOUR PLAQUES WITH SYMBOLS OF THE EVANGELISTS

Meuse Valley, circa 1160

Copper: gilt; champlevé enamel

Each plaque: height 1½ in. (3.8 cm), width 1½ in. (3.8 cm)

PROVENANCE

William Gott collection (Leeds), during the 19 th century; John Gott [1830-1906]; with Sotheran, London1; C. W. Dyson Perrins [1864-195]; Major J. R. Abbey [1894-1969]; Brimo de Laroussilhe; E. and M. Kofler-Truniger collection (Lucerne); Ronald Lauder collection (New York).

LITERATURE

Warner, G., Descriptive Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts in the Library of C. W. Dyson Perrins Oxford University Press, 1920, pp. 76-77, no. 25.

The four symbols of the Evangelists are represented bust-length, each holding a small panel bearing his name, enamelled in blue on the reserved metal. Each figure appears within a thin blue enamel frame surrounded by a thin white border. The four plaques were designed to be attached to a wooden support, as shown by the holes in each of the four corners. The outer edges are beaded.

The square shape of these four plaques and their dimensions and iconography might prompt us to believe that they could have formed part of a staurotheke (reliquary of the True Cross) like the one housed in the Musée Dobrée, Nantes, which bears identically arranged symbols of the Evangelists in each corner. 2 This type of representation is also incorporated in other bindings such as those of the Dinant Gospels in Manchester, 3 the Saint Trond Lectionary in Düsseldorf, 4 and a Gospel book in Brussels. 5

The provenance of this tetramorph – which until the 1960s still formed part of the binding of a copy of the Commentaires des Psaumes of Petrus Lombardus, a Northern French manuscript of about 1200 6 – leads us more plausibly to the second hypothesis. An inscription on the first folio of this manuscript tells us that the binding was reworked in 1721 when it was still housed in a monastery in northern France.7 As has been pointed out by G. Warner, 8 it is likely that the eighteenth-century renovation retained parts of the ancient binding, and one can thus imagine that the four plaques with Evangelical symbols formed part of the binding of the manuscript before that date.

The palette of the enamelling shows a range of cool colours, with a harmonious combination of yellow-fringed green and blue, becoming bolder with deeper blue or fading to white. The haloes of Matthew, Luke and Mark are blue with a white border, while that of John’s eagle is surrounded by a yellow border. This variant reflects a desire to diversify the palette of this plaque, which except for the red-tipped ends of the wings, consists solely of a rich range of blues.

In general, these four plaques reflect a very high quality of execution, as shown by the confident engraving around the reserved spaces of gilded copper. The supple, fine spared lines that define the contours and principal forms of the bodies are particularly evident in the figure of the eagle. Moreover, the elevated quality of handling is fully perceptible because of the very good condition of the gilding, which reveals both the qualities of the design and the tonal richness of the enamel.

In many respects, this tetramorph appears to derive directly from the great Mosan creations of the 1160s. The classicism of the beautiful oval face of Saint Matthew’s angel, the treatment of his hair and the palette of the enamelling enable us to associate the style with that of the Stavelot Triptych in the Morgan Library,9 which can be dated to about 1156-1158.

Staurotheke, Meuse Valley, circa 1170. Nantes, Musée Dobrée.

Book-cover of the Dinant Gospels, Meuse Valley, circa 1170-1180. Manchester, The John Rylands Library.

The style is also close to that of the pendant in the Cleveland Museum of Art, datable to about 1160.10

These various parallels, the stylistic features of the four plaques and their high quality of execution allow us to propose that they were crafted immediately after the last-mentioned works, probably around 1160.

1. Bibliotheca Pretiosa, sale catalogue, London, Sotheran, 1907, no. 301.

2. C osta , 1961, p. 100, no. 20; G eorG e, 2014, pp. 73-78.

3. John Rylands Library, Ms. Lat. 11.

4. Düsseldorf, Hauptstaatsarchiv, Hs. G XI, I; see Cologne - Brussels, 1972, p. 256, G. 18.

5.Brussels, Bibliothèque Royale, Ms 14 970.

6. See The Dyson Perrins collection. Part III, Fifty-nine Illuminated Manuscripts the Property of the Late C. W. Dyson Perrins, Sotheby & Co., London, 29 November 1960, pp. 22-23, lot 102.

7. At the foot of the recto of the first folio: “Hunc librum religavit D. Philippus Fisen hujus monasterii religiosus et Cantor, 1721”. See Warner, 1920, pp. 76-77.

8. Ibidem

9. Voelkle, 1980.

10. k lein , FlieG el and B rilliant, 2007, pp. 136-137, no. 45; G eorG e, 2014, pp. 114-118.

Pendant, Meuse Valley, circa 1160. The Cleveland Museum of Art.

PLAQUE FROM A CROSS: THE SACRIFICE OF THE LAMB AND THE SIGN OF THE TAU

Meuse Valley, circa 1160-1170

Copper: gilt; champlevé enamel

Height 3 in. (7.7 cm), width 2½ in. (6.3 cm)

PROVENANCE

E. Guilhou collection (Paris); Seligmann collection (Paris); Georges E. Seligmann (New York).

EXHIBITED

New York, Medieval Art from Private Collections, The Cloisters, October 30 th 1968 - March 30 th 1969, no. 148.

LITERATURE

Verdier, Ph., “A Mosan Plaque with Ezechiel’s Vision of the Sign Thau (Tau) – Addendum”, Journal of the Walters Art Gallery, XXIX-XXX (1966-1967), p. 67.

Gomez-Moreno, C., Medieval Art from Private Collections. A Special Exhibition at The Cloisters, exh. cat. (New York, The Cloisters, October 30 th 1968 - March 30 th 1969), New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1968, no. 148.

MorGan, N., “The iconography of twelfth century Mosan enamels”, in Rhein und Maas, Kunst und Kultur 800-1400, II, Cologne, 1973, p. 265.

Pressouyre, L., “La ‘Mactatio Agni’ du portail des cathédrales gothiques et l’exégèse contemporaine”, Bulletin Monumental, vol. 132, 1974, pp. 58-59.

Verdier, Ph., “Émaux mosans et rhéno-mosans dans les collections des États-Unis”, Revue Belge d’Archéologie et d’Histoire de l’art, XLIV, 1975, pp. 34-35.

Brodsky, J. “Le groupe du triptyque de Stavelot: notes sur un atelier mosan et sur les rapports avec Saint-Denis”, Cahiers de Civilisation Médiévale, XXI, 1978, p. 108, note 24, pl. V, fig. 12.

Carlier, M.-A. “Plaque de croix typologique: Le sacrifice de l’Agneau et le Signe du Tau”, in GeorGe, Ph. (ed.), L’œuvre de la Meuse, Feuillets de la cathédrale de Liège, 2014, pp. 95-97.

The dimensions and iconography of this plaque suggest that it may originally have formed part of a large typological cross. Frequently found in the region of the Meuse, such crosses expressed parallels between the Crucifixion, or Christ in Majesty, and various Old Testament episodes prefiguring either Christ’s sacrifice or the shape of the Cross, such as Abraham and Isaac, the Offerings of Cain and Abel, the Widow of Sarepta, or — evidently — the Sign of the Tau.

This learned taste for correspondences between Old and New Testaments, which spread through the Mosan region in an unprecedented way, is directly tied to the theories espoused by the theologians of the time. Among those in the forefront of the discussion was Rupert, a monk from Liège who became Abbot of Deutz in 1120. In his writings, Rupert of Deutz gives a wide-ranging treatment of the Gospel story, reading it in symmetry with Old Testament narratives. These theological considerations profoundly marked the work of Mosan enamel artists, as one can see on numerous crosses or individual plaques from dismembered crosses.

The scene of Paschal immolation, in which the letter tau (T) is inscribed in lamb’s blood on the lintel of the doors of the Israelites as a sign of Salvation before the tenth plague of Egypt (Exodus 12: 21-22), is among the typological parallels frequently adopted in Mosan enamels. The subject appears in various examples, including the foot of the Cross of Saint Omer,1 and on the crosses in the Royal Museum in Brussels, 2 the British Museum, 3 Vienna, 4 as well as on the reliquary cross in the Victoria and Albert Museum, 5 two related plaques in the Musée du Louvre, 6 and another plaque in the British Museum.7

Sometimes, as in the two related plaques in the Louvre, the scene of the anointing of doors with the blood of a lamb is presented as a pendant to that of the “man clothed in linen” who marks the Tau on the forehead of the righteous, according to the vision of the Prophet Ezekiel (9: 3-4). The two iconographical subjects are very often associated, and generally present a conjunction of elements even when they are treated independently. As Philippe Verdier and Léon Pressouyre have underlined, the man inscribing the Tau on the front of a house — illustrating the passage from Exodus — does not use a sprig of hyssop dipped in lamb’s blood, as in the scriptural text, but a goose quill, as referred to in Ezekiel’s vision, and as seen here.

On the present plaque formerly in the Seligmann collection, the sacrifice of the lamb is specified by the inscription “MACTATIO AGNI”, as on the Saint Omer crossfoot or the typological cross in Brussels. However, the slaughtering of the lamb is very often relatively inconspicuous, with the animal shown with its throat slit in the doorway of the house, its blood collected in a cup. Emphasis is given to the related image of anointing the doors with the blood of the lamb, indicated by the words “SIGNUM TAU” (once again drawn from Ezekiel), as in most of the other known instances. The subject is known in a number of variants in Mosan enamel art. The composition of the Seligmann plaque limits itself to the three essential elements of the story: the slaughtered lamb, the figure inscribing the sign of the Tau, and the house, which approximates the form of a church, with a gabled façade seemingly flanked by a pair of towers.

Two plaques: Passover with the Tau inscribed on a house ; and the Inscription of the Tau on the Foreheads of the Faithful , Meuse Valley, circa 1160-1170. Paris, Musée du Louvre, département des Objets d’art.

The economy of means used in this image, and the choice of a beardless and simply clothed youth for the figure inscribing the Tau, invite direct comparison with the plaque on the right terminal of the typological cross in the British Museum, which can also be dated to the years between 1160 and 1170. 8

1. See C olo G ne-B russels , 1972, pp. 254-255, no. G17.

2. Ibidem, p. 258, no. G21.

3. s tratFord, 1993, cat. 4, pl. IX.

4. m orG an , 1973, p. 264, fig.1.

5. Pressouyre, 1974, p. 58, fig. 6.

6. G aBorit, 2005 p. 173, figs. 184-185.

7. s tratFord, 1993, cat. 13, pl. XIX.

8. Ibidem, cat. 4, pl. IX.

Cross, Meuse Valley, circa 1160-1170. London, The British Museum.

PLAQUE WITH A FIGURE OF HUMILITAS (HUMILITY)

Meuse Valley, circa 1170

Copper, chased and gilt; champlevé enamel Height 2 3/8 in. (6.1 cm), width 3 1/8 in. (7.9 cm)

PROVENANCE

Adolphe Stoclet collection (Brussels); Philippe Stoclet collection; Keir collection.

EXHIBITION

Masterpieces from the Keir Collection, British Museum, London, 1981.

The Keir Collection, Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, 1983.

LITERATURE

BorChGraVe d’Altena , J. de, « Des figures de vertus dans l’art mosan au XIIe siècle », in Bulletin des musées royaux d’Art et d’Histoire, I, 1933 ; p.17, fig. 16.

KatzenellenBoGen, A., Allegories of the Virtues and Vices in Medieval Art, London, 1939, pp. 48-49 (note 2).

Verdier, Ph., « Un monument inédit de l’art mosan du XIIe siècle. La crucifixion symbolique de la Walters Art Gallery », Revue belge d’archéologie et d’histoire de l’art, XXX, 1961, p. 154, fig. 25.

MorGan, N.« The iconography of twelfth-century Mosan Enamels », in Rhein und Maas, Kunst und Kultur 800-1400, II, Cologne, 1973, pp. 263-278, p. 273 (note 66).

StratFord, N., « Plaque: Humilitas », in Gauthier, m.-m and François, G., Medieval Enamels, Masterpieces from the Keir Collection, London, 1981, pp. 32-33, no. 47.

This rectangular plaque is surrounded on all sides by beading. Attachment holes are visible in each corner. A half-length figure of a female Virtue, winged and haloed, appears in the middle of the plaque, placed within a blue and white enamelled frame. She holds a crown in her right hand, and in her left, similarly covered by a fold of her mantle, she holds an enamelled red cross, its top extending over the enamel framing border. She wears a green tunic with yellow highlights and her mantle combines turquoise, blue and white tones. Her wings, dominated by green and blue, are simply designed and topped by a roll of deep red lined with white. Facial features, as well as hair, Adam’s apple and part of the left hand, set against the gilded background of the plaque, are defined by blue enamel. The face of this Virtue is typical of Mosan enamel work of the last third of the twelfth century: it is oval in form and has a fairly strong nose, and the round eyes, slightly close to one another, are placed under assertive eyebrows, one of them extended by a single line of the tool into the bridge of the nose.

The upper part of the plaque bears the name of the Virtue in blue: “HUMILITAS” (Humility). The manner of writing and the arrangement of the letters on both sides of the figure are also characteristic of Mosan workshop practice in the last third of the twelfth century.

The representation of a winged Virtue, shown frontally, can be found in a number of Mosan works of the last third of the twelfth century,1 such as the Reliquary Cross in the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, the gable of the reliquary casket of Saint Gondulphe in Brussels, the phylactery from Waulsort in the Museum in Namur, or the two plaques which combine the representation of Virtues with an embodiment of the first and fourth images of FIDES and RELIGIO (Faith and Religion) in the British Museum. 2

The latter images combine the representation of Virtues with an embodiment of the first and fourth Commandments. The iconography of the Ten Commandments, which scarcely appears outside Mosan art of the twelfth century, is frequently associated with figures of Virtues, most often resembling the one discussed here, that of a half-length Angel with wings spread. We may also underline that the plaque with Humilitas is very close in spirit to the beautiful appliqué gilt bronze figure, once also in the Stoclet collection, of an Angel holding the text of the sixth commandment, “NON OCCIDES” (“Thou shalt not kill”). 3 The classicism of the oval face, the centrally-parted hair, rolled around the temples, and above all the spirituality exuded by this figure are all elements shared by these two works, once in the same collection.

Among the representations of Virtues in Mosan art that have come down to us, no other unites the two attributes held here by Humilitas: the cross and the crown. In the Waulsort phylactery, Humilitas holds the cross, but her other hand holds a disc bearing the inscription “EXALTIO”.

A plaque with iconography very close to the one in the Stoclet collection was once housed in the collection of Dr. Leopold Seligmann. 4 The centre of this rectangular plaque has a haloed and winged figure wearing

Reliquary Cross, Meuse Valley, last third of the twelfth century. Baltimore, Walters Art Museum.

Four-lobed pignon de châsse from the Saint Gondulphe reliquary, Meuse Valley, circa 1160-1170. Brussels, Musées Royaux d’Art et d’Histoire.

a crown, with the enamelled inscription “CARITAS” running vertically to its left. The quality of the photograph published in the catalogue of the Seligmann collection does not really allow one to establish possible similarities of style between the two plaques, but whatever these may be, their difference in size suggests that they did not come from the same object. 5 It is in any case relatively difficult to be certain about the type of work to which the Stoclet plaque could have belonged. It is not impossible, given its form and dimensions, that this plaque may have been placed at the base of a cross. This is all the more likely if one considers that Humility is at the root of all the Virtues, and that the attributes carried by Humilitas refer directly to the Passion of Christ. 6

1. See Verdier, 1961, pp.115-175.

2. StratFord, 1993, nos. 11-12, pp. 83-85.

3. See D urand, 2003, no. 6, pp. 24-25.

4. Die Sammlung Dr Leopold Seligmann, Köln, Ball & Graupe, Berlin, April 29 th, 1930, lot 125d, pl. XXXV.

5. The dimensions of the plaque in the Seligmann collection are given in the sale catalogue as 5.7 x 6.6 cm; those of the plaque in the Stoclet collection measure 6.1 x 7.9 cm.

6. StratFord, 1981, p. 33. At the same time, as Neil Stratford has underlined, this plaque could equally have functioned on a reliquary or on a binding.

Appliqué figure: bust of an Angel holding the text of the Sixth Commandment, Meuse Valley, circa 1150-1160. Paris, Musée du Louvre.

Two plaques with FIDES and RELIGIO, Meuse Valley, circa 1160-1170. London, British Museum.

PLAQUE: SAINT NICHOLAS

Rhenish-Mosan, circa 1180

Copper: gilt; champlevé enamel

Height 4 in. (10 cm), width 2¾ in. (7 cm)

PROVENANCE

H. Baumel collection (Paris); Simon Seligmann collection (Paris); Georges

E. Seligmann (New York).

LITERATURE

HoFFmann, K., The Year 1200, exh. cat., (New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, February 12 th - May 10 th 1970), New York, 1970, p. 182, no. 188.

MorGan, N., “The iconography of twelfth-century Mosan enamels”, in Rhein und Maas, Kunst und Kultur 800-1400, II, Cologne, 1973, p. 275, note 173.

Verdier Ph., “Émaux mosans et rhéno-mosans dans les collections des États-Unis”, Revue belge d’Archéologie et d’histoire de l’art, XLIV, 1975, pp. 64-65.

EXHIBITED

New York, The Year 1200, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1970.

The plaque is shaped like a mandorla, defined by fine lines of blue and white enamel and set within a border of dense beading. The image is surrounded by an inscription that identifies the holy archbishop: “ARCHIEPISCOPVS SCS NICHOLAVS”. The figure is haloed, standing and dressed in a dalmatic and chasuble of the Roman tradition. Saint Nicholas also wears a pallium bearing enamelled crosses; he holds the crozier in his right hand and proffers an open book with his left, with the inscription “PAX VOBIS” (Peace be with you). Here, the mandorla and inscribed declaration, recalling Christ’s words to his Apostles after the Resurrection, aim to establish a parallel between the Holy man and the Redeemer. It should be pointed out that the representation of a Saint within a mandorla is relatively uncommon, the format being traditionally reserved for figures of Christ or the Virgin Mary in Majesty.1 The shape of the plaque does not make it possible to precisely identify the object of which it originally formed part, but this was probably a small altar or reliquary. On the other hand, the iconography appears to be sufficiently specific to enable us (following Nigel Morgan) to propose that the object was dedicated to Saint Nicholas. 2

In many respects, the style of the plaque relates to Mosan works circa 1160-1170: the palette of the enamels, the coloured modelling of drapery, the thin blue and white enamelled border, and the formal, hieratic attitude of the figure. However, the summary treatment of hands, the somewhat reduced proportions of the head and above all, the slightly flattened style of the face seem to stand out from the Classicism that generally predominates in purely Mosan enamels. These elements explain why the plaque

was attributed by Konrad Hoffmann to a Cologne workshop in the decade 1180-1190; 3 he suggested comparing the angular style of the drapery in the Saint Nicholas plaque with that of the figures of bishops in the medallions of the roof of the reliquary shrine of Saint Heribert, executed in Cologne between 1160 and 1170. 4 While a dating around 1180 seems entirely justified on grounds of style, the attribution to the Cologne school seems less clear, and precise historical placement is hindered by the absence of a secure comparison. According to Philippe Verdier, the Seligmann plaque, which he compares in this respect with the one in the Hesse Museum in Darmstadt,5 can more plausibly be classified among the enamels linking the Meuse and Rhine workshops in the period around 1180. 6

1. See for example the plaque with Christ in Majesty on the cover of the Saint Trond Lectionary (C olo G ne – B russels , 1972, I, G. 18, p. 256) and the plaque with the Virgin in Majesty on the phylactery pendant in the Cleveland Museum of Art (K lein , FlieG el and B rillianT, 2007, pp. 136-137, no. 45).

2. M orG an , 1973, p. 275, note 173.

3. H o FFmann , 1970, p. 182, no. 188.

4. S Chnitzler, 1959, pls. 91-92.

5. KötzsChe,1973, pp. 151-170, p. 154, fig.5.

6. Verdier, 1975, pp. 64-65.

HALO AND DECORATIVE PLAQUE

Rhenish-Mosan, circa 1180-1200

Halo: height 13/16 in. (2 cm), width 2 5/8 in. (6.6 cm)

Plaque: height 1 3/16 in. (3 cm), width 2 ½ in. (6.3 cm)

Halo:

PROVENANCE

Dr. Leopold Seligmann collection, Cologne (sale, Berlin, 28-29 April 1930, lot 125e, pl. XXXV); E. and M. Kofler-Truniger collection, Lucerne, before 1964; Keir collection.

LITERATURE

SChnitzler, H., BloCh, P. and Ratton, C., Email, Goldschmiedeund Metallarbeiten, Europäisches Mittelalter, Sammlung E. und M. Kofler-Truniger, Luzern, vol. II, Lucerne and Stuttgart, 1965, no. E 35, p. 19, pl. 36.

EXHIBITED

Zurich, Sammlung E. und M. KoflerTruniger, Luzern, Kunsthaus, 1964.

Kansas City, The Keir Collection, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1983.

The halo, cut into a crescent shape and decorated with the upper part of a foliate motif, reserved and gilded against a blue enamelled ground, bears the inscription “SANCTA SENC(IA)”.

The lettering refers to Saint Sencia, one of the companions of Saint Ursula, and thus one of the legendary eleven thousand virgins massacred at Cologne, together with Ursula, upon their return from a pilgrimage to Rome.

The female saint’s identity and the presence of the halo in the collection of Leopold Seligmann in Cologne in the early twentieth century have led to the proposal that the piece formed part of the great chasse of Saint Ursula housed in Cologne Cathedral.1 This reliquary chasse was heavily restored in the nineteenth century, and it cannot be ruled out that this halo was substituted during that period.

Likewise, the small rectangular decorative plaque is probably a fragment of a large Rhenish reliquary chasse from the end of the twelfth century. It is embellished with a row of circles between two rows of semi-circles, all set on a blue enamelled background. The centre of each circle and semi-circle bears a quatrefoil rosette motif on an enamelled turquoise ground, and each row is separated by two other rows of small white enamelled discs. The whole group is framed by a fused band of turquoise and white enamel. The sides of the plaque are formed of the traditional beading found in Rhenish-Mosan enamel work.

Many plaquettes of this type have come down to us, either decorating various reliquary chasses2 or as isolated pieces, 3 bearing witness to the richness and refinement of the ornamental vocabulary used by Rhenish enamel artists at the end of the twelfth century.

1. S Chnitzler, B lo Ch and Ratton , 1965, no. E35, p. 19.

2. sChnitzler, 1959, pls. 50-57; pls. 82-85; pls. 104-107; pls. 116-127.

3. S Chnitzler, B lo Ch and Ratton , 1965, nos. E15-E32, pp. 16-19, pls. 34-35; H o FFmann , 1970, p. 181, no. 186; pp. 183-185, nos. 189-191.

6 SAINT JOHN THE EVANGELIST

Germany (Saxony?), mid-twelfth century

Copper: gilt; champlevé enamel

Height 5 3/8 in. (13.6 cm), width 2 11/16 in. (6.8 cm)

The plaque has an arched top and a blue enameled border. The figure is that of an Apostle, standing and with the Book of Scriptures in his right hand. The inscription next to him, “S / IHS” abbreviates his name in Latin, Sanctus Iohannes , that is, Saint John the Evangelist.

This plaque belongs to a series of eight others, similar in form, proportion and style, each with an Apostle: Saint Bartholomew, Saint Thomas , Saint Simon and Saint Jude in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,1 Saint Peter in the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, 2 Saint James in the Art Institute, Chicago3 , Saint Philip in the Museum August Kestner, Hanover, 4 and Saint Matthew in a private collection.5

We may note certain differences between these plaques, especially the framing border, which consists of blue enamel in some cases, and a simple guilloché motif in others. In addition, the Apostles are represented either standing or seated on an enamelled bench; and their haloes are sometimes entirely enamelled, while in others, the halo is formed only of a ring of enamelling. However, these differences in no way rule out the possibility that all nine plaques originally formed part of a single work, 6 perhaps an altar frontal or a large reliquary chasse.

Saint Bartholomew, Saint Thomas , Saint Jude, and Saint Simon , Germany (Saxony?), mid-twelfth century. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

This group of Apostles has also been associated with three rectangular plaques with historiated scenes:7 the Nativity in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Adoration of the Magi in the Saint Louis Art Museum 8 and the Massacre of the Innocents in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.9

These three plaques present similar style and dimensions. Nonetheless, there too, the borders differ from one piece to another. They are traditionally believed to come from a single object, as confirmed by their iconography. The hypothesis that they belong to the same ensemble as the Apostle plaques seems entirely appropriate, but in any case, it is certain that they all came from the same workshop, even if they did not belong to the same work.

Yet their attribution poses some problems: the style and palette of the enamels, and certain details, such as the foot of the Saint John , which encroaches on the enamel border, reveal the clear influence of works from the Rhine-Meuse area. However, the very individual drawing style of some of the faces, with their particularly large brows, emphatic features and rounded eyes, or the exaggerated, dramatic quality of the Massacre of the Innocents, make locating the workshop more challenging. In 1929, Borenius has suggested that the plaques in the Victoria and Albert Museum and the one now in Saint Louis were Mosan,10 but since then all of them have more rightly been given to a German workshop, possibly located in Saxony.11

1. The plaques with Saint Bartholomew (13 x 7.1 cm) and Saint Thomas (12.9 x 7.3 cm), inv. nos. 17.190.442 and 17.190.443, were both in the collection of Georges Hoentschel before passing to that of J. Pierpont Morgan. The plaques with Saint Jude (13.4 x 6.4 cm) and Saint Simon (13.4 x 6.5 cm), inv. nos. 41.100.141 and 41.100.142, were in the Stroganoff collection in Rome and then in that of George Blumenthal.

2. 13.3 x 7 cm. Acquired from Henri Daguerre in 1928 (Inv. 44.0101).

3. 13.2 x 6.5 cm. Formerly in the collection of Kate S. Buckingham (Inv. 1943.67).

4. Inv. no. 3575.

5. On loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York between 1979 and 2010 (L. 1979.37); Sotheby’s sale, New York, January 27th 2011, lot 389.

6. Some of these differences are visible, for instance, in the plaques with Saint Bartholomew and Saint Thomas now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. These two pieces have different birders and haloes, but their close resemblance and shared provenance from the Georges Hoentschel collection attest to their common origin. See Pératé, 1911, nos. 18-19, pl. VIII.

7. See Ostoia , 1969, no. 44, pp. 98-99, p. 255.

8. For the plaque in the Victoria and Albert Museum and the one now in the Saint Louis Art Museum, formerly in the Hohenzollern collection, see B orenius , 1929, pp. 93-94.

9. Inv. 17.190.444.

10. See B orenius , 1929.

11. Vera K. Ostoia had suggested that there were certain similarities with works from Hildesheim or Northern Germany (Ostoia , 1969, p. 99); currently the plaques in the Metropolitan Museum of Art are presented as German, possibly Saxon, and dated to about 1150.

Saint Peter, Germany (Saxony?), mid-twelfth century. Baltimore, The Walters Art Museum.

The Massacre of the Innocents , Germany (Saxony?), mid-twelfth century. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

PLAQUE: THE CRUCIFIXION

Lower Saxony (Hildesheim?), circa 1170-1180

Copper: gilt; champlevé enamel

Height 2 in. (5.3 cm), width 2 5/8 in. (6.8 cm)

PROVENANCE

Adolphe Stoclet Collection (Brussels).

LITERATURE

GoidsenhoVen, J.P. van (ed.), Collection Adolphe Stoclet (première partie) Choix d’œuvres appartenant à Madame Féron-Stoclet, Brussels, 1956, p. 174.

KemPer, D. Die Hildesheimer Emailarbeiten des 12. und 13. Jahrhunderts, Regensburg, 2020, pp. 496-497.

This rectangular plaque is surrounded by a reserved smooth gilt border. Four holes would have allowed its attachment to a wood core, thus securing it to the object which it originally adorned. Its size and shape indicate that it could have formed part of a portable altar1 or an element of a binding board.

The composition reduces the representation of the Crucifixion to its essential elements: Christ on the cross is flanked by the Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist who both adopt the same gesture of affliction, their heads slightly inclined towards the body of Christ. In typically Romanesque manner, the size of the figures here is adapted to their importance.

The supple design of the reserved and gilded figures, as well as the palette of the enamelling, make it possible to attribute this plaque to workshops active in Lower Saxony, in particular Hildesheim and Brunswick, during the third quarter of the twelfth century. In the years 1170-1180, Lower Saxon workshops produced champlevé enamels with composition that were always extremely clear, in which the characters, entirely reserved and gilded, stand out against an enamel ground with a palette restricted to just a few pure colours: deep lapis blue, bright green and white. The Reliquary of Saint Henry 2 and the portable altar with Christ nailed to the Cross , 3 both housed in the Musée du Louvre, provide good examples of the work carried out in these workshops. One could also compare the plaque attached to the binding board of the Saint Godard Gospels, 4 housed in Trêves, attributed to a Hildesheim workshop of about 1170-1180, which features not only the elements mentioned above, but the gently dotted turquoise blue enamel, here visible on the Cross.

1. For example of the type made by Eilbertus of Cologne (Berlin, Kunstgewerbemuseum): see KötzsChe, 1973, p. 215, figs. 35-36, pl 9.

2. See G aBorit, 2005, pp. 178-179, 182; B aG noli, K lein , Mann and Ro Binson , 2010, p. 83, no. 39.

3. See G aBorit, 2005, pp. 180-182.

4. See Lu Ckhardt and Nieho FF, 1995, I, g. 32, p. 512-516, fig. p. 515; Kem Per, 2020, Tri2, pp. 515-522.

Binding of the Saint Godard Gospels (detail), Hildesheim, circa 1170-1180. Trêves, Cathedral Treasury.

8 TWO PLAQUES: BUSTS OF SAINTS

Grandmont workshop, Limoges, circa 1185-1195

Copper: engraved, stippled and gilt; champlevé enamel Width 3 ¾ in. (9.6 cm) and 3 7/8 in. (9.9 cm)

PROVENANCE

Treasury of Rocamadour (Lot), before 1890; Victor Martin Le Roy collection, before 1900; J.-J. Marquet de Vasselot collection.

EXHIBITIONS

Paris, Petit Palais, Exposition universelle de 1900, Exposition rétrospective de l’art français des origines à 1800, Paris, 1900, no. 2429, p. 292.

LITERATURE

RuPin E., L’Œuvre de Limoges, Paris, 1890, pp. 334-335, fig. 401.

RuPin E., Rocamadour. Étude historique et archéologique, Paris, 1904, pp. 303304.

Marquet de Vasselot, J.-J., Catalogue raisonné de la collection Martin Le Roy, I, Orfèvrerie et émaillerie, Paris, 1906, nos. 19-20, pp. 31-32, pl. XIV.

SouChal, G., « Autour des plaques de Grandmont : une famille d’émaux limousins champlevés de la fin du xiie siècle », Bulletin monumental, CXXV, 1967, pp. 54-55.

Gauthier, M.-M. and François, G., Émaux méridionaux Catalogue international de l’Œuvre de Limoges, I, L’Époque romane, Paris, 1987, nos. 275276, p. 220, pl. CCXXXII, fig. 766-767.

These two mandorla-shaped plaques each have a gilt medallion in the middle, outlined in turquoise enamel and set against a lapis lazuli blue ground. Flanking each medallion is a floral motif with two long enamelled petals spreading from the lateral holes used for attaching the plaques.

At the centre of each medallion, reserved and gilded, is the figure of a saint, probably an apostle, shown emerging from wavy clouds; one of the latter has curved extensions ending in palmettes. Both figures wear ample dark blue cloaks over a light blue robe, with a broad ornamental band across the collar enamelled in red and embellished with a dot motif or a grid motif using the gilding left in reserve.

The flesh of the face and neck on both figures is described in white enamel with a very slight pink hue. Hair and eyes are in red enamel, and eyebrows are accentuated by a very fine line of blue enamel. Meticulous stippling defines all the reserved parts of the faces, clothing and ornamental areas. The style of the figures is uniform, yet one can appreciate individual features, one more stocky, with a relatively broad face and more rounded cheeks, the other more slender and finer.

At the end of the nineteenth century, these two plaques were remounted on a composite chasse in the treasury at Rocamadour, 1 with other elements datable to the thirteenth century, to judge by the engraving published by Ernest Rupin in 1890.

Although their Medieval provenance remains unknown, the style, tonalities of the enamel and the technique of these two plaques can be associated with a small group of works created specifically for the Abbey of Grandmont and its subordinate structures at the end of the twelfth century, roughly between 1185 and 1195.

Geneviève Souchal was the first to identify this group, principally composed of elements from large-scale crosses, showing the same techniques and style as the two large plaques from the high altar of Grandmont, which were executed between 1189 and 1190 and are now housed in the Musée de Cluny in Paris. 2

The main characteristics of this very distinct workshop are the enamelling of the flesh parts, the presence of red enamel incrustations setting off hair, beard and eyes, and facial types marked by eyebrows extending into the bridge of the nose, as well as mouths and chins expressed by small curved lines. Likewise, the palette of the enamels, with an emphatic use of marbled pink or white, highly contrasting colours, and above all delicate stippling which enlivens every line in the reserved areas, are all entirely typical of the Grandmont group.

The works in this little group, also distinguished by their balanced compositions and a true sense of monumentality in the design of the figures, represent a rare stylistic trend in the art of Limoges. This is very different from pieces with a vermiculated ground, even if those were created in the same period. At the same time, as Geneviève Souchal has pointed out, the two plaques formerly in the Martin Le Roy Collection show a certain coexistence of gilt and enamelled grounds. Indeed, here the gilded circles containing the champlevé bust figures are set against a deep blue enamel ground decorated with polychrome palmettes, as in the first examples of pieces entirely set against an enamel ground. 3

It is hard to establish with certainty the sort of object to which these plaques could have belonged, since such mandorlas appear on very disparate Limousin artefacts. Nonetheless, the size of the two ovals suggests that they may have adorned a large reliquary chasse. 4

1. This chasse was sold by the church at the end of the nineteenth century; it originally contained relics of Saint Blaise (see Ru Pin , 1890, pp. 334-335 and Ru Pin , 1904, pp. 303-304). The two plaques were already independent items when they appeared in the 1900 Paris Exposition.

2. S ou Chal, 1967, pp. 21-71. For the two plaques from the high altar of Grandmont, now in the Musée de Cluny, see S ou Chal, 1962, pp. 339-357; and TaB uret-D elahaye and D rake B oehm , 1996, no. 57, pp. 215-217.

3. S ou Chal, 1967, p. 54.

4. One may recall for example the enamelled plaquettes forming part of the decoration of the chasse from Ambazac, made between 1180 and 1190 and formerly in the treasury at Grandmont; see TaB uret-D elahaye and D rake B oehm , 1996, no. 55, pp. 208-212.

Adoration of the Magi and Stephen of Muret and Hugh Lacerta , plaques from the Main Altar of the Abbaye of Grandmont, Limoges before 1190, Paris, Musée de Cluny - Musée national du Moyen Âge.

CHASSE SIDE WITH VERMICULÉ GROUND:

AN APOSTLE

Limoges, circa 1185-1195

Copper: chased, engraved; champlevé enamel ; traces of gilding Height 4 13/16 in. (12.2 cm), width 2 13/16 in. (7.2 cm)

PROVENANCE

Alex Brunet collection (Angers).

LITERATURE

Brunet, A., “Émaux de Limoges dans une collections angevine”, Bulletin de la Société Archéologique et historique du Limousin, vol. CXXI, 1993, pp. 154-155.

Gauthier, M.-M., Antoine, É. and GaBorit-ChoPin D. (eds.), Corpus des émaux méridionaux, II, L’apogée 1190-1215, Paris, 2011, VIII B, no. 1.

This figure of a haloed apostle holding a scroll in his left hand is set against a reserved and once gilded ground engraved with a vermiculated pattern. He stands between two columns of variegated marble that support an arch topped by a turret with small openings, and wears a pale green, yellow-lined robe under a blue mantle. His face is defined in reserve, with features accentuated by dark enamelling.

While this chasse end can be associated with several others – either isolated pieces or still forming part of their original chasses – attributed to the so-called “Queyroix workshop” in the years 1180-1185, 1 it seems especially connected with a group of small chasses datable to the period 1185-1195. These later ones generally have an image of Christ in majesty on the principal side, and are marked by stylised drapery built up by short, curved lines, referred to as “drapés toriques” by Marie-Madeleine Gauthier. 2 This group, directly derived from the most significant chasses with a vermiculé background dating from between 1175 and 1185, 3 includes the small chasse with Christ in Majesty in the Musée du Louvre. 4 Apart from the similar stylisation of drapery, this work and the piece presented here share the same range of enamelled colours, the marbling effects of the columns, as well as the taste for white dots on the lapis blue enamel that enhance the orphreys on the collar and lower robe of our saint.

2.

1. See G authier, A ntoine and G aBorit-Cho Pin , 2011, VIII B, no. 1; and G authier and François , 1987, nos. 205 and 212.

See G authier and François , 1987, nos. 224-234.

3. Particularly the chasse of Saint Stephen in Gimel or the Saint Martial chasse in the Louvre. See TaBuret-D elahaye and D rake B oehm , 1996, pp. 106-111, nos. 16-17.

4. Ibidem, pp. 138-139, no. 29.

BOOK-COVER: THE CRUCIFIXION

Limoges, circa 1190-1200

Copper: engraved, chased and gilt; champlevé enamel

Height 9 5/8 in. (24.6 cm), width 5 3/8 in. (13.6 cm)

PROVENANCE

Nodet collection (Paris) in 1936.

LITERATURE

DesCheemaeker, B., “Une plaque de reliure limousine avec la Crucifixion attribuable au maître « aux asters ciselés »”, Bulletin de la Société archéologique et historique du Limousin, CXXVII, 1999, pp. 115-123.

Gauthier, M.-M., Antoine, É. and GaBorit-ChoPin, D. (eds.), Corpus des émaux méridionaux, II, L’apogée 1190-1215, Paris, 2011, V B, no. 2.

This plaque, originally attached to a wooden board and set within a framing frieze, was made to cover the front of a bound manuscript. It may have had a pendant plaque of the same size with an image of Christ in Majesty, but given that far fewer plaques of that subject have come down to us, we should perhaps imagine that certain bindings were composed of only one enamelled figurative plaque representing the Crucifixion.1

Set against a dark blue background punctuated with rosettes and chased asters, and crossed by three horizontal turquoise bands, the green enamelled cross bears a reserved and gilded figure of Christ. At the foot of the cross, his hands joined together, Adam emerges from a sarcophagus adorned with enamelled lozenges. To each side of the cross, standing on mounds formed of overlapping layers of flames, Saint John the Evangelist holds the Scriptures and the Virgin Mary clutches her wrist in a gesture of pain. Above the arms of the cross, a pair of three-quarter-length angels emerge from clouds encompassed by semi-circles. At the very top of the plaque, above the titulus crucis with the inscription “IHS / XPS”, appears the hand of God.

In general terms, the work holds a place in the group of book-binding plaques stylistically defined by the language of late Romanesque Limoges Work. Yet it differs from most other pieces of this kind in a number of refinements and original features. For example, we may note the use of a relatively rare colour, more typically found in early examples of Limoges Work, namely the translucent wine-red tonality whose presence is here limited to the suppedaneum (Christ’s footrest) and the thin band that suggests the interior of Adam’s sarcophagus. 2 Apart from the presence of this special colour and the beautiful radiance of the enamels, throughout, we

Book-cover: The Crucifixion

Zurich, Schweizerisches Landesmuseum.

Book-cover: The Crucifixion

Formerly Berlin, Staatliche MuseenKunstgewerbemuseum (untraced since 1945).

should underline the quality of the classicizing appliqué heads, the deep and refined chasing of the reserved areas of metal, and the delicate stippling that enlivens the contour of the plaque, as well as the reserved lines around the rosettes, the three horizontal turquoise bands and the flame motifs of the mounds.

Furthermore, the peculiar style of the drapery design, the individualization of the appliqué heads and certain details, especially in the iconography, enable us to recognize the hallmark of a specific group of binding plaques, of which two others with images of the Crucifixion have come down to us, one in the Schweizerisches Landesmuseum, Zurich, 3 and the other, even closer in appearance, once housed in the Staatliche Museen, Berlin. 4

The three plaques, of comparable size and with similar contours, closely resemble each other in style, particularly in the quality of the engraving and the treatment of drapery reflect the same manner. Draperies are marked by an arrangement of chevron-like folds, and each of the three plaques display the same original design of the Virgin’s dress, with the figure swelling out at the elbows. Likewise, a detail – the specific shape of the folds at the bottom of Saint John’s robe – recurs identically on the plaque formerly in Berlin.

If – as Danielle Gaborit-Chopin has rightly pointed out – the flared terminals of the cross are not a distinctive element of our work, 5 there is an unusual detail visible on all three of these plaques, namely the depiction of the dextera domini showing the flat part of the hand rather than the palm.

Notwithstanding due reservations concerning possible overlaps between one Limousin book-cover artist or workshop and another, 6 the proximity of the Zurich and Berlin plaques to the present piece, formerly in the Nodet collection, and the specificity of these three examples could help us recognize them as the product of the same workshop, whose achievements – each of very high quality – would date to about 1190-1200.

1. G authier, 1967, p. 155; TaB uret-D elahaye and D rake B oehm 1995, p. 170.

2. The tone is obtained by applying flux (colourless enamel) on the red copper, which thus lets the layer of cuprite that forms during crafting show through.

3. G authier, A ntoine and G aBorit-Cho Pin , 2011, VB, no. 51.

4. Ibidem, VB, no. 5. Unfortunately, this plaque disappeared from the museum in 1945 and is only known through black and white photographs, which limits comparisons with the plaque formerly in the Nodet collection discussed here.

5. G authier, A ntoine and G aBorit-Cho Pin , 2011, VB, no. 2.

6. Ibidem, p. 209.

RELIQUARY CHASSE WITH APOSTLES

Limoges, circa 1190-1200

Copper: chased and gilt; champlevé

PROVENANCE

Joseph Homberg collection (sale, London Sotheby’s, 19 July 1949, lot 156); Georges Dormeuil collection.

LITERATURE

Gauthier, M.-M., Antoine, É and GaBorit-ChoPin, D. (eds.), Corpus des émaux méridionaux, II, L’apogée 1190-1215, Paris, 2011, I E 4, no. 24.

The front face of this reliquary chasse bears the same general composition on the case and roof: a row of three mandorlas joined horizontally by engraved rosettes, each enclosing the figure of a saint or apostle seated on a golden arc, their feet resting on a dotted turquoise band. The deeply engraved reserved gilt figures on the front and gable ends have classicizing heads in half relief.

The great simplicity of the iconography does not preclude an appreciation of the superb quality of this chasse, the subtlety of its decoration and colours, as well as the true originality of the ornamental language. Indeed, as Simone Caudron1 has pointed out, this reliquary chasse has certain motifs which are rather uncommon among Limoges chasses, such as the blue and white cloud forms that surround the row of plaques on the principal face, or the green bands that cross the gable ends. The ends themselves show an equally original approach in the grand, slender standing figures of saints, their appliqué heads standing out from very large haloes, simply reserved and gilt. The fine reserved foliate motifs accompanying these figures are also unusual. Likewise, the back of the chasse has an original form of decoration, with quatrefoils enamelled in pale blue and white, inscribed within gilt discs set in a network of squares connected by green-enamelled dots in the interstices.

This manner of organizing the decoration recurs on the very fine chasse formerly in the collection of J. Pierpont Morgan now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2 This belongs to a small group of chasses containing certain features that rarely occur in the decorative repertory of Limoges, and

which have been dated to between 1185 and 1200. A notable piece which can be associated with this group is the chasse formerly in the Durand collection, now housed in the Musée du Louvre, 3 where foliage accompanies the figures of standing saints. Notwithstanding the parallels one could draw with the chasses in this group it seems hard to make a connection with the chasse formerly in the Dormeuil collection, which probably belongs to a slightly later period, around 1200. That being said, the present reliquary chasse seems to fit perfectly in the wake of that group, and bears witness to the significant variants and original creative exploration made by Limousin workshops in the years before they evolved into a more streamlined output.

1. G authier, A ntoine and G aBorit-Cho Pin , 2011, 1 E 4, no. 24.

2. TaB uret-D elahaye and D rake B oehm , 1996, no. 31, pp. 142-143.

3. Ibidem, no. 30, pp. 120-141.

APPLIQUÉ FIGURE OF THE CRUCIFIED CHRIST

Limoges, circa 1195-1200

Copper: gilt; champlevé enamel; glass cabochons and enamel beads

[Modern right arm]

Height 10 1/8 in. (25.8 cm)

PROVENANCE

Oettingen-Wallerstein collection (Schloss Harburg).

Christ is represented in glory, alive, his eyes wide open. He appears as a sovereign, with a high crown originally embellished with cabochons (now lost) and turquoise enamel beads. He wears a blue enamelled loincloth adorned with a sumptuous gem-studded orphrey.

Another enamelled orphrey encircles his neck, though it seems unrealistic as it is not set against fabric, thus recalling a decorative element of ornamentation found in figures of Christ robed in a long tunic, such as the one formerly in the Martin Le Roy collection and now in the Musée du Louvre. 1

The somewhat heavily built and highly expressive face, the strictly frontal figure, the rectilinear treatment of the loincloth are all purely Romanesque in character. These aspects, as well as the figure’s size and the quality of its execution, enable us to associate the present object with a small group of appliqué figures of Christ with the same features. Within this group, the Christ in the National Museum, Stockholm, from the church in Ukna, 2 which is still attached to its original cross, allows us to imagine the impact of this type of monumental cross of the twelfth or early thirteenth century. We may add that the present figure of Christ on the cross clearly appears as the most elegantly executed with respect to cover plaques or to other appliqué figures.

Setting aside the Christ in the Musée Dobrée in Nantes, 3 which differs somewhat from the other examples in this group, notably in the absence of the orphrey around the neck, the three other known comparisons, such as that in the former Oettingen-Wallerstein collection, have been forcibly removed from their supports. These are the figures of Christ formerly in the Mège collection, now in the Louvre, 4 the one in the Walters Art

Museum in Baltimore, 5 and that formerly in the Boy collection and now in the Toledo Museum of Art. 6 The defining features of this group of appliqué figures of Christ include sizeable dimensions, a frontal and somewhat robust appearance, the presence of an orphrey around the neck, a loincloth with a rectilinear design, and the upper legs somewhat drawn up.7

Although it is not the largest in the group, the Christ formerly in the Oettingen-Wallerstein collection may be considered one of the most beautiful, to judge by the quality of its execution. Notable here is the quality of the enamelling and chasing, for instance in the elegant treatment of beard and hair, with a few locks attentively defined. Likewise, the two small enamelled loincloth folds, where the fabric overlaps the orphrey, and the folds formed by the orphrey between Christ’s knees, add further refinement.

Only the figure in the Louvre, especially owing to the deeper chasing of the torso and the vermiculé motifs adorning the orphrey of the loincloth, appears to be superior to the Christ presented here. However, we may note that our figure offers a slightly more Romanesque character with respect to the one in the Louvre, in particular because of its strict frontality, the sensitive modelling of the face and torso, and the elongation of legs and feet.

Cross from Ukna. Stockholm, National Museum.

These last elements, as well as the chromatic range of the enamel, allow for a slightly earlier placement in time than the piece formerly in the Mège collection, which Élisabeth Taburet-Delahaye had proposed was executed between 1195 and 1210; we would thus plausibly situate our Christ in the decade 1190-1200.

1. Inv. OA 8102. See TaB uret-D elahaye and D rake B oehm , 1996, pp. 184-185, no. 49.

2. A ndersson , 1980, pp. 18-22, fig. 32.

3. Inv. 896-1-24.

4. TaB uret-D elahaye and D rake B oehm , 1996, pp. 186-187, no. 50.

5. A ndersson , 1980, fig. 34.

6. Catalogue des Objets d’Art et de Haute curiosité de l’Antiquité, du Moyen Âge et de la Renaissance composant la collection de feu M. Boy, Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, 15-24 May 1905, pp. 28-29, lot 151.

7. As regards the Christ presented here, we should note that the legs are attached and fixed under the loincloth, in the same way as on the monumental figures of Christ in the Auvergne. Having been unable to study the reverse of the other figures in this group, it seems difficult to assert that these are constructed in the same manner; however, since the legs also appear to be drawn up, it is more than likely that these were mounted with the same technique.

Appliqué Christ (formerly in the Mège collection), Limoges, circa 1195-1210. Paris, Musée du Louvre, département des Objets d’art.

CHASSE (RELIQUARY CASKET) WITH THE CRUCIFIXION AND CHRIST IN MAJESTY SURROUNDED BY APOSTLES

Limoges, circa 1195-1200

Champlevé enamel on copper gilt

Heigt 6 15/ 16 in. (17.6 cm), width 8 ½ in. (21.7 cm), depth 3 5/ 16 in. (8.4 cm)

PROVENANCE

The chasse is said to have been found in the nineteenth century, walled up in a village in the Basque Country.1

LITERATURE

Gauthier, M.-M., Antoine, É. and GaBorit-ChoPin, D. (eds.), Corpus des émaux méridionaux, II , L’apogée

1190-1215, Paris, 2011, I B 1, no. 43.

The simple and massive forms of Limoges chasses are those of so-called “house-shaped” reliquaries generally found in Western art during the Medieval period until the beginning of the thirteenth century: a rectangular casket resting on straight feet, with a gabled roof usually surmounted by a ridge that has most often gone missing, as in the example studied here. While Limoges workshops did not revolutionise the forms of reliquaries, they nonetheless crafted an economic change that explains the extraordinary success of Limousin Work throughout Western Europe. The use of gilt copper enhanced by vivid enamel colouring, and especially this kind of almost unreal background, made of lapis lazuli blue, offered a result – at a modest price– that was just as striking and perhaps even more enticing than works using precious metal, enriched by gemstones to contribute to their colour.

On the main side of the casket, the crucified Christ, dressed in a perizoneum (loincloth) stands out against a bold green Cross. Below his arms stand the Virgin Mary, her hands tightly clasped in sorrow, and Saint John the Evangelist with his right hand against his cheek. On either side of this principal scenes, an Apostle is enthroned within an elongated four-lobed shape, the first blessing and the second holding the Book of Scriptures. Both are represented in a manner that recalls that of Christ in Majesty, seated on the golden arc of a rainbow, with feet resting on a turquoise enamelled footstool, and one even finds the motif of the orphrey of their mantle forming the outline of a knee pad-like shape on their right leg, following an iconography already found in Limoges manuscript illumination at the end of the eleventh century and the beginning of the twelfth. 2 On the roof, placed centrally, Christ sits enthroned in Majesty within a mandorla, standing out against a midnight-blue ground strewn with small enamelled rosettes. He holds the Book on his knee and blesses with his right hand. His long fingers extend beyond the reserved gilded framing of the mandorla. Flanking him, two pairs of Saints – no doubt Apostles – stand under round arches supported by capitals, with small turrets emerging from them.

Likewise, on each end of the casket, two Apostles, simply incised against an enamel ground crossed by a double band of turquoise, stand under a round arch surmounted by a small bell-tower. The back of the casket is embellished with a traditional field of enamelled rose-patterned motifs.

This iconography – with the figure of Christ dead on the Cross and a Christ in Majesty in a mandorla, surrounded by Apostles – was already widespread among chasses with vermiculé backgrounds of the preceding period. Its non-specific character corresponds perfectly of the needs of an increasingly expanding client base, becoming very frequent in works of various size and quality at the beginning of the thirteenth century.

The decoration and style of this chasse are still entirely associated with Limoges work of the Romanesque period. The figures on the principal side, crafted in reserve and engraved, all have “Classical” appliqué heads, and the relatively restrained palette of the enamels is embellished by a subtle alternation of medium blue and deep ultramarine. As well as the quality of the chasing in the engraved figures, one may note the sophistication of the fine stippling, which brightens all the reserved and gilded areas3 and contribute to making this reliquary chasse a very fine example of work from the Limoges workshops in the period 1195-1200.

1. At that time, it contained some remains: see G authier, A ntoine and G aBoritCho Pin , 2011, I B 1, no. 43.

2. For example, in the Sacramentary of Saint-Étienne in Limoges, or the Rule of Saint Benedict from Saint-Martial: see Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, ms. lat. 5243, fol. 45v and ms. lat. 9438, fol. 58v.

3. One may also note here that the Alpha and Omega are inscribed in fine stippling on the upper gilded border of the casket’s plaque, above the Cross.

AN APPLIQUÉ FIGURE OF CHRIST

Limoges, circa 1195-1210

Copper: repoussé, engraved and gilt; champlevé enamel; glass cabochons and enamel beads

Height 8 1/8 in. (20.6 cm), width 5 3/8 in. (13.7 cm)

Christ is represented in glory, alive, his eyes wide open and wearing a high enamelled crown embellished with turquoise beads. He is dressed in a blue-enamelled perizoneum enriched with glass and enamel beads, and has an enamelled band, similarly decorated with glass beads, around his neck. As on the appliqué figure of Christ formerly in the OettingenWallerstein collection (cat. no. 11), the band thus seems to recall residual ornamentation of the kind found on figures of Christ clothed with a long tunic, produced a little earlier, such as the Christ formerly in the Martin Le Roy collection, now in the Musée du Louvre.1

Here, the strictly frontal pose of the figure, the rigid and rectilinear treatment of the perizoneum, and the lengthening of the legs, set back from it, all communicate a fully Romanesque style. In any case, these various characteristics, as well as the presence of the enamelled orphrey on the neckline, allow us to connect this Christ to a group of large-scale appliqué figures of Christ associated with the work housed in the Swedish History Museum, Stockholm, from the church in Ukna, which remains attached to its original Cross. 2 Key items in this group include the great Christ formerly in the Mège collection, in the Louvre, 3 the one in the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, 4 the one formerly in the Boy collection, now in the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio,5 and the one formerly in the Oettingen-Wallerstein collection mentioned above.

Even if the Christ presented here is smaller than these examples and reflects a somewhat less vigorous style, the absence of softening in the figure and its still entirely Romanesque character support our view of it as entirely contemporary with these grand appliqué figures of Christ assembled around the Ukna Cross, that is, from the years between about 1195 and 1210. In this respect, our appliqué Christ constitutes a further and very fine example of enamelled relief produced by the Limoges workshops around the turn of the thirteenth century.

1. TaB uret-D elahaye and D rake B oehm , 1996, pp. 184-185, no. 49.

2. A ndersson , 1980, pp. 18-22, figs. 32-33.

3. TaB uret-D elahaye and D rake B oehm , 1996, pp. 186-187, no. 50.

4. A ndersson , 1980, fig. 34.

5. See Catalogue des Objets d’Art et de Haute Curiosité de l’Antiquité, du Moyen Âge et de la Renaissance composant la collection de feu M. Boy

Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, 15th-24th of May 1905, pp. 28-29, no. 151.

,

BOOK-COVER PLAQUE: THE CRUCIFIXION

Limoges, circa 1200

Copper: engraved, chased and gilt; champlevé enamel Height 9 5/ 16 in. (23.6 cm), width 4 5/ 16 in. (11 cm)

LITERATURE

Gauthier, M.-M., Antoine, É. and GaBorit-ChoPin, D. (eds.), Corpus des émaux méridionaux, II, L’apogée, 1190-1215, Paris, 2011, V C, no. 5.

This plaque was the central part of the upper board of a manuscript binding. The design is strewn with enamelled rosettes and crossed by a single horizontal turquoise band. The figure of Christ is nailed to a Cross enamelled in green, the symbolic colour of resurrection, and his feet are supported by a broad light blue suppedaneum adorned with red-dotted white discs. The Virgin Mary and Saint John, placed on either side of the Cross, stand over an imbricated pattern (a group of overlapping scales), as does Adam, the small figure emerging from a sarcophagus enamelled in diagonal patterns. Above the arms of the Cross, two Angels with wings spread appear in three-quarter length behind two semi-circles embellished with a multi-lobed cloud pattern. Set in a cruciform halo, the hand of God comes out of an undulating cloud above the titulus bearing the monogram of Christ, IHS.

All the figures, reserved and engraved, have beautiful appliqué heads of the classic type. Only the appliqué figure of Christ is entirely repoussé, chased and gilded.

The upper and lower borders are adorned by an undulated, threelobed and stippled motif. Likewise, the entire contour of the plaque is outlined with undulation and stippling.

Stylistically, this plaque with the Crucifixion may be compared to the central plaque of the book- cover formerly in the Seguin collection, now in the Musée du Louvre.1 In fact certain very similar details recur on each plaque, such as Adam’s sarcophagus, Christ’s suppedaneum and the composition of the imbrication.

The substantial amount of stippling in the reserved areas, the quality of the modelling in the figure of Christ and in the appliqué heads, the depth of the chasing, and the beautiful smoothing of the enamel, make this plaque a very fine example of “classic” Limousin work of the years around 1200.

TaB uret-D elahaye and D rake B oehm , 1996 p. 280, no. 87; G authier, A ntoine and G aBorit-Cho Pin , 2011, V B, no. 35.

CIRCULAR PLAQUE: CHRIST IN MAJESTY

Limoges, circa 1200

Copper: gilt; champlevé enamel

Diameter: 2 ½ in. (6.5 cm)

The dimensions of this small circular plaque, as well as its iconography, make it possible to determine that it came from the central junction of the reverse of a large processional cross.

The figure of Christ in Majesty is seated on a broad enamelled cushion set on an elaborate throne with alternating reserved and enamelled areas. He raises his right hand in blessing and holds the Book of Scriptures in his left hand, on his knee. His enamelled cruciform halo is flanked by the Alpha and Omega, reserved and gilded. The deep blue enamel ground is strewn with reserved and gilded dots and enamelled rosettes.

Notwithstanding the damage suffered by the plaque, probably as the result of intense heat, one can still appreciate the great quality of the craftsmanship in the engraving of Christ’s robe, the fine enhanced dotting in the reserved areas, and above all the beautiful appliqué head. These various elements allow us to date this small medallion to the peak period of Limoges Work, around the year 1200.

RELIQUARY CASKET: THE CRUCIFIXION AND CHRIST IN MAJESTY

Limoges, circa 1200-1210

Copper: engraved, chased and gilt; champlevé enamel Height 7 11/16 in. (19.5 cm), width 7 1/16 in. (18 cm.), depth 3 3/8 in. (8.5 cm) [Modern crest]

PROVENANCE

Marynen collection (Brussels, 1888); Charles Testart collection (sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 24-25 June 1924, lot 80, pl. VIII); Octave Pincot collection (sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 25 November 1946, lot 46, pl. XV1); Baron de Bonstetten collection (sale, London, Sotheby’s, 10 June 1969, lot 23).

EXHIBITION

Brussels, Exposition rétrospective d’art industriel, 1888.

LITERATURE

Reusens, E. H. J. (ed.), Exposition rétrospective d’art industriel à Bruxelles, Brussels, 1888, no. 63.

Gauthier, M.-M., Antoine, É. and GaBorit-ChoPin, D. (eds.), Corpus des émaux méridionaux, II, L’Apogée, 1190-1215, Paris, 2011, I B 1, no. 26.

This chasse has the classic form of “house”-shaped reliquaries generally found in Western European Medieval art until the beginning of the thirteenth century: a rectangular casket resting on straight feet, topped by a double-pitched roof surmounted by a crest. Here, the hinged roof forms the opening lid of the reliquary, following a model that was not so common in the corpus of Limoges reliquaries.

The centre of the main panel of the chasse, on the principal face, shows the crucified Christ, dressed in a loincloth and set against a green-enamelled cross, topped by a golden titulus crucis . Two bust-length angels appear above the arms of the cross, and below these stand Saint John and the Virgin Mary. The crowned Virgin tenses her wrist in a gesture of pain. Flanking this main scene, an apostle or saint stands under a semi-circular arch that rests on slender columns, which in turn support little turrets. On the roof, in the middle, the figure of Christ in Majesty is enthroned within a reserved gilded mandorla decorated with stippling. He holds the Book of Scriptures in his left hand and blesses with his right. Around the mandorla are the heads of the four symbols of the Evangelists: Saint Luke’s bull, Saint Mark’s lion, Saint Matthew’s male figure, and Saint John’s eagle. We may note that here, contrary to custom, the small appliqué head of an eagle, normally used to symbolise John the Evangelist, has given way to a man’s head of the type used for Matthew. Saint John is nevertheless clearly identifiable by his elongated, feathered neck. It was not uncommon in Limousin art for goldsmiths to use available appliqué heads, without being concerned about their perfect suitability to the body on which they were placed. 2

On either side of Christ in Majesty, framed by the symbols of the Evangelists, a saint or apostle stands under a semi-circular arch, following the same composition as on the body of the casket.

On the principal face, on the body as well as on the roof, the figures –each fitted with small appliqué heads – stand out against a medium blue

background, crossed from one side to the other by a turquoise band and strewn with multicoloured discs and rosettes.

The end sides have an original decoration consisting of a turquoise medallion enclosing an engraved angel with outstretched wings, emerging half-length from polychrome clouds. The gable is decorated with a disc containing an enamelled floral motif with five petals on a turquoise background. Three stems emerge from the medallion, forming golden foliage that fills the spandrels.

The reverse of the chasse is covered by a network of lozenges with reserved, finely-stippled contours, containing a uniform series of champlevé rosettes on the roof and small quatrefoils on the body, alternately coloured, in blue and white or green and yellow, around a red centre.

The concept of a lidded roof, the half-length angels inscribed in medallions on the sides and the expansive scattering of enamelled rosettes on a medium blue ground on the front face, are all elements that can be found on two very beautiful reliquary chasses dedicated to the childhood of Christ, housed respectively in the Louvre and the British Museum, and dated to the period 1190-1210. 3

With respect to these two chasses, the one formerly in the Pincot collection, which is smaller, shows less refinement in the tooling of the figures and the design of their contours. Its non-specific iconography corresponded perfectly to the needs of an ever-expanding clientele and appeared frequently on works of varied size and quality from the beginning of the thirteenth century onwards.

Chasse of the Holy Innocents , Limoges, circa 1190-1210. Paris, musée du Louvre.

Chasse of the Adoration of the Magi , Limoges, circa 1200. London, The British Museum.

1. The reference in the catalogue of the Pincot sale to a provenance from the “Collection R. 1924” as Léonce Rosenberg sale of 12-13 June 1924 is erroneous; this in fact refers to the sale of the Testart collection, which also took place at the Hôtel Drouot, but on 24-25 June 1924.

2. See for example TaB uret-D elahaye and D rake B oehm , 1996, no. 73, p. 257.

3. For the chasse in the Musée du Louvre (OA 10406), see ibidem, no. 41, pp. 168-169; and G authier, A ntoine and G aBorit-Cho Pin , 2011, I E 4, no. 19. For the one in the British Museum, ibidem, IA 2, no. 10.

BASE FOR A CROSS

Limoges, circa 1200-1210

Copper: gilt, champlevé enamel

Height 4¼ in. (10.8 cm), width 4 in. (10.2 cm)

PROVENANCE

Princely Collection of Liechtenstein (Vaduz) 1932; E. and M. KoflerTruniger collection (Lucerne); Keir collection

EXHIBITED

ZuriCh Sammlung E. und M. KoflerTruniger, Luzern, Kunsthaus, June 7th - August 2nd 1964.

AaChen , Mittelalterliche Elfenbeinund Emailkunst aus der Sammlung

E. und M. Kofler-Truniger, Luzern, Suermont Museum,1965.

Kansas City, The Keir Collection, Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, 1983.

LITERATURE

SChnitzler, H., BloCh, P. and Ratton, C., Email, Goldschmiedeund Metallarbeiten, Europäisches Mittelalter, Sammlung E. und M. Kofler-Truniger, Luzern, II, Lucerne and Stuttgart, 1965, no. E112, pl. 57.

Gauthier, M.-M., Antoine, É. and GaBorit-ChoPin, D. (eds.), Corpus des émaux méridionaux, II, L’apogée 1190-1215, Paris, 2011, VII B II-2 A, no. 15.

This base consists of a truncated three-sided pyramid form supported by three feet each surmounted by an engraved mask of a monster. The three facets of the base are each adorned with a circular medallion with a reserved gilt border, surrounded by a lapis blue enamelled ground. A reserved foliate motif extends across each side of the medallions, its elegant tendrils enclosing a floral motif with three tones of enamel: red, green and yellow. The centre of each medallion is enamelled in pale blue and contains a small monstrous creature, reserved and gilt. This two-legged winged animal has a canine head, a lion’s bust and a tail ending in a vegetal motif.

The pyramidal base supports a shaft decorated with engraved scales and topped by a knop enamelled in blue and adorned with reserved gilt foliate motifs.

This crossfoot has exactly the same structure as candlesticks created in Limoges Work during the same period, and was recently published as an incomplete candlestick.1

Nevertheless, the rectangular opening visible above the knop makes it possible to ascertain that it is actually a foot of a cross. The piece was also described as such when it was in the Kofler-Truniger and then Keir collections. 2

This type of base was made to secure a grand cross and thus allow it to be presented on an altar. It should be pointed out that crosses with their original bases are rare; examples include the cross in the Diocesan Museum of Freising in Bavaria, 3 datable to about 1190, and the one in the Pushkin Museum, Moscow, 4 which dates from about 1200 and has a base closely resembling the one studied here. In the present piece, the high quality of the drawing of the rinceaux, delicately crafted in pointillist detail, as well as the beautiful dotting of the enamel, also suggest it dates to the period between 1200 and 1210.

1. G authier, A ntoine and G aBorit-Cho Pin , 2011, VII BII-2 A, no. 15.

2. S Chnitzler, B lo Ch and Ratton , 1965, no. E 112.

3. G authier and François , 1987, pp. 187-188, nos. 217-218, ills. 663-664.

4. François , 1993, p. 115.

CROSS

Limoges, circa 1200-1210

Copper: traces of gilding; champlevé enamel Height 7 1/4 in. (18.5 cm)

PROVENANCE

Octave Pincot collection (sale, Paris, 25 November 1946, lot 20); Carlos A. Zemborain collection (Buenos Aires), 1965; José Léon Aldao collection (Buenos Aires), 1971.

LITERATURE

ThoBy, P., Les croix limousines de la fin du XIIe siècle et du début du XIIIe siècle, Paris 1953, p. 155, no. 109.

François, G., “Répertoire typologique des croix de l’Œuvre de Limoges, 1190- 1215”, Bulletin de la Société archéologique et historique du Limousin, CXXI, 1993, p. 110.

This solid copper cross has a round central junction, flared ends, and a triangular tenon at its base.

On the obverse, the figure of the crucified Christ, reserved and engraved, has a Classicizing appliqué head in relief. Above the figure, the inscription “IHS. XPS.” is engraved in reserve on two lines, on a green enamelled background. At the top of the cross, engraved in reserve, the Dextera Domini (right hand of the Almighty) extends down towards Christ. At the base, under the green enamelled suppedaneum (foot-support), the resurrected Adam is represented with a contoured body engraved in reserve and a head added in half relief. The arms of the cross, enamelled in deep blue, are covered in foliate motifs with areas reserved for polychrome fleurons.

On the reverse, the Lamb of God, depicted laterally, is inscribed within the circular medallion at the junction of the cross. Engraved foliage derived from the vermiculated type spread across its arms.

The modest dimensions of the cross, as well as the presence of the pointed tenon at its base, suggest that it was made for an altar, secured in a removable foot of the type seen in the piece formerly in the Kofler-Truniger collection (cat. no. 18).

PLAQUE: CHRIST IN MAJESTY IN A MANDORLA

Limoges, circa 1200-1220

Copper: traces of gilding; champlevé enamel

Height 4 1/4 in. (10.7 cm), width 3 in. (7.5 cm)

This plaque in the shape of a mandorla comes from the central junction of the reverse of a large processional cross with trefoil extremities – the type of cross that was most widespread between the end of the twelfth and beginning of the thirteenth centuries.

In the centre, the half-length figure of Christ in Majesty emerges from an enamelled cloud. He holds the Book of Scriptures in his left hand and blesses with his right. The classicizing appliqué head, framed within an enamelled cruciform halo, is flanked on one side and the other by the Alpha and Omega. The deep blue enamelled ground is strewn with rosettes and enamelled disc motifs.

The significant wear of the gilt surface and losses in the enamel in no way impede us from appreciating the refined design of the engraving and attentive chasing. These elements, as well as the classical-style appliqué head and the palette of the enamelling, would indicate a date of execution in the period between 1200 and 1220.

CANDLESTICK BASE

Limoges, circa 1200-1220

Copper: gilt; champlevé enamel

Height 3 in. (7.5 cm), width 3 ½ in. (8.8 cm)

This candlestick base in the shape of a curved cone is embellished with enamelled foliate and flower scrollwork motifs that stand out against a lapis blue enamelled background. Its summit is covered with a pattern of engraved scales. A long two-headed animal is riveted to the upper part of each of the three legs. This creature of fantasy, an amphisbaena , consists of a lion’s face topped by small horns, a lizard’s body, and a long tail ending in the form of a snake head. Originally, the eyes of each of these creatures were made of glass beads and their bodies were adorned with three turquoise enamel beads.

The conical shape of this base, its enamel decoration, and the presence of the three fantastic animals on the feet, all offer points of comparison with the two large candlesticks from the church of Øster Jølby in the National Museum, Stockholm. 1 Of a truly exceptional type among Limoges candlesticks, the pair in Stockholm, datable to about 1200, are only comparable with two other pairs of candlesticks, of relatively similar though simpler composition, both housed in Trondheim, in the Museum of Natural History and Archaeology of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. 2 The latter, datable to about 1200-1220, must also have originally included three fantastic appliqué animals on the feet.

The parallels between the base studied here and these three pairs of candlesticks enables us to propose with a good degree of confidence that it also have functioned as the base of a candlestick of a similar type.

We can draw another relatively close parallel with a work that can also be dated to the first quarter of the thirteenth century in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg. 3 It consists of a circular base topped by a series of engraved scales, and bearing three fantastic appliqué animals of the same type. There, the inscription along each side of the enamelled band indicates that the base served as the foot of a reliquary. 1. See LieBGott, 1986, p. 62, no.

BOOK-COVER PLAQUE: THE CRUCIFIXION

Limoges, circa 1210

Copper: engraved, chased and gilt; champlevé enamel Height 9 in. (22.9 cm), width 4 5/16 in. (11 cm)

PROVENANCE

Léon Arnault collection

LITERATURE

Gauthier, M.-M., Antoine, É. and GaBorit-ChoPin, D. (eds.), Corpus des émaux méridionaux, II, L’apogée 1190-1215, Paris, 2011, V C, no. 62.

The plaque is strewn with enamelled rosettes and reserved dots, and is crossed by a horizontal band of turquoise, outlined by two thin bands of light blue that stand out against the dark blue ground. The basic design is repeated on the cross, enamelled in green – the colour symbolic of resurrection – which appears almost overlaid on a second, larger cross in light blue and which supports the titulus crucis with the inscription “XPS/ IHS.” Under the arms of the cross another band bears the inscription “SCA MARIA / SCE [sic] IOH[ann]ES”, thus identifying the Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist in a fairly unusual way; a variant of this appears on the binding plaque formerly in the Salmon collection.1

Another original feature on the present plaque is the iconographical motif of Adam, represented naked and extracting himself from the tomb; the sarcophagus is adorned with diagonal bands, and the lid, lifted by Adam, is decorated with enamelled dots. This iconography occurs, with some variants, on the plaque formerly in the Graells collection in Barcelona2 and on another in San Vicente in Cardona. 3

Except for the figure of Adam, whose body, reserved and engraved, has an appliqué head, all the figures are entirely crafted in repoussé copper, chased and gilded, and riveted onto the enamelled plaque. While a single appliqué figure for the centrally-placed Christ is not uncommon, the treatment of all the figures in appliqué relief is far rarer. These are also of very high quality, to judge by the expressive level of the figures of the Virgin and Saint John, the depth of the chasing of the drapery and the attentive treatment of the orphreys on the robes. The quality of these appliqué figures, the deep-toned range of colours, the general design of the figures and the stippling of the reserved areas, allow this plaque to be dated to about 1210. It thus represents an early example of this kind of book-cover in which the figures are all crafted in appliqué relief. 4

4. A book-cover plaque with the Crucifixion of about 1210-1220 in Liverpool has this same feature; ibidem, V C, no. 27.

23 CENTRAL PART OF A PROCESSIONAL CROSS

Limoges, circa 1200-1220

Copper: champlevé enamel, traces of gilding

Height 8 3/16 in. (20.8 cm), width 6 in. (15.3 cm)

This cruciform plaque with a circular crossing was originally secured to the central obverse section of a large processional cross of the type housed in the Cathedral of Saint Paul in Münster.1 Each of the four parts of the cross would have ended in a separate plaque: the Virgin Mary and Saint John on the arms, and figures of angels or saints on the upper and lower parts. On the reverse, the circular crossing would have contained an image of Christ in Majesty, with the Four Evangelists at each terminal.

An appliqué figure of Christ is placed centrally against a green enamelled cross. He is represented as lifeless, with closed eyes, his haloed head inclined to one side and hair falling to each side of his face onto his shoulders. Above Christ’s head is the titulus crucis , inscribed with the Christogram “IHS”, and the very top of the plaque bears the Dextera Domini. The crossbars of the plaque are decorated with deep blue enamel strewn with enamelled rosettes.

The style of the appliqué figure and the enamelling enable us to date this processional cross plaque to the first part of the thirteenth century, somewhere between 1200 and 1220.

24 CHRISMATORY: THE HOLY WOMEN AT THE SEPULCHRE

Limoges, circa 1210-1215

Copper: engraved, chased and gilt; champlevé enamel Height 4 ¾ in. (12.1 cm), width 5 in. (12.6 cm), depth 3 5/16 in. (8.4 cm) [Modern feet]

PROVENANCE

Bourgeois Frères collection (sale, Cologne, October 19 th-27th 1904, lot 362); Octave Pincot collection (sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 25 November 1946, lot 26); Brimo de Laroussilhe, 1949; Dr. Péraut collection (Paris).

LITERATURE

Gauthier, M.-M., Émaux limousins champlevés des xiie xiiie et xive siècles Paris, 1950, p. 39, pp. 72-73, p. 153 ; pl. XV.

Bertrand, É., Émaux limousins du Moyen Âge, exh. cat. (Paris, Brimo de Laroussilhe, November 16thDecember 2nd 1995) Paris, 1995, no. 11, pp. 94-95.

Gauthier, M.-M., Antoine, É. and GaBorit-ChoPin D. (eds.), Corpus des émaux méridionaux, II, L’Apogée, 1190-1215, Paris, 2011, VI A, no 3.

As was traditional for chrismatories (boxes for holy oils) the little casket is composed of copper plaques riveted together without a wooden core. Four plaques create the body, and a single one is used for the four-sided pitched roof. Originally, inside the box, one would have seen a plate pierced with three circles to hold the containers for chrism, oil for catechumens and oil for exorcists.1

It seems that holy oils – intended for sacraments such as baptism, confirmation and ordination of priests, or used in ceremonies, such as the consecration of a church – have long been kept in independent containers, called ampulla , phyala or vasa , and most often made of silver. 2 The earliest mentions of such boxes, allowing them to be grouped as a type, occur at the end of the twelfth and beginning of the thirteenth centuries. 3 Nonetheless, as Ernest Rupin noted in 1890, chrismatories remain a rare product in Limousin workshops. 4 Since M. C. Ross’ study on this type of box, in which about a dozen are cited, 5 a few others have been identified, but the group clearly does not exceed twenty or so pieces. 6

Within this group, the chrismatory formerly in the Bourgeois collection is a unique example because it is the only known one to be adorned with historiated decoration.

On the principal face, on the body of the box, the three Holy Women, dressed in long robes covered with mantles and carrying their ointment jars, move forward in a row towards Christ’s tomb, which here takes the form of a Byzantine-inspired canopy. The first of the women kneels in front of it, pointing to the shroud, enamelled in blue surrounded by white, which had wrapped the body of Christ; a fold of the fabric falls along the side of the tomb. On the right, the empty sepulchre is also indicated by an angel seated on an enamelled rainbow.

While the representation of the Holy Women at the Tomb is found on a number of Limousin reliquary shrines and tabernacles,7 the way the scene is treated here is quite original, insofar as it does not make use of a pre-existing formula. Marie-Madeleine Gauthier compared this iconography to that of the Issoire reliquary, mainly because of the shape of the canopy and the position of the angel. 8 But the Issoire reliquary only shows two of the Holy Women, standing, in front of the Christ’s sepulchre. Conversely, the three Holy Women are represented on the chasse in the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore.9 There, as on the chrismatory presented here, the first of the women is shown kneeling in front of the tomb but with a more dramatic expression; she seems to be almost collapsing with emotion at the sight of the empty tomb of Christ.

The remaining decoration of the box is more traditional, with busts of angels. On the principal face, on the roof, the hand of God emerges from a cloud, flanked by a pair of angels. As on the other sides of the roof, these figures are inscribed within gilded medallions attentively enhanced with fine stippling, from which a branch spreads out, curling itself to form a polychromed three-lobed floret in each of the lower corners.

On the body of the casket, the other three faces are also adorned with these half-length angels in various attitudes, this time inscribed in finely reserved and gilded quatrefoils, enhanced with stippling. Polychrome corollas fill the spaces of the spandrels between each quatrefoil and in the corners of the plates.

Beyond its rare iconography, the chrismatory from the former Bourgeois collection stands out for the absence of appliqué heads and the very high quality of its craftsmanship. This is especially noticeable in the quality of the design and the composition of the principal scene as well as in the various attitudes of the angels. The richness of the enamel palette and the refinement of the stippling on the reserved areas point to a dating at the beginning of the thirteenth century, between 1210 and 1215.

1. The chrismatory in Saint-Viance is one of the rare examples to have kept its interior plaque (see TaB uret-D elahaye and D rake B oehm , 1996, no. 71, pp. 254-255).

2. Ibidem, p. 254.

3. Ibidem.

4. Ru Pin , 1890, p. 445.

5. Ross , 1942, pp. 341-344.

6. B ertrand, 1993, p. 40.

7. G authier, A ntoine and G aBorit-Cho Pin , 2011, I B 2, nos. 1-9; III B, nos. 8, 14 and 17.

8. Ibidem, I B 2, no. 6.

9. Ibidem, I B 2, no. 2.

Chasse of the The Holy women at the Sepulchre, Limoges, circa 1200-1210. Issoire, Church of Saint-Austremoine.

Chasse of the The Holy women at the Sepulchre, Limoges, circa 1200-1220. Baltimore, The Walters Art Museum.

CHRISMATORY WITH ANGELS

Limoges, circa 1210-1215

Copper: chased and holy; champlevé enamel; glass beading Height 4 ¾ in. (12 cm), width 4 in. (10 cm), depth 3 in. (7.5 cm)

PROVENANCE

G. Hoentschel collection (sale, Paris, Drouot, 14-15 April 1910, lot 70); Georges Dormeuil collection (Paris).

EXHIBITED

Paris, Exposition d’objets d’art du Moyen Âge et de la Renaissance tirés des collections particulières de la France et de l’Étranger, organisée par la marquise de Ganay à l’ancien hôtel de Sagan, May-June 1913.

LITERATURE

Exposition d’objets d’art du Moyen Âge et de la Renaissance organisée par la marquise de Ganay chez Mr J. Seligmann, exh. cat. (Paris, Hôtel de Sagan, May-June 1913), Paris, 1913, no. 221.

Gauthier, m.-m., Antoine, é and GaBorit-ChoPin d. (eds.), Corpus des émaux méridionaux, II, L’apogée 1190-1215, Paris, 2011, VI A, no. 6.

As with the preceding work, this chrismatory (a container for holy oils) consists of copper plaques held together by rivets, without a wooden core. The box is composed of four plaques, and another one forms the four-sloped roof. It now lacks its crowning element, which would have been attached to the top of the roof, providing a rest for the lid when the box was open.

Inside, the reverse of the roof is entirely gilded, while the body of the box only has gilding on the upper part of its sides, thus attesting to the original presence of an interior plaque with three holes for holding the receptacles for the holy chrism, the

oil of catechumens and the oil for exorcism.1

The enamelled decoration on each side of this box consists of figures of angels, represented bust-length as they emerge from clouds – a subject that was often favoured by Limoges enamel artists for objects associated with liturgy. Here, the principal side has been given special attention compared to the others. Whereas elsewhere the angels are entirely chased, they have been given beautiful classicizing appliqué heads on the roof and chest of the principal face. These two angels also show a very fine quality of design, and their heads delicately lean towards the central medallion, their wings elegantly overlapping just under the reserved area, which was originally made for attaching the hasp.

The overall composition as well as the design prompt comparison of this chrismatory, formerly in the Dormeuil collection, with the one housed in the Vatican2 and the one in the Museum in Rouen. 3 In spite of some small variations in the decoration, the obvious resemblance of the three works makes it possible to attribute them to the same workshop and assign a date between 1210 and 1215.

1. The chrismatory at Saint-Viance is one of the rare examples of this kind of object with a surviving inner plaque: see TaB uret-D elahaye and D rake B oehm , 1996, pp. 254-255, no. 71.

2. G authier, A ntoine and G aBorit-Cho Pin , 2011, VI A, no. 10.

3. Ibidem, VI A, no. 8.

Chrismatory, Limoges, circa 1210-1215. Rouen, Musée Départemental des Antiquités.

Limoges, circa 1220

Two small dragons face one another at the centre of the medallion, flanking a plant on whose branches they rest; they are winged, with an avian tail and long neck, and their bodies are entirely covered with chased stippling to give the sense of a lizard skin. Their eyes are made of dark blue enamel beads.

This central part, crafted in openwork repoussé copper, chased, engraved and gilded, is surrounded by blue enamelling with a continuous reserved and gilded foliate motif and four enamelled rosettes.

Now an isolated object, this openwork medallion must originally have adorned a travelling chest of the type owned by Cardinal Guala Bicchieri, housed in the Museo Civico, Turin.1 The secular nature of the decoration, and in particular this type of fantastic creature from a bestiary, belongs to the customary repertory used in medallions adorning this kind of coffret. More specifically, the motif of a facing pair of animals, derived from Asian art and introduced in Western Europe by way of textiles, appears quite frequently in objects of this type, and such iconography tends to indicate its secular character. Nonetheless, there is evidence that a certain number of these chests had a function relating to an ecclesiastical context. The ones owned by Cardinal Bicchieri were used by him to store liturgical objects, 2 while others could contain relics. 3

1. TaB uret-D elahaye and D rake B oehm , 1996, pp. 282-285, no. 88; C astronoVo, 2014, pp. 102-115, no. 8; C astronoVo and D esCatoire, 2016.

2. TaB uret-D elahaye and D rake B oehm , 1996, p. 284.

3. For example, the Turin chest contained the remains of Guala Bicchieri (ibidem, p. 282) and the so-called Coffret of Saint Louis in the Musée du Louvre, datable to about 1236, housed the remains and hair shirt of Louis IX

Copper: pierced, chased and gilt, champlevé enamel Diameter 3 3/8 in. (8.5 cm)

Chest of Cardinal Bicchieri, Limoges, before 1227. Turin, Museo Civico d’Arte Antica e Palazzo Madama.

in Notre-Dame du Lys (ibidem, pp. 360-363, no. 123).

27 PYX WITH FOLIATE MOTIFS AND CABOCHONS

Limoges, circa 1210-1215

The Latin word pyxis, of Greek origin and designating a wooden container, has been generally associated since late antiquity with the boxes used to store the hosts for the liturgical sacrament of the Eucharist.1

Inventory records and numerous surviving examples attest that pyxes were among the objects most commonly crafted by Limoges workshops in the thirteenth century. This abundant output certainly benefited from the intervention of Pope Innocent III, who was much drawn to the achievements of Limousin enamellers. 2 During the Lateran Council of 1215, he declared that all churches should have two pyxes, and that one of them could be of Limoges Work. 3 This proclamation at the great meeting attended by over four hundred archbishops and bishops, as well as eight hundred abbots and priors, favoured the spread of Limousin art throughout Europe. Thus we find a mention of Limoges pyxes used for the Eucharist by William of Salisbury in about 1220. 4 Likewise, in 1229, at the Council of Worcester, it was stated that the liturgical objects necessary for a church should include “two pyxes, one in silver, ivory, or Limoges Work, or any other pyx to hold the consecrated wafers.”5 The recommendation was to have two pyxes, one for Eucharistic wafers before consecration, the other for those distributed after sacrament was celebrated. 6

Limoges pyxes all adopt a similar shape, with a cylindrical body made from a strip of copper hammered to form a circular band, soldered vertically and riveted to a circular, flat base. A conical cover, made from a single piece of hammered metal, is usually topped with a cross or, more rarely, a flower bud. The box is hinged to the lid and secured on the opposite side by a hasp attached to the lid, fitted between two rings fixed to the edge of the box. Originally a pin, almost always subsequently lost, would ensure the proper closing of the pyx. The interior was gilded, and some examples contain a cupule, probably intended to allow the hosts to be easily removed. The presence of the cupule, which greatly reduces the depth of the pyx, indicates that each box could only contain a small number of wafers.

This pyx, enamelled throughout in light blue, has a continuous foliate motif decoration, with each scroll enclosing a gilded floret. On the lid, amid the foliage, are three bluish glass cabochons set within gilded oval bezels; their presence, together with the subtlety and delicacy of the foliate design, allow us to place this pyx among the most refined examples of Limoges pyxes crafted during the first third of the thirteenth century, with a probable date of 1210-1215.

1. Ru Pin , 1890, p. 201.

2. Pope Innocent III commissioned enamelled decoration for the confessio in Saint Peter’s in the Vatican: see G authier, 1968, pp. 237-246 and TaB uret-D elahaye and D rake B oehm , 1995, p. 44.

3. Ibidem, 1995, pp. 44-45; see G authier, A ntoine and G aBorit-Cho Pin , 2011, p. 168.

4. TaB uret-D elahaye and D rake B oehm , 1995, pp. 258-259.

5. Ibidem

6. Ru Pin , 1890, p. 206.

Limoges, circa 1220-1230

Copper: engraved, gilt; champlevé enamel

Height 3 1/8 in. (8 cm), diameter 2 9/16 in. (6.5 cm)

PROVENANCE

Dr Louis Marchant collection (Dijon).

LITERATURE

Made to contain Eucharistic hosts, Limoges Work pyxes are always crafted in the same manner. A band of hammered copper forms a circular band, soldered vertically and riveted to a circular, flat base. The cover, made from a single piece of hammered copper, is traditionally topped with a cross, crafted separately and most often subsequently lost, as in the present case. Conical in shape, this cover is attached to the back of the box with a hinge, and the interior of the pyx would usually have been gilded.

Inventory records and surviving examples attest that pyxes were among the objects most commonly crafted by Limoges workshops.

Within the substantial corpus of Limoges Work pyxes, this piece –formerly in the Marchant collection – stands out for its use of apparently archaic enamelling. While most pyxes have a foliate motif created in reserve and gilded on a blue enamel ground, in this instance the principle is reversed: here a continuous blue enamel foliate decoration runs around the guilloché and gilded ground of case and lid, with volutes extending into flowered palmettes in multicoloured enamel. This technique was used relatively rarely, mainly during the twelfth century, and in particular in the group of works made for the Priory of Grandmont in the years between 1185 and 1200 (see cat. no. 8). It had something of a revival in the years 1220-1230, as found for example in the reliquary of Saint Francis of Assisi in the Musée du Louvre1 and the Bonneval cross in the Musée de Cluny. 2 During this second period, when the technique might appear to be an archaism, there was also an innovation: the use of a guilloché pattern, as seen in the present work.

These distinct technical features suggest that the date of 1210 proposed by Simone Caudron for the Marchant pyx 3 is too early; we would instead place it between 1220 and 1230.

Gauthier, M.-M., Antoine, É. and GaBorit-ChoPin, D. (eds.), Corpus des émaux méridionaux, II, L’Apogée 1190-1215, Paris, 2011, III D, no. 18.

1. TaB uret-D elahaye and D rake B oehm , 1995, pp. 306-309, no. 102.

2. Ibidem, pp. 315-317, no. 105.

3. G authier, A ntoine and G aBorit-Cho Pin , 2011, III D, no. 18.

29 TWO PLAQUES: THE VIRGIN AND SAINT JOHN AT CALVARY

Limoges, circa 1230

Copper: repoussé, engraved, chased and gilt; blue-black enamel beading Copper: engraved, chased and gilt; champlevé enamel

Height 9 ½ in. (24 cm), width 3 in. (7.5 cm)

PROVENANCE

Acquired at Brimo de Laroussilhe in 1929 by the collector François Baverey (Lyon).

LITERATURE

Bertrand, É., Émaux limousins du Moyen Âge. Ière Partie : Essai d’un inventaire des émaux limousins du Moyen Âge, négociés par Brimo de Laroussilhe depuis 1908, Brimo de Laroussilhe, Paris, 1995, fig. VIII, p. 16, no. 124, p. 70.

These two standing figures are easily identifiable as the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Evangelist at Calvary, flanking the Crucifixion. The Virgin is veiled and her head leans to one side; she holds her wrist in a sign of anguish, while Saint John holds the Book in his left hand and raises his right to his face.

Both of these appliqué figures, crafted in repoussé copper that was engraved and chased, is attached to an enamelled plaque by two rivets which are engraved and gilded like the rest of the figure. The enamelled gilt plaques are arched at the top and have a reserved gilt inner border surrounded by a thin band of turquoise enamel. The outer contour of the plaque with the Virgin is engraved with zigzag hatching which does not appear on the plaque with Saint John. The foliate motifs adorning the backgrounds of both plaques branch out into flowers, only the upper ones enamelled. Two horizontal bands of turquoise enamel, decorated with a reserved and gilded wavy line, cross each plaque below the shoulder level and behind the knees of each appliqué figure. Their two haloes are different, one in turquoise enamel, adorned with lobe-shaped rays, punctuated on the plaque with the Virgin by reserved gilt lines, whereas that with Saint John is more colourful, with a more complex motif of lobed rays punctuated by red enamel dots.

This pair of enamelled plaques show a clear evolution towards less refined handling, both in the engraving, with its less than regular outline, and in the palette and content of the enamel, which not only have a duller tonal range but a greater material opacity and a more subdued appearance than in works of the preceding period. This more loosen style of enamelling corresponds perfectly to works produced from the second quarter of the thirteenth century onwards, which coincides with the appearance of new procedures in the crafting of enamel.1

The treatment of the appliqué figures is also characteristic of this period, in particular Saint John’s hair, with its fine lines of parallel stippled undulation. The drapery folds, sometimes only sketched out, are rendered with somewhat irregular lines, in places only summarily engraved. These varied characteristics allow us to compare our two plaques with the appliqué figure of a Saint, now isolated, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2 as well as the Chasse of Saint Fausta in the Musée de Cluny, 3 both datable to about 1230. We can also imagine these two plaques originally flanking a figure of Christ on the cross, on a large reliquary of that type, or like the Saint-Viance reliquary, on which appliqué figures are also attached to independent arched plaques. 4

1. See “Techniques and Materials in Limoges Enamels”, in TaB uret-D elahaye and D rake B oehm , 1996, pp. 48-62.

2. Ibidem, p. 297, no. 96.

3. G authier, 1972, p. 373, no. 132.

4. TaB uret-D elahaye and D rake B oehm , 1996, pp. 347-350, no. 118.

Appliqué figure, Limoges, circa 1230. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

30 PLAQUE PROBABLY FROM AN ALTAR FRONTAL: AN APOS-TLE

Limoges, circa 1240-1250

Copper: engraved, gilt; champlevé enamel

Repoussé copper appliqué, engraved, chased and gilt; enamel beads

Overall height 11 7/8 in. (30.1 cm), width 4 13/16 in. (12.2 cm)

Figure height 10 1/2 in. (26.6 cm)

PROVENANCE

Frédéric Spitzer collection (sale, Paris, 1893, lot 257, p. 47, pl. VIII); Bourgeois Frères (sale, Cologne, 1904, lot 387, p. 72); acquired from Brimo de Laroussilhe in 1929 by the collector François Baverey (Lyon).

LITERATURE

Palustre, L. and Molinier, E., “L’orfèvrerie religieuse”, in SPitzer, F. (ed.), La collection Spitzer, Antiquité, Moyen Âge, Renaissance, I, Paris, 1890, p. 113, no. 49.

Marquet de Vasselot, J-J., Les crosses limousines du XIIIe siècle Paris, 1941, pp. 120, 152 note 4.

Gauthier, M.-M., Émaux limousins champlevés des XIIe, XIIIe et XIVe siècles, Paris, 1950, p. 51.

This copper gilt appliqué figure of an Apostle is secured to the plaque by two rivets. The saint holds a scriptural scroll in his left hand and raises his right hand to his chest in blessing. His downturned feet rest on a tapered base adorned with an engraved floret motif, and a mantle with an engraved border imitating fur covers his left shoulder and passes around his waist. The mantle covers a long tunic that falls to the ankles, decorated with broad orphreys on sleeve and collar.

The enamelled plaque has an arched top and is embellished with an extensive foliate pattern, with florets inscribed within circular tendrils. Two horizontal bands of turquoise enamel cross the figure from behind, interrupting the foliate decoration.

As with the plaques of the Virgin and Saint John studied here (cat. no. 29), the present plaque offers a looser style of enamelling, which reflects Limoges Work of the second quarter of the thirteenth century and the appearance of what could be called new recipes or procedures in the creation of enamel. 1 This was manifested by a gradually less attentive execution of both champlevé work and engraving, a decline in design with respect to earlier pieces, and a reduction of the palette and materials of the enamel. Indeed, the enamelling appears to be opaque and dull, in line with a more muted colour range.

The general style of the enamelled plaque and appliqué figure can be compared with those of the Saint-Viance2 and Chalard3 chasses, datable to the period 1230-1250. However, the emphatically sculptural qualities of the appliqué figure can be more plausibly compared with a group of very similar gilt copper appliqués from the period 1240-1250, essentially consisting of the Passion figures in the Musée de Cluny, in Baltimore and in Minneapolis, 4 as well as several of the figures originally mounted on the composite chasse formerly in the Germeau collection and now scattered through various collections.5

This set of works displays the same stylistic features as our Apostle, and the faces are particularly close. Broad and rounded, they are given a more flattened treatment on the cheeks and forehead. Set under cleanly-defined arched eyebrows, the large eyes are given greater emphasis by an enamel bead for the pupil. Beard and moustache, projecting strongly and finely drawn, are, like the hair, delicately chased.

The drapery also shows a typical stylization with these spoon-like widened grooves, which are very similar on all those different appliqué elements. Furthermore, besides these shared stylistic features, we may compare the pattern of the orphrey on the collar with the one on the apostle on the right of Christ, in the Last Supper appliqué preserved at the Musée de Cluny. 6

Studies by R. Rückert7 and K. Otavsky8 have associated this copper gilt appliqué group with the tombs of the son and daughter of Saint Louis, Jean and Blanche of France, which date from about 1250.9 Connections have also been made with some of the stained-glass windows at Chartres, datable to between 1223 and 1236, and those in the Sainte-Chapelle, from 1243-1248, which makes it possible to date the appliqué group to about 1240-1250.

The proportions of our plaque, its arched top and the arrangement of the foliate ornament punctuated by the pair of turquoise bands, recall earlier works such as the plaque with Saint Peter in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York10 or those from the dismembered frontal from Ourense Cathedral.11 If one cannot entirely dismiss the hypothesis of a monumental

The Flagellation , Limoges, circa 1240-1250. Paris, Musée de Cluny - Musée national du Moyen Âge.

The Last Supper, Limoges, circa 1240-1250. Paris, Musée de Cluny - Musée national du Moyen Âge.

shrine of the type in Saint-Viance, the similarity in size between the plaques of the Ourense frontal and the piece presented here can offer support for the idea, already put forward by Marquet de Vasselot, 12 that ours could have come from an enamelled altar front.

The work discussed here closely resembles an enamelled plaque with an appliqué figure of Saint Peter formerly in the museum in Limoges, and indeed Marie-Madeleine Gauthier had suggested that the two plaques could have originally formed part of the same dismembered ensemble, either a monumental chasse or an altar frontal.13 The two appliqué figures closely resemble each other, especially in the faces and drapery style. We can also note that in both cases the mantle has the same type of edge, imitating a fur lining. However, although the plaques are identical in height, they differ considerably in width. In addition, the chromatic range of the enamelling appears to vary. 14 Sadly, the fact that the plaque with Saint Peter was stolen from the museum in Limoges in 1980 prevents us from comparing the two works and thus verifying Gauthier’s hypothesis.

1. See “Techniques and Materials in Limoges Enamels”, in TaB uret-D elahaye and D rake B oehm 1996, pp. 48-62.

2. Ibidem, pp. 347-350, no. 119.

3. Ro Binne, 1995, p. 74.

4. In the Musée de Cluny: the Last Supper (Inv. CL. 973) and Flagellation (Inv. Cl. 942); in the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore: the Arrest of Christ (Inv. 53.10); in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts: the Entombment (Inv. Acc. No. 58.8). For a recent study of these appliqué figures, see TaB uret-D elahaye and D rake B oehm , 1996, pp. 351-353, no. 119, and C arlier, 2021, pp. 31-35.

5. The Germeau chasse, known through an engraving of 1870 and a photograph, is a composite neo-Gothic piece. It was acquired by Brimo de Laroussilhe in 1931 and then sold in separate parts. Among the appliqués mounted on the chasse belonging to this group, we can cite the Centurion in the Musée du Louvre (OA 10625), the Descent from the Cross in the Abegg Foundation, Bern, and a Saint John. See B ertrand, 1995, p. 21, inv. no. 2, pp. 114-115, cat. 22; and C arlier, 2021, pp. 31-35, cat. no. 8.

6. TaB uret-D elahaye and D rake B oehm , 1996, no. 119, p. 351.

7. Rü Ckert, 1959, pp. 1-16.

8. O taVsky, 1973, pp. 37-74.

9. Now housed in the Abbey Church of Saint-Denis. See TaB uret-D elahaye and D rake B oehm ,1996, pp. 402-405, no. 146.

10. Ibidem, pp. 180-181, no. 47.

11. Ibidem, pp. 188-189, no. 51; G alleGo Lorenzo, 2001.

12. Marquet de Vasselot, 1941, p. 152, note 4.

13. G authier, 1950, p. 51.

14. M.-M. Gauthier points out the presence of black among the tones of enamel: Ibidem, p. 158.

Plaque: Saint Peter, Limoges, circa 1240-1250. Formerly Limoges, Musée municipal - Musée de l’évêché de Limoges (stolen in 1980).

31 PLAQUE FROM A CHASSE: AN ANGEL

Limoges, circa 1235-1245

Copper: gilt; champlevé enamel

Height 3 in. (7.5 cm), width 4 13/16 in. (12.2 cm)

This plaque with an appliqué figure of an enamelled Angel can be associated with a small group of chasses, or reliquary caskets, made in Limoges in between about 1235 and 1245, with a very distinctive type of decoration. Their wooden cores were covered by a fine sheet of gilt copper with guilloché ornament, strewn with incised stars and rosettes, and pierced for setting glass cabochons. Appliqué figures were attached to these plaques in high relief, and the design of their draperies was always similar. Likewise, the palette of the enamel – ultramarine blue, turquoise, green, red, and white – appears almost the same in all the known examples. Notable among this small group, which consists largely of caskets with projecting transepts, are the very significant chasse of Saint Ursula in a private collection in the United States,1 that of the Infancy of Christ in the Nationalmuseet, Copenhagen, 2 the one formerly in the Spitzer collection, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 3 and the Adoration of the Magi chasse formerly in the Basilewsky collection, now in the Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg. 4

Chasse with the Infancy of Christ, Limoges, circa 1235-1245. Copenhagen, Nationalmuseet.

Chasse, Limoges, circa 1235-1245. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

One can see that the last of these was considerably reworked during a nineteenth-century restoration, 5 and the right front panel of the pitched roof is evidently a modern copy, made after the original plaque presented here. 6 In the nineteenth century, it was not uncommon that during conservation, some less than scrupulous restorers purloined plaques or elements of the reliquary replacing them with copies.7 Nonetheless it is not easy to determine when this plaque was removed from the Hermitage chasse, and whether this took place during the period it was still in the collection of Prince Peter Soltykoff, 8 or after it had entered the Basilewsky collection.

1. See TaB uret-D elahaye and D rake B oehm , 1996, pp. 332-333, no. 114.

2. LieBGott, 1986, pp. 49-50, figs. 39-42.

3. TaB uret-D elahaye and D rake B oehm , 1996, pp. 334-335, no. 115.

4. N otin , r aPPé and K ryjanoVskaÏa , 2004, pp. 86-87, no. 31.

5. Ibidem.

6. Ekaterina Nekrasova generously made a first hand examination of the reliquary in the Hermitage, confirming that this panel is modern (something clearly visible from the detailed photograph she was kind enough to send us).

7. For example, the appliqué figure of the crucified Christ on the Spitzer casket now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art is evidently modern. As Barbara Drake Boehm revealed in the catalogue of the 1995-1996 exhibition, the plaster cast of this figure survived in the Maison André, the Parisian art conservation studio active since the nineteenth century; in addition, the studio also preserves plaster casts of other appliqué figures from the casket in the Metropolitan Museum. It is likely that during a nineteenth-century restoration Frédéric Spitzer or the previous owner consigned the work to the Maison André, which may have created the centrally-placed Christ, perhaps removing the original figure. See TaB uret-D elahaye and D rake B oehm , 1996, p. 335.

8. See Catalogue des Objets d’Art et de Haute Curiosité composant la célèbre collection du Prince Soltykoff, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, April 8 th- May 1 st 1861, p. 37, lot 137.

Reliquary chasse, Limoges, circa 1235-1245. Saint Petersburg, Hermitage Museum.

Detail of the modern plaque on the chasse in the Hermitage Museum.

32 PORTABLE CANDLESTICK

Limoges, early 14th century

Copper: chased and gilt; champlevé enamel

Height 4 1/8 in. (10.5 cm), width 4 in. (10.2 cm)

Atruncated polygonal pyramid base with slightly curved sides is topped by a rounded conical point, and the facets of the base are extended by curved tongues that reinforce its stability. The hollow structure of a set of such candlesticks made it possible to fit each one into another of the same series, facilitating carriage and prompting the name “travelling candlestick” traditionally given to this type of object.1

Every side of the base bears a reserved circular gilt medallion on a blue enamelled ground, each containing an enamelled dragon. The bases of the edges dividing one section from another are decorated with a small medallion presenting alternating figures of a hooded man and a fanciful winged creature.

This type of portable candlestick, most often decorated with heraldic emblems, was very widespread in Limousin art at the end of the thirteenth and beginning of the fourteenth centuries. 2 During this stage of their activity, Limoges workshops developed a new approach, generally marked by a far looser approach to design, reflecting the speed and simplicity of manufacture inherent to mass production. The period also saw Limousin workshops changing their palette, so that enamelling lost its brilliance and the variety of its colours, becoming based solely on the contrasts of opaque red, dark blue and green or turquoise.

1. The Musée du Louvre houses a series of six candlesticks of gradually decreasing size that stack perfectly. See TaB uret-D elahaye and D rake B oehm , 1996, p. 380, no. 135.

2. See for example N otin , 1992, pp. 126-127, nos. 9-10; N otin , RaPPé and K ryjanoVskaïa , 2004, pp. 114-115, no. 45.

33 COPE MORSE: TWO BISHOPS

Paris, second quarter of the 14th century

Copper: gilt; champlevé enamel

Height 5 ½ in. (14 cm), width 6 5/16 in. (16 cm)

The object in the shape of a multi-lobed rosette consists of two plaques, each with a hinge on the inner edge, with a metal rod for assembly. The fixing holes that dotted the outer edge of the clasp, several of which are still visible at the points, were used to attach the two plaques to the border of a garment. Originally, a third, narrower plate, covered the central part, concealing the hinges and making it possible to open and close the whole object. The relatively large size of this piece, as well as the presence of the two bishops facing one another, suggest that it was an ecclesiastical morse, a clasp for holding together a cope.

This morse can be specifically compared to a work of identical style and iconography in the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, which has come down to us with the central plaque intact; this shows a Virgin and Child, which was no doubt the subject of the plaque missing from our piece. Both clasps show two bishops facing each other, crozier in hand, standing under a three-lobed arch, set against a dark blue background dotted with rosettes. Around the perimeter, reserved and gilded, imaginary creatures stand out against an opaque red enamelled ground.

These two cope morses belong to a group of clasps first assembled by Marie-Madeleine Gauthier. 1 They are all crafted in gilt copper, adorned with champlevé enamels, and share similar forms and types of assembly; their only essential difference regards quality of execution. Initially this kind of claps was attributed to Sienese workshops. Then, Gauthier had suggested they were produced by Limousin workshops active in Paris, perhaps for the Papal court in Avignon. 2

Subsequently, R. H. Randall rightly demonstrated that the most beautiful pieces in this group, including the one in the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore – to which the clasp studied here relates particularly well – show a close kinship with translucent basse-taille enamels executed in Paris in

Cope morse: The Virgin and Child with two Bishops . Baltimore, Walters Art Museum.

the second quarter of the fourteenth century.3 The comparisons made with the enamels at the base of the silver and gold Virgin donated by Jeanne d’Evreux to Saint Denis in 1339 are especially convincing. 4 In addition to the parallels in the drawing of the figures in reserve, one finds the same use of dark enamelled lines to indicate drapery and facial features, as well as the same type of scattered champlevé rosettes with a centre enamelled in opaque red.

Therefore, these morses could have been produced by Parisian workshops contemporary with the ones crafting translucent basse-taille enamels.5 According to Élisabeth Taburet-Delahaye, one could also imagine that these champlevé pieces represent the less costly output of the same workshops, which would explain the close links between the objects carried out in one technique or the other. 6

1. G authier, 1972, p. 379, no. 146.

2. Ibidem.

3. B altimore, 1979, pp. 167-170, no. 469.

4. G aBorit-Cho Pin , 1991, pp. 246-254, no. 51.

5. TaB uret-D elahaye,1989, pp. 119-121, no. 42; G aBorit-Cho Pin , 1999, pp. 81-101.

6. TaB uret-D elahaye, 1989, p. 121.

Annunciation to the Shepherds , detail of the base of the Virgin of Jeanne d’Évreux, Paris, between 1324 and 1339. Paris, Musée du Louvre.

RELIQUARY CROSS

Barcelona, circa 1400

Silver and silver gilt; basse-taille silver plaques covered in translucent enamel; rock crystal

Height 14 5/8 in. (37.2 cm), width 8 5/16 in. (21.1 cm)

PROVENANCE

The cross is of the Latin kind and has a classic Gothic shape: centred around a square crossing, the arms have fleur-de-lis ends preceded by bulging quatrefoils. The shaft extends downwards to a triangular end, allowing it to be carried or be secured to a foot at the base.

On the obverse, under a piece of rock crystal, the crossing contains a small square translucent enamel plaque, set on one of its points, with a cruciform casing at its centre, probably for containing relics of the True Cross. The medallions on the arms are enamelled in blue and embellished with small beads of opaque white enamelling marked centrally with a red dot. The holes visible in the middle of each of these medallions, as well as on the lower one, were made for attaching a statuette of Christ. An example of this type of mounting, with a figure of Christ fixed directly over the translucent enamel medallions, occurs on the cross once in the church at Soses in the Province of Lleida. 2 The medallion at the top of the cross has a pelican piercing its breast to feed its young with its own blood, a symbol of Christ’s sacrifice.

On the reverse, the crossing bears a plaque with Christ in Majesty, blessing with his right hand and holding the orb of the world with his left, against a ground enamelled in translucent blue and strewn with reserved gilded stars. The medallions on the arms of the cross show the symbols of the Four Evangelists, each bearing a scroll with his inscribed name. On both obverse and reverse, the smooth parts of the arms of the cross are covered in delicate foliate decoration in fine dotted lines. In addition to the Barcelona hallmark on the shaft, several elements enable us to associate this reliquary cross to Catalan goldsmiths’ art of the end of the fourteenth century.

Beyond the basic idea of the cross shape itself, we should underline the highly characteristic design and the palette of the translucent enamel medallions. Likewise, a Catalan origin is confirmed by details such as the

Jacques Seligmann collection, Paris (Looted by the Nazis in 1940 and moved to the Jeu de Paume; restituted in October 19461).

inscription on the scroll of Saint Luke’s ox, which uses the rare form of “LUCH” instead of “LUCAS”. This form can also be found on a medallion in the Musée de Cluny as well as on the cross “of the brotherhoods” in the Treasury of Girona Cathedral. 3

Most of the surviving crosses made in Barcelona at the end of the fourteenth or the beginning of the fifteenth centuries are large, probably processional ones, made from sheets of silver mounted on a wooden core and generally accompanied, as in our case, by translucent enamel medallions. This cross is distinct from these various examples because of its eminently more precious character, clearly linked to its function as a reliquary. 4 Its execution in solid silver, the setting of the medallions (as opposed to customary simple attachments) as well as the thick silver fleur-de-lis leaves at the ends of the arms of the cross, all contribute to making this piece an exceptional example of Catalan goldsmith’s art from the years around 1400.

1. See Database of Art Objects of the Jeu de Paume. ERR Inventory no. Sel. 383.

2. Dalmases , 1992, pp.179-181, no. 5.

3. TaB uret-D elahaye, 1989, pp. 207-208, no. 83.

4. The reliquary cross with a relic of the True Cross in the National Art Museum of Catalonia in Barcelona bears a Barcelona hallmark of about 1350. This is also in silver gilt and its size is closer to ours (41.4 x 23.6 cm). See Dalmases , 1992, pp. 186-187, no. 7. Another comparison is offered by the reliquary cross of the church of Santa Pau in the Province of Girona: ibidem, pp. 188-189, no. 8.

GOLD PLAQUE: GOD THE FATHER, THE ANNUNCIATION, THE CRUCIFIXION, SAINT ANNE AND SAINT GEORGE, WITH THE DONOR (PROBABLY JOHN OF LANCASTER, DUKE OF BEDFORD) BEFORE SAINT CATHERINE, SAINT CHRISTOPHER, SAINT STEPHEN, AND SAINT BARBARA

Paris, circa 1423-1430

Basse-taille translucent enamel on gold

PROVENANCE

Baron Alphonse de Rothschild (18271905), Paris; Baron Edouard de Rothschild (1868-1949), Paris1; Baroness Batsheva de Rothschild (1914-1999), Tel Aviv.

This slender gold plaque presents the beholder with a complex composition, consisting of numerous scenes and figures in translucent enamel. At the top, God the Father emerges from a circle enamelled in red, with emanating rays; he holds the orb surmounted by a cross in his left hand, and blesses with his right. On one side and the other, the Angel Gabriel and the Virgin form an Annunciation scene. In the middle of the composition, on the central register, the Crucifixion is shown together with the instruments of the Passion. The Cross is flanked by Saint Anne (adopting the iconography of the Education of the Virgin, with Mary seated on her lap) and Saint George slaying the dragon; these groups are like a substitute for the Virgin and Saint John, who would traditionally be placed there. On the lower register, from left to right we see Saint Catherine of Alexandria, Saint Christopher, Saint Stephen and Saint Barbara, in pairs, surrounding the work’s patron, who is represented kneeling in prayer at the feet of the Cross.

Beyond the multiple figures, the complexity of the composition is also conveyed by a triple-layered arrangement. The upper, celestial register, is entirely detached from the gold background, while the figures on the other two levels are set on a naturalistic, uneven ground, enamelled in brown, with three little trees depicted in the distance.

This little gold plaque is unquestionably among the most refined and accomplished examples of Medieval enamelwork. However, if we look at the corpus of works in translucent enamel, there does not appear to be a proper point of comparison either with a group of works or an individual piece. Technique and dimensions certainly prompt us to compare it with other small images crafted in enamel on precious metal at the very end of the fourteenth century, such as the image-reliquaries of Saint Catherine2 and Saint Genevieve3 housed in London and Paris, respectively, or the plaque with the Preaching of Saint John the Baptist in the musée du Louvre. 4

Height 2 5/8 in. (6.7 cm), width 1 7/8 in. (4.8 cm)

Reliquary pendant of Saint Catherine, Paris, circa 1380-1390. Silver, silvergilt, basse-taille translucent enamel on silver, rock crystal. London, Victoria and Albert Museum.

Reliquary pendant of Saint Geneviève, Paris, circa 1380-1390. Silver-gilt, basse -taille translucent enamel on silver. Paris, Musée de Cluny - Musée national du Moyen Âge.

With respect to these works, the chromatic range seen in our plaque is richer. Obviously, one finds the traditional colours of translucent enamel: blue, green, yellow, and red, but also some rarer tonalities such as silver-grey, blue-grey, brown, and purple.

Stylistically, the figure types and the treatment of drapery, extending to the ground, fully reflect Parisian art of the first decades of the fifteenth century. The style of the figures and certain aspects of the composition have close parallels in the art of the Parisian manuscript illuminators of that time, principally in the works by the Boucicaut Master as well as in those by the Bedford Master.5 Within the oeuvre of these two artists one can find some close parallels for the figure of God the Father or the Annunciation. There are also many possible comparisons for the style of the faces: slender-necked feminine figures with gentle, rounded faces and full heads of drawn-back hair, or for example the almost triangular features of Saint Christopher.

Likewise, the complex spatial construction, with a divine space in one area and the other occupied by a naturalistic ground, rising up to form a

Master of Boucicaut. Mary Magdalene, Hours of the Maréchal de Boucicaut , circa1408. Paris, Musée Jacquemart-André (Ms. 2, fol. 41v).

Master of Boucicaut. Annunciation, Hours of the Maréchal de Boucicaut , circa1408. Paris, Musée Jacquemart-André (Ms. 2, fol. 53v).

sort of craggy summit that almost takes on the shape of a capital letter “I“ in the background, to some extent echoes the scene of the Ascension from the Salisbury Breviary illuminated by the Bedford Master for John of Lancaster in the period 1424-1435. 6

Furthermore, this layered composition, which distinguishes the heavenly from the terrestrial and has multiple figures of Saints, reappears in two oval openwork medallions in polychromed ivory, housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, traditionally attributed to the Parisian school of about 1420.7

Master of Bedford, Salisbury Breviary , Ascension , circa 1424-1435, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale (ms. lat. 17294, fol. 261v).

Two Medallions, Paris, circa 1420. Ivory, polychromy and gilding. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

These various comparisons enable us to confidently situate the plaque in the Parisian milieu of the 1420s. During the first quarter of the fifteenth century, examples of translucent enamels on basse-taille precious metal are extremely rare, perhaps because of the significant production of ronde-bosse enamels on gold during the reign of Charles VI (1380-1422). 8 One could of course mention the translucent enamel medallions in the silver-gilt Chalice presented in 1411 by Charles VI to the Monastery of Saint Catherine in Sinai,9 but their level of quality offers very little to compare with the plaque studied here. There is also the small Book of Hours in enamelled silver housed in the Museum in Rouen, dated to 1410-1420 but with far less precious craftsmanship. 10

The four circular medallions formerly in the Durand collection and now in the Musée du Louvre, dated to about 1415-1425, reveal an entirely different stylistic idiom in the enamelwork of this period.11 These medallions are completely covered in translucent enamel, according to a principle also found on pieces of jewellery from the beginning of Charles VI’s reign, such as the mirror case of Louis d’Anjou,12 the enamelled Cross from the Reliquary of the True Cross in the Treasury of Pamplona Cathedral, 13 or the inner shutters of the Chocques Triptych . 14 The plaque discussed here, instead, has a significant amount of gold against which each figure stands out, almost recalling the style of the Cup of Saint Agnes (known as the Royal Gold Cup), made in Paris in about 1375-1380.15

The Crucifixion , Paris, circa 1415-1425. Basse-taille translucent enamel on gold. Paris, Musée du Louvre.

Chocques Triptych, Paris, circa 1390-1400. Gold, enamel chiseled, basse-taille translucent enamel on gold. Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum.

The Royal Gold Cup of Saint Agnes, Paris, circa 1375-1380. Gold, basse-taille translucent enamel on gold. London, British Museum.

The size of the plaque, the number of Saints included and the representation of the patron leaves little doubt regarding the original destination of the work, probably a small image-reliquary or reliquary pendant. This could take either a relatively simple form, like that of the image-reliquaries of Saint Catherine and Saint Genevieve mentioned above,16 or a little more complex one, possibly including several shutters, like the Livret d’argent in the Musée de Rouen,17 or the Libretto commissioned by King Charles V and now housed in Florence.18 Whatever form this reliquary originally took, the iconography here seems too personal and carefully selected not to be intended as a pendant chain, worn “à pentacol”.

This very private character of the object is further reinforced by the presence of the patron kneeling at the foot of the centrally-placed Cross. His hair is coiffed following the fashion of the first quarter of the fifteenth century, and he wears a suit of armour covered by a short purple surcoat. This military dress combined with the golden spurs and the sword hanging from his belt, its grip enhanced with light green enamelling, suggest he is the holder of a highly-honoured rank of command such as a Marshal or Constable.

Given the absence of heraldic emblems on his clothing or elsewhere, an indication of the patron’s identity can only be drawn from the specific choice and combination of different Saints, and of the place they occupy in the composition. Those represented here are among the most popular Saints of the period. However, the association of some of these with others on this plaque, and their placement, reveal a specific meaning that would have been determined by the patron. We should therefore note the extremely atypical and prominent place given here to Saint Anne and Saint George, who hold corresponding positions to either side of the Cross. The association of these two Saints in the central register of the composition, together with how the patron is shown as an important military figure, allow us to suggest that he may be identified as John of Lancaster, first Duke of Bedford.

Third son of King Henry V of England, Lancaster became Constable of England in 1403 and Duke of Bedford in 1414, and acceded to the Regency of France on behalf of his nephew Henry VI in 1422. In 1423, he married Anne of Burgundy, daughter of Duke John the Fearless and Margaret of Bavaria. This alliance echoed the one sealed between the English and the Burgundians shortly after the Treaty of Troyes (1420), which disinherited Charles VI by placing the Kingdom of France under the Regency of the Crown of England. Thus, the association – as on the plaque – of Saint George, one of the principal patron saints of the Duke of Bedford, and of Saint Anne, patron of his wife, makes a notable appearance on the two full-page illuminations of the Hours of the Duke of Bedford , where the Regent and his spouse are both depicted before these Saints, personal to each of them.

Saint Catherine, Saint Christopher, Saint Barbara and Saint Stephen, shown on the lower register, form part of the most venerated group of Saints during this period in the Medieval Western world; there is nothing to hinder their being included on an object commissioned by John of Lancaster, indeed quite the opposite.

While the iconography could thus correspond perfectly to a commission from the Duke of Bedford, it is nevertheless impossible to recognise a portrait of the Regent in the features of the patron represented here. His image in the Bedford Hours shows a face with a receding chin, which certainly conveys a true portrait. Here, to the contrary, the man in armour has a square jaw expressing power and determination. However, we may believe that the size of the plaque would in this case instead show an image of a prototypical high-ranking patron. Besides, the features of this face are not so distant from those of the Maréchal de Boucicaut, as he appears in the Hours made for him by the Boucicaut Master, whose style clearly influenced the goldsmith who executed the plaque presented here.

No gold plaque that might correspond with ours appears in any of the inventories or will of the Duke of Bedford. But the silence of these inventories is not such a rarity when it comes to jewellery: François Avril recently pointed out an archival reference to a jewel formerly owned by the Duke of Bedford which did not appear in any of his inventories.19 This absence from inventories seems even less surprising if one thinks of the very private

Hours of John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford, The Duke of Bedford praying in front of Saint George. London, British Library, (Ms. 18850 fol. 256v).

Hours of John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford, The Duchess of Bedford praying in front of Saint Anne. London, British Library, (Ms. 18850 fol. 257v).

character this work could have, probably an intimate one; it may have been a personal talisman such as the reliquary owned by Charles V and then lost by Charles VIII at the Battle of Fornovo, likewise absent from the inventories of Charles V. 20

Consequently, the fact that this golden image does not appear in the inventories of the Duke of Bedford in no way rules out that it was made for him. To the contrary, the date and iconography leave little doubt as to this identification. We might also add that the style we see here corresponds perfectly to what we know about the taste of John of Lancaster. As a great patron and collector of jewellery and manuscripts, 21 the Duke of Bedford could have desired that this work should correspond – as an equivalent work by a goldsmith – to the style of contemporary illuminators, as much for the figures as for the compositional arrangement. In addition, the most unusual character of the generous expanse of gold background offsetting the enamelled figures could be a deliberate reference to the style of the Cup of Saint Agnes, which was presented to Charles VI by Jean de Berry in 1391 and then entered the collections of the Duke of Bedford, probably during his Regency. 22

1. Looted by the nazis after May 1940 and moved to the Jeu de Paume (ERR n° R2478); repatriated to France on July, 11th 1946 and returned to the Rothschild collection.

2. London, Victoria and Albert Museum (M 350-1912): see TaB uret-D elahaye, 2004, pp. 60-61, no. 21 A.

3. Paris, Musée de Cluny (Inv. CL. 23314). See G authier, 1991, 2, pp. 15-31 and TaB uret-D elahaye, 2004, pp. 60-61, no. 21 B.

4. Paris, Musée du Louvre (Inv. MR 2679); see TaB uret-D elahaye, 2004, p. 62, no. 23.

5. On the Bedford Master, see KöniG , 2007.

6. See SPen Cer, 1966, pp. 606-612.

7. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Inv. 17.190.877 A and B); see TaB uretD elahaye 2004, p. 211, no. 123.

8. See TaB uret-D elahaye, 2004, pp.165-180 ; KoVÁC s , 2004.

9. See D urand, 2004, pp. 56-65

10. Rouen, Musée des Antiquités de la Seine-Maritime. See TaB uret-D elahaye, 2004, pp. 367-368, no. 228.

11. Four medallions with scenes from the Life and Passion of Christ: Baptism, Flagellation, Nailing to the Cross, Crucifixion. Paris, Musée du Louvre (Inv. MR 2590, 2604, 2505, 2606). See TaB uret-D elahaye, 2004, pp. 356-359, no. 224; and TaB uret-D elahaye, 2004, pp. 66-75.

12. Paris, Musée du Louvre (Inv. MR 2608, 2609). See B aron , 1981, p. 262, n°212; TaB uret-D elahaye, 2004, pp. 59-60, no. 20.

13. See TaB uret-D elahaye, 2004, p. 74.

14. Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum (Inv. RBK 17045). See TaB uret-D elahaye, 2004, pp. 170-171, no. 90.

15. London, The British Museum (92,5-1,1). See B aron , 1981, pp. 263-265, no. 213; StratFord, 2022.

16. See TaB uret-D elahaye, 2004, pp. 60-61, no. 21.

17. Rouen, Musée des Antiquités de la Seine-Maritime. See TaB uret-D elahaye, 2004, pp. 367-368, no. 228.

18. Reliquary made in Paris before 1380, gift of Charles V to Louis d’Anjou. See B aron , 1981, pp. 260-262, no. 211.

19. See AVril, 2004, pp. 76-79.

20. See J estaz,1989, p. 9.

21. See “Bedford as patron and collector”, in StratFord, 1993 (2), pp. 105-126. Apart from his Hours and the Breviary commissioned from the Bedford Master, we may recall that in 1425 John of Lancaster purchased several manuscripts belonging to the Library of the King.

22. The provenance of the Saint Agnes Cup is not entirely known, as the object does not appear in the inventories of Charles VI, but is included in the Duke of Bedford’s 1434 inventory; see StratFord, 1993, pp. 319-325, B 158.

Maréchal de Boucicaut praying in front of Saint Catherine. Hours of the Maréchal de Boucicaut , circa 1408. Paris, Musée Jacquemart-André (Ms. 2, fol.38v).

THREE PLAQUES IN ENAMELLED GOLD FROM A GOLD BOOK MADE FOR ANNE OF FRANCE:

JOACHIM’S OFFERING IS REJECTED, THE MEETING AT THE GOLDEN GATE; THE ANNUNCIATION, THE NATIVITY; THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI, THE CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN

Paris or Moulins, circa 1498-1500

Basse-taille translucent enamel on gold

[Modern silver gilt framing]

Height 1 ¾ in. (4.4 cm), width 1 5/16 in. (3.3 cm) each

PROVENANCE

Collection of Charles-Henry-Lionel

Widdrington Standish (1823-1883); then by descent in the Noailles Wriddrington Standish family.

LITERATURE

CréPin-LeBlond, T., « Anne de France, une princesse entre deux mondes » in LonGo, G. and DaVidChaPy, A. (eds.), Anne de France (1522-2022) Femme de pouvoir, princesse des arts, exh. cat. (Moulins, musée Anne-de-Beaujeu, March 18th - September 18th 2022), Dijon, 2022, pp. 20-21.

These three little gold plaques, decorated on both recto and verso in basse-taille translucent enamelling, are now mounted in silver gilt frames, no doubt a later addition.

The first plaque bears on its front the scene of Joachim’s offering Rejected by the High Priest, drawn from the apocryphal narrative cycle of Anna and Joachim. The scene is set in the Temple of Jerusalem: on the right Joachim stands with a lamb in his arms, his offering having been rejected by the high priest because of his childlessness, considered as God’s curse. The high priest wearing a mitre on his head is shown at the pulpit adorned with a sumptuous damask fabric, enamelled in green. Beside him stands a servant, and a sculpture of Moses represented in grey translucent enamel is visible in the background. Behind Joachim, a group of veiled female figures extends towards an archway that leads beyond the inner space of the Temple; the architecture of the latter, directly incised on the gold, fills the entire background.

On the reverse, the enamelled scene occupies a reduced space. Instead of extending to the full height of the plaque, the scene is set within a vertically shorter rectangle, with a wide band of space left in reserve below. This lower part bears the inscription “LA PORTE DORÉE II” (the Golden Gate).1 Here the scene takes place outside, on an expanse of green grass. On the right an Angel announces to Joachim, who stands amid shepherds, that his wife will have a daughter who will in turn give birth to the Messiah. A shepherd appears, on a smaller scale, in the background. On the left, Anne and Joachim meet at the Golden Gate of Jerusalem, tenderly kissing each other.

The second plaque has the Annunciation on its front. Like the preceding scene, this is set in a smaller rectangle than the first, and bears the inscription “LANUCIACIO V”. The fact that the numbering is interrupted tells us that a plaque with scenes III and IV is missing from the series. This episode takes place inside a palatial setting embellished with precious fabrics. The Virgin Mary has risen from a throne behind her and kneels before a prie-Dieu covered with a sumptuous damask, enamelled in green, on which rests the open Book of Scriptures. She wears a red robe covered with a blue mantle. Her long hair is held together by a diadem adorned with a ruby resting on her brow. Facing her, the Angel Gabriel, whose grey robe is covered by a red cloak with a green sash tied across his chest, holds an inscribed scroll and points with his right index finger in a gesture of announcement. His wings are enamelled in yellow ochre and green. A tall lily stem rises from a vase between the two figures. At the top of the composition, a broad oculus opens out onto a deep blue sky, revealing the figure of God the Father.

On the reverse, the scene of the Nativity shows Mary and Joseph flanking a wicker cradle holding the new-born Jesus. Behind the Christ Child, three Angels with their hands joined in prayer kneel in adoration before him. Beyond a fence, next to the stable, two shepherds also witness the scene. On the right, behind the Virgin and in front of some stone architecture, two other Angels hover above the heads of the ass and the ox, who emerge from the right.

The third plaque, inscribed “LES TROIS ROIS VII” (the three Kings), shows the scene of the Adoration of the Magi. On the right Mary and her husband are set under a stone arch, next to a ruined wall. The Virgin, seated and again dressed in a red robe covered by an ample blue cloak, wears a short grey veil on her head. She holds the naked infant on her lap. Before them, the first of the Magi kneels with his hands in prayer, adoring the Child. The other two Magi, crowned and carrying golden vessels, stand behind him under the stable, precisely echoing the composition of the preceding scene.

The last scene represents the Coronation of the Virgin. Like the Rejection of Joachim, this occupies the full height of the panel. The Virgin kneels on a cloud bank, seen from behind and in slight three-quarter profile. Beside her, four Angels are shown kneeling with hands in prayer, except for the one holding the lower part of the Virgin’s mantle. She faces the Holy Trinity, with the centrally-placed God the Father about to place a crown on her head. The background of the plaque is covered by far-reaching incised rays. At the top, in the corners, two Angels with red robes and translucent green wings, are seen against the deep blue sky.

The quality of each scene’s composition and execution is breathtaking. Each face has particularly attentive and well-defined features; those of the Virgin and the Angel Gabriel in the Annunciation are remarkable for their beauty and grace. Likewise, we may note the beautiful faces of the High Priest and Joachim in the first scene, with the latter’s cheeks touched by a highlight of red enamel.

Stylistically, both compositions and figure style perfectly reflect French art of the years around 1500. In itself this is quite exceptional, as the great period of translucent basse-taille enamelling on gold or silver is generally placed in the fourteenth century and first quarter of the 1400s, at the latest.

Notable among the very rare examples of translucent enamelling from around 1500 are two small plaques enamelled on gold in the Wallace Collection, London, with a provenance from the Debruge-Duménil collection. 2 These two plaques, also enamelled on front and back, were substantially remodelled and are now displayed conjoined in a nineteenth-century mount. Beyond confirming the period of their execution, a recent technical study revealed that they were both cropped in their upper parts, which now appear arched, and probably also on one side, at least. 3 The dimensions of these two fragments allow us to consider an origin shared with the three panels presented here. 4

The plaques in the Wallace Collection have images of Charlemagne, with Anne of France presented by Saint Anne on the reverse; and Saint Louis, with Pierre II of Bourbon presented by Saint Peter on the reverse. Each subject has the same chromatic range of blue, blue-grey, grey, red, amber yellow, white and green. Only brown appears additionally on our plates, while black is very present on the London plates, here, it is only used for the phylactery of the Annunciation angel. The style of the faces and treatment of drapery are also very close. We may also note the presence of the same type of ornamentation used in the depiction of precious fabrics, enamelled in white on the London plaques, and in green or blue on ours. Another telling detail found on all the plaques is in the rendering of the grass on the ground. This has a darker strip in the foreground, as if the enameller wanted to represent the terrain’s edge. This detail appears below the figures of Charlemagne and Saint Louis on the plaques in the Wallace Collection and on our scenes of the Meeting at the Golden Gate and Nativity.

The iconography of the plaques in the Wallace Collection appears to perfectly complement that adopted for the series of three images presented here, and the ensemble is perfectly suited to the courtly Bourbon milieu of the 1490s.

The two Wallace plaques have long been identified as representations of Anne and Pierre II of Bourbon and, on the reverse, Charlemagne and Saint Louis.5 The choice of iconography shows that Anne is represented as Anne of France, daughter of Louis XI, 6 with Charlemagne included here as patron of the French monarchy. As for Saint Louis, the Bourbons revered him as the founder of their dynasty.7

Anne of France presented by Saint Anne, Pierre II of Bourbon presented by Saint Peter; Charlemagne and Saint Louis . Paris or Moulins, circa 1498-1500. London, Wallace Collection.

The association of Charlemagne and Saint Louis with Anne and Pierre II of Bourbon, as a couple, is not unique. This occurs in an altarpiece executed in the 1490s by the most important painter of the Moulins court, Jean Hey. Two panels of this altarpiece have come down to us: the Meeting of Saints Joachim and Anna at the Golden Gate , now in the National Gallery in London, and the Annunciation , in the Art Institute of Chicago. 8

Recent scholarship on these two panels, notably by Martha Wolff, has revealed that the Annunciation panel originally included – on the right of the scene – a figure of Saint Louis, making a pair with that of Charlemagne in the London panel.9 The central part of the altarpiece, now missing, could have shown the Virgin and Child Enthroned, the Education of the Virgin by Saint Anne, or the so-called “Saint Anne Trinity”.10 Thus, this altarpiece, probably commissioned by Anne and Pierre II of Bourbon from Jean Hey in the years 1490-1495, stands in obvious iconographic congruence with the combined plaques in the Wallace Collection and those presented here. The relationship between these enamel plaques and the work of Jean Hey is also striking in terms of the figure style and the compositions – even more so, if we compare the representations of Anne and Pierre II of Bourbon on the London plaques and their likenesses in the side panels of the Moulins Triptych , painted by Jean Hey probably in 1498. The representation of the figures is extremely similar and therefore enable us to propose a dating for the whole group of enamelled gold plaques to about 1498-1500.

Jean Hey, The Meeting at the Golden Gate, 1490-1495.

London, The National Gallery.

Jean Hey, The Annunciation , 1490-1495. Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago.

Until now the two plaques in the Wallace Collection were regarded as possible wings of a small triptych. 11 However, the discovery of our three panels, similar in their dimensions, and the possibility that they all come from a single object, prompt a reconsideration of this hypothesis. In fact, only a golden book – comprising the Wallace plaques as what could be called binding, and our three plaques, to which a missing one must be added, as pages – would make sense in the layout and order of the various scenes.

The reshaped plaques in the Wallace Collection could have been the cover of this jewel book, which measured less than two inches in height. The front cover of this golden book would thus have had the standing figure of Saint Louis. When it was opened, the figure of Pierre II of Bourbon presented by Saint Peter would appear next to the scene of the Rejection of Joachim, which appears, unlike the ones that follow, as a full-page image. The following double page would have shown the scene of the Meeting of Anne and Joachim at the Golden Gate, probably facing a Presentation of

Jean Hey, triptych: The Virgin in glory, surrounded by angels , circa 1498-1500. Moulins, Notre-Dame Cathedral.

Proposition of reconstitution of the gold book.

the Virgin in the Temple, which would have been on the now missing panel. On its reverse, an Education of the Virgin by Saint Anne could have faced the Annunciation, which appears on the second of our plates. Next, facing one another, come the scenes of the Nativity and Adoration of the Magi, which seem to have been conceived as matching compositions. Finally, the book would have concluded with the image of the Coronation of the Virgin – another full page – opposite Anne of France in prayer presented by Saint Anne. Once closed, the book’s back cover showed the figure of Charlemagne.

If we accept this hypothesis, this jewel book can be considered one of the most refined, complex pieces of goldsmith’s work commissioned by Anne of France during the ducal period.

No other small book crafted entirely in gold and translucent enamel has come down to us. Nonetheless, a silver gilt, niello and enamel piece in the Kunsthistorisches Museum12 , Vienna, datable to the second half of the fifteenth century, offers an interesting point of comparison and demonstrates the existence of this type of book in European goldsmiths’ art. The object consists of two double-sided plaques that form the binding of the book, and three inner plaques. The binding plates of this miniature book are a little larger than the plaques within, which might suggest that the plaques in the Wallace Collection, now cropped, may also have been slightly larger than the three presented here.

Anne of France was perceived by her contemporaries as a true sovereign. The daughter of Louis XI, she married Pierre de Beaujeu in 1473. As Anne de Beaujeu, before becoming Anne de Bourbon when her husband inherited the Duchy of Bourbon in 1488, she was twice destined to oversee the regency of the kingdom. The first occasion was during the minority of her brother, the future Charles VIII, from 1483 to 1491, and the second in the period of the king’s absence during the First Italian War of 1494-1495. Neither before nor after her did any sister of the French King have to take on such responsibilities. All were impressed by her intelligence during the early years of Charles VIII’s reign, especially during the Estates General of 1484.13 Anne of France also made a mark on her era through her role as educator of young princes and princesses, obviously including her brother Charles VIII, but also Louise of Savoy and Diane of Poitiers. Endowed with great political acumen and genuine diplomatic finesse, she launched an

Silversmith book: Scenes from the Passion of Christ. France, Second half of the 15th century. Silver gilt, niello and enamel (H. 3,9 cm). Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienne.

unprecedented form of female government, and was to be the first in a series of women in power, beginning with Louise of Savoy, who were to bear the title of regent.14

As we have already said, the entire iconography of this golden book corresponds perfectly with the world of Anne and Pierre II of Bourbon’s court in Moulins. Here, the individuals who commissioned the work were undoubtedly behind its iconography. The scenes on the first pages illustrating the story of Anne and Joachim also take on a very special meaning for these patrons. Besides her devotion to Saint Anne, Anne of France’s personal history could also be significant in this context. At the time the work was probably completed, in about 1498-1500, the only child of the Bourbon couple was their daughter Suzanne, born after almost twenty years of marriage and now sole heir to the Duchy of Bourbon. The narrative cycle studied here also relates to the Immaculate Conception, which was already the object of special devotion on the part of the Bourbons.15 Finally, the presence of the two spouses with their patron saints as well as Charlemagne and Saint Louis, fittingly concludes the work with a symbolic glorification of Anne of France and Pierre II of Bourbon.

The jewel-like character of such an object also corresponds to what we know about Anne of France’s taste.16 In the two portraits by Jean Hey – the one on the left wing of the Moulins Triptych and the one in the Musée du Louvre17 – she wears sumptuous jewellery, combining pearls and rubies mounted in gold. She is the only individual in portraits by Jean Hey to enjoy such opulence.

The reconstruction of this little gold book is probably not the only surviving evidence of Anne of France’s special taste for precious objects. The Cleveland Museum of Art has an exceptional little triptych whose central part is composed of a thirteenth-century cameo, framed by basse-taille translucent enamelling on gold shutters with Scenes from the Life of the Virgin, with a reverse similarly composed of an enamelled gold plaque illustrating the Education of the Virgin by Saint Anne.18

These enamels were once thought of as dating from the International Gothic period, until they were recognised as from the last decade of the fifteenth century. Bill Wixom was the first to compare the Cleveland triptych

Triptych: Scenes from the Life of the Virgin Basse-taille translucent enamel on gold, Paris or Moulins, circa 1495-1500. Inside, onyx cameo, The Nativity, Italy, thirteenth century. Cleveland, The Cleveland Museum of Art.

with the two plaques in the Wallace collection.19 While comparisons had already been made between the plate on the reverse and the work of Jean Bourdichon, 20 Wixom also drew parallels for the figures of the prophets and the scenes from the life of the Virgin with works by the Master of Moulins – that is, Jean Hey. 21 Martha Wolff subsequently proposed that the Cleveland triptych and the Wallace Collection plaques could have been commissioned in the same milieu of patronage. 22

The rediscovery of these three exceptional plates from a gold book created for Anne of France confirms that under her governance at the turn of the century, the court of Moulins appears to have brought back into fashion the technique of translucent enamelling on gold, as well as a taste for extremely refined and luxurious objects of private devotion.

1. An inscription and a number are incised below each image. In some scenes, for example the first and last, the title is no longer legible, but one can still make out the number in Roman numerals.

2. L aBarte, 1847, p. 583, no. 686. Wallace Collection, (W.34).

3. M eek , H ood and Warren , 2013, pp. 185-187.

4. The plaques are published as 4.5 cm high and 3.7 cm wide, but it seems that the exact height is instead between 4.2 and 4.3 cm. For our plates, the presence of the silver gilt framing makes precise measurement impossible, but it is obviously less than 4.5 cm.

5. Published in the catalogue of the Debruge-Duménil collection, the four figures are perfectly identified, but a simple error of a first name occurs because the catalogue mentions Jeanne de France as daughter of Louis XI: see L aBarte, 1847, p. 583.

6. Evidently Anne de Bourbon never signed with her married name, clearly favouring her royal ancestry by signing herself as Anne of France: see CréPin -LeB lond and Chatenet, 2014, p. 16; p. 209 and p. 211, fig. 1.

7. The Bourbon Dukes were descendants of the 1276 marriage of Agnes of Bourbon and Robert de Clermont, the youngest son of Saint Louis; the latter was King Louis IX of France.

8. London, The National Gallery, NG 4092; Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago, Mr. & Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection, 1933.1062.

9. WolFF, 2008, p. 15-23 ; B resC-Bautier, CréPin -LeB lond, TaB uret-D elahaye and WolFF, 2010, no. 67, pp. 166-167 ; WolFF, 2011, no. 59, pp. 128-129 ; WolFF, 2014, pp. 133-144.

10. Albert Châtelet imagined that central part could have had an image of the Assumption of the Virgin, but as Martha Wolff has underlined, the presence of a throne and an enclosed garden suggest a more earthbound subject. See WolFF, 2014, p. 135.

11. Ibidem, p. 141.

12. H. 3,9 cm, w. 3,3 cm. Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Kunstkammer (Inv. KK 9023).

13. DaVid -ChaPy, 2014, pp. 30-31.

14. Ibidem, pp. 27-36.

15. See especially: Feydy, 1938, pp. 111-118; Ch Âtelet, 2001, pp. 69-72; WolFF, 2014, p. 135.

16. CréPin -LeB lond and Chatenet, 2014, pp. 23 and 214.

17. Musée du Louvre, Inv. RF 535; see B resC-B autier, CréPin -LeB lond, TaB uretD elahaye and WolFF, 2010, no. 69a, pp. 170-172.

18. The Cleveland Museum of Art (1947.508): see Wixom 1967, VII 15, pp. 322-323 and 385.

19. Ibidem

20. For example, with the central panel of the triptych of the Virgin and Child by Jean Bourdichon (Naples, Museo di Capodimonte, on loan to the Certosa di San Martino): see B resC-B autier, CréPin -LeB lond, TaB uret-D elahaye and WolFF, 2010, p. 129, fig. 45.

21. Sterlin G , 1968, pp. 26-33; Reynaud, 1968, pp. 34-37.

22. WolFF, 2014, p. 141.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Guillaume Benoit, Isabelle Chemin, Frank Dabell, Hugues Dubois, Claire Ledoux, Sabrina Morel, Fabienne Texier-Pinson, Édouard Vatinel.

All rights reserved © BRIMO DE LAROUSSILHE, 2023

Photographic credits:

Photos © Hugues Dubois, Bruxelles, Paris

Except for:

pp. 13 & 128: Photo © Creative Commons License, The Cleveland Museum of Art.

pp. 17, 21, 63 & 112: Photo © The Trustees of the British Museum.

pp. 20, 29, 79 & 101: Photo © The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. Photo ©MRAH,Bruxelles.

pp. 27, 29, 91, 96 & 111: Photo © Creative Commons License, The Metropolitan Museum, New York.

p. 35: Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (Musée de Cluny - Musée national du Moyen Âge) / Jean-Gilles Berizzi.

p. 40: Photo © Musée national suisse, Inv. LM-70547, DIG-7411.

p. 48: Photo © The Swedish National Heritage Board.

pp. 63 & 112: Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (musée du Louvre) / Daniel Arnaudet /

p. 79: Photo © Jaubert French Collection / Alamy Banque D’Images.

p. 80: Photo © Musée-Métropole-Rouen-Normandie / Clichés Yohann Deslandes.

p. 94: Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (Musée de Cluny - Musée national du Moyen Âge) / Thierry Ollivier.

p. 96: Photo © Creative Commons License, Nationalmuseet, Copenhague.

p. 98: Photo © The State Hermitage Museum. Photo by Svetlana Suetova, Konstantin Sinyavsky, Saint Petersbourg.

p. 103: Photo © RMN (Musée du Louvre) / Martine Beck-Coppola.

p. 109, 111, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 126 & 127 : Photo © Guillaume Benoit, Paris.

p. 110: Photo © Victoria and Albert Museum, London / Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (Musée de Cluny - Musée national du Moyen Âge) / Michel Urtado ; Photo © RMN-Grand Palais / Agence Bulloz.

p. 111: Photo © Bibliothèque nationale de France.

p. 112: Photo © Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

p. 114: Photo © The British Library Board/Leemage, London-Paris.

p. 115: Photo © RMN-Grand Palais / Agence Bulloz.

p. 124, 126 & 127: Photo © Wallace Collection, London, UK / Bridgeman Images.

p. 125: Photo © The National Gallery, London, Dist. RMNGrand Palais / National Gallery Photographic Department.

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ISBN: 978-2-9555925-5-7