Lot Essay
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
D. F. Rowe, S.J., Enamels: the XII to the XVI century, exh. cat. The Martin d'Arcy Gallery of Art, Loyola University, Chicago, 1970, no. 16 (a chalice)
M.-M. Gauthier, Emaux du Moyen âge occidental, Firbourg, 1972, nos. 181, 186, 189, pp. 393-95
M. Campbell, Medieval Enamels, London, 1983, p. 35, no. 25a
This is an apparently rare example of a Renaissance cross with enamelled terminal lobes: most such crosses are distinctly Gothic and date from the middle of the 14th century, frequently associated with Siena. This however, may be due only to lack of publication of later examples. The Corpus Christi is parcel silvered and gilt, manifesting a new appreciation of the nude anatomy, albeit on a minute scale, that characterized the Renaissance. The repertory of ornament on the arms of the cross is more classical too, while still being related to earlier Gothic motifs, for example the incised foliation on the reverse of the cross.
D. F. Rowe, S.J., Enamels: the XII to the XVI century, exh. cat. The Martin d'Arcy Gallery of Art, Loyola University, Chicago, 1970, no. 16 (a chalice)
M.-M. Gauthier, Emaux du Moyen âge occidental, Firbourg, 1972, nos. 181, 186, 189, pp. 393-95
M. Campbell, Medieval Enamels, London, 1983, p. 35, no. 25a
This is an apparently rare example of a Renaissance cross with enamelled terminal lobes: most such crosses are distinctly Gothic and date from the middle of the 14th century, frequently associated with Siena. This however, may be due only to lack of publication of later examples. The Corpus Christi is parcel silvered and gilt, manifesting a new appreciation of the nude anatomy, albeit on a minute scale, that characterized the Renaissance. The repertory of ornament on the arms of the cross is more classical too, while still being related to earlier Gothic motifs, for example the incised foliation on the reverse of the cross.