.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Coming to the open market for the first time in over 180 years, this triptych is one of the finest surviving enamels attributed to the hand of the so-called Monvaerni Master. He is counted among the earliest identifiable individual artists working in painted enamels in Limoges alongside other anonymous makers including the Master of the Orleans Triptychs and the Master of the Aeneid. Monvaerni’s tendency to draw from print sources provide us with a terminus post quem of circa 1460 for his earliest works. Around fifty extant enamels are today attributed to the artist or his circle on the basis of his distinctive style. Monvaerni’s clear interest in perspective (evident in the present lot in the flooring on the flanking panels) and his preference for painted contours has led some scholars to suggest that he was originally an illuminator of manuscripts (Caroselli, op. cit. p.59).
The name Monvaerni, sometimes referred to as Pseudo-Monvaerni, is derived from a fragmentary inscription on the sword of Saint Catherine in a triptych in the Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati (inv. no. 1931.268), which was once interpreted as a signature. This theory has since largely been abandoned by scholars, believing the inscription more likely to be associated with its patron not its painter. However, enamels bearing the initials ‘MV’ and ‘MB’ have also been attributed to Monvaerni’s hand (see for example at the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, inv. no. 44.599). In the present lot, there is a prominent ‘M’ on the unfurling scroll on the prie-dieu of the lefthand panel which could have been intended to serve as a signature. Two other Betrayal scenes attributed to Monvaerni share strong compositional links with the central panel in this triptych (Metropolitan Museum, New York, inv. no. 14.40.704, and the Wernher Collection, Ranger's House, London), however neither exhibits the level of detail or sophistication as the present lot.
In his seminal publication of 1921, Marquet de Vasselot attributes both the flanking panels and central scene to Monvaerni but catalogues them separately, raising the question of whether they were initially intended as part of the same artwork (op. cit., nos. 6 and 46). It is notable that the reverses of the flanking panels are a different shade to the reverse of the Betrayal; the former pair are purple and the latter blue. However, given that discarded enamel shards were often crushed up and randomly repurposed for the backs of panels, their colour alone is not conclusive evidence that they were once part of separate works.
The final mystery enclosed within this triptych is the identity of its commissioners: the husband and wife depicted kneeling presented by two saints. In the Didier Petit catalogue of 1843 they are described as members of the Lavedan family, whose crest featured three crows (loc. cit.). Marquet de Vasselot suggests that the accompanying saints could be Maurus and Clotilde (op. cit., no. 46). The male saint could also be Fiacre, given his iconography. Léon-Jacques-Maxime Prinet, known as Max Prinet (1867-1937), the famous French heraldist (see C. Samaran ‘Max Prinet’ in Annuaires de l'École pratique des Hautes Études, 1938, pp. 7-13), carried out extensive research on these plaques, but to no avail. A handwritten note by Marquet de Vasselot in the Louvre's Objets d'art department (Musée du Louvre, Département des Objets d'art, archives Marquet de Vasselot, Armoiries, no. 192) states ‘Prinet tells me, (after checking the enamel), that the armorial bearings of the triptych known as the Lavedan triptych are not to be found. Too many elements are missing and the animals represented are too uncertain. 3 March 1920’. What remains certain is that an object as fine as the present lot could have only been commissioned by the very wealthiest patrons of the time, and the recurring motif of the fleur-de-lys implies close ties between the couple and the French royal family.
Before being part of the Rothschild collections for more than 3 generations, the triptych belonged to Didier Petit from the city of Lyon. François-Didier Petit de Meurville (1793-1873), a brilliant businessman, owner of textile factories and a legitimist who ran a renowned intellectual Salon, was a major collector, bringing the art of enamel back into the limelight, where it had previously received little attention. Forced to sell part of his collection of works mainly from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance following a reversal of fortune, more than 800 lots were selected for auction, including many enamels and the present triptych sold on 18 March 1843 in Paris (lot 346).
The banker Gustave de Rothschild (1829-1911), who owned the present lot, inherited from his father James, founder of the French branch of the family, a very pronounced taste for works of art, particularly of the Renaissance. His collections were housed in his Hôtel de Marigny, which he had built between 1873 and 1883 near the Élysée presidential palace, as well as at the Château de Laversine. His son Robert continued in the same family philanthropic vein by sitting on the board of directors of the Union centrale des arts décoratifs, the forerunner of the Musée des Arts décoratifs in Paris, for many years.
The name Monvaerni, sometimes referred to as Pseudo-Monvaerni, is derived from a fragmentary inscription on the sword of Saint Catherine in a triptych in the Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati (inv. no. 1931.268), which was once interpreted as a signature. This theory has since largely been abandoned by scholars, believing the inscription more likely to be associated with its patron not its painter. However, enamels bearing the initials ‘MV’ and ‘MB’ have also been attributed to Monvaerni’s hand (see for example at the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, inv. no. 44.599). In the present lot, there is a prominent ‘M’ on the unfurling scroll on the prie-dieu of the lefthand panel which could have been intended to serve as a signature. Two other Betrayal scenes attributed to Monvaerni share strong compositional links with the central panel in this triptych (Metropolitan Museum, New York, inv. no. 14.40.704, and the Wernher Collection, Ranger's House, London), however neither exhibits the level of detail or sophistication as the present lot.
In his seminal publication of 1921, Marquet de Vasselot attributes both the flanking panels and central scene to Monvaerni but catalogues them separately, raising the question of whether they were initially intended as part of the same artwork (op. cit., nos. 6 and 46). It is notable that the reverses of the flanking panels are a different shade to the reverse of the Betrayal; the former pair are purple and the latter blue. However, given that discarded enamel shards were often crushed up and randomly repurposed for the backs of panels, their colour alone is not conclusive evidence that they were once part of separate works.
The final mystery enclosed within this triptych is the identity of its commissioners: the husband and wife depicted kneeling presented by two saints. In the Didier Petit catalogue of 1843 they are described as members of the Lavedan family, whose crest featured three crows (loc. cit.). Marquet de Vasselot suggests that the accompanying saints could be Maurus and Clotilde (op. cit., no. 46). The male saint could also be Fiacre, given his iconography. Léon-Jacques-Maxime Prinet, known as Max Prinet (1867-1937), the famous French heraldist (see C. Samaran ‘Max Prinet’ in Annuaires de l'École pratique des Hautes Études, 1938, pp. 7-13), carried out extensive research on these plaques, but to no avail. A handwritten note by Marquet de Vasselot in the Louvre's Objets d'art department (Musée du Louvre, Département des Objets d'art, archives Marquet de Vasselot, Armoiries, no. 192) states ‘Prinet tells me, (after checking the enamel), that the armorial bearings of the triptych known as the Lavedan triptych are not to be found. Too many elements are missing and the animals represented are too uncertain. 3 March 1920’. What remains certain is that an object as fine as the present lot could have only been commissioned by the very wealthiest patrons of the time, and the recurring motif of the fleur-de-lys implies close ties between the couple and the French royal family.
Before being part of the Rothschild collections for more than 3 generations, the triptych belonged to Didier Petit from the city of Lyon. François-Didier Petit de Meurville (1793-1873), a brilliant businessman, owner of textile factories and a legitimist who ran a renowned intellectual Salon, was a major collector, bringing the art of enamel back into the limelight, where it had previously received little attention. Forced to sell part of his collection of works mainly from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance following a reversal of fortune, more than 800 lots were selected for auction, including many enamels and the present triptych sold on 18 March 1843 in Paris (lot 346).
The banker Gustave de Rothschild (1829-1911), who owned the present lot, inherited from his father James, founder of the French branch of the family, a very pronounced taste for works of art, particularly of the Renaissance. His collections were housed in his Hôtel de Marigny, which he had built between 1873 and 1883 near the Élysée presidential palace, as well as at the Château de Laversine. His son Robert continued in the same family philanthropic vein by sitting on the board of directors of the Union centrale des arts décoratifs, the forerunner of the Musée des Arts décoratifs in Paris, for many years.