Lot Essay
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
P. Verdier, Catalogue of the Painted Enamels of the Renaissance, The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, 1967, no. 17, pp. 26-30 (frontispiece)
Musée muncipale de l'Evêché, Trésors d'Email, Catalogue des acquisitions 1977-1992, Limoges, 1992, no. 11, pp. 138-39, pl. 8
S. Caroselli, The Painted Enamels of Limoges, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1993, no. 2, pp. 43, 67-72
The matrix for the composition is provided by a larger rectangular plaque on the same theme in Los Angeles County Museum of Art (51.13.4), that is attributed to the anonymous Master of the Baltimore and Orléans Triptychs. The pose and drapery of the kneeling Virgin are closely replicated, with the Christ Child lying on the end of her cloak spread over the ground in front of her. Joseph is similarly posed too, holding out a candle in his right hand, but here has his left hand extended palm outwards in a gesture of wonder, instead of resting it on a set-square (symbol of his trade as a carpenter) as in the Los Angeles plaque. Here the ox and ass are in the center directly behind the Child rather than being tucked away to the left. The two shepherds are reacting slightly differently, while the inscription on the angel's scroll is abreviated. The pose of the Virgin in also related to that in the Annunciation triptych in Baltimore, though there she has her left hand open, and the baby is of course absent. The general design recurs in a triptych of the Nativity in the Musée municipale de l'Evêché in Limoges, purchased in 1982, which is by another anonymous painted known from his idiosyncratic renderings of the human faces as the Master of the Large Foreheads there however, the Virgin's face is shown in sharp profile, and not in three quarter view. Traces remain of the original flecks of gilding used to render highlights on the drapery, as well as other elements, such as the stars, but these had to be added after the enamel was fused in the kiln, and so are vulnuerable to wear. This serves however, as a demonstration of authenticity and age.
P. Verdier, Catalogue of the Painted Enamels of the Renaissance, The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, 1967, no. 17, pp. 26-30 (frontispiece)
Musée muncipale de l'Evêché, Trésors d'Email, Catalogue des acquisitions 1977-1992, Limoges, 1992, no. 11, pp. 138-39, pl. 8
S. Caroselli, The Painted Enamels of Limoges, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1993, no. 2, pp. 43, 67-72
The matrix for the composition is provided by a larger rectangular plaque on the same theme in Los Angeles County Museum of Art (51.13.4), that is attributed to the anonymous Master of the Baltimore and Orléans Triptychs. The pose and drapery of the kneeling Virgin are closely replicated, with the Christ Child lying on the end of her cloak spread over the ground in front of her. Joseph is similarly posed too, holding out a candle in his right hand, but here has his left hand extended palm outwards in a gesture of wonder, instead of resting it on a set-square (symbol of his trade as a carpenter) as in the Los Angeles plaque. Here the ox and ass are in the center directly behind the Child rather than being tucked away to the left. The two shepherds are reacting slightly differently, while the inscription on the angel's scroll is abreviated. The pose of the Virgin in also related to that in the Annunciation triptych in Baltimore, though there she has her left hand open, and the baby is of course absent. The general design recurs in a triptych of the Nativity in the Musée municipale de l'Evêché in Limoges, purchased in 1982, which is by another anonymous painted known from his idiosyncratic renderings of the human faces as the Master of the Large Foreheads there however, the Virgin's face is shown in sharp profile, and not in three quarter view. Traces remain of the original flecks of gilding used to render highlights on the drapery, as well as other elements, such as the stars, but these had to be added after the enamel was fused in the kiln, and so are vulnuerable to wear. This serves however, as a demonstration of authenticity and age.