A POLYCHROME ENAMEL TRIPTYCH

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A POLYCHROME ENAMEL TRIPTYCH
LIMOGES, DATED 1584, WORKSHOP OF THE PENICAUD

Enamelled in blues, greens, browns, red, en grisaille and highlighted with gilding, the central panel depicting the Crucifixion, Father Franciscus Gonzaga kneeling at the foot of the cross, inscribed within a rectangular cartouche 'FRATER^.FRANCISCVS^./GONZAGA^.
GENERALIS^./MINISTER^.FRACISCANORV /1584', the wings with paired figures of sibyls, each holding an instrument of the Passion and with her name and what she is holding inscribed below, each wing also incribed '1584' beneath the upper right figure, the panels within molded brass frames (loss of enamel at upper right corner of central panel, minor repairs) ----- the central panel 8¾ x 9¼in. (22.3 x 23.5cm.), the wings 4 x 9¼in. (10.2 x 23.5cm.), within hinged contemporary wood mount, the front depicting St Francis receiving the stigmata, the back with an entwined Alpha and Omega

Lot Essay

From upper left to lower right, the sibyls on the wings can be identified as follows: Persian, Cimmerian, Libyan, Delphic, Agrippine, Cumaean, Hellespont, Phrygian, European, Tiburtine, Eretraen and Samean.

Cf. P. Verdier, Walters Art Gallery: Catalogue of the Painted Enamels of the Renaissance, Baltimore, 1967, cat. nos. 53, 57 for a discussion of two pieces in the collection of The Walters Art Gallery similar to the present lot in the use of color, handling of the drapery and use of identification labels.