The Master of the Aeneid: The Glory of the Enamels of Limoges

Published on 16 April 2021, by Vanessa Schmitz-Grucker

Auction on 28 May 2021 - 11:00 (CEST) - Salle 1-7 - Hôtel Drouot - 75009

This polychrome painted enamel plaque from the Porgès collection (passed down through the family) is part of a huge museum-worthy group produced during the Renaissance in the Limoges workshops.

Master of the Aeneid, Limoges, c. 1525-1530. Les Bocages fortunés (The Rich Groves),... The Master of the Aeneid: The Glory of the Enamels of Limoges

Master of the Aeneid, Limoges, c. 1525-1530. Les Bocages fortunés (The Rich Groves), enamel plate painted in polychrome on copper and silver flecks with gilt highlights, gilt calf frame, crimson velvet interior (French work from the first half of the 17^th century), the plaque measuring 22.5 x 19.8 cm/8.9 x 7.8 in.
Estimate: €200,000/300,000

Not seen at auction for 129 years, this enamel plaque has now re-emerged from a distant past, after a long saga marked by unveiled intrigues and mysteries still to be elucidated. Here we see an intriguing and fascinating object from the repertory of the goldsmith-enamelers of the Limoges workshops. Though other enamels from the opus lemovicense ( Limoges work ) were inspired by Virgil's Aeneid , the scale of this body of work is unparalleled in Limoges enameling, at a time when enamelers had achieved a rare level of excellence in the technique of enamel painting on copper. Their skill attracted the favor of monarchs and wealthy men: François I King of France and Henri de Montmorency-Bouteville were both keen admirers of these paintings born of fire, and helped make them famous. But the artists were mostly anonymous, and the…

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