Large plaque with gilded copper relief, chased... Lot 3

Large plaque with gilded copper relief, chased and embossed. Italy or France. Transition from Romanesque to Gothic period. Circa 1250 - 1300. The great quality of the chasing and the way that the figure is so free-standing – not simply bass relief, added to its size, leads us to believe that the plaque must have been part of a large and important piece. There are various hypotheses on the origin of the plaque. One of these is that it could be from the base of a reliquary, like the plaques that can be found on the reliquary of the skull of Saint Regnobert, dated circa 1200, where the lower edge has five plaques representing apostles made of embossed and gilded copper. Another possibility is that it was part of a portable triptych like the plaques that can be found on the Florennes Triptych, from the Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse workshop, circa 1210-1230, or it could also have been part of the cover of a book of hours or from a large chest. This relief depicts Saint John the Baptist from a Calvary scene. Around the saint is a frieze made up of plant elements which decorate the plaque. Reference bibliography: "Une Renaissance, L'art entre Flandre et Champagne, 1150-1250". Catalogue from the exhibition which took place at the Musée de Cluny. Paris 2013. 16,5 x 7,5 cm.