Altarpiece composed of fourteen polychrome... - Lot 61 - Pierre Bergé & Associés

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Lot n° 61
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Altarpiece composed of fourteen polychrome... - Lot 61 - Pierre Bergé & Associés
Altarpiece composed of fourteen polychrome enamel plates with gold highlights on the Passion of Christ, black counter-enamel. From left to right and from top to bottom, some scenes are represented with inscriptions: The Last Supper with BEN[E] DISITE DOMIÑ[V]S (Bless us, Lord), Jesus in the Garden of Olives, The Kiss of Judas, The Appearance before Caiaphas (IHS), Pilate washes his hands, The Carrying of the Cross, The Flagellation, The Crowning of the Thorns (PILATE), The Crucifixion, The Entombment, The Resurrection, The Appearance of Christ to His Mother, Noli me tangere, and The Ascension. Limoges, entourage of Colin Nouailher, circa 1540/50 Height: 9,6 cm - Width: 8,7 cm approx. - Framed (small lacks and accidents on some plates, mainly on the Last Supper and the Appearance before Caiaphas) The compositions of these scenes are taken from two series of engravings on the Passion of Christ, that of Lucas of Leiden (1521) for the Last Supper (fig.a), the Garden of Olives (fig.b), the Kiss of Judas (fig.c), the Appearance before Caiaphas (fig.d), the Flagellation (fig.f), the Coronation of Thorns (fig.g), the Carrying of the Cross (fig.h), the Crucifixion (fig.i), and the more famous one from Dürer's Little Passion (1510) for Pilate washing his hands (fig.e), the Entombment (fig.j), the Resurrection (fig.k), the Appearance of Christ to his Mother (fig.l), Noli me tangere (fig.m) and the Ascension (fig.n). The physiognomy of the faces as well as the colours, with the predominance of grey, green and blue, are rather reminiscent of works given to Colin Nouailher. A few altarpieces or parts of altarpieces on the Passion of Christ have come down to us, the best known being the one made up of twenty-four plates kept in the Wallace Collection in London (inv. IIIF 250). Modelled on Dürer's Little Passion, these small plates (10 cm x 8 cm) are by an anonymous artist who is sometimes referred to as Master Fine in reference to the preciousness of his production, characterised by his fine execution and the abundance of gold highlights. Another altarpiece, made up of only nine plates, still drawn from the engravings of the German master, can be seen at the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore, this one attributed to the enamel painter Pierre Veyrier II, who was active in Limoges until 1567 (inv.44.364). There is also a set of twenty-six plates on the Passion of Christ held by the Museo Nacional Soares dos Reis in Porto, also largely inspired by Dürer and attributed to the Fine Master (inv.2.1 to 2.26 DIV MNSR). Finally, an original set of a dozen plates, whose composition is partly and freely inspired by the round Passion series produced by Lucas of Leiden in 1509, is in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg (inv. HHB No. 286); these larger plates (20 cm x 16.3 cm) are attributed to Colin Nouailher. This altarpiece of fourteen plates is remarkable for its rarity and good state of preservation. It is also a precious example of the use of two engraved sources for the same set, although it is known that the Limoges enamellers had the choice of crossing the models, as several series of engravings could circulate in the workshops. On the other hand, it does not seem that art historians have previously noted the use of the series of prints on the Passion that Lucas of Leiden produced in 1521, whereas a large enamelled plate illustrating Jesus in the Garden of Olives, attributed to Master NB, taking up this composition by the famous Dutch engraver, can be seen in the Hermitage collections (inv. HHB N° 2647). Works consulted: M. Blanc, Emaux peints de Limoges XVe-XVIIIe siècles - La collection du musée des Arts décoratifs, Paris, 2011; T. Rappé and L. Boulkina, Les émaux peints de Limoges de la collection de l'Ermitage, Saint Petersburg, 2005, cat.22 and 26.
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