Copper And Enamel Crucifix - Limoges - Circa 1300

Large processional cross with applied figure of Christ, in engraved and chased copper with champlevé enamel. Limoges, France. Circa 1300. Dimensions of the cross: 49 × 30 cm Dimensions of the figure of Christ: 15.5 x 14.8 cm The terminals of the cross are finished with fleurs-de-lis. Both faces are finely engraved with foliate motifs. In the center, a large figure of the living Christ in chased copper, bearing faint traces of gilding and champlevé enamel, is applied to the cross. Christ wears a long loincloth enameled with lapis lazuli and turquoise blue. His crowned head is slightly inclined and his eyes are made of glass or possibly jet. The Museum of Art and Archaeology in Senlis, France, holds a comparable example, still attached to its original cross. (https://musees.ville-senlis.fr/Collections/Explorer-les-collections/Rechercher-une-oeuvre/Musee-d- Art-et-d-Archeologie/Christ-en-croix) The figure of Christ also presents, as the museum indicates in its file, the characteristics of the Limoges "opus emovicense" style, according to the expression used in the Middle Ages to define objects made of enameled champlevé copper in the Limoges workshops: the use of ultramarine blue champlevé enamel on the loincloth, the fine chiseling on the torso, and the presence of the suppedaneum, a tablet on which Christ's feet rest. In the museum's copy, but not in this one, the ultramarine blue enamel is preserved. On the back, there are figures in engraved copper with applied champlevé enamel. In the center, a large medallion represents Christ Pantocrator. Of the four figures originally attached representing the Tetramorph to each arm of the cross, two remain: quatrefoil plaques featuring, at the top, the lion of St. Mark and, at the bottom, the angel of St. Matthew. Further down the stem (stipes), a final applied ornament appears in the form of a knob, also in engraved copper with champlevé enamel. The figure of Christ is damaged at the feet, which are missing, and a small part of the crown is also lost. The applied figures that would have originally been present on the front of the cross have not survived. Provenance: Private collection. Reference bibliography: - From Limoges to Silos". Exhibition catalogue Madrid - Brussels - Santo Domingo de Silos, November 2001- April 2002. The Work of Limoges. Limousin Enamels of the Middle Ages, exhibition catalogue [Paris, Louvre Museum, 23.10.1995-22.01.1996; New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 4.03-16.06.1996J, Paris, Ed. De la Réunion des musées nationaux, 1995. - GAUTHIER, Marie-Madeleine (ed.), Southern Enamels: International Catalogue of the Work of Limoges. Volume 2: The Apogee 1190-1215, Paris, CTHS editions, 2011.