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Limoges Enamel in the Hermitage Collection
The exhibition in the Blue Bedroom of the Winter Palace displays objects made in the 15th century, including icons, triptychs and panels with religious subjects as well as objects from the 16th century which were intended for secular use, such as plates, dishes, sauce bowls and mirrors. During the Renaissance the city of Limoges (France) developed into a center of artistic production that was, together with the ceramics of Saint Porchair and the rustic clay objects of Palissy, the glory of French applied art. Limoges was famous for its pitted enamels on copper (émail champlevé) as early as the Middle Ages. At the end of the 15th century the Limoges master artisans reconsidered this type of decoration. Copper remained the base for the works, but the enamel was applied in a different manner. Now the enamel powder was not used to fill pits in the copper; rather it was applied to the foundation with a spatula or brush and then fired to form a glass-like surface. There were two ways of painting: the first, was using transparent and non-transparent polychrome enamels; and the second, which arose later, using a blue or black enamel to coat the base and then white paint to make a drawing (grisaille). In the early stages of production, the masters created works on religious subjects in the form of panels, diptychs and triptychs. Gradually, as the Renaissance gathered strength, there appear both mythological and secular subjects. By the middle of the 16th century they were preparing plates, bowls, ladles and salt-cellars in porcelain. Beginning in the middle of the 16th century there was production of plates, bowls, salt-cellars and ladles. Because of the fragility of the enamel layer, these objects did not have a functional application. They were intended to decorate interiors and as a rule were exhibited on the shelves of cupboards and sideboards, attesting to the wealth of their owners. At this time tchings by German, Italian and French artists were widely used as the models for painted enamels. Small vignettes by Bernard Salomon with illustrations of Biblical stories were among the most popular for enamel masters. A book with his engravings was first published in 1553 in Lyons. The Hermitage has a copy published in 1560. Bernard Salomon’s vignettes were used as the basis for the dish showing The Prophet Elijah and the bowl Joseph and the Wife of Potiphar. The etchings of Italian artist Marcantonio Raimondi also were frequently taken as the source for decoration of objects of applied art. Thus, the Madonna at the Cradle was used for enamel painting of a panel, while the Abduction of Helen was used to decorate the lid of a bowl. Engravings by Albrecht Durer and Lucas van Leyden were favored for portraying the Passions of Christ. Scenes from the story of Psyche were taken from the works of the Master of the Playing Ivory. Often the enamel masters only partially reproduced compositions from etchings, taking separate elements or figures. Works by most of the enamel masters from the late 15th - 16th centuries are represented in the Hermitage collection. The names of the masters of the earlier works are not known as a rule and the works are grouped together according to stylistic traits relating to some artifact or they are ascribed to one of the workshops. Beginning in the middle of the 16th century, the enamels often were signed by their creators. A whole series of names emerges: Colin Noillier, Pierre Raimond, Pierre Courtais. Other masters only put their initials on the works: IC, IP and KIP. In the 17th century many family members of Limousin, Loden and Noillier continued the traditions of the preceding century. Attributions and dating of Limoges painted enamels can be rather complicated. In the 19th century, as interest in this form a art work grew, enamel masters began to make copies of works form the age of the Renaissance. On the art market we find splendid fakes which look like 16th century works. In Paris at the Sevres Manufactory a special workshop of painted enamels was created which largely followed the best examples of Limoges enamel. In the Hermitage there are more than 150 pieces of Limoges painted enamel. The first pieces appeared in the Hermitage before the middle of the 19th century and at some point decorated the Treasure Gallery of the Winter Palace. However, the core of the collection consists of works bought by Emperor Alexander III from the collector A.P. Bazilevsky in Paris in 1884. After 1917 the Hermitage received artifacts from the nationalized private collections and disbanded museums. The works displayed in the exhibition as well as exhibits shown in the rooms of French art allow the visitor to fully appreciate the merits of the Hermitage collection of Limoges painted enamel - an amazing phenomenon of French applied art which reached its peak during the age of the Renaissance. The State Hermitage Publishing House has issued a scholarly catalogue for the exhibition. The catalogue’s author and the curator of the exhibition is Tamara V. Rappe, deputy director of the Department of History of Western European Art and doctor of art history.
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Copyright © 2011 State Hermitage Museum |
