Reliquary of Charlemagne’s arm, Liege, c. 1165-1170.

Champlevé enamel on copper, silver gilt over a

wooden core, 54 x 13.6 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

 

 

In this series, we will find a number of curious objects in the Louvre collection. Of the 11th century, first we have the beautiful box for holding the Gospels, which forms part of the treasury of St Denis and displays a rich combination of repoussé and filigree work, with enamels and precious stones. Then we have the German made reliquary of the sword of Charlemagne, evidently subsequent to the opening of the tomb of the saint probably between 1155 and 1190, as Frederick I Barbarossa is thereon represented as Emperor, with his wife, the Empress Beatrice, and his ancestors.

The shrine of St Potentien belongs to the 12th century, which presents an excellent example of the architectural constructions usually adopted in the ecclesiastical gold and silver of this period. This shrine was made for the church of Steinfeld. To the latter part of the same century, we may assign the reliquary cross with double transverse beams, as they were generally made, in order to preserve fragments of the true cross. This specimen of French workmanship is ornamented with filigree work and stamped foliage, with cabochon stones and pearls. A figure of Christ wearing a crown is fixed on the lower transverse beam, his loins covered with folds of ample drapery. The foot, which is very elaborately worked, is embellished with miniature figures in sterling silver. Beneath is the inscription: Crus Hugonis abbatis. It is probably the same mentioned in a historical manuscript of the Abbey of Saint Vincent, Laon, as having belonged to this Abbey. It must, in this case, have been made for the Abbot Hugues who presided over it between the years 1174 and 1205. Darcel also noted that in 1131 this monastery possessed a manufactory for gold and silver work.

In the 13th century, the Limoges enamels are in full splendour, as we will see from the cup signed by its maker, Master Alpais. Here we have Christ represented in the act of giving the benediction, executed in repoussé copper, chased and gilt, ornamented with pearls of enamel and glass so exquisite in execution, as to rival gold itself. Next, croziers on which leaves and flowers, Occidental in character, form the basis of the ornamentation, still further embellished with glass cabochons, taking the place of hard stones. We do not dwell on that class of works which rather belong to the category of champlevé.

The Louvre presents us with another precious relic, the casket of Saint Louis. This box is of special interest from the plates in relief, which alternate with the enamels. Barbet de Jouy remarks that the subjects of these plates are intended to represent the evil passions which man should resist and overcome. This is undoubtedly so, but what particularly interests us is the altogether Oriental character of these figures. There is a man attacking a kind of hydra; further on we find two birds, back to back, with necks crossed over each other, as in the Arabian monuments. There it is a bird of prey attacking a wild animal. All the various designs which we find so frequently repeated in Oriental tissues and silks are there.

Of the 14th century, we find a valuable relic in the Louvre; we allude to the group including the Virgin Mary carrying the infant Jesus, in silver gilt. The chased pedestal is ornamented with enamels; in the niches and buttresses which surround it are twenty-two statuettes representing the prophets of the new dispensation. In the medallions reserved between the reliefs, of which the ground is resplendent with a fine blue translucent enamel rendered still more brilliant by hatchings made in silver in an opposite direction, are subjects engraved and wrought as if in niello. They represent the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity, the Appearance of the angels to the shepherds, the Adoration of the Magi, the Presentation in the Temple, the Flight into Egypt, the Massacre of the Innocents, the Resurrection of Lazarus, the Kiss of Judas, the bearing of the Cross, the Calvary, the Resurrection, and Jesus taking the Righteous out of Purgatory. On enamel plaques “applied” at the corners of the reliquary are the united arms of France and Évreux, being those of Charles le Bel and Jeanne d’Évreux, his wife.

The 15th century, the epoch of Gothic architectural development, naturally gave a monumental tendency to the art of the goldsmith. This is plainly visible in the reliquaries and other ecclesiastical pieces in which we sometimes see it twisting the gold and silver into crenelated scrolls, perforating them into flamboyant mullions, superposing pinnacles to niches, embellishing the whole with precious stones and enamels, and populating them with figures whose flesh tints are often painted or enamelled. We cannot find a better example of this style than the reliquary in the Louvre which was given to the altar of the Order of the Holy Spirit by Henry III.