About this work
From the late twelfth century until the town was destroyed in 1371, Limoges was famous for the production of champlevé enamels. The enamel industry began to revive about a century later, but the technique of painted enamels employed from the 1460s onwards was quite different to the earlier medieval work. The new method involved enamels being applied in a fashion similar to oil paint on canvas, and print sources were often drawn upon for inspiration. A plaque such as this might have formed part of a series illustrating episodes from the Passion of Christ adorning a private altar.