LIMOSIN, Léonard
(b. ca. 1505, Limoges, d. ca. 1575, Limoges)

Resurrection

1553
Enamel on copper, 106 x 74 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

Two altars were set against the new choir screen erected in the upper chapel of the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. They were decorated with altarpieces, consisting of enamel compositions set into painted panels, two of which, the Crucifixion and the Resurrection survive. Each is composed of twenty-three enamel plaques. Each panel incorporates portrait medallions of Henri II and Catherine de' Medici, the donors of the altars. The most beautiful elements are the angels bearing the instruments of the Passion, realized after drawings by Niccolò dell'Abbate.