MASTER of Saint Gilles
(active around 1500 in France)

St Gilles' Mass (detail)

c. 1500
Oil and egg tempera on oak
National Gallery, London

The meticulous care brought to the painting of each object has enabled us to recognize some of the treasures of early mediaeval art in the Church. They are objects long since vanished, but which were frequently mentioned in descriptions of the period and can therefore be identified. A superb piece of goldsmith's work, a tablet decorated with reliefs, filigree work, enamel and gems, is to be seen on the altar. Its donor was Charles the Bold, Charlemagne's grandson. Originally used as an antependium, it was set up on the altar as a retable in the second half of the Middle Ages. A large-scale cross rises above it; in the opinion of certain scholars this object is even older, the work of St. Aeligius who lived in the seventh century. The tomb on the right is that of St. Dagobert, one of the Merovingian dynasty.