UNKNOWN GOLDSMITH, French
(active early 16th century in Limoges)

The Grieving Virgin

1500s
Painted enamel on copper, gold and silver foil, 30 x 21 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

The enameller, referred to as Master of the Triptych of Louis XII, who must certainly have had contacts with the court of King Louis XII (reg. 1498-1515), in his depiction of the Virgin displayed his familiarity with the works of Jean Bourdichon and, in the framing of putti with cornucopias, with Italian books in the king's library, confiscated during the Italian campaigns.