Plaque with Christ Carrying the Cross, Léonard Limousin

The episode of christ carrying his cross to calvary would be part of a passion series making up an altarpiece for private devotion. The setting is indebted to the corresponding scene in the german artist albrecht dürer's "small woodcut passion" of 1509-11. The composition is less complicated, however, and the slashed sleeves of two soldiers provide a "modern" detail. The use of color, especially the translucent wine-red, as well as the gilding in the star-strewn sky and christ's robes and head produces a brilliant, decorative effect. On the basis of style, this plaque appears to be an early work by leonard limosin, one of the greatest masters of painted enamel, possibly before his earliest dated plaques from 1534. Date: circa 1530 (Renaissance). Place of creation: Limoges, France. Dimensions: height: 17 cm (6.6 in); width: 13.8 cm (5.4 in). Medium: painted enamel and gilded copper. Collection: Walters Art Museum. Léonard Limosin - Plaque with Christ Carrying the Cross - Walters 4459