Limoges: The Enamel Collection in the Musée des Beaux-Arts

(vero;2023-July-26)

The Musée des Beaux-Arts is housed in the former bishop's palace next to the cathedral with a nice park overlooking the river Vienne. Click here for information on opening hours and price (5 € in 2023). Its collection includes four sections: Egyptian Antiquity, Paintings, History of Limoges and an exhaustive display of Limoges Enamel. We wanted to see specifically the famous enamel collection and that's where we spent the major part of our visit, which left us with too little time for the paintings and Limoges history sections. I wish we could have seen more of the latter. We recommend reading this article from Britannica if you wish to know more about enamel techniques and history. But basically, there are two major types of enamels:

• Cloisonné enamel is a plate of copper, or more precious metal, covered with powders of different colours which become vitrified during cooking.
• Champlevé enamel has been produced in Limoges from the 11th century: in this type of enamel the colour powders are poured in cavities dug in the copper plate.

Limoges Champlevé enamels from the middle ages were mostly intended for religious use : crosses, reliquaries, binding plate for liturgical books among others. They constitute the so-called medieval "Oeuvre de Limoges". Later Limoges enamels painted during the Renaissance are mostly representing scenes inspired by Antiquity. Mythological figures, allegories or rural scenes replace religious representations. This trend continued until the 17th century and reappeared around the middle of the 19th century. Enamel is still a very lively art and the museum boasts a gallery dedicated to modern techniques and motives.

Go back to Dijon: Musée des Beaux-Arts or go on to Paris: Musée d'art médiéval de Cluny or go up to Museums

$updated from: Museums.htxt Mon 04 Mar 2024 16:04:48 trvl2 (By Vero and Thomas Lauer)$