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St Louis: M.46-1904

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Object information

Current Location: In storage

Titles

St Louis

Maker(s)

Maker: Nouailher, Jean-Baptiste I (Probably)

Entities

Categories

Description

Rectangular plaque painted in enamels and gilded. St Louis kneeling before an altar, titled 'SAINT LOUIS' below, with raised white foliage reserved in a black ground in the spandrels

Rectangular convex plaque with slightly waisted left side, and two holes at top centre. Copper, painted in royal blue, pale blue, green, yellow, flesh pink, orange-red, red, brown, grey, black, white, and raised white enamels , and gilded. The counter-enamel is cloudy dark-brown. An oval medallion with a narrow white frame encloses St Louis kneeling on a cushion beside an altar. His right hand is extended behind him and his left hand is on his chest. He has a rayed halo around his head, and greying shoulder-length hair. He wears armour under a royal blue, ermine-lined robe semé with gold fleur-de-lys, a white fur collar, and a chain with a circular pendant bearing a red cross on a yellow ground. His crown and sceptre lie on the ground behind him on the viewer’s left, and on the right a green crown of thorns and nails rest on a white cloth on an altar with a red and yellow striped frontal with a red fringe on the lower edge. Above on the left is a green, draped up curtain, and on the right, the sunlight streams through clouds onto the Saint. The top of the cushion is pale blue semé with gold fleur-de-lys, and it has a red and yellow sides. In the spandrels outside the frame there is raised white foliage reserved in a black ground. At the bottom is a white panel inscribed in black, ‘SAINT LOUIS’ with a stylized leaf spray between the words.

Notes

History note: Edwin H. Lawrence, FSA (1819-91); sold Christie’s, 4-6 May 1892, second day, lot 169; Frank McClean, MA, FRS (1837–1904); bequeathed by him.

Legal notes

Frank McClean bequest

Place(s) associated

  • Limoges ⪼ Haute Vienne ⪼ France

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1904) by McClean, Frank

Dating

18th Century, Mid
Louis XV
Circa 1730 CE - 1760 CE

Note

Louis IX of France (1214-70) was renowned for his just government, piety, and charity. He went on an unsuccessful Crusade to the Holy Land between 1248 and 1254, and died of fever near Tunis at the commencement of another Crusade to North Africa in 1270. He was canonized by Boniface VIII in 1297.

The style and colouring closely resemble that of the plaque of St Eleonor signed by Jean-Baptiste Nouailher I (M.47-1904), probably the elder. Alternatively it might be by Bernard I Noualher (1702; still living 1748; died before 1752)

Components of the work

Decoration composed of enamel ( royal blue, pale blue, green, yellow, flesh pink, orange-red, red, brown, grey, black, white, and raised white) gold
Plaque composed of copper

References and bibliographic entries

Related exhibitions

Identification numbers

Accession number: M.46-1904
Primary reference Number: 156432
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Tuesday 10 November 2020 Last processed: Wednesday 13 December 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "St Louis" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/156432 Accessed: 2024-10-11 09:47:44

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{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/156432 |title=St Louis |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-10-11 09:47:44|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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