The Lord's Prayer I: Christ teaching the Disciples how to Pray: M.49A-1904

Place(s) associated

• Limoges ⪼ Haute Vienne ⪼ France

Acquisition and important dates

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

Dating

16th Century, Mid
Circa 1540 CE - 1550 CE

Note

This plaque was originally the first of a set of eight illustrating the Lord's Prayer of which six are in the Fitzwilliam (M.49A-F-1904). The second and fourth plaques are missing. The first plaque shows Christ instructing his disciples how to pray (Matthew, VI, 6-7), and the others have scenes associated with the lines of the Lord's Prayer which follows (Matthew, VI, 8-13). The words are written in French at the bottom of each plaque. The subject of the first plaque is shown out-of-doors, because this passage in the Gospel forms part of the Sermon on the Mount. So far no documentary evidence for the use of the plaques has been found. However, it seems likely that framed sets could have been used as teaching aids. Their production needs to be viewed in the context of efforts by evangelical Protestant and Gallican Catholic reformers to improve the religious education of the clergy and laity. Learning to repeat and understand the Lord's Prayer was a fundamental aspect of Christian education. The publication of Luther’s commentaries on the Creed and Lord’s Prayer in 1518 and 1519 inspired a spate of comparable works, ranging from learned works for scholars to simple pamphlets with the Lord's Prayer, Creed, and Hail Mary printed in Latin and French for the laity. The scenes on the enamelled Lord's Prayer plaques were derived from a set of metalcuts by the Basel monogrammist C.V. after Holbein which appeared in Desiderio Erasmus's 'Precatio dominica in septem portiones', published by both Johann Froben and Johannes Bebel successively in Basle in 1524. The work was first published without illustrations in 1523, and was rapidly translated into modern languages. The illustrations in the Froben and Bebel editions have the inscriptions in Latin, but a set of eight prints issued separately a little later with inscriptions in French, signed CV, is in the British Museum (1904,0206. 64.1-8;) and seven of the set (no. 4 is missing) are in the Cabinet des Estampes, Bibliothèque nationale, Paris (EA 25c in fol., p. 57). A French translation of 'Precation dominica' was not published, and the rarity of the prints with French text, makes it seem more likely that Colin Nouailher, had access to an illustrated Latin edition. The inscriptions on the plaques attributed to him do not match all lines of the cuts with French text. While the iconography of all the plaques was derived from these prints, the details differ considerably, in some scenes more than others, and the sets by by Jean Pénicaud II or III and the enameller who signed 'KIP' include scenes which are completely different. Only five sets of grisaille Lord's Prayer plaques surviving together are known, of which two are attributed to Colin Nouailher, and about thirty-five in smaller groups or single plaques are in his style, which differs greatly from the other sets attributed to Jean Pénicaud II or III and 'KIP'. Two plaques in the Louvre were attributed to Colin Nouailher by Alfred Darcel (1867) and his attribution was upheld by J.J. Marquet de Vasselot (1919-20) and Sophie Baratte (2000). This attribution was confirmed by the presence of the initials CN below the title on a plaque decorated with the 'Deliver us from Evil' scene, acquired by the Musée de l’Évêché, (now Musée des Beaux-Arts) Limoges, in 2007 (2007.5.2) with another plaque of the 'Give us our daily bread' scene (2007.5.1).

School or Style

Renaissance