Reliquary Casket with the Crucifixion, Christ in Majesty and Apostles
Unknown · c. 1185-1200
Small enough to hold in two hands, the casket stacks two of the most common Limoges subjects on its front: the Crucifixion below and, on the roof, the vision of Christ in Majesty, each surrounded by standing figures. What is unusual is their number. Sixteen haloed, barefoot figures line the front and roof; eight carry books, five a rolled scroll, and three a round object that may be a host. In eighteen fifty two the scholar Laborde read them as the twelve apostles and four evangelists, though that would mean Matthew and John appearing twice; more likely the enameller simply varied the attributes. All the figures are left in reserved gilded copper against the enamel ground, and those on the front have separately cast heads applied in relief. The abbreviated name of Jesus Christ is inscribed beside the cross.
The casket was made in Limoges in the last fifteen years of the twelfth century. It belonged to the chevalier Edme-Antoine Durand, one of the great early collectors of medieval art, whose collection the Louvre purchased in eighteen twenty five, laying the foundation of its medieval holdings. The floor of the wooden core is missing.
Did You Know? Nobody has quite settled who the sixteen figures are, since twelve apostles plus four evangelists would count two of them twice.
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