Object Description
Pair of Renaissance style enamel plaques in giltwood frames
French, 19th Century
Dimensions: Frames: Height 24cm, width 18cm, depth 3cm
Plaques: Height 13cm, width 10cm
Held in ornately carved Neoclassical giltwood frames, these Limoges enamel plaques depict two men rendered in the historicised Renaissance style. The frames feature oval openings, with laurel wreath carvings and bows to the top.
Both plaques depict bust-length portraits of men, shown in three-quarter profile with laurel wreaths adorning their heads. They are both painted in a style that evokes the portraiture of the 16th century, with great care taken to render the details of each sitter’s face, and expressive brushstrokes for the background and clothing. The younger of the men wears a deep orange shirt with fur shawl, and the other is dressed in a green outfit with white collar and similar fur shawl.
Each plaque is inscribed in ink to the reverse with the sitters’ names and biographical information. One is identified as ‘Ludovies Arissto / Born at Reggio, Lombardy 1414 / Died at Ferrara 1533’, while the other is indistinctly named, born in Naples in 1544 and died in 1595.