Limoges Manufacture, 18th century
Diana with nymphs
Enamel plaque, 6.5 x 14.5 cm
The precious polychrome enamel plaque belongs to the manufacturing production of the city of Limoges and can be placed in the 18th century. The long artisan and artistic history of the city in the field of decorative arts can be traced back to the Middle Ages, with the beautiful objects in vitreous enamel made using the champlevé technique, up to Art Nouveau and therefore to the threshold of the twentieth century. The success both with the medieval and Renaissance courts first and then with the nineteenth-century high bourgeoisie, passing through the European nobility of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, demonstrates the extreme appreciation for the city's workshops, capable of innovating their processing techniques and their materials. From enamel to precious metals, from hard stones to porcelain, the Limoges masters have constantly maintained a high quality level, finding feedback in the export of their works to countries throughout Europe and to the most disparate customers. This plaque is therefore part of a centuries-old history, made of artisans and workshops passed down from father to son for generations without ever losing value in the workmanship and following the taste of each era. In this case, the subject represents the goddess Diana, recognizable by the crescent moon on her forehead and the hunting weapons scattered in the composition, together with the nymphs faithful to her while she rests along the banks of a stream. The bucolic landscape perfectly matches the figure of the goddess of the hunt, immersed in a forest that opens into a vast clearing interrupted by low hills in the background. The black color of the background suggests a nocturnal setting, also typical of Diana as a divinity associated with the lunar star; the lighter colors of the more superficial layers of enamel recall the whitish and luminous surface of the moon, which seems to illuminate the water of the stream, the clothes of the goddess and the nymphs and the details of the trunks and leaves of the trees. The contrast between the dark tones and the diaphanous and cold light is so refined and elegant as to make the enamel comparable to the material preciousness of a gem or a jewel. To complete the chromatic range there are some gold-colored details, such as the arrows, diadems and bows of the nymphs and Diana.
The object is in good condition
