Romanesque Christ of the Limoges Workshop, 12th-13th century

Romanesque Christ from the Limoges Workshop, 12th-13th century.
Gilded copper.
It presents breaks and losses in the gilding.
Measurements: 7 x 12 cm.
Devotional sculpture made in copper, which represents the body of Christ on the cross, although this is not conserved. The piece presents a figure of Christ triumphant, as he is awake and crowned as king of heaven. The Limoges workshop appeared in the last quarter of the 12th century and continued its activity until the 14th century. It flourished again in the 15th century with the new technique of painted enamel. It became the most important enamel workshop, ahead of the Rhineland and Meuse, which disappeared in the 12th century and were dedicated to the production of individual plates on commission, which were then mounted on an object or joined together to form altar frontals. In Limoges, on the other hand, the production of objects, no longer just plaques, decorated with enamels, began, above all for religious but also for secular use. They were cheaper, copper-based pieces, and very attractive because of the enamelled decoration, which made them a huge and immediate success throughout Europe. Limoges is also mentioned in documents, indicating that it was an important centre known throughout Western Europe. One of the distinguishing characteristics of Limoges is its very shallow background dragging, which does not go beyond two or three millimetres. To depict detail, such fine partitioning is used that it can only be distinguished from the excavated one by close observation through a magnifying glass. In Limoges, the enamels were applied according to the client's taste, filling only the background, only the figures, or both. As for the colour range, he used that of the Meuse workshops, which was very varied, but added new colours, such as olive green, a light greyish blue or white for the flesh tones.