A large rectangular enamelled copper plaque with polychrome, - Lot 24

Lot 24
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Estimation :
150000 - 200000 EUR
Result without fees
Result : 150 000EUR
A large rectangular enamelled copper plaque with polychrome, - Lot 24
A large rectangular enamelled copper plaque with polychrome, highlighted with gold Portrait of Leander, from the Heroides series Léonard LIMOSIN (1505-1577) Limoges, circa 1564 Height: 30 cm. Width: 26 cm. The young lover is shown against a blue background, turning his head slightly to the left. His eyes are blue and his face clean-shaven. His light brown hair is made up of long, wavy locks running down to the nape of his neck, some of which are tied at the top of his forehead and held in place by a jewel bearing a rectangular emerald in a circular setting. He wears a turquoise blue garment with a brown collar decorated with emeralds alternating with small white pearls and, on his left shoulder, a chlamys in translucent orange-brown enamel. His name is written vertically in gold on the left of the composition between two gold fleurons: ‘LEANDED’ (sic). The counter-enamel is colourless. As on all the other plates in the series, probably as a result of their removal from the panelling, the edges and corners were damaged and have been restored. Some wear to the gilding. Provenance: Probably commissioned by, or for, Catherine de’ Medici (1519- 1589), Queen of France and kept in the “cabinet des émaux” in her private townhouse in Paris, circa 1575; Baron Mayer Amschel de Rothschild (1818-1874), Mentmore Towers ; Hanna de Rothschild (1861-1890), married in 1876 to Archibald Primrose, 5th Count Rosebery (1847-1929), Mentmore Towers ; Harry Primrose, 6e comte de Rosebery (1882-1974), Mentmore Towers, His sale: Sotheby Parke Bernet & Co. Mentmore Towers. Vol. II, “Works of Art and Silver”, 20 May 1977, lot 1097; Private collection, USA, Sotheby's New York. Important European Works of Art. Vol. I, 27 November 1981, lot 48; Private collection, Europe The portrait of Leander is based on the face of the Apollo of the Belvedere engraved by Agostino Veneziano, circa 1514-36. Leander and Hero were lovers with a tragic destiny. Hero was a priestess of Aphrodite in Sestos, on the west bank of the Hellespont, while Leander lived in Abydos, on the east bank. Every night, Leander would swim across the strait, guided by a fire that Hero would light at the top of the tower where she lives. But during a crossing in a stormy sea, the fire went out and Leander lost his way and drowned. When his body was washed up by the sea the next day, Hero committed suicide by throwing herself off her tower. In the letters they exchanged, Leander complains that the stormy sea is preventing him from swimming across. Hero's impassioned reply, urging him to come close to her and brave the raging waves, encourages the young man's recklessness, which would prove fatal. The portrait of Hero is today lost.
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