MASTER MONVAERNI (1461-1485)THE NATIVITYLIMOGES, CIRCA 1475, |

Georges Chalandon collection, Lyon
Albin Chalandon collection, Lyon
Thence by descent to the present owner

Exposition Retrospective de Lyon, 1877

J.-B. Giraud, Recueil descriptif et raisonné des principaux objets d'Art ayant figuré à l'Exposition retrospective de Lyon, 1878, p. 14. RELATED LITERATURE 
J.J. Marquet de Vasselot, Les Emaux limousins de la fin du XVe siècle et la première partie du XVIe siècle, Paris, 1921, no. 1;
G. Migeon, 'La collection de M. G. Chalandon', in Les Arts, June 1905, p. 21;
M.M. Gauthier, Les émaux du moyen age, Fribourg, 1972, pp. 420-421,  no. 256.

The enamel is in overall good condition with some losses to the edges of the plaque and to the lower right corner. The colors are fresh with some minor wear to the gilding and some oxydation to the dark background in the center giving a matt appearence. One small loss (ca.1 cm) below the sheperds. The two dark points near the Christ child are missing cabochons. Counter enamel with collection labels and losses to the other edges where the plaque was set in a frame.
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This beautiful composition of the Nativity can be attributed to the so-called Monvaerni Master, one of the first enamel painters of the Renaissance, known in Limoges in the second half of the 15th century. In the Middle ages, predominantly during the 12th and the 13th centuries, Limoges was renowned for the production of champlevé enamels, notably used for religious and liturgical objects. The technique of painted enamel on copper appeared in Limoges in the last quarter of the 15th century, during the reigns of Louis XI (1461-1483) and Henri III (1574-1589). A large production of luxury objects, commissioned for private use to decorate aristocratic interiors including sumptuous panels, large dishes, ewers and cups, prolonged the reputation of Limoges into the 16th and 17th centuries. 
Rectangular plaques, such as the present Nativity, illustrating scenes of the Life of Christ, were generally part of house altars for private use.

The Monvaerni master, also called 'Pseudo Monvaerni', was active in Limoges between 1461 and 1485, and is considered to be one of the pioneers of enamel painting in the Renaissance, before Nardon Penicaud (1495-1541) and the famous Aeneid Master. His designation Monvaerni relates to an inscription which can be found on a series of enamels, in particular on Saint Catherine's sword in a triptych in the Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati (inv. no. 1931.268). His oeuvre comprises around fifty enamels, all depicting religious subjects, which have been grouped together on the basis of his distinctive style.

This enamel of the Nativity stands out for its quality and rarity: only one other identical plaque is known today, which once belonged to Prince Adam Czartoryski and decorated with his arms, is now in the museum of Warsaw (see fig. 1).

His work displays knowledge of perspective and a preference for painted contours, with a great talent in arranging colours, highlighted with gilding, all features which distinguish this plaque as a work by the Monvaerni Master. It has been suggested that he was originally an illuminator of manuscripts. This composition may be inspired by the Nativity in the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry which was then reemployed in Robert Campin's painting of 1425 (Dijon musée des Beaux Arts).