Winchester College possesses the crucifix below. Watch the short video to learn about it and its enamelling in Limoges, and then read the article below to learn even more.
The crucifix featured in the short video above was made in around 1200 in Limoges, a city in France. It was given to Winchester College in 1964 by Mrs M. R. Ruffer, in memory of Mortimer Ernest Ruffer (Cook's, 1904-08). It is 28.5cm high and 17cm wide.
Both the base and the depiction of Jesus are made of copper. The base is enamelled, whereas the figure was gilded. Most of the gilding has now worn away, but remnants can still be seen, especially on the palms of his hands.
The crucifix would have originally been attached to a larger processional cross. The holes where it would have been nailed to the wooden core are still visible. This cross in The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York shows how the crucifix would have looked when attached to a processional cross and before the gilding had worn away.
Later crosses from Limoges showed Christ suffering, wearing a crown of thorns. However, this crucifix depicts him wearing the crown of a king, in triumph.
The crucifix is currently on display in the Winchester College Treasury, and can also be viewed alongside the rest of the College's medieval and sculptural collections on the Winchester College Collections website.
How was it made? The copper surface would have initially been prepared by engraving the design into it. Then, intense heat would have been used to fuse powdered glass in the carved troughs. Finally, the hard enamel would have been polished using an abrasive stone. This technique is known as champlevé enamelling – literally "raised-field" enamelling, after the raised areas between the troughs.
Watch the process take place in the video, produced by the Victoria & Albert Museum in South Kensington, below.
Limoges, where the crucifix was made, was the central hub of European enamelling from the early 12th century, reaching its peak in around 1200-30. Whilst the city was the largest and most famous centre of enamelling, the most skilled workers were in the Meuse valley: the higher value of these items means that fewer were produced and even fewer survive.
The workshops in Limoges had been secular, but their products were mostly sacred. Pope Innocent III was important in the industry's growth: he ordered two items himself, and at the Fourth Lateran Council, specified that the enamel was a suitable substitute for the precious metals of some liturgical objects. Its lower price for a similarly jewel-like effect made it highly popular. Its high durability was another attractive feature.
The fact that items enamelled in Limoges can be found across Europe demonstrates not only that they were popular, but that extensive trade networks existed in the Middle Ages. One of the ways in which the enamelling was spread was pilgrimage: Limoges was on the popular route from Vézelay to Santiago de Compostela. Pilgrims bought small items to carry on their journey, but also made larger commissions for back home.
In 1370, Limoges was sacked during the Hundred Years' War. The long-established workshops were destroyed. Shortly afterwards, a new style of enamelling, involving painting the design directly onto the base, emerged. A much wider range of colours could be used. Consequently, the tradition of champlevé enamelling in Limoges ended.
LIMOGES, CIRCA 1230-1250. www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6327294.
Limoges Workshop, c. 1200 – Winchester College. winchestercollections.co.uk/collection/limoges-cross.
O’Neill, John Philip, editor. Enamels of Limoges: 1100-1350. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1996. books.google.co.uk/books?id=qrHe4eF1NRkC.
Processional Cross | French | The Metropolitan Museum of Art. metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/464309.
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