Plaque with Censing Angels, ca. 1170???1180
Made in Limoges, France
Champlev?? enamel, copper gilt; 4 5/16 x 8 11/16 x 1/8 in. (11 x 22.1 x 0.3 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Cloisters Collection, 2001 (2001.634)
This twelfth-century champlev?? enamel and copper gilt plaque from Limoges once crowned a large cross, estimated to be about four feet high. Although no such monumental enamel crosses survive, there is documentary evidence of their existence. As they swing their censers, the two grieving angels look down on what would have been a figure of the crucified Christ.
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