Skip to main content
Collections Menu
Counter-enamel
Counter-enamel and back of frame
Center plaque with Christ in garden
Round medallion with man and sheep
Round medallion with figure reading under a starry sky
Round medallion with baby christ and figures and animals
Round medallion with woman, man, and executioner
Round medallion with figure and white bird
Round medallion with Christ being whipped and tied to a pole
Silvery rocks
Enamel in gold frame with enamel medallions
Detail of man sleeping with sword
Angel in flight carrying a chalice
Rocks, trees, and three crouching figures
Christ praying before rocks
Judas leading soldiers to Chris, infront of gate with castle in distance
Man sleeping with sword
Two men sleeping
#187: By Ian Wardropper, Director Transcript

Pierre Reymond developed a sophisticated style of enamel painting, and his workshop was extremely prolific. These two plaques depicting scenes from the Passion of Christ, The Agony in the Garden and Christ Crowned with Thorns, may have originally been part of a larger series, but in the nineteenth century they were framed and surrounded with small roundels depicting a range of Christian subjects. The polychrome plaques are modelled on an earlier enamel by Reymond that he executed in grisaille—monochrome painting in black, white, and gray—now in the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. Technical analysis confirms that the two plaques displayed here were made with the same batch of enamel, but the higher quality of draftsmanship and enamel application in Christ Crowned with Thorns suggests that they were made by different artists working in Reymond’s workshop.

Plaque: The Agony in the Garden

 (French, 1513–after 1584)
Datemid- to late 16th century
MediumPainted enamel on copper, partly gilded
DimensionsPlaque: 8 x 6 1/4 in. (20.3 x 15.9 cm) Roundels: diam. 2 1/16 in. (5.2 cm)
Credit LineGift of Dr. and Mrs. Henry Clay Frick, II, 2005
Accession number2005.4.01
Commentary

This enamel may have originally been part of a pair (with 2005.4.02) or part of a larger altarpiece. Although the two plaques were painted by different hands, analysis of the blue enamel in each plaque reveals that they were made in the same workshop and at about the same time. Both depict an episode from the Passion of Christ. In The Agony in the Garden, Jesus kneels in prayer while the saints Peter, John, and James sleep in the foreground. The emphasis is on Jesus’ impending arrest, with Judas and an army approaching on a grassy path painted in a rich blue-green. In the Christ Crowned with Thorns enamel, two tormentors use their weapons to drive the crown of thorns into Christ’s head while a third mocks Christ by placing a reed in his hand as if it were a scepter. The plaques’ monochro­matic palette, dominated by white and gray tones, recalls early enamels in grisaille (a technique using shades of gray) by Pierre Reymond.

Source: Vignon, Charlotte. The Frick Collection Decorative Arts Handbook. New York: The Frick Collection/Scala, 2015.

Not On View
Plaque: Christ Crowned with Thorns
Workshop of Pierre Reymond
mid- to late 16th century
Front view of an enamel plaque representing The Agony in the Garden in its decorative frame of …
Jean Pénicaud I
ca. 1520−25
Front view of polychrome enameled casket in a structure of gilt bronze with Old Testament Subje…
Attributed to the Workshop of Pierre Reymond
mid-16th century, with later additions
View from the top of an enameled polychrome Ewer Stand showing Moses Striking the Rock
Workshop of Pierre Reymond
late 16th century
View of an polychrome enameled saltcellar in the shape of a cup with Amorini and Satyrs
Attributed to the workshop of Pierre Reymond
mid-16th century
Frontal view of ewer in polychrome enamel showing The Gathering of Manna and The Destruction of…
Workshop of Pierre Reymond
late 16th century
Front view of enameled plaque depicting The Seven Sorrows of the Virgin
Workshop of Pierre Reymond
1533
Polychrome enamel plaque representing The Adoration of the Magi
Attributed to Jean Reymond
late 16th century
View from behind of large oval dish depicting Jupiter
Jean Reymond
late 16th century
View of polychrome enameled oval dish seen from above depicting Apollo and the Muses as well as…
Martial Reymond
late 16th century
Front view of casket in polychrome enamel and gilt bronze with scenes from the Story of Joseph
Pierre Courteys
late 16th century
Painted enamel plaque depicting the agony in the Garden of Gethsemane
French, Limoges
mid 16th century
Copyright © 1998-2024 The Frick Collection. All Rights Reserved.
FacebookYoutubeInstagramTwitterGoogle Arts and Culturemenusearch2xX