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Triptych: The Way to Calvary; The Crucifixion; Pietà

 (French, ca. 1490–after 1543)
Dateca. 1525−35
MediumPainted enamel on copper, partly gilded
Dimensions10 x 12 7/16 in. (25.4 x 31.6 cm) Central plaque: 10 3/16 × 8 3/4 in. (25.9 × 22.2 cm) Wings: 10 1/4 × 3 3/4 in. (26 × 9.5 cm)
Credit LineHenry Clay Frick Bequest
Accession number1918.4.09
Commentary

As per common practice in early sixteenth-century enameling, the artist uses a variety of techniques to convey emotion and realism. For example, to accentuate the lifeless bodies of Christ and the thieves, he uses enlevage, the technique of scraping away layers of white enamel to reveal the dark ground underneath. This effect is enhanced by the pink wash added to the cheeks of the surrounding figures, contrasting their flush with the gray pallor of Christ and the thieves. Their gaunt appearance is also painstakingly rendered, and in both The Crucifixion and The Pietà, tears are visible in the eyes of the mourning women and St. John. Traditionally attributed to Jean Pénicaud I, this triptych could be the work of the enameler known as the Master of the Louis XII Triptych (after the triptych now at the Victoria and Albert Museum) because of the unusual blue-gray enamel on the reverse side of the plaque.

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

Collection History

J. Pierpont Morgan, London and New York. Duveen. Frick, 1918.

Source: Enamels, Rugs and Silver in The Frick Collection. Volume VIII. New York: The Frick Collection, 1977.

Not On View
Polychrome enamel Triptych representing The Way to Calvary; The Crucifixion; The Desposition
Workshop of Nardon Pénicaud
ca. 1520−25
Front view of enameled polychrome triptypch depicting The Way to Calvary; The Crucifixion; The …
Workshop of Master of the Large Foreheads
ca. 1510
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 enameled plaque representing the Martyrdom of a Saint
Attributed to Jean Pénicaud I
ca. 1525−35
Front view of a Double-Tiered enameled polychrome Triptych depicting Scenes from the Passion of…
Workshop of Nardon Pénicaud
mid-16th century
View from behind of large oval dish depicting Jupiter
Jean Reymond
late 16th century
Polychrome enamel plaque representing The Adoration of the Magi
Attributed to Jean Reymond
late 16th century
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