When it comes to Limoges enamels, Suzanne de Court is one of the most intriguing personalities of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Her style is instantly recognizable, characterized by translucent reds, greens, blues highlighted with gold, and it is also the way she depicts mythological figures. Unfortunately, we know very little about Suzanne de Court’s life. We are still trying to determine whether she was connected to the De Court family, one of the great dynasties of enamellers during the Renaissance. What we do know is that she ran a workshop in Limoges. It was not uncommon for a woman to run a workshop at that time, especially after the death of her spouse. In the case of Suzanne de Court, a number of enamels are signed with her initials and sometimes even her full name and the Latin words f. or fecit.
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Transcript
Suzanne de Court
(French, act. ca. 1600)
Dateca. 1600
MediumLimoges; enamel on copper, parcel-gilt
Dimensions4 1/4 × 3 1/2 in. (10.8 × 8.9 cm)
Credit LineGift of Alexis Gregory, 2021
Accession number2021.4.13
CommentaryThis composition representing Apollo and the Muses on Mount Helicon derives from a print by Giorgio Ghisi (1520–1582) that was made after a drawing by Luca Penni (1500 or 1504–1557). Flanked by a putto and Pegasus, Apollo is playing his lyre on deep green grass. Two bearded men wearing laurel wreaths, perhaps poets, are gesturing in his direction. Seated at their feet are the Muses: Erato, the Muse of lyric poetry; Calliope, of epic poetry; Thalia, of comedy and pastoral poetry; Urania, of astronomy; Terpsichore, of dance; Melpomene, of tragedy; Euterpe, of music; Clio, of history; and Polyhymnia, of sacred poetry. The group is separated by a river into which the nymph Castalia pours water from a vase.
Baron Albert von Goldschmidt- Rothschild (1879–1941), Frankfurt; sale, Hermann Ball and Paul Graupe, Berlin, March 14, 1933 (lot 67); sale, Sotheby's, London, April 21, 1988 (lot 362); private collection, Kapellen, Belgium, until 1995; Jan Dirven Gallery, Antwerp; purchased by Alexis Gregory, 2001; Gift to The Frick Collection, 2021
Suzanne de Court
late 16th or early 17th century
Suzanne de Court
late 16th or early 17th century