E.95 Limosin, Kiss of Judas
After Rosso?
Etching by Léonard Limosin, 25.5 x 18.8 S (New York). Inscribed on a plaque at the lower left: LEONARD / LIMOSIN, and on the ax head at the top center: M L. Robert-Dumesnil, Herbet, and Zerner state that this print is also dated 1544 but the impression in Brussels does not show this and the one in New York has this date added in pencil in the cut, filled, and redrawn lower left corner.
Fig.E.95 (Brussels)
Robert-Dumesnil/Duplessis, XI, 1871, 127, 2. Herbet, IV, 1900, 329 (1969, 179), 7. Zerner, 1969, L.L.6 (Brussels).
COLLECTIONS: Brussels, Bibliothèque Nationale Albert Ier. New York, 37.42.20, the four corners cut, added, and redrawn; only the D of LEONARD and the tip of the N of LIMOSIN are printed.
LITERATURE:
Lavendan, 1913, 100.
Kusenberg, 1931, 115, 119, 208, n. 312, stated that the figure at the lower right resembles the kneeling youth in the foreground of the Unity of the State in the Gallery of Francis I.
Adhémar, 1938, 2, no. 6. Ross, 1938, 361-364, Fig. p.364 (New York).
Verdier, 1967, 175-176, under no. 107, as related to Limosin’s enamel in the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore.
Baratte, 1993, 22, 23, Fig. 2 (Brussels).
The resemblance that Kusenberg found (see above) between a figure in the print and one in Rosso’s Unity of the State (Fig.P.22, VI S a) is not a precise one, for the figure in the painting is seen from the back and the one in the etching from the front; furthermore, the position of their arms is entirely different. Still, their reversed kneeling postures are alike. Other figures appear Rossoesque and the energetic drama of the scene might suggest a relation to a lost work by him.
ENAMELS: Limosin. Baltimore, Walters Art Gallery, Inv. 44.213. Oval, 34.2 x 25.9. Ross, 1938, 361-364, Fig. p.362. Verdier, 1967, 175-176, no. 107, Fig. p.177.
The small scene of the Agony in the Garden in the background of the expanded top of the scene is derived from Limosin’s etching of this scene (Fig.E.94). The composition of the print is also enlarged at the sides by the addition of several figures to fill the oval of the enamel. Other details have also been added elsewhere.
Limosin? Écouen, Château, Musée national de la Renaissance, Cl 2568 (Fig.E.95, Enamel). 25 x 20.
LITERATURE: Du Sommerard, 1883, 364, no. 4630, as by Limosin. Demartial, 1912, 27, as by Limosin and related to his etching. Lavendan, 1913, 100. Verdier, 1967, 176.
The rectangular enamel is in the same direction as the print but slightly less high and wider in format. Trees are added at left and right and one figure at the right is more fully described. The enamel follows the print rather closely but the elongation of the figures, the quickness of their movements, and the intensity of their emotions in the print have been mitigated. Stylistically, this enamel is like the rectangular enamel of the Last Supper in the Hermitage, which is also virtually the same size (see under E.93).