16C Porcelain & Enamel Portraits by Leonard Limousin or Limosin, c 1505-1577

Leonard Limousin or Limosin  (French painter c 1505-1577) Françoise d'Orléans-Longueville, princesse de Condé

Leonard Limousin (or Limosin) (c 1505-c 1577) was a French painter, the most famous of a family of 7 Limoges enamel painters, the sons of an innkeeper. Limoges had been famous for its enamelers & goldsmiths since the Middle Ages. He may have learned the enameling craft in a local workshop. Encouraged by the Bishop of Limoges, Limosin produced painted enamels on copper in all forms, including plates & plaques with mythological & religious subjects. His prolific workshop produced more than 1,000 pieces between 1533 & 1574.

Leonard Limousin or Limosin  (French painter c 1505-1577)  Dido

Following the taste of the Renaissance for portraits of heroes of antiquity, Léonard Limosin portrayed on enamel & copper the theme of Ovid's poem Heroides, about the tragic love affairs of heros & heroines as portraits. Hercules & Dejanira, Jason & Medea, Ariadne & Theseus, Phaedra & Hippolytus, Protesilaus, Paris, Briseis or Orestes, are all identified by their names written in gold letters, on a background in intense blue, typical of the artist’s famous portraits.

Leonard Limousin or Limosin  (French painter c 1505-1577) Antoinette de Bourbon épouse de Claude de Lorraine

Limosin also supplied enameled plaques for Francis I's gallery at Fontainebleau, the largest collection of 16C French art. In 1548, he was appointed Enameler to the King. Limosin carried on a tradition begun by Italian painters working in France intended to suggest jewels. Limosin's profound influence on enamel work lasted through the 1600s.

Leonard Limousin or Limosin  (French painter c 1505-1577) Catherine de Lorraine, duchesse de Montpensier (1551-1596)

Leonard Limousin or Limosin  (French painter c 1505-1577) Deianira Ovid's poem Heroides.

Leonard Limousin or Limosin  (French painter c 1505-1577) Eléonore d'Autriche

Leonard Limousin or Limosin  (French painter c 1505-1577) la sibylle d'Erythrée from a series of 20, representing the apostles, sibyls and prophets from the Church of the Convent of Santa Maria Della Celeste at Venice 1535

Leonard Limousin or Limosin  (French painter c 1505-1577) From Ovid's poem Heroides.

Leonard Limousin or Limosin  (French painter c 1505-1577) From Ovid's poem Heroides.

 Leonard Limousin or Limosin  (French painter c 1505-1577) Mary Magdalena

Leonard Limousin or Limosin  (French painter c 1505-1577) From Ovid's poem Heroides.