Att. P. Courteys, saint Jerome, painted enamel, Limoges, second half 16th c

In France, the 16th century saw the revival of the Limoges workshops, which had specialized in enameling since the 12th century, with the development of the painted enamel technique. This consisted in adding a binder to enamel powder to obtain a paste-like mixture that could be applied with a spatula or brush to a copper support intended to receive the design. The design is then obtained by superimposing several layers of enamel in a variety of colors, which are fixed with the same number of firings. This extremely refined type of decoration was the glory of the Limoges workshops until the end of the 18th century. The most fervent exponents of this complex technique are Léonard Limosin, Pierre Reymond and Pierre Courteys, to whom we attribute this plate depicting Saint Jerome, the austere, contemplative figure of the Christian hermit, kneeling here in a remote landscape. The artist captures the spirituality and solitude of the long-bearded saint, a symbol of his renunciation of the material world, underscored by his cardinal's cloak and headdress, abandoned on a tree. He is dressed in a simple tunic, revealing his emaciated torso, which he beats in penance with a stone in front of a crucifix. At the foot of the crucifix, leaning against a tree, a book evokes his work translating sacred texts, and the Vulgate. Behind him, a lion lies at his feet, the traditional emblem of Saint Jerome, referring to the legend that he tamed the animal by removing a thorn from its paw, demonstrating the superiority of thought and humanism over savagery.
Particularly appreciated by a literate and humanist clientele who liked to identify with this cultured saint, this plaque must have been commissioned from the workshop of the famous Pierre Raymond. Its direct stylistic similarity with a plate in the Musée du Louvre depicting Le Sacrifice d'Abraham, signed and dated by Pierre Courteys, suggests that it was made by the master's most famous pupil, who also made the enamelled series of "Gods in niches" now in the Musée of Ecouen.