This tabernacle is the most celebrated object from the Treasure of Cherves, found in 1896 near the site of a ruined priory of the Grandmont order of monks in Gandory. The accomplished openwork medallions depict events following the Crucifixion, including the Holy Women at the Sepulchre on Easter Sunday (center left) and Doubting Thomas (upper right). With their strong emphasis on the physical presence of Christ after his death, these images were most appropriate for a cupboard intended for storing of the bread consecrated as Christ’s body during the mass.
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
with wings open
With Wings Closed
Left Side
Right Side
Angled view of object open, shot from the right to show as much as possible of the lozenges on left interior wall and ceiling
Overall, all wings completely open
Left wing
proper left upper panel, as removed from central panel
Detail proper left lower panel
Central panel with Deposition, with roof separated from panel
Detail, proper right upper panel - replacement, as separated from central panel
Detail, proper right lower panel
right wing
Floor, inside
Artwork Details
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Title:Tabernacle of Cherves
Date:ca. 1220–1230
Geography:Made in Limoges, France
Culture:French
Medium:Copper (plaques): engraved, scraped, stippled, and gilt; (appliqués): repoussé, chased, engraved, scraped, and gilt; champlevé enamel: medium blue, turquoise, medium green, yellow, red, and white, modern wood mount
Dimensions:Closed: 33 × 19 3/4 × 10 3/4 in., 90 lb. (83.8 × 50.2 × 27.3 cm, 40.8 kg) Open: 33 in. × 37 3/4 in. × 10 3/4 in. (83.8 × 95.9 × 27.3 cm) Other (Proper right wing): 27 3/8 × 9 1/2 in. (69.5 × 24.1 cm) Other (Proper left wing): 27 1/8 × 9 3/8 in. (68.9 × 23.8 cm)
Classification:Enamels-Champlevé
Credit Line:Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Accession Number:17.190.735
Treasure of Cherves (Charente). Excavated at Château-Chesnel, near Plumejeau, France, December 11, 1896.; comte Ferdinand de Roffignac, Angoulême, France; [ E. Lowengard, London (sold 1902)]; J. Pierpont Morgan (American), London and New York (1902–1913)
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. "The Life of Christ: a loan exhibition of works of art illustrating episodes in the life of Christ," March 12–April 25, 1948.
Paris. Musée du Louvre. "L'Oeuvre de Limoges," October 23, 1995–January 22, 1996.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Enamels of Limoges, 1100-1350," January 22–June 16, 1996.
Walters Art Museum. "A Feast for the Senses: Art and Experience in Medieval Europe," October 15, 2016–January 8, 2017.
John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. "A Feast for the Senses: Art and Experience in Medieval Europe," February 4, 2017–April 30, 2017.
Michon, Jean-Hippolyte. Statistique Monumentale de la Charente. Paris: Chez Derache, 1844. p. 296.
Linas, Charles de. "Le Triptyque de la Cathédrale de Chartres." Bulletin De La Société Scientifique, Historique et Archéologique de la Corrèze 8 (1886). pp. 289–312.
Mély, F. de. Le Trésor de Chartres. Paris: Alphonse Picard et Fils, 1886. pp. XX–XXIII.
Bulteau, Marcel-Joseph. Monographie de la Cathédrale de Chartres. Vol. 3. Chartres: R. Selleret, 1887. pp. 121–128.
Montault, Barbier de. "Le Trésor Liturgique de Chevres en Angoumois." Bulletin et Mémoires de la Société Archéologique et Historique de la Charente, 6, 7 (1897). pp. 81 ff., pl. X.
Guibert, Louis. "Les Vieux êmaux de Limoges à l'Exposition de 1900." Bulletin de la Société des Lettres, Sciences et Arts de la Corrèze 23 (1901). pp. 12–13.
"The Pierpont Morgan Gift." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 13, no. 1 (January 1918). ill. p. 5.
Breck, Joseph, and Meyric R. Rogers. The Pierpont Morgan Wing: A Handbook. 1st ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1925. p. 104, fig. 50, ill. p. 91.
Breck, Joseph, and Meyric R. Rogers. The Pierpont Morgan Wing: A Handbook. 2nd ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1929. p. 104, fig. 50, ill. p. 91.
The Life of Christ: A Loan Exhibition of Works of Art Illustrating Episodes in the Life of Christ. Hartford, CT: Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, 1948. no. 193, p. 33, fig. 11.
Rudrauf, L. Le repas d'Emmaüs, étude d'un thème plastique et de ses variations en peinture et en sculpture. Vol. 1-2. Paris: Nouvelles Editions Latines, 1955-1956. pp. 43, 83, fig. 41.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. Guide to the Collections: Medieval Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1962. fig. 28.
Souchal, Geneviève. "Les émaux de Grandmont au XIII siècle." Bulletin Monumental 122, no. 2 (1964). p. 133.
Frinta, Mojmír. "Identified Shutters of a Sculptured Shrine at the Cloisters." Gesta 6 (January 1967). pp. 41, 44, fig. 1.
Gauthier, Marie-Madeleine. Émaux du Moyen Âge Occidental. Fribourg: Office du Livre, 1972. no. 130, pp. 186–187.
Otavsky, Karel. "Zu einer Gruppe von Kupferreliefs aus dem 13. Jahrhundert." In Artes Minores: Dank an Werner Abegg, edited by Michael Stettler, and Mechthild Lemberg. Bern: Stämpfli Verlag, 1973. p. 57, fig. 12.
Gauthier, Marie-Madeleine. "Du Tabernacle au Rétable: Une Innovation Limousine Vers 1230." Revue de l'Art 40-41 (1978). pp. 23–42.
Parker, Elizabeth C. The Descent from the Cross: Its Relation to the Extra-Liturgical "Depositio" Drama. Outstanding dissertations in the fine arts. New York: Garland Publishing, 1978. p. 10, fig. 24, pl. XII.
Gaborit, Jean-René. "Une Groupe de la Descente de Croix au Musée du Louvre." Fondation Eugène Piot, Monuments et Mémoires 62 (1979). p. 179, fig. 27.
Frazer, Margaret English. "Medieval Church Treasuries." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 43, no. 3 (Winter 1985-1986). pp. 14–15, fig. 8.
Swarzenski, Hanns, and Nancy Netzer. Enamels & Glass: Catalogue of Medieval Objects. Catalogue of Medieval Objects in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1986. pp. 96, 100 n. 2.
Shepard, Mary B. Europe in the Middle Ages, edited by Charles T. Little, and Timothy B. Husband. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1987. pp. 88–89, pl. 79.
Gaborit, Jean-René. "Sur un lit de parade: Essai d'interprétation d'un motif funéraire." In La Figuration des morts dans la chrétienté médiévale jusqu'à la fin du premier quarts du XIVe siècle: Colloque, Abbaye royale de Fontevraud, edited by Roger Grégoire. Maine-et-Loire: Abbey of Fontevrault, May 26 - 28, 1988. pp. 117–123.
Gaborit-Chopin, Danielle. "Nicodème travesti: La Descente de Croix d'ivoire du Louvre." Revue de l'Art 81 (1988). pp. 36, 41, fig. 21.
Erlande-Brandenburg, Alain. Gothic Art. New York: H. N. Abrams, 1989. pp. 484, 501, fig. 624–25.
Schleif, Corine. "Nicodemus and Sculptors: Self-Reflexivity in Works by Adam Kraft and Tilman Riemenschneider." The Art Bulletin 75, no. 4 (December 1993). pp. 611–615, fig. fig. 25.
Taburet-Delahaye, Elisabeth, and Barbara Drake Boehm, ed. L'Oeuvre de Limoges: Emaux limousins du Moyen Age. Paris: Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1995. no. 99, pp. 299–302.
Boehm, Barbara Drake, and Elisabeth Taburet-Delahaye, ed. Enamels of Limoges, 1100-1350. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1996. no. 98, pp. 299–302.
Boehm, Barbara Drake. "Hommage a Limoges: A Note on the Enamels of Caldwell and Company, New York." Bollettino d'Arte Supplemento 95 (1997). p. 177, fig. 4.
Strouse, Jean. "J. Pierpont Morgan, Financier and Collector." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 57, no. 3 (Winter 2000). p. 64, fig. 75.
Boehm, Barbara Drake, and Elisabeth Taburet-Delahaye. "L'Oeuvre de Limoges." In De Limoges a Silos, edited by Joaquín Yarza Luaces. Madrid: Sociedad Estatal para la Acción Cultural Exterior, 2001. pp. 80–82, fig. 37.
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Chartres. Trésors de la Cathédrale de Chartres. Chartres: Musée des Beaux-Arts de Chartres, 2002. no. 5, pp. 59–62.
Caillet, Jean-Pierre. "De l'antependium au retable: La contribution des orfèvres et
émailleurs d'Occident." Cahiers de civilisation médiévale 49, no. 193 (January–March 2006). p. 17, fig. 16–17.
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Guerin, Sarah Margaret. "'Tears of Compunction': French Gothic Ivories in Devotional Practice." PhD diss., University of Toronto, 2009. p. 205 n. 76, fig. 4–4.
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