Who are the royal couple who ordered the reliquary to be made? There is no evidence to suggest their identities apart from the likely date of the object and its probable place of manufacture. The treatment of the figures of both the enamels and the illumination suggests a date slightly before the middle of the fourteenth century. The enamelling is very much in the fashion of Parisian metalworkers at this time. Given these stylistic attributions, the most promising candidates are Philip VI (reigned 1328-50) and his wife Jeanne de Bourgogne.

место:
Room 40: Medieval Europe

Благовещение

БР и Младенец на троне с ангелами

Распятие с предстоящими

Рождество

Снятие со креста

Сретение

This reliquary is made of gold, with an exterior of amethystine crystal. The three principal leaves are richly enamelled in basse-taille ('shallow cut'), with scenes divided into two registers by a decorative band. The scenes depicted represent episodes from the life of Christ, with one exception. In the lower register of one leaf a barefoot king kneels with his queen, praying to the Virgin and Child. It is likely that they commissioned the piece.

One side of the central leaf is not enamelled; it contains instead a miniature painted on vellum of the Nativity and the Annunciation to the Shepherds. It is very faded but when freshly painted it may have more closely resembled the brilliant colour of the enamels.