A Taste for Limoges: Colorful Caskets in Medieval Spain

Tags for: A Taste for Limoges: Colorful Caskets in Medieval Spain
  • Lecture
Friday, September 9, 2022, 5:30 p.m.
Location:  Lecture Hall
John C. and Sally S. Morley Family Foundation Lecture Hall
Morley Family Lecture Hall

Chasse, c. 1225-1250. France, Limousin, Limoges, Gothic period, 13th century. Copper: repoussé, engraved, stippled, and gilded; champlevé enamel; oak core; overall: 24.7 x 24.2 x 10.4 cm. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of S. Livingstone Mather, Constance Mather Bishop, Philip R. Mather, Katherine Hoyt Cross, and Katherine Mather McLean in accordance with the wishes of Samuel Mather 1940.347

 

About The Event

Bright colors, decorative patterns, and polished surfaces define Limoges caskets (also chasses). They were produced in large quantities and present in church treasuries throughout western Europe in the 12th and 13th centuries. By approaching these chasses as physical, sensuous objects, this lecture explores what can be gained from on-site study in Toledo and Ourense in Spain. An embodied analysis of Limoges caskets combined with medieval and early modern written sources helps us envision how medieval people experienced them. This, in turn, may inspire the way we present them in museums.

Short bio 

Jitske Jasperse is an assistant professor in the Department of Art and Visual History at the Humboldt University of Berlin. Her research focuses on visual and material culture of authority and gender in medieval Europe.