The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of December 15, 2025
Medallion: Coronation of the Virgin
late 1400s
Framed: 7.7 cm (3 1/16 in.); Unframed: 6.1 cm (2 3/8 in.)
Location: 110B Late Gothic
Description
The word enamel derives from the Old French esmail and the Old High German smelzen, meaning "to smelt." This is the most crucial process in the making of enamel. To prepare enamel, the constituents of glass (flint, or sand, as well as red lead, and soda or potash) are heated together to form a clear flux. To this a coloring agent (usually a metallic oxide) is added: copper for green, cobalt for blue, iron for red or brown. The enamel is then allowed to cool and solidify in slabs. Before use, each color is separately ground into a fine powder, placed on a prepared metal surface, and fired in a kiln. When cool, the surface is polished to remove any imperfections and add brilliance to the colors. The difference between the various enameling techniques lies chiefly in the methods used to prepare the metal surface for the enamel.- (Eugene V. Thaw, New York)
- Lee, Sherman E. "The Year in Review for 1979." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 67, no. 3 (1980): 58-99. Reproduced: cat. no. 12, p. 64; Mentioned: p. 60 www.jstor.org
- Year in Review: 1979. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 13-March 9, 1980).
- {{cite web|title=Medallion: Coronation of the Virgin|url=false|author=|year=late 1400s|access-date=15 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1979.4