What is it about?
Walking through a museum with a medieval collection, you will very likely encounter some brightly coloured enamelled works created in medieval Limoges (France). These caskets, croziers, crosses, candle sticks, eucharistic doves and many other items made of copper were decorated with a variety of blue, green, yellow and red patterns. Produced in great quantities many of these enamel works look much alike, and are therefore easily overlooked. My detailed analysis of two enamelled relic caskets (weighing 1.8 and 2.5 kilograms, or just about 4 and 5 pounds, respectively) at Toledo Cathedral (Spain) invites you to pay closer attention in order to discover the particularities of these fascinating artefacts. Putting the two colourful enamelled caskets in conversation with medieval documents and other medieval artworks, such as illuminated books and stained-glass windows, this article asks how the two enamelled reliquaries invited sensory engagement.
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Why is it important?
The large production of Limoges enamels during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries testifies to their wide appeal. A sensory approach to enamelled artefacts is crucial in order to more fully appreciate their popularity. When we look and think beyond the visual and include touch (but also smell and sound) we reach a better understanding of how medieval people interacted with enamelled objects that they not only encountered in churches (such as Toledo Cathedral), but also in domestic settings.
Perspectives
I really enjoyed that my research was part of a collaborative project on Toledo Cathedral’s treasure (PI Therese Martin, CSIC). Studying and discussing the Limoges caskets – the protagonists of this publication – within this research group was enormously rewarding. This study also allowed me to physically engage with the caskets, experience their weight and discover material details indicative of their long lives as treasury objects. Understanding our heritage through the lens of human interactions – both in the past and now – inspired my own collaborative project Gender and Medieval Enamels in Spanish collections, ca. 1150-1300.
Jitske Jasperse
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, CCHS, Instituto de Historia
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: A Sensory Spectacle: Limoges Caskets at Toledo Cathedral, January 2026, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1163/9789004747425_006.
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