Retable of the Pentecost

Pentecostal  
Retable
Meuse Region, 
ca. 1160-1170
Copper champlevé, 
enamelled and gilded 
Brown varnish; wood core
H. 0.85 m; W. 2.15 m
Assigned to the museum 
in 1895
Cl. 13247

This piece brilliantly delivers the power of the artistry of the Meuse region at its height. Beneath the apparently simple representation of Christ blessing the Apostles on the Day of Pentecost lies the theological subtlety the monks of the bishopric of Liege evinced towards the works they commissioned. The seven columns separating the six groups of apostles allude to both the seven columns in the house built by Wisdom in the Book of Proverbs and the seven gifts from the Holy Ghost. This altarpiece was seized in Coblence during the Revolution and brought to Saint-Denis.