Enamel metal plaque: woman holding two pieces of wood in a cross shape facing a nimbed man. Front view.

Elijah and the widow of Zarephat, Cl. 23823 © GrandPalaisRmn / Jean-Gilles Berizzi

Elijah and the widow of Zarephat

Enamel plaque

Description

On display - room 7

12th century

High Middle Ages

This plaque, created in the Meuse Valley in the mid-12th century, was part of a typological cross, meaning it made comparisons between scenes from the Old and New Testaments. The colour gradation is characteristic of the golden age of Mosan enamellers working in the 12th-13th centuries.

Few champlevé enamels of this type have survived, making this work even more rare; but its iconography, which represents an episode of the Old Testament, the encounter between the prophet Elijah with the widow of Zaraphet, is a frequently recurring theme.

The two pieces of wood shaped like a cross also reminds of the Crucifixion.

From one artwork to another

Stone sculpture: an angel blowing a horn near figures emerging from their tombs. Front view.

Resurrection of the Dead from Notre-Dame de Paris, Cl. 18643 © GrandPalaisRmn / Michel Urtado

Resurrection of the Dead

13th century

Sculpted and fragmented head depicting a man with curly beard wearing a hat. Front-facing stone sculpture.

Head of the king of Judah No. 6, Notre-Dame de Paris, Cl. 22988 © GrandPalaisRmn / René-Gabriel Ojeda

Heads of the kings of Judah

First half of the 13th century

Stone capital decorated with acanthus leaves. Front photograph.

Acanthus-decorated capital from the Abbey of Saint-Denis, Cl. 12119 © GrandPalaisRmn / Michel Urtado

Capitals from Saint-Denis

1140-1145

Recently read content

Gilded metalwork piece adorned with engraved patterns and crystal beads. Front view.

Phylactery reliquary from the collegiate church of Notre-Dame de Termonde, Cl. 13073 © GrandPalaisRmn / Franck Raux

Phylactery reliquary

13th century