Helenus and Andromache Give Presents to Aeneas (Aeneid, Book III)
ca. 1530–35
Medium
Painted enamel on copper, partly gilt
Dimensions
8 3/4 x 7 3/4 in. (22.2 x 19.7 cm)
Classification
Enamels
Culture
French, Limoges
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1925
Accession Number
25.40.1
Tags
Art Historical Context
In this exquisite painted enamel on copper, created around 1530–35 by the anonymous Master of theid in Limoges, France, we witness a poignant moment from Virgil's *Aeneid*, Book III Helenus, the Trojan prophet, and his wife Andromache—widow of Hector—present gifts to the wandering hero Aeneas during his stop at Buthrotum. Rendered in vivid colors with partial gilding, the intimate scene (8¾ × 7¾ in.) captures ships in the background, evoking the epic's themes of exile, destiny, and renewal amid the Trojan survivors' journey to found Rome. Limoges enamels, peaking in the Renaissance, transform...