Alexander Weighing Gifts for his Tutor Leonidas
- Artist
- Jean III Pénicaud, French, active 1584–1613
- Date
- mid-16th century
- Material
- Enamel and gold on copper
- made in
- Limoges, Limousin region, France, Europe
- Classification
- Enamels, metalwork
- Current Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- image: 7 11/16 x 8 11/16 in. (19.5 x 22.1 cm)
framed: 11 x 12 1/8 in. (27.9 x 30.8 cm) - Credit Line
- Museum Purchase
- Rights
- Contact Us
- Object Number
- 221:1923
NOTES
Enthroned in the center, Alexander the Great (reigned 336–323 BC) oversees the weighing of gifts to be sent to his childhood tutor, Leonidas. The writer Plutarch recounted how, when Alexander’s army distributed the spoils gleaned from their defeat of the Persian ruler Darius III, Alexander had frankincense and myrrh sent to Leonidas. The tutor cautioned Alexander as a child to use both of these spices sparingly. Only after Alexander ruled the lands that produced them could he use these luxuries extravagantly. This account prophesized that Alexander would one day be a conqueror.
This sumptuous plaque, with shields and battle implements drawn in gold behind the figures, displays the late Renaissance interest in depicting the human form. Note the fit physique of Alexander as well as his attending soldier, shown at the right with his back to the viewer.
Provenance
by 1890 -
Frédéric Spitzer (1815-1890), Paris, France [1]
1893/04/17
In auction at the sale of the Spitzer collection, Rue de Villejust 33, Paris, France, April 17-June 16, 1893, lot nos. 456, 457 [2]
by 1900 -
Maurice Kann (d.1906), Paris, France [3]
by 1921 - 1923
Enrico Caruso (1873-1921), Naples, Italy; New York, NY, USA [4]
1923 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased at the sale of the Enrico Caruso collection, American Art Association, New York, March 5-8, 1923, lot nos. 1060, 1061 [5]
Notes:
The pendant for this enamel is Jean Penicaud III's "Alexander Causing the Works of Homer to be Placed in Darius's Tomb," also in the collection of the Saint Louis Art Museum, accession number 220:1923. Both enamels share the same provenance.
[1] Listed in the 1891 catalogue of Frédéric Spitzer's collection ["Le Collection Spitzer." Vol. II. Paris, 1891, p. 32, cat. no. 40]. Two years later, Spitzer's collection was dispersed at a Paris auction hailed as the 'Sale of the Century' with over 3000 lots. The auction, which included the enamel and its pendent, was held from April 17-June 16, 1893, at Spitzer's Paris home with Paul Chevailler and Charles Mannheim presiding over the extensive auction ["Catalogue des Objets d'Art et de Haute Curiosité: Antiques, du Moyen Age, and de la Renaissance." Vol. 1. April 17-June 16, 1893, lot nos. 456, 457, p. 81].
Spitzer was born in Austria, and lived in Vienna until 1852 when he relocated to Paris, and began to actively collect numerous art objects from renowned collections. At the time of his death in 1890, his residence at 33 rue Villejust was known as the Musée Spitzer, which housed over 4,000 objects [Truman, Charles, "Frédéric Spitzer," Oxford University Press, accessed May 17, 2004,].
[2] See note [1].
[3] A 1900 exhibition catalogue notes that the enamel and its pendant were lent to the show by Maurice Kann [Molinier, Emile, and Frantz Marcou. "Exposition retrospective de l'art francais des origines a '800." Paris: Librairie centrale des beaux-arts, 1900, p. 94]. It seems likely the Maurice Kann purchased the enamels at the 1893 Spitzer sale (see note [1]).
[3] Upon Enrico Caruso's death in 1921, the enamel and its pendant remained in his estate until the 1923 auction. Caruso was one of the great opera singers of the early twentieth century. Around 1906, Caruso began to amass his extensive art collection from shops all over the world; it is after this date that he most likely acquired the enamels ["The Rare and Beautiful Antique Art Treasures," American Art Association, New York, March 5-8, 1923, lot nos. 1060, 1061; Altobelli, Rita C., "Enrico Caruso: The Caricaturist," Old and Sold: Antiques Auction and Marketplace, accessed May 18, 2004,].
[4] See note [3]. Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control of the City Art Museum, April 6, 1923.
Frédéric Spitzer (1815-1890), Paris, France [1]
1893/04/17
In auction at the sale of the Spitzer collection, Rue de Villejust 33, Paris, France, April 17-June 16, 1893, lot nos. 456, 457 [2]
by 1900 -
Maurice Kann (d.1906), Paris, France [3]
by 1921 - 1923
Enrico Caruso (1873-1921), Naples, Italy; New York, NY, USA [4]
1923 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased at the sale of the Enrico Caruso collection, American Art Association, New York, March 5-8, 1923, lot nos. 1060, 1061 [5]
Notes:
The pendant for this enamel is Jean Penicaud III's "Alexander Causing the Works of Homer to be Placed in Darius's Tomb," also in the collection of the Saint Louis Art Museum, accession number 220:1923. Both enamels share the same provenance.
[1] Listed in the 1891 catalogue of Frédéric Spitzer's collection ["Le Collection Spitzer." Vol. II. Paris, 1891, p. 32, cat. no. 40]. Two years later, Spitzer's collection was dispersed at a Paris auction hailed as the 'Sale of the Century' with over 3000 lots. The auction, which included the enamel and its pendent, was held from April 17-June 16, 1893, at Spitzer's Paris home with Paul Chevailler and Charles Mannheim presiding over the extensive auction ["Catalogue des Objets d'Art et de Haute Curiosité: Antiques, du Moyen Age, and de la Renaissance." Vol. 1. April 17-June 16, 1893, lot nos. 456, 457, p. 81].
Spitzer was born in Austria, and lived in Vienna until 1852 when he relocated to Paris, and began to actively collect numerous art objects from renowned collections. At the time of his death in 1890, his residence at 33 rue Villejust was known as the Musée Spitzer, which housed over 4,000 objects [Truman, Charles, "Frédéric Spitzer," Oxford University Press, accessed May 17, 2004,
[2] See note [1].
[3] A 1900 exhibition catalogue notes that the enamel and its pendant were lent to the show by Maurice Kann [Molinier, Emile, and Frantz Marcou. "Exposition retrospective de l'art francais des origines a '800." Paris: Librairie centrale des beaux-arts, 1900, p. 94]. It seems likely the Maurice Kann purchased the enamels at the 1893 Spitzer sale (see note [1]).
[3] Upon Enrico Caruso's death in 1921, the enamel and its pendant remained in his estate until the 1923 auction. Caruso was one of the great opera singers of the early twentieth century. Around 1906, Caruso began to amass his extensive art collection from shops all over the world; it is after this date that he most likely acquired the enamels ["The Rare and Beautiful Antique Art Treasures," American Art Association, New York, March 5-8, 1923, lot nos. 1060, 1061; Altobelli, Rita C., "Enrico Caruso: The Caricaturist," Old and Sold: Antiques Auction and Marketplace, accessed May 18, 2004,
[4] See note [3]. Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control of the City Art Museum, April 6, 1923.