Early 16th century

Triptych showing the Nativity and the Annunciation to the Shepherds, flanked by the Archangel Gabriel and the Virgin (the Annunciation to the Virgin)

Master of the Large Foreheads (Le Maître des Grands Fronts)

French

Around 1500, a group of artists in Limoges, France, began practicing an enameling process that treated glass like paint. These artists built up images by melting glass onto copper plaques, one color at a time. Lines and shading were achieved by scraping away a layer of glass or by varying how thickly the glass was applied, so that the color below was visible.

The name of the maker of this early painted enamel triptych is unknown—the artist has come to be called the "Master of the Large Foreheads" after their figures’ tall heads and small faces. Their style is closely related to another artist called the "Master of the Orléans Triptych," whom scholars believe also worked as a manuscript illuminator.

The triptych may have been used for private devotion, perhaps by the person depicted holding a cradle and kneeling at the Virgin’s feet. Representations of owners or donors are relatively rare in painted enamels but occur frequently in manuscript illuminations and larger paintings, further proof of the connection between painting and enameling.