Portrait of a Man (Antoine de Bourbon?)

Signed by Limousin, this plaque is most likely a depiction of Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme, father of Henry IV, and King of Navarre from 1555 to 1562. Political turmoil led him to convert to Calvin­ism, but he returned to Catholicism shortly before his death in 1562, during the Counter-Reformation. Small enough to be held in one hand, this plaque demonstrates Limousin’s ability to render faces in works that emulate the drawn and painted portraits by the French court painters Jean and François Clouet. The identification and dating of this enamel are based on a drawing at the Musée Condé by the atelier of François Clouet.

Source: Vignon, Charlotte. The Frick Collection Decorative Arts Handbook. New York: The Frick Collection/Scala, 2015.