Crown of Thorns

Enamel painting—a specialty among artists in Limoges, France—enlivens these scenes from Christ’s passion. The process begins with ingredients similar to those used in glassmaking, which are combined with pigments, fired into enamels, and then ground up, thinned with water, and painted onto copper. A second firing fuses the colors to the metal. Praised by Leonardo da Vinci, who spent his last years in France, the medium allowed brilliant, jewel-like colors to endure where other pigments would fade.