Beautiful 19th century French religious icon From N.D. Fourviere. While this piece was sourced in Italy it is actually from France. The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière is a minor basilica in Lyon, France. It was actually built with private funds between 1872 and 1896 in a dominant position overlooking the city. The site it occupies was once the Roman forum of Trajan, the forum vetus, thus its name. This is a large piece with beautiful details from the late 1800'S, Napoleon III era. There is a lot of relief in this piece which can clearly be seen in our pictures. This piece has convex glass on the front and is papered on the back. There are two repairs on the frame which can be seen in the picture. There is a loop at the top to hang. It measure 8.5" x 6.5" x 2" This piece is in FABULOUS condition with original glass.
There has been some discussion between the dealer and myself regarding the material used to make this piece. I feel that it is "meerschaum" which is a soft white claylike material consisting of hydrated magnesium and a silicate. However the Italian dealer calls it "kaolin" which is is a hydrated aluminum silicate crystalline mineral formed over many millions of years by the hydrothermal decomposition of granite rocks. I have a feeling we are talking about the same thing but I thought it best to share as many details as possible.
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Any glare in our pictures is from our chandelier.
