Watchcase (Boîtier de montre)

In the 1630s, the practice of painting with enamel on metal became a means for French miniature painters to achieve a more richly colored, durable product. Previously miniatures were painted with watercolor on vellum, a material made from animal skin. This case would have originally held a watch, but was later transformed into a simple box through the removal of the watch mechanism and ring. This watch case is richly painted inside and out with miniatures modeled after well-known religiously allegorical works.