Editing Vitreous enamel (section)

===Medieval and Renaissance Europe===
[[File:Waddesdon bequest British Museum DSCF9814 05.JPG|thumb|Detail of [[Limoges enamel#Renaissance painted enamel|painted Limoges enamel]] dish, mid-16th century, attributed to [[Jean de Court]]]]
In European art history, enamel was at its most important in the [[Middle Ages]], beginning with the Late Romans and then the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]], who began to use [[cloisonné]] enamel in imitation of cloisonné inlays of precious stones. The [[Byzantine enamel]] style was widely adopted by the peoples of [[Migration Period]] northern Europe. The Byzantines then began to use cloisonné more freely to create images; this was also copied in Western Europe. In [[Kievan Rus]] a [[finift enamel]] technique was developed.<ref>{{Citation |title=ХУДОЖНЯ ЕМАЛЬ У ХРОНОТОПІ УКРАЇНСЬКОГО МИСТЕЦТВА. Альманах |last=Наумов |first=Олег |date=2019-01-01 |work=Культура і Сучасність |volume=2019 |issue=2 |pages=192–197}}</ref><ref name =Mostovshchikova2020>{{Citation |title=Traditions of painted hot enamel of Europe and the East of the XVIIIth century in contemporary enamel art of Ukraine |last=Мостовщикова |first=Дар'я Олегівна |url=https://elibrary.kubg.edu.ua/id/eprint/32111/ |journal=Актуальнi питання гуманiтарних наук: Мiжвузiвський збiрник наукових праць молодих вчених Дрогобицького державного педагогiчного унiверситету iменi Iвана Франка |volume=1 |year=2020|issue=30 |pages=173–180|doi=10.24919/2308-4863.1/30.212240 }}</ref>

[[File:Finift_01.jpg|thumb|Examples of art made of finift enamel from [[Kievan Rus]]]]

[[Mosan art#Metalwork|Mosan metalwork]] often included enamel plaques of the highest quality in [[reliquaries]] and other large works of [[goldsmithing]].   [[Limoges enamel]] was made in [[Limoges]], France, the most famous centre of vitreous enamel production in Western Europe, though Spain also made a good deal. Limoges became famous for champlevé enamels from the 12th century onwards, producing on a large scale, and then (after a period of reduced production) from the 15th century retained its lead by switching to painted enamel on flat metal plaques.  The [[champlevé]] technique was considerably easier and very widely practiced in the [[Romanesque art|Romanesque]] period. In [[Gothic art]] the finest work is in [[basse-taille]] and [[ronde-bosse]] techniques, but cheaper champlevé works continued to be produced in large numbers for a wider market.

Painted enamel remained in fashion for over a century, and in France developed into a sophisticated Renaissance and the [[Mannerist]] style, seen on objects such as large display dishes, ewers, [[inkwell]]s and in small portraits. After it fell from fashion it continued as a medium for [[portrait miniature]]s, spreading to England and other countries. This continued until the early 19th century.

A Russian school developed, which used the technique on other objects, as in the Renaissance, and for relatively cheap religious pieces such as crosses and small icons.