The Entombment
Artist:
Nottingham Group
Place made:Nottingham, East Midlands, England
General region:Europe
Culture: English
Date: 15th century
Medium: Painted alabaster
Dimensions:
h. 21 1/4 in. (54 cm); w. 16 1/4 in. (41.3 cm); d. 3 1/2 in. (8.9 cm)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation
Object number: 97.21
Label Text
Under the sorrowing gaze of the Virgin Mary and Saints Joseph of Arimathea, Mary Magdalene, Nicodemus, and John the Evangelist, the dead Christ is buried after His death by crucifixion, a sacrifice that would redeem humanity from sin. Carved alabaster reliefs like this were in great demand as altar decorations in Europe from the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries. Nottingham craftspeople, in England’s East Midlands, supplied hundreds of them. Softer and easier to carve than ivory, alabaster hardened upon exposure to air, making these devotional sculptures durable as well as beautiful. Traces of original paint survive on this relief, which would have added to its aesthetic impact.
(William Keyse Rudolph, 2018)
(William Keyse Rudolph, 2018)
On view
The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.
This resource has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.
