{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O93186"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O93186/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AL5662/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AL5662/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AL5662","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O93186/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O93186","accessionNumber":"587-1883","objectType":"Altarpiece","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"There are two sorts of alabaster. Calcite alabaster is very hard and was used in ancient times. This object is made of gypsum alabaster which is a fine-grained, soft and smooth stone. Although at first glance it looks a little like marble, which it was intended to imitate, it was much easier to carve due to its softness, and alabaster objects were therefore significantly cheaper to produce. Marble does not originate in England, so it was imported if needed, whereas in the 15th century there were important alabaster quarries in Nottingham, York, Burton-on-Trent and London. England was a major centre for the production of objects such as this one. During period, they were exported in very large numbers to Europe where they survive, unlike many examples which remained in England and were destroyed or greatly damaged during the Reformation.\r\n\r\nThree alabaster reliefs (showing the Crucifixion, the Entombment, and God the Father with the Holy Ghost) are set into the wooden frame of the altar.  The frame is covered with elaborate strapwork, designs and figures in cast gesso, painted and gilded.","physicalDescription":"Three alabaster reliefs (showing the Crucifixion, the Entombment, and God the Father with the Holy Ghost) are set into the wooden frame of the altar.  The frame is covered with elaborate strapwork, designs and figures in cast gesso, painted and gilded.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"Alabaster","id":"AAT11101"},{"text":"Oak","id":"AAT12264"},{"text":"Gesso","id":"AAT14952"}],"techniques":[{"text":"carved","id":"AAT53149"},{"text":"painted","id":"x30138"},{"text":"gilded","id":"AAT53789"},{"text":"cast","id":"x32615"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Alabaster reliefs in carved oak frame with cast gesso designs, painted and gilded","categories":[{"text":"Sculpture","id":"THES48896"},{"text":"Religion","id":"THES48900"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SCP","id":"THES48600"},"images":["2006AL5662"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"004","id":"THES395944"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"004","id":"THES395944"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Altarpiece: Crucifixion & Entombment","id":""}],[{"text":"Fragment of Altarpiece: Crucifixion & Entombment","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Antwerp","id":"x28724"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"possibly"},{"place":{"text":"Mechelen","id":"x29417"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"possibly"}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1550-1560","earliest":"1545-01-01","latest":"1560-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"81.9","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"52.2","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"11","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"ca.","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Bought at the sale of the Minard collection, Ghent, 15 May 1883.\n\nHistorical significance: The alabaster reliefs on this altar are likely to have been made in Mechelen (Malines), which was a well-known centre for the production of such reliefs in the sixteenth century.  The third quarter of the sixteenth century - the time at which this altar was probably made - is the period in which the most accomplished Malines reliefs were produced.  By around 1600, the city was making a vast number of reliefs and the overall quality had declined.  Altarpieces like this one have survived in fairly large numbers, but this is a good example of its type.  It is similar to a house-altar in the Musees royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, Brussels, which also shows the Entombment and God the Father, but with the Ascension in place of the Crucifixion; the frames of the two are almost identical.\r\n\r\nThe mannerist decoration and shape of the frame derive from designs by Antwerp artists such as Cornelius Floris.  It is possible that the reliefs were sent to Antwerp to be framed and then sold.","historicalContext":"The small scale of this altar suggests that it was used in a domestic setting.","briefDescription":"Altarpiece with scenes from the Passion, carved alabaster and carved and painted wood, Netherlands (Antwerp or Malines), ca. 1550 - 1560","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Derveaux-Van Ussel, G.  <u>Exposition de Sculptures anglaises et malinoises d'Âlbatre</u>.  Exhibition catalogue.  Brussels: Musees royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, 1967, p. 42\r\n\r\nWustrack, W. M. <u>Die Mechelner Alabaster-Manufaktur des 16. und frühen 17. Jahrhunderts</u>.  Frankfurt-am-Main and Bern, 1982, pp. 54, 357, cat. 433, fig. 406.\r\n\r\nWilliamson, Paul.  <u>Netherlandish Sculpture 1450-1550</u>.  London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 2002, pp. 150-1, cat. 50."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"<u>List of Objects in the Art Division, South Kensington Museum acquired during the Year 1883.</u> London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1884. pp. 73"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Trusted, Marjorie. Ed. <u>The Making of Sculpture. The materials and techniques of European Sculpture.</u> London. 2007. pp. 112"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"<u>Mechelner Alabaster.</u> Trier: Städtisches Museum, 1967"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Huysmans. <u>Cornelis Floris, 1514-1575: beeldhouwer, architect, ontwerper.</u>  Brussels, 1996"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"c.f. <u>El esplendor de Flandes: Arte de Bruselas, Amberes y Malinas en los s. XV- XVI.</u> Barcelona. 1999"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"c.f. <u>Art before the Iconoclasm: Northern Netherlandish Art 1525-1580.</u> Amsterdam. 1986"}],"production":"The alabaster reliefs were probably made in Mechelen (Malines), and the frame may have been made in Antwerp.","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Jesus","id":"N58"},{"text":"Mary (Virgin Mary)","id":"N480"},{"text":"God","id":"N809"}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[{"text":"The Crucifixion","id":"V106"},{"text":"The Entombment","id":"V84"}],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"Dove","id":"x30126"}],"contentConcepts":[{"text":"Holy Spirit","id":"x36220"}],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["587:1-1883","587:2-1883"],"accessionNumberNum":"587","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1883,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2019LW5815"],"recordModificationDate":"2025-09-22","recordCreationDate":"2004-02-17","availableToBook":false}}