Panel, alabster, depicting the Entombment, English, 1440-1460

The dead Christ, bearded and wearing the torse, is represented lying on the tomb and being wrapped in a cloth which hangs over the edge of the tomb. His right arm hangs down in front of the tomb, the hand held by Mary Magdalene. The bearded Joseph of Arimathaea, wearing a bag-crowned hat, a gown with a tippet and a cloak, stands on the right of the panel and holds the legs of Christ. Nicodemus, also bearded and wearing a high-crowned hat and a tippet, stands at the back of the panel on the left next to the group of women with the veiled figure of the Virgin. She holds her hands clasped in prayer, and stands looking down at the body of Christ between the figures of Mary Cleophas and Mary Salome, one bareheaded, the other veiled. The beardless St. John the Evangelist is in the top right corner of the panel. The cross stands behind the group, at the top of the panel. Mary Magdalene, seated in front of the tomb on the left of the panel, is wiping the ointment from Christ's right hand with her long hair. The ointment pot stands on a ledge of ground to the right of the figure. The large heads of the figures give the panel a distinctive appearance. The top corners of the panel are missing. There is a round hole in the cross above the Virgin's head and two in the ground, below and to the left and right of the ointment pot, probably made in more recent times. Green paint and the usual daisy pattern remain on the ground. Red paint remains on the folds of the garments of the figures. The hat of Joseph of Arimathaea is painted green, with a sprinkling of white and red spots like a daisy pattern. The details of the faces are carefully picked out in paint. Traces of gilding remain on the hair of two of the female figures and of Christ. There are traces of green on the cross. There are four lead-filled holes in the back of the panel, and a triangular mark. The bottom has been cut away.

Given by Dr W. L. Hildburgh FSA

Acquired by Dr W. L. Hildburgh in Paris. On loan from him since 1925. Given by Dr Hildburgh in 1946.

Historical significance: The carving of the figure of Mary Magdalene is very similar to that in the panel of the Appearance of Christ to Mary Magdalene in the Leicester Museums.

Christ lies dead. Mary Magdalene wipes ointment from his hand with her hair. An ointment pot – her symbol – sits beside her. These compositions were not invented by the craftsman, but were standard renditions of well known stories. The other figures include the Virgin (centre), St John the Evangelist (top right) and Joseph of Arimathaea (front right).

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. The carving of alabaster, mostly quarried in Tutbury and Chellaston near Nottingham, took on industrial proportions in England between the middle of the 14th and the early 16th centuries. The market for altarpieces and smaller devotional images was a large one. It included not only religious foundations but also the merchant classes. Many hundreds of English alabasters were exported, some as far afield as Iceland and Santiago de Compostela in north-west Spain.

A.65-1946