Panel from the Tomb of Don Garcia Osorio
Unknown Artist
16th century
Medium
Alabaster
Dimensions
Overall: 25 3/4 x 8 1/2 in. (65.4 x 21.6 cm)
Classification
Sculpture-Stone
Culture
Spanish
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Accession Number
17.190.2120
Art Historical Context
This elegant alabaster panel hails from the tomb of Don Garcia Osorio a 16th-century noble or ecclesiastical figure, crafted by an unknown artist during Spain's vibrant Renaissance era. Measuring 25 3/4 x 8 1/2 inches, it exemplifies the refined stone sculpture tradition preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Medieval department, gifted by J. Pierpont in 1917. Alabaster, prized for its soft, translucent quality, allowed sculptors to achieve intricate details and a luminous polish, making it a favored medium for tomb monuments in Castile and beyond. Tomb panels like this one served as p...