The Entombment

Art Historical Context

Step into the poignant world of medieval devotion with *The Entombment*, masterful 15th-century alabaster sculpture from the School of Nottingham This intimate carving, measuring just 13½ x 9⅜ inches, captures the sorrowful moment after Christ's crucifixion, as his body is tenderly laid to rest. Figures like the Virgin Mary and mourning attendants surround the lifeless form, evoking deep empathy in viewers of the time. The School of Nottingham was renowned in late medieval England for producing these affordable, portable alabaster reliefs, often brightly painted and gilded (though traces may have faded over centuries). Carved from soft, translucent gypsum, alabaster allowed skilled artisans to achieve delicate details in drapery and expressive faces, making it ideal for religious scenes exported across Europe. This piece exemplifies the workshops' role in democratizing sacred art for homes and small chapels. As a British treasure in the Metropolitan Museum's Medieval Art collection, *The Entombment* highlights the era's intense focus on Christ's Passion, fostering personal piety amid turbulent times like the Wars of the Roses. Its survival speaks to alabaster's durability and enduring spiritual power.

About the Artist

School of Nottingham

**School of Nottingham** The School of Nottingham, a prolific workshop tradition of alabaster carvers based in Nottingham and surrounding Midlands areas like South Derbyshire, flourished from the fourteenth to the early sixteenth century, with its peak in the fifteenth. Quarrying soft gypsum alabaster locally, these anonymous image-makers—known as alabastermen, kervers, or marblers—produced thous...