Alabaster Images of Medieval England (Museum of London Medieval Finds 1150 -- 1450)

Images are not available.From the late 1300s to the Reformation, alabaster carving was a major activity in the English Midlands, in an area centred on Nottingham. Altarpieces and panels were produced for the home market, but also for export; the sculptures have a distinctive style, dictated by the religious subjects and by the material, and were usually painted and gilded. At the Reformation, such items were hidden or destroyed, and it is the survival of numerous continental examples, particularly in France, together with the remaining examples from England, that enables the history of alabaster carving to be documented. This book catalogues some 2,400 carvings, with their location and published references, coupled with a Geographical Index. It is the fullest catalogue yet compiled on these exquisite small-scale sculptures, incorporating much new information, particularly relating to the iconography of the carvings. The late FRANCIS CHEETHAM was also the author of English Medieval Alabasters, containing a catalogue of the collection in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Francis Cheetham's classic survey of English medieval alabasters includes a richly illustrated catalogue of the Victoria and Albert Museum's unparalleled collection. English alabasters represent a unique contribution to medieval art. Less sophisticated, perhaps, than other contemporary forms of religious art, they were a neglected area of study until this volume was first published in 1984. Stories from the New Testament and The Golden Legend were the most favoured subjects, and the numerous examples that survive in churches and museums throughout Europe attest to their wide and enduring appeal. Francis Cheetham examines here all aspects of their production and demonstrates how the panels and altarpieces can aid our understanding of life and devotional practice in medieval times. At the heart of this fascinating study is a richly illustrated catalogue of the 260 examples in the collection of London's Victoria and Albert Museum: a collection "so comprehensive that it would be possible to write a survey of the subject almost without recourse to pieces elsewhere," as Sir Roy Strong notes in his Foreword. Their division into subject categories is an invaluable aid to identification and classification. The late Francis Cheetham was an acknowledged expert on medieval English alabasters, and this reissue of his classic work will be welcomed by historians, art historians, collectors and dealers alike, taking its place alongside his Alabaster Images of Medieval England which was published by the Boydell Press in 2003. Alabaster is a mineral or rock that is soft, often used for carvins so soft that a fingernail scratches it (Mohs hardness 1.5 to 2), while calcite cannot be scratched in this way (Mohs hardness 3), although it yields to a knife. Moreover, calcite alabaster, being a carbonate, effervesces when treated with hydrochloric acid, while gypsum alabaster remains almost unaffected when thus treated.INDEXLIST OF FIGURES AND COLOUR PLATES VllACKNOWLEDGEMENTS IXPHOTOGRAPHIC CREDITS XlPREFACE xvIntroduction 1English Medieval Alabaster Carvings 27Saints 28Life of the Virgin 71Life of Christ 107Last Judgement 145Trinity 147Te Deum 154Sacraments 155Heads of St John the Baptist 156Altarpieces 161Summary of the Number of Carvings 179GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX 183BIBLIOGRAPHY 209 The fullest catalogue available on English medieval alabasters - 2,400 entries, with historical and art historical contextual material. From the late 1300s to the Reformation, alabaster carving was a major activity in the English Midlands, in an area centred on Nottingham. Altarpieces and panels were produced for the home market, but also for export; the sculptures have a distinctive style, dictated by the religious subjects and by the material, and were usually painted and gilded. At the Reformation, such items were hidden or destroyed, and it is the survival of numerous continental examples, particularly in France, together with the remaining examples from England, that enables the history of alabaster carving to be documented. This book catalogues some 2,400 carvings, with their location and published references, coupled with a Geographical Index. It is the fullest catalogue yet compiled on these exquisite small-scale sculptures, incorporating much new information, particularly relating to the iconography of the carvings. Thelate FRANCIS CHEETHAM was also the author of English Medieval Alabasters, containing a catalogue of the collection in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. From the late 1300s to the Reformation, alabaster carving was a major activity in the English Midlands, in an area centred on Nottingham. Altarpieces and panels were produced for the home market, but also for export; the sculptures have a distinctive style, dictated by the religious subjects and by the material, and were usually painted and gilded. At the Reformation, such items were hidden or destroyed, and it is the survival of numerous continental examples, particularly in France, together with the remaining examples from England, that enables the history of alabaster carving to be documented. This book catalogues some 2,400 carvings, with their location and published references, coupled with a Geographical Index. It is the fullest catalogue yet compiled on these exquisite small-scale sculptures, incorporating much new information, particularly relating to the iconography of the carvings.

Thelate FRANCIS CHEETHAM was also the author of English Medieval Alabasters, containing a catalogue of the collection in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. "This book catalogues some 2,400 carvings, with their location and published references, coupled with a Geographical Index. It is the fullest catalogue yet compiled on these exquisite small-scale sculptures, incorporating much new information, particularly relating to the inconography of the carvings."--Jacket Francis Cheetham. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [209]-218) And Index.