Two Apostles, St Matthew and St James (minor)

Unknown
Britain

Two Apostles, St Matthew and St James (minor)
mid-late 15th century
nottingham alabaster with traces of paint
Currently on display, Gallery 9
Place made
Nottingham, England
Geographical location
Midlands
Medium
nottingham alabaster with traces of paint
Dimensions
41.0 x 25.0 x 5.0 cm (irreg.)
Credit line
South Australian Government Grant 1952
Accession number
S95
Media category
Sculpture
Collection area
British sculptures

  • WALL LABEL: Two Apostles, St Matthew and St James (minor), mid – late 15th century

     

    While these two sculptures may have lost much of their polychrome over the last 500 years, it is still possible to envisage how bright and lively they must have once appeared. With their glorious green and red robes and gilded beards, they surely would have been a sight to behold.

    Carved in alabaster, a soft stone, these two sets of sculptures likely come from an altar or tomb that may have been destroyed during the English Reformation and subsequent iconoclasm. With their stylised features, these alabasters are undoubtedly more Byzantine in style and were created before Renaissance aesthetics reached English shores.

     

    Tansy Curtin, Curator of International Art Pre-1980

  • Reimagining the Renaissance

    Art Gallery of South Australia, 20 July 2024 – 13 April 2025