A rare carved alabaster panel in high relief depicting four - Lot 27

A rare carved alabaster panel in high relief depicting four figures—Saint James, Saint John, the Virgin Mary, and a donor—set within an architectural frame composed of twin arcades, with spandrels featuring an angel and small dragons, supported by columns with smooth shafts and leaf-decorated capitals with crockets, surmounted by musicians and topped with pinnacles; frieze of vine leaves at the top and wolf’s teeth at the bottom. England, mid-15th century H. 56.5 cm - W. 24.2 cm - D. 5.5 cm On a red velvet backing (some damage and restoration) Provenance: - Govaerts Collection, Belgium With its architectural frame, this carved panel does not fit into the production of so-called Nottingham alabasters, which are generally polychromatic with gilded highlights and feature a well-codified iconography, as evidenced by their repetitive scenes. Perhaps this is a fragment of a tomb or an altarpiece from a private commission. This group of figures is all turned toward the panel on the right, which likely depicted the Ascension. Indeed, the presence on the left of Saint James accompanied by his staff can be seen in several bas-reliefs illustrating this theme, as shown, for example, by the panel preserved at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (inv. 06.321b, fig.). Here, however, the Virgin is relegated to the background, supported by Saint John, while in her usual place stands a female patron who was likely intended to form a pair with her husband, accompanied by other saintly figures to the right of the central scene depicting Christ’s ascension to heaven.