The Burial Or Entombment - Altarpiece Group Circa 1500

This group of high-period altarpieces, made of polychrome-painted carved wood, depicting the Entombment, is a fine example. Precise and expressive, this work comes to us from Flanders, probably Antwerp, and takes us back to the 1500s.

At this time, medieval statuary was at its peak in the Low Countries.
The main production centers for large altarpieces with their narrative scenes were in Brussels, Mechelen, and Antwerp. Brussels, the capital of the Burgundian Empire, played an important artistic role from 1430, but Antwerp took over around 1500, becoming the main producer of altarpieces and religious sculptures. Antwerp sculptors and painters belonged to the same corporation: the Guild of Saint Luke.
The latter facilitated their collaboration but also imposed strict regulations, down to the quality of the wood used and the polychrome applied.
On the back a paper label "BAS-RELIEF in carved wood: burial / 16th century Lesrel sale May 23, 1907" Condition of use - chips and losses, general scratches. Some shrinkage cracks. Traces of old polychrome decoration. Old traces of woodworm. Dimensions of 38 cm by 28 cm wide.
A piece appraised by Madame Isabelle d'Amécourt.
Reference 222