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Bosom of Abraham Trinity
English
Medieval (Gothic)
1420–50
Object Place: Europe, Nottingham, England
Medium/Technique
Stone; alabaster with polychromy and gilding
Dimensions
95.9 x 38.1 x 12.7 cm (37 3/4 x 15 x 5 in.)
Credit Line
Decorative Arts Special Fund
Accession Number27.852
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsSculpture
This startling image combines two devotional themes-the Trinity and Souls resting in the bosom of Old Testament-patriarch Abraham. The Trinity includes God, seated and blessing with his right hand; the crucified Christ; and the Holy Spirit symbolized by the dove painted at the top of the cross. A cloth draped across God's chest contains small figures representing souls. This image offered comfort to its viewers, including the donors of the sculpture, who kneel at God's feet, and hold scrolls which once contained their prayers. This large and ambitious alabaster carving would have been placed above an altar.
ProvenanceFrom Spain, possibly the Cathedral of Jaca, and sold in Madrid [see note 1]. By 1919, Frank Gair Macomber (b. 1849 - d. 1941), Boston; 1927, sold by Macomber to the MFA for $1500. (Accession Date: December 8, 1927)
NOTES:
[1] According to Walter L. Hildburgh, this sculpture was "found in Spain" and "passed through Madrid." W. L. Hildburgh, "Iconographic Peculiarities in English Medieval Alabaster Carvings, Part I," Folk-Lore 44 (March 1933), p. 50, n. 51 and ibid., "Some Presumably Datable Fragments of an English Alabaster Retable," Antiquaries Journal 24, nos. 1-2 (January-April, 1944), pp. 36-37. The sculpture was subsequently published by Anselmo Gascón de Gotor Giménez, Nueve Catedrales en Aragón (Zaragoza: Libreria General, 1945), pl. 5, with a caption indicating it was held by the cathedral of Jaca. By the date of this publication the sculpture had long since been at the MFA.
NOTES:
[1] According to Walter L. Hildburgh, this sculpture was "found in Spain" and "passed through Madrid." W. L. Hildburgh, "Iconographic Peculiarities in English Medieval Alabaster Carvings, Part I," Folk-Lore 44 (March 1933), p. 50, n. 51 and ibid., "Some Presumably Datable Fragments of an English Alabaster Retable," Antiquaries Journal 24, nos. 1-2 (January-April, 1944), pp. 36-37. The sculpture was subsequently published by Anselmo Gascón de Gotor Giménez, Nueve Catedrales en Aragón (Zaragoza: Libreria General, 1945), pl. 5, with a caption indicating it was held by the cathedral of Jaca. By the date of this publication the sculpture had long since been at the MFA.