Trinity with Donors

Place of Originpossibly Nottingham, England

Date15th century

Dimensions23 3/8 × 12 1/8 × 4 in. (59.4 × 30.8 × 10.2 cm)

Mediumgilded and polychrome alabaster

ClassificationSculpture

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1969.229

Not on View

Label TextThe haloed and crowned figure of God the Father sits enthroned in the panel’s center, his hands raised in blessing and feet resting on the wings of the angels below. In front of him is Christ on the cross, wearing the crown of thorns. The Trinity, or three-fold manifestation of the Christian divine, would originally have been completed with the dove representing the Holy Spirit affixed with a dowel to the hole above Christ’s head. Six angels surround the holy figures, two swinging censors (incense burners) and the remainder holding chalices (stemmed cups) to collect the blood from Christ’s wounds. In the lower corners, a woman and man dressed in contemporary clothing, likely donors. Their presence memorializes them after death and serves as a model of piety for the viewer.Published ReferencesToledo Museum of Art, "Treasures for Toledo," Toledo Museum News, New Series, vol. 12, no. 4, Winter 1969, repr.

Putney, Richard H., Medieval Art, Medieval People: The Cloister Gallery of the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, 2002, p. 40, repr. (col.) fig. 33.

Gillerman, Dorothy, ed., Gothic Sculpture in America, II: the Museums of the Midwest, Turnhout, Brepols, 2001, p. 366-367, no. 266, repr. p. 366.

Cheetham, Francis, Alabaster Images of Medieval England, Woodbridge, Boydell Press, 2003, p. 151.

Comparative ReferencesSee also Gardner, Arthur, A Handbook of English Medieval Sculpture, Cambridge 1937, p. 329 et seq. (dating and attribution). Cf. Stone, Lawrence, Sculpture in Britain, The Middle Ages, Harmondsworth, 1955, pp. 180 f., 189 et seq. (dating and attribution). Cf. Cheetham, Francis W., Medieval English Alabaster Carvings the Castle Museum, Nottingham, Nottingham, 1962, pp. 3-6, 11-12 (technique, dating and attribution). Cf. Kornfeld, Hans, "An English Alabaster Relief," The Burlington Magazine, vol. 61, 1932, p. 126, pl. A (similar example in Wiesenkirche, Soest, Westphalia). Cf. Pitman, Clement F., "Reflections on Nottingham Alabaster Carving," Connoisseur, vol. 133, 1954, p. 226, no. XXIV (retable in National Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland). Cf. MacLagan, Eric, "An English Alabaster Altarpiece in the Victoria and Albert Museum," The Burlington Magazine, vol. 36, 1920, p. 53 et seq. pl. 1 (similar example). Cf. Tavender, Augusta S., "Three Medieval English Alabasters in French Churches," Speculum, vol. 24, 1949, p. 401, pl. VI (similar example in St. Leonard near Limoges). Cf. Tavender, Augusta S., "Medieval English Alabasters in American Museums," Speculum, vol. 30, 1955, p. 69, no. 51, pl. VII (similar example in Rochester Memorial Art Gallery). Cf. Cheetham, Francis, "Export Art of the Middle Ages, English Alabasters," Country Life, vol. 147, no. 3800, January 1, 1970, pp. 36ff. (Good, general summary. Also illustrates Trinity panel of Swansea altarpiece).