The Entombment - Altarpiece Group Circa 1500

A beautiful ensemble, this group of an altarpiece, in polychrome painted carved wood representing the entombment. A precise and expressive work, which 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 Netherlands. The main centers for the production of large altarpieces with their narrative scenes were in Brussels, Antwerp and Mechelen. Brussels, capital of the Burgundian empire, played an important role artistically from 1430. 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 rigorous regulations down to the quality of the wood used and the polychromy.

On the reverse a paper label "BAS-RELIEF in carved wood: burial / 16th century Lesrel sale May 23, 1907"
Height of 38 cm by 28 wide.

Provenance: Sale of Works of Art belonging to Monsieur Lesrel, Paul Chevalier, Drouot, May 23, 1907, lot 133.
Note chips and missing parts, general scratches. Some shrinkage cracks. Traces of old polychrome decoration.
Traces of old woodworms.
A piece appraised by Madame Isabelle d’Amécourt