Alabaster bas-relief ''the Last Supper''bMonogram IVH - Mechelen 17th century

Sculpted alabaster plaque with gold highlights illustrating ''the Last Supper'', a term given by the Christian religion to the last meal that Jesus Christ took on Holy Thursday with his twelve apostles before his arrest and crucifixion.
Among the twelve apostles, are easily identifiable:
Judas sits  in the foreground. Jesus points to him by giving him a mouthful of bread. In his left hand he holds the purse with thirty silver coins. In iconography, Judas' purse represents not only his office as treasurer within the community of apostles, but also and above all the salary for his betrayal.
To the right of Christ, John the Evangelist with a gentle and almost feminine face holding in his hands a cup or chalice, and to the left of Christ Saint Peter, a massive and elderly character, with a tonsured head, and wearing a short and thick beard .
On the ground lies an ewer which one of the apostles seems ready to lift.
The composition is based on an architectural background topped with a high relief canopy.
Our plate is monogrammed IVH for the Malinois workshop of Jaak Verhulst (1580 – 1643).
It is an example of the very typical artistic industry which flourished in Mechelen from the middle of the 16th century to the first third of the 17th century. The production of alabaster pieces goes hand in hand with the Flemish Renaissance period. Unlike somewhat earlier domestic altarpieces, sculpted devotional reliefs generally date from around 1600.
Dozens of craftsmen specialized in the creation of this type of sculpted reliefs for production geared towards export. This production is distinguished by the fact that all these bas-reliefs were signed with a workshop mark and/or a monogram of the artist, but the year is normally not mentioned. The signature was affixed to the base or in a cartouche on the base of the bas-relief. It was not carved from alabaster but painted in golden letters. In many cases the gilding has disappeared, which has completely or partially erased the monogram.
These alabaster works depict various themes, mostly depictions of the Old and New Testaments. There are also the lives of saints, mythological scenes, allegories, historical figures and portraits.
Ref: Sculpture of the Southern Netherlands and the Principality of Liège – Royal Museum of Art and History of Brussels

Dimensions with frame
H. 20 cm x L. 17.5 cm
Dimensions without frame
H. 12.5 cm x L. 10 cm

Mechelen
17th century
Monogram IVH Workshop of Jaak Verhulst (1580 – 1643)
The frame is old but not original