Medieval English Alabaster Sculpture from the Victoria and Albert Museum

THE ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By TAHLIB

Head of Saint John the Baptist, c. 1470 - 1500. Courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum

NEW YORK---During the later Middle Ages, England was home to a thriving art industry that produced colorful and delicate alabaster sculptures in large quantities and distributed them throughout Europe. This spring, the Museum of Biblical Art hosts an exhibition of the world’s greatest collection of medieval alabaster sculptures from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and offers a fascinating window into the role of art in private devotion at the time, as well as the role of the Bible as an inspiration for medieval sculptors. "Object of Devotion" is comprised of approximately 60 alabaster sculptures from the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries.

Museum of Biblical Art: "Object of Devotion: Medieval English Alabaster Sculpture from the Victoria and Albert Museum" (March 7–June 8, 2014); 1865 Broadway at 61st Street, New York, NY; (212) 408-1500; mobia.org