The Bosom of Abraham Trinity Alabaster relief carvings were produced in large volume in England between 1350 and

1540.1 The stone was quarried at mines near Derbyshire and Staffordshire, 2 and the plates were carved at workshops in Nottingham, London, and York.3 Alabaster was used not only because it was plentiful, but because it was amenable to gilding and tempera paint, 4 which were used to cover the reliefs in gold, red, black, green, and blue. 5 Most of the alabaster reliefs were small plaques, fifteen to twenty inches tall 6 and eleven inches wide,7 which were assembled into altarpieces encased in a wooden frame. 8 Others, however, such as the MFA Boston's Bosom of Abraham Trinity, were simply placed above the altar as free-standing objects. 9 The scene depicted both inspires the viewer to hope for salvation and reminds him that Jesus death is what allows him that hope. Alabaster production evolved from smaller scale, more individualized pieces in the second half of the fourteenth century, to standardized workshop production in the fifteenth. 10 Early plates were done in low relief with more rounded features on the figures, and more diversity in the shapes and sizes of the panels. 11 Free standing images were much more common in the fourteenth century as well, and were produced almost solely for special commissions in the
Lawrence Stone. The Pelican History of Art: Sculpture in Britain: The Middle Ages. Nikolaus Pevsner, ed. (Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, Ltd., 1955), 178 2 Elizabeth C. Pastan. Entombment of Christ. Gothic Sculpture in America v. 2: The Museums of the Midwest. Dorothy Gillerman, ed. (Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols Publishers, 2001), 79 3 Stone, 179 4 Clement F. Pitman. Reflections on Nottingham Alabaster Carving. Connoisseur. (133, 1954), 217 5 Ibid. 6 Joan A. Holladay. Saint Christopher Carrying the Christ Child. Gothic Sculpture in America v. 2: The Museums of the Midwest. Dorothy Gillerman, ed. (Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols Publishers, 2001), 181 7 Arthur Gardner. English Medieval Sculpture. (New York: The Syndics of the Cambridge University Press, 1951), 301 8 W.L. Hildburgh. A Group of Panels of English Alabasters. The Burlington Magazine. (46, 1925), 308 9 Museum of Fine Arts Wall Text 10 Stone, 189 11 Ibid.
1

fifteenth.12 What remained constant, however, was the subject matter: all English alabasters depicted religious subjects13 in compositions inspired by manuscript illumination 14 and religious plays.15 In the fifteenth century, the scale of production increased dramatically. 16 Alabaster images became very popular with the expanding middle class 17 for costing relatively little while looking expensive in their sumptuous paint and gilding. 18 These images were not just popular in England; indeed, thousands of plates have been found in Continental Europe, 19 some as far away as Italy, Portugal, and Russia.20 This popularity and the abundance of alabaster, led to mass production of alabaster reliefs in workshops. This standardization of production is clear from the many different plates found that are similar in all but the smallest details. 21 It is even speculated that pieces were produced assembly-line style, 22 a process that would have been aided by the fact that alabaster is soft and easily worked. 23 A proposed method is that a design would be drawn on parchment, holes would be poked in succession along the lines of that design, the parchment would be held against an alabaster slab, and charcoal would be forced through the holes onto the stone in a process called pouncing. 24 The piece would then be carved according to this design, and the labor of carving would be specialized, so that an individual would only shape a certain figure over and over again.25 The workshops would include not only the sculptors, but also the painters, gilders, and carpenters,26 who made the frames of the retables.
Ibid, 191 W.L. Hildburgh. Iconographical Peculiarities in English Medieval Alabaster Carvings. Folk-Lore. (44, 1933), 35 14 Pitman, 217 15 Hildburgh, Folk-Lore, 37 16 Stone, 189 17 Ibid, 178 18 Ibid, 180 19 Hildburgh, Folk-Lore, 34 20 Pitman, 218 21 Francis W. Cheetham. Alabaster Images of Medieval England. (Rochester: The Boydell Press, 2003), 9 22 Hildburgh, Folk-Lore, 32 23 Ibid, 36 24 Cheetham, 8 25 Hildburgh, Folk-Lore, 32 26 Pitman, 219
12 13

The mass production of alabaster plates led to an overall decline in quality and the huge market for these pieces encouraged conservatism in the designs. 27 These alabasters werent solely for the middle class, however, as in 1360 Queen Isabella of England bought a number of them and in 1382 three were added to the Papal Collection. 28 Pieces commissioned by individual, wealthy patrons would likely have been executed by the masters of workshops. 29 This specific piece, indeed, with its fine detail, large scale, and donor portraits, was likely the work of an individual master.30 The idea of the Bosom of Abraham Trinity is not one present in religious texts. 31 Indeed, it is more than likely that this piece was never originally intended to depict the trinity at all. 32 The idea of the Bosom of Abraham itself first appeared in Macabees, where it was referred to as the place martyrs went to rest after death. 33 It is mentioned again in Luke 16: 19-31, when a good beggar goes to his rest.34 The Bosom of Abraham represented heaven.35 It and heaven were conflated in prayers and in art, and it was still mentioned in fifteenth century prayers for the dead.36 In this way God and Abraham were related and confused, and so an idea originally referring to Abraham came to be used in representations of God, such as this one. The question of whether this piece represents a trinity is complex. The organization is very similar to that of Continental European Trinities of the same and earlier periods, 37 but it is

Stone, 180 Ibid 29 Hanns Swarzenski. The Holy Trinity. Museum of Fine Arts Boston: Western Art. (Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1971), 172 30 Ward, The Trinity, 367 31 Pamela Sheingorn. The Bosom of Abraham Trinity: A Late Medieval All Saints Image. England in the Fifteenth Century: Proceedings of the 1986 Harlaxton Symposium. (Wolfboro, New Hampshire: The Boydell Press, 1987), 275 32 Hildburgh, Folk-Lore, 54 33 Sheingorn, Harlaxton, 276 34 Ibid. 35 Ibid, 277. 36 Ibid, 282. 37 Hildburgh, Folk-Lore, 53
27 28

unlikely that all three figures of the Trinity were present in the original piece. There is the large father, the crucified son, and a dove, representing the Holy Spirit, painted above the INRI on Jesus cross.38 This dove, however, is painted in a style much later than the rest of the piece. 39 It is possible that the dove was added later, when Trinities became more important 40 as an All Saints image.41 It is more likely that this piece was meant to represent God offering his son for the salvation of humanity, and that the souls in his bosom are the souls of those saved by this sacrifice.42 This specific piece was an individual devotional image by an unknown sculptor. 43 It is thirty-seven and three-fourths inches high, fifteen inches wide, and five inches deep. 44 This startlingly small depth reinforces the idea that, although it may look like a free-standing sculpture, it is definitely a relief, which would have been mounted under an architectural canopy45 and viewed only from the front. The sculptor employed various devices to give the illusion of depth in this shallow figure. Gods bench-throne and thighs are slanted forward, to give the impression of depth despite his thighs being half the length of his shins. Seeing this object from the side not only destroys this visual illusion, but also reveals the un-sculpted and unpainted back. As a devotional image, it was meant to be prayed upon only from the front. This piece is Gothic in style. The symmetrical, 46 form-concealing47 drapery and the stylized and symmetrical hair place the piece in that era. In addition, the piece is in hierarchical
Museum of Fine Arts Wall Text Hildburgh, Folk-Lore, 54 40 Ibid, 55 41 Sheingorn, Harlaxton, 286 42 Hildburgh, Folk-Lore, 55 43 Stone, 189 44 Pamela Sheingorn. Bosom of Abraham Trinity. Gothic Sculpture in America v. 1: The New England Museums. Dorothy Gillerman, ed. (New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1989), 52 45 Swarzenski, 171 46 Ibid, 172 47 Susan Liebacher Ward. Crucifixion. Gothic Sculpture in America v. 2: The Museums of the Midwest. Dorothy Gillerman, ed. (Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols Publishers, 2001), 205
38 39

scale, with God the largest, then Christ, then the donors, then the small saved souls in the folds of Gods robe. It also bears some traces of the style of the mass-produced alabasters. The doll-like bodies of Christ and the donors and the bulging eyes of the donors, as well as the color scheme are all characteristic of these images. 48 There were many other alabaster pieces depicting the Bosom of Abraham Trinity created around the same time.49 Some of these have a square alabaster back, with an aureole carved into it around Gods head. In this piece, the highest quality of any I have seen, Gods hair acts as the aureole.50 The Jesus figure on this piece looks frail, slender, and mortal. In his position, realism is sacrificed for meaning, as his weight seems not to be pulling him down, and he hangs from the cross in a perfectly cruciform shape. The donors at Gods feet are perpetually praying. Indeed, their large hands emphasize their piety, and the scrolls unrolling from their hands and across Gods knees used to contain their prayers. On the womans scroll the letters MR are still visible, which likely stands for Miserere mei (Have pity on me). 51 Unfortunately, it is impossible to know who these donors were, as their seals, which were placed under Gods feet, have been defaced.52 The idea that this piece represents God offering his son to us for our salvation is supported by the concern on Gods face. His brow is knitted and the corners of his eyes pinched. Although he is blessing us with his right hand, the disproportion of his head to his hand draws the viewers eye away from his reassuring gesture and back to his worry-lined face. Gods eyes stare, not down at the people praying before him, but out at the world. It is His worry for mankind that has led Him to sacrifice His son to redeem our sins. God exists in a heavenly
Swarzenski, 172 Cheetham, plates of The Trinity. 50 Sheingorn, Gothic Sculpture, 52 51 Ibid. 52 Swarzenski, 172
48 49

world and his feet rest on a ground covered with painted-on flowers, while the base of Jesus cross extends down to the bottom of the piece, down to earth and mortality. The souls in Gods robes look down at Jesus, and one still clutches his hands together in prayer. Included in the nine souls are a bishop and a king next to common people, 53 proving that God saves all. This piece sends a strong message to the pious observer, promising heavenly paradise while serving as a reminder of the cost of our salvation. The strong religious message of these alabasters led to the destruction of most of them at the order of Henry VIII during the Reconstruction,54 so the only large pieces that remain have been discovered in Continental Europe. This piece was almost certainly exported from England, as it displays all the passionate religiosity that would have made sure it was destroyed at the hands of the kings agents.

Illustrated Handbook: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. (Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1975), 198 Paul Williamson and Nicholas Penny. Sculpture. The Arts of Britain. Edwin Mullins, ed. (Oxford: Phaidon Press, Ltd., 1983), 114
53 54