Altarpiece Panel: The Trinity with Angels

Artist Unknown English artist , active circa 1460–1490

Date1460–1490

MediumAlabaster with traces of gold leaf and polychromy

Dimensionsheight, width, and depth: 19 13/16 × 10 13/16 × 1 13/16 in. (50.3 × 27.4 × 4.6 cm)

ClassificationsSculpture

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Charles E. and Pauline Lewis Hayworth Endowed Fund

Object number2025.23.1

On View

On view

Label TextCarved from a slender slab of alabaster, this relief depicts the Trinity, the Christian concept that God is three in one: Father, Son (Jesus Christ), and Holy Spirit. God the Father, depicted on an enlarged scale, sits enthroned behind the crucified Christ. A dove representing the Holy Spirit, attached by dowel to the hole above Christ’s halo, is now missing. Surrounding the triad are six angels. The upper two swing censers, while the lower four hold chalices to catch the blood issuing from Christ’s wounds.

The sculpture’s subject, size, and traces of pigment and gilding indicate it was once the central image of a grand, multipaneled English altarpiece. Alabaster carving and trading was a major industry in medieval England.

[L. Humphrey, “The People’s Collection, Reimagined,” 2026]
ProvenanceCreated between 1460 and 1490 in Midlands, England. [Antiquarian trade]; Enrico Minervino (d. Milan, 2001); by inheritance to Carla Melissa Gabardi (Luino, May 24, 1943—Milan, April 25, 2021); [Casa d’Aste il Ponte, Milan, October 22, 2024, lot 153]; [Sam Fogg, London, inv. 25204]; purchased by NCMA, 2025.Exhibition HistoryRaleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," June 8, 2026-present. Object Rights Statement

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