Workshop of Jean Mone - Crucifixion in alabaster, Mechelen, c. 1540

This beautiful relief in alabaster enclosed in a wooden frame is a refined testimony of the Flemish production of altarpieces in alabaster, extremely popular in the years 1540-1560, and produced on a large scale in the workshops of Mechelen.
By its remarkable quality and the prestigious model to which it is attached, our bas-relief differs somewhat from this serial production, to be closer to the one coming from the best Flemish workshops, placed in the service of the Emperor Charles V and his court.
Indeed, the fluid and graceful character of the protagonists of our Crucifixion, as well as the Italian accents which emerge from it, allow it to be linked to the production of Jean Mone.
Born in France, in Metz, Jean Mone acquired his fame in Flanders by working as a sculptor at the court of Charles V, where he helped introduce the novelties of the Italian Renaissance which he acquired after a brief stay in Italy. The monumental alabaster altarpiece of the Sainte Gudule cathedral in Brussels, which he produced between 1538 and 1541, is considered to be his most elegant masterpiece. Depicting the different highlights of the Passion of Christ, the latter is decorated in its center with a beautiful Crucifixion which can be seen as the perfect reflection of our work. Presenting some very slight variations, our relief can be attributed to the artist's prolific workshop. Its more modest format seems to designate it as one of the two sections of a domestic altarpiece.

©Galerie Sismann