English, probably Nottingham, 15th century

Private collection, Europe

The composition of the present relief fragment follows Francis Cheetham’s Trinity – Type A, which depicts God the Father holding the Crucified Christ in the Throne of Mercy, with the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove perched upon the Cross. The upper section of the present Trinity is lost. While the Holy Spirit is not represented in the present example, there is a small dowel hole at the top of the cross by which a dove was most likely attached. A similar hole is present in a Type A Trinity relief at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (inv. no. A53-1946; Cheetham, 1984, p. 297).

Cheetham further categorises Nottingham Trinity compositions as: Type B, in which God holds the Souls of the Blessed; Type C, where the Trinity is flanked by attendants; and Type D, in which the Three are carved separately.

RELATED LITERATURE

F. Cheetham, English Medieval Alabasters, Oxford, 1984, pp. 296-99; F. Cheetham, Alabaster Images of Medieval England, Woodbridge, 2003, pp. 147-153