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AN EXCEPTIONAL AND RARE MID 15TH CENTURY GOTHIC CARVED OAK COFFER FRONT PANEL.

CARVED FROM A SINGLE PIECE OF OAK , DEPICTING THE LIFE OF CHRIST. ORIGINAL GOTHIC CHESTS WITH CARVED SCENES SUCH AS THIS ARE EXTREMELY RARE AND DESIRABLE. THIS EXAMPLE DEPICTS THE LIFE OF CHRIST IN FOUR GOTHIC ARCHED PANELS, WITH GOTHIC TRACERY ABOVE. NOTE AT THE TOP OF THE GOTHIC TRACERY ARCHES THERE ARE CARVED FACES OF DEMONS, DRAGONS, HOLLY AND ACORNS.
PANEL 1. DEPICTS CHRIST IN THE MANGER WITH MARY AND JOSEPH STOOD PROUDLEY EACH SIDE, IN THE BACKGROUND BEHIND THE STALLS STANDS THE OX AND THE ASS. NOTE THE OVERHEAD POINT OF VIEW OF THE MANGER WHICH IS OUT OF PERSPECTIVE WITH THE REST OF THE SCENE, A CHARACTERISTIC COMMON TO MEDIEVAL PAINTINGS.
PANEL 2. DEPICTS CHRIST CARRYING THE CROSS ON THE ROAD TO CALVARY, FOLLOWED BY SOLDIERS, NOTE THE VARIOUS LONG-POLE MEDIEVAL WEAPONS TYPICAL OF THE PERIOD.
PANEL 3. DEPICTS CHRIST ON THE CROSS FLANKED BY THE REPENTANT THIEF AND THE UNREPENTANT THIEF. THE REPENTANT THIEF ON THE LEFT ATTENDED BY AN ANGEL AND THE UNREPENTANT THIEF ATTENDED BY A DEMON, WITH MARY AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS.
PANEL 4. DEPICTS THE TRIUMPHANT REDEEMING ABOVE THE DEFEATED DEMONS.
A FANTASTIC GOTHIC WORK OF ART.
This panel is made of a single piece of thick oak. Such construction is more common in the earlier gothic chests; later in the 15th and early 16th century it was more common to construct chests using styles and rails surrounding small panels.
Comparative pieces: A chest with the same style of decoration is in the Musee d'Art et d'Histoire, Geneva, and illustrated on page 38 of "Le Mobilier Du Moyen Age et de la Renaissance en France", by Jacques Thirion. The author dates the chest at about 1460.
65.5" LONG X 22.5" HIGH.
STOCK NO 906.