Christ’s Descent into Limbo, anonymous, c. 1440
oak with polychromy, gilding, leather, glass and metal, h 48.5cm Catalogue entry
These three groups, from a large Crucifixion altar, reveal how colourful most Gothic sculpture originally was. During a recent restoration, small slivers of glass were found in the old pigment; this would have added to the glittering impression of the whole. Research of the oak shows that the sculptures were carved after c. 1420, the felling date of the tree.
