The Nailloux Altarpiece ( French: "''Retable de Nailloux''") is a

retable A retable is a structure or element placed either on or immediately behind and above the altar or communion table of a church. At the minimum it may be a simple shelf for candles behind an altar, but it can also be a large and elaborate structur ...

-type altarpiece made of five

alabaster Alabaster is a mineral or rock that is soft, often used for carving, and is processed for plaster powder. Archaeologists and the stone processing industry use the word differently from geologists. The former use it in a wider sense that include ...

panels carved in

high relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

. Dedicated to the

Passion of Jesus Christ In Christianity, the Passion (from the Latin verb ''patior, passus sum''; "to suffer, bear, endure", from which also "patience, patient", etc.) is the short final period in the life of Jesus Christ. Depending on one's views, the "Passion" m ...

, it is conserved in a chapel of St Martin's Church in

Nailloux Nailloux (; Languedocien: ''Nalhós'') is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France. Population Twin towns Nailloux is twinned with: * Canfranc, Spain * Bucium, Romania See also *Communes of the Haute-Garonne depa ...

, in the

Haute-Garonne Haute-Garonne (; oc, Nauta Garona, ; en, Upper Garonne) is a department in the Occitanie region of Southwestern France. Named after the river Garonne, which flows through the department. Its prefecture and main city is Toulouse, the country' ...

department in southwestern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. The retable is a typical product of the

Nottingham alabaster Nottingham alabaster is a term used to refer to the English sculpture industry, mostly of relatively small religious carvings, which flourished from the fourteenth century until the early sixteenth century. Alabaster carvers were at work in Lo ...

industry, carved during the second half of the 15th century in a Midlands workshop in England. These were cheaper than alternative forms of sculpted altarpiece, and many were exported. The work was produced in a period of economic development for the region: the golden age of

woad ''Isatis tinctoria'', also called woad (), dyer's woad, or glastum, is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae (the mustard family) with a documented history of use as a blue dye and medicinal plant. Its genus name, Isatis, derives from ...

culture in Lauragais. With a total length of 1.46 m (57 in), the altarpiece is made of four side panels of 43 × 25 cm (18 x 9 in) and a bigger central panel of 50 × 25 cm (19 x 9 in). The

Passion of Christ In Christianity, the Passion (from the Latin verb ''patior, passus sum''; "to suffer, bear, endure", from which also "patience, patient", etc.) is the short final period in the life of Jesus Christ. Depending on one's views, the "Passion" m ...

is the most common subject in medieval altarpieces because shows the sacrifice of Christ, commemorated in the

Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

. The Nailloux altarpiece represents, from left to right: the Arrest, the

Flagellation Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, the knout, etc. Typically, flogging has been imposed on ...

, the

Crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagi ...

(main panel), the Entombment and the

Resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, whic ...

of Christ. The neighbouring church of Montgeard also houses four panels of a dismembered Nottingham alabaster altarpiece (probably dedicated to the

Life of the Virgin The Life of the Virgin, showing narrative scenes from the life of Mary, the mother of Jesus, is a common subject for pictorial cycles in Christian art, often complementing, or forming part of, a cycle on the Life of Christ. In both cases the ...

). The Nailloux Altarpiece is classified " Monument historique" as an ''objet'' since 1914. After the renovation of the church, completed in 2011, the altarpiece was restored in 2013 following a subscription to the Fondation du Patrimoine.

Bibliography

* Cheetham Francis, ''English medieval alabaster: with a catalogue of the collection in the Victoria and Albert Museum'', Woodbridge, UK New York, Boydell Press in association with the Association for Cultural Exchange, 2005, 2nd édition. *Gorguet Pascale, ''Répertoire des albâtres anglais du XIVe au XVe siècle dans le Sud-Ouest: mémoire de maîtrise présenté sous la direction des professeurs Yves Bruand et Michèle Pradalier'', Université Toulouse Le Mirail, 1984.

References

{{Reflist, 30em Sculptures depicting the Passion of Jesus Gothic sculptures Alabaster English sculpture