Provenance:
Hubert Wilm Collection, Munich (19th century);

Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg (c. 1880–1920);

Lamperts, Cologne, 1944;

John and Johanna Bass Collection, New York;

Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach (acquired 1963).

This refined alabaster relief represents The Resurrection, one of the most beloved devotional themes produced by the 15th-century Nottingham workshops. Here, Christ rises majestically from the tomb, blessing with his right hand while holding the Resurrection banner in his left. Below, four soldiers lie asleep or startled awake, their armour—basinet, mail and gauntlets—rendered with striking delicacy and precision.

The panel exemplifies the expressive modelling and technical finesse that secured Nottingham’s reputation as Europe’s leading centre for alabaster production. Its small, portable reliefs were widely exported across the Continent and, remarkably, many survived the waves of iconoclasm that swept England during the Tudor Reformation.

The distinguished provenance of this piece further attests to its significance. Formerly in the celebrated Hubert Wilm Collection in Munich, it later entered the collections of the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg and subsequently the John and Johanna Bass Collection in New York, before joining the Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, in 1963. Its passage through two major museums underscores its art-historical importance and the enduring esteem accorded to Nottingham alabasters.