A PAIR OF CARVED ALABASTER FIGURES OF A FRANCISCAN MONK AND A NUN

The style and lineation of the drapery, with the crisp folds and large hoods, along with the proportion of the figures and their oval faces, are comparable to the work of several masters carving in wood in Antwerp in the late 15th and early 16th century. In particular the carving of the nun compares to a depiction of the Virgin fainting at the foot of the cross, as well as a number of other works now held in the Rijskmuseum in Amsterdam (J Leeuwenberg, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 1973, nos. 143, 147, 155 and 157).