The Deposition

Leonhard Kern

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

More luminous than marble and admired for its pale color, alabaster was so prized that cases of the uncut stone were locked to deter thieves. Kern, an original carver of small statuettes and reliefs, has used it here to depict the moments after Christ was brought down from the cross to be gently wrapped in his shroud. Rare for depictions of this story, Kern has added an angel to assist, whose creamy-white wings enliven the composition.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art