The U.K. Stops the U.S. From Taking One of Its Most Important and Historic Art Pieces

Why is the sculpture coming to the U.S.? And what is the importance of this relatively unknown art piece? Let’s get into it.

Believing that the art piece is part of a large body piece, the museum is hoping to eventually find the other fragments of the original priceless masterpiece.

Other pieces thought to exist include the Last Supper, Judas betraying Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, the crucifixion, the entombment, and the resurrection.

The fixed dimensions show a slight curve which is likely to come from the curved structure of a tusk. These tusks were highly valued for their durability, smooth texture, and suitability for carving intricate details

Because of the curved tusk, the arms, legs, and heads of the characters had to be carved closely together. Most sculptures carved from walrus tusks encourage intimacy.

The statue was loaned from John and Gertrude Hunts’ private collection. There is no information about how the family acquired the statue.

Paul Williamson, the then assistant keeper of the V&A’s Department of Sculpture, arranged this negotiation after recognizing the extraordinary quality of the sculpture and its relation to Judas at the Last Supper.

In 2023, the Met bought the carving in a private sale last year, but the V&A and other museums were able to bar the export license because the statue was an exceptionally fine carving and rarity that held national importance.

“The only corresponding piece to the “Deposition” is the fragmentary carving of Judas at the Last Supper which is in the V&A collection and was the justification for the “Deposition” remaining on loan to the V&A for 40 years.”

The ivory sculptures together could be worth tens of millions of pounds. It seems that Britain is eager to have the masterpiece displayed one day in its museums, or, at the very least, one piece of the masterpiece.

One of the richest and most powerful noble families in England, the de Warennes, commissioned a York sculptor in the 12th century to create the sculpture. The de Warennes ancestor was most notably a senior companion of William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings.

Speculators suggest that the artwork may have also appeared in one of the four independent chantry chapels throughout Wakefield, with one still existing today.

Research suggests that the artpiece most likely remained in Wakefield for hundreds of years until 1545 or 1547 during a nationwide suppression of the chantries.

The ivory series either partly seized, partly destroyed, or split apart, with some pieces remaining lost to history. However, local Catholic houses hid two other pieces of the masterpieces for centuries, and they have survived.

The Independent suggests that this house may have belonged to one of the church chantry chapel priests who hid the peace during the English Reformation. However, the remaining scene of the deposition remains hidden.

The altarpiece may have included the Virgin Mary and St. John the Evangelist. The original piece may have also been five separate scenes of Jesus Christ’s final days.

The publicity connected with the sale of the “Deposition” might lead to more fragments being discovered soon.

In 1756, a false ceiling in the home of a church chantry chapel priest yielded the discovery of 25 Catholic sculptures. A century later, another house near the church found religious stone statues inside the wall.

During the Reformation, ivory and other religious art pieces from that era were often concealed within houses, churches, and schools, only to be seemingly forgotten over time.

Five years later, Wakefield found itself in the center of a major Catholic plan to overthrow Henry VII and his Protestant government.

“The successful acquisition of the “Deposition from the Cross” by the V&A would allow for the sculpture to be reunited with the only known surviving piece of the same ensemble, a fragmentary ivory carving of Judas at the Last Supper, discovered in Wakefield during the 18th century, which is currently in the V&A Collection,” said the museum.

He continued: “This compelling work offers a rare, tantalizing glimpse of the sophistication and emotional power of art in England in the Middle Ages, a legacy that was almost entirely obliterated by the iconoclastic ravages of the Reformation.”