Alabaster Connections between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance: An English Altar for the Servants of Mary in Cascina

Abstract

The altar frontal of Cascina, crafted circa 1480 in England and acquired in 1540 by Fra’ Fabiano of the Servants of Mary, is among the most renowned creations of medieval English alabasters preserved in Italy and the sole example in the nation to exhibit a direct association with its patron. The contribution aims to highlight a network of dynamics triggered by the Protestant Reformation in England on the workshop organisation and the diffusion of these artefacts in the rest of Europe in connection with the artistic and cultic needs expressed in the same period by mendicant orders and lay confraternities.