AN EARLY 16TH CENTURY BRABANT (ANTWERP) CARVED WOOD FIGURE OF THE CRUCIFIED THIEF blindfolded, his arm bound with ropes at the elbow to the cross and hanging down, his legs also bound, traces of original polychrome, 15.5cm high This fragmentary figure probably formed part of a Passion altarpiece and would have been one of a pair, depicting the Good Thief and the Bad Thief, with the Crucifixion at the centre. The bottom of the cross would have had pegs and a shaft to attach it to the main altarpiece. Many examples of this type of altarpiece survive in tact, and numerous single figures such as the present piece are in European collections, in the Victoria and Albert Museum (Inv. no.A3-1962) but also in Brussels and Amsterdam. Most of these figures were produced in Antwerp between the years 1510-1530, and our example is typical of this type. Related Literature: P. Williamsons, 'Netherlandish Sculpture 1450-1550', V&A Publications, 2002.