Currier, Janice Arlee2024-08-132024-08-1319941994https://hdl.handle.net/1828/17582Sculpted alabaster tablets depicting the head of St. John the Baptist on a charger, such as the Spilsbury alabaster now in the colJection of the University of Victoria's Maltwood Museum and Gallery, were produced in large numbers in fifteenth-century England. Important as examples of private devotional art, they were probably first made as minor works subsidiary to alabaster monument and altarpiece production. This thesis introduces and describes the Spilsbury tablet in detail; compares this example with other surviving alabaster St. John's Heads; discusses the development and end of the alabaster industry in late medieval England; describes how the St. John's heads are related to other alabaster works; and proposes possible explanations for the popularity and iconography of the St. John's Heads. These alabaster panels may have functioned in part to promote orthodox beliefs and behaviours in late medieval English society, or to counter the influences of heresy. As such, they may be seen as badges of orthodox attitudes in both religious piety and secular politics.284 pagesAvailable to the World Wide WebThesis