North Netherlandish School, second quarter of the 16th Century

The actual painting is a softer and a little greener in tone than the catalogue illustration suggests. Both outer panels consist of one plank. The inner panel consists of 2 planks, joined vertically. A few tiny flecks of paint loss are visible along the retouched join in the central panel. In the left panel, a thin vertical split of approx. 30 cm. is running from the lower edge, and another thin vertical split of approx. 15 cm. is running from the upper edge. Otherwise, no damages are apparent in any of the planks. Left wing: a retouched spot of paint loss is visible in the background upper centre. Small retouchings can be observed in the cloak lower centre, in the book, in the sky and in the faces of the figures. Right wing: tiny retouched paint losses can be observed in the table, book and coat of arms lower left, in the donor's headdress. Some small retouchings can be observed in the donor's hands and figures' faces, in the red drapery and in the background upper centre. Central panel: small retouched paint losses are visible in the background upper right and in the face of the figure most right, and there's a slight tendency towards flaking in the centre left. Some small scattered retouchings can be observed, e.g. in the background upper left, in the leg and body of Christ, and in the face and draperies of the figure on the left. Inspection under UV light is impeded by the dirty varnish layer. The paint layer of both wings and inner panel is covered with a very dirty and glossy layer of varnish. Offered in a plain wood triptych frame, in good condition.
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The design of the central panel of this triptych is derived from Joos van Cleve's altarpiece of the Lamentation, documented to 1524 and now in the Staedelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt-am-Main.¹ The figures of Mary and Christ with Mary Magdalene tenderly holding Christ's right hand are directly based on the Frankfurt altarpiece, but the artist has expanded the design to include the saints' attributes and introduced the figure looking backwards toward a different landscape setting. The donors' coats-of-arms on the wings are however more likely to be north rather than south Netherlandish in origin, and a possible origin for the present work in the northern Netherlands, perhaps from Leiden, should be considered.

1. See M.J. Friedländer, Early Netherlandish Painting, vol. IXa, Leiden/Brussels 1972, p. 54, no. 15, reproduced plate 31.