The Lamentation

A typical example of the Antwerp Mannerist style, this work has previously been attributed to Jan Mertens II van Dornicke, identified with The Master of 1518 (Antwerp c. 1470-c. 1527). A close version of the composition, recording the original upper edge with a depiction of Calvary, was sold in these Rooms, 10 July 2002, lot 8 (67 x 55.3 cm.), as 'Attributed to the Master of the von Groote Adoration'. Certain similarities with the Von Groote Master exist. The hat worn by Saint Joseph of Arimathea, for example, resembles that of the striding Magus Melchior in the Master's name-piece, the Adoration in the Städel, Frankfurt; but also occurs in other works by the Antwerp Mannerists, such as the triptych by the Master of the Antwerp Adoration, Christie's, New York, 27 January 2010, lot 4. We are grateful to Professor Dan Ewing for suggesting a dating after 1520, when the freer application of paint evident in the present work, especially the landscape background, becomes more frequent in Antwerp Mannerism; and for noting the influence of Quinten Metsys, Joos van Cleve and Joachim Patinir. We are equally grateful to Dr. Didier Martens, who suggests the possible existence of a lost prototype by Joos van Cleve. A number of compositional similarities occur in the works of Joos (see J.O. Hand, Joos van Cleve: The Complete Paintings, New Haven and London, 2004, figs. 37, 69, 79 and 80).