A Triptych: the central panel: The Lamentation, with The Deposition beyond; the wings: Saint Anthony Abbot, a burning city beyond; and Saint Francis of Assisi receiving the Stigmata

Ambrosius Benson, a south Netherlandish painter of Italian birth, may have been attracted to Bruges by its commercial and artistic reputation. He moved there from Lombardy in circa 1515 and acquired citizenship in 1518, before being admitted to the Painter’s Guild of Saint Luke the following year. He is known to have worked in the studio of Gerard David and many of his successful designs, including that of the central panel and right hand panel of this triptych, are traceable to patterns and models of David’s invention.
The central panel of this triptych derives from David’s own design for the Lamentation, see for example his panels of the subject in the National Gallery, London, of c. 1515-23 (fig. 1) and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, of c. 1515-20. Benson adapted several gestures and poses for the central figures, with the Virgin lightly cradling the head of Christ, whose body is supported by Saint John the Evangelist, while the Magdalene is similarly shown anointing His wounds (with the absence of her traditional pot of ointment). Yet, while adhering to David’s overall design, the artist made notable changes to his master’s model, for instance in the detail of the Virgin sensitively lifting her white veil to wipe tears from her cheek. The left-hand wing of the triptych follows more directly David’s Saint Francis receiving the Stigmata at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Benson's emerging style, heavily indebted to David, as well as Adriaen Isenbrandt, Rogier van der Weyden and Hugo van der Goes, when combined with his early Lombard influences, proved a highly successful formula and his fame grew steadily during his lifetime. The fact that a sizeable amount of the artist’s known oeuvre is found in Spain indicates that he had strong ties with the country, but while suggestions that he worked or established a workshop there have been refuted, he certainly had close contacts with the Iberian Peninsula, and more specifically with the wealthy Spanish mercantile colony in Bruges. His workshop was located near the Bruges Exchange (facilitating easy access for an international clientele) and in 1533 the painter even purchased a house from the Spanish merchant Lucas de Castro (half of which he paid for with eight paintings). The numerous works by Benson in Spain, especially those in public locations, including Segovia Cathedral, the Church of Saint John in Castrojeriz and the Dominican abbey church of Santa Cruz in Segovia, had a strong impact on vernacular painting.
While the arms on the verso of the left wing have not yet been successfully traced, prior to the 2012 sale Jan van Helmont suggested that they may be a version of the arms of the Order of Friars Minor (the Franciscan Order), lacking the crossed arms of Christ and Saint Francis of Assisi. Philippe Palasi, meanwhile, noted that they may simply be generic arms serving a symbolic function, in reference to the scene of the Lamentation that greeted the viewer once the wings were opened.