A Triptych: The Entombment on the central compartment; the Road to Calvary on the lefthandwing; the Resurrection on the righthandwing

The present lot is characteristic of painting in Antwerp circa 1530/40, which is generally described as Antwerp Mannerism. Characteristic features are the elaborately decorated costumes, with ornate headdresses - as seen in the figure of Nicodemus on the right in the central compartment and of Saint Veronica in the leftwing -, the fluttering draperies and the attention to the landscape in the background.

M.J. Friedländer, Early Netherlandish Painting, 1974 (ed.), XI, made a critical survey of painting in Antwerp of this period. He differentiated a group of paintings on stylistic grounds, and these he labelled as the work of anonymous masters, the most notable of which are the Master of the Antwerp Adoration, the Master of 1518, the Master of the Von Groote Adoration and the Pseudo-Bles. One of the few named artists is Jan de Beer, who settled in Antwerp circa 1500 and who seems to have been an early promotor of the style.

Antwerp Mannerism is now understood as a phenomenon rooted in the tradition of studio practice, in which more than one artist was responsible for the final product. This gains further confirmation by the fact that all Antwerp Mannerist paintings show prominent underdrawing, best made visible by infra-red reflectography. The pioneer in this technique was Professor J.A. van Asperen de Boer of the University of Groningen, who studied numerous Antwerp mannerist paintings. His aim was to develop the work of Friedländer, by verifying the consistency of the underdrawings, in the oeuvres assembled by Friedländer and by shedding further light on the then current studio practice.
The present lot was examined under infra-red reflectography on 7 July 1998 by Margreet Wolters of the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, The Hague. This showed extensive underdrawing, but did not allow an attribution to a specific artist or studio. The style of the present lot is closest to that of Jan de Beer, while the composition is to be compared with the Master of the Von Groote Adoration (cf. M.J. Friedländer, op.cit., pp.70/1, no33/5, plates 42/43).

The portrait-like features of the face of Joseph of Arimathea suggest that he may have been intended as the donor. Infra-red reflectography reveals the presence of pentimenti in his face (see illustration).

IRR-assembly by Margreet Wolters of the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, The Hague