The Mater Dolorosa

This Mater Dolorosa originally formed the left wing of a diptych, paired with a Christ Crowned with Thorns. The composition probably derives from Rogier van der Weyden, who had depicted similar Virgins, for example in the Beaune Last Judgment (1443-51; Beaune, Musée de l'Hôtel-Dieu) and the Triptych of Jean Braque (c. 1452-3; Louvre, Paris), that were then popularized by his contemporaries and followers. The present composition was itself in the past given to Rogier and his school, but was reclassified as Dieric Bouts by Max J. Friedländer (Die altniederländische Malerei, III, Berlin and Leiden, 1925, p. 124). The composition was quite popular in Bouts’ workshop and several versions exist, including those in the National Gallery, London and the Louvre, Paris (see Lorne Campbell’s entry in National Gallery Catalogues. The Fifteenth Century Netherlandish Paintings, London, 1998, pp. 63-6). While several candidates have been proposed for the Bouts prototype, the master’s original autograph work appears to be lost.