The Lamentation

The present composition derives from depictions of The Lamentation by Gerard David, like those in London (National Gallery, c.1515-23) and Philadelphia (Museum of Art, c.1515-20). Indeed, the painter here closely adapted several gestures and poses for the central figures from David’s compositions, with the Virgin lightly cradling the head of Christ, whose body is supported by Saint John the Evangelist, and the Magdalen similarly shown anointing His wounds (with the absence of her traditional pot of ointment). While adhering to David’s compositions, the artist made notable changes to the master’s model, such as in the Virgin, who sensitively lifts her white veil to wipe the tears from her cheek, and the inclusion of the two standing men at the right of the panel, presumably representing Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. Painted in a somewhat different pictorial idiom from the main group, the rendering of these two figures looks more toward Romanist painters, like Jan van Scorel, whose Lamentation of circa 1535 includes similar figures behind the central lamenting group (Utrecht, Centraal Museum).

The affinities between Benson and Gerard David are hardly surprising given that the former was generally assumed to have worked in David’s workshop in Bruges, before first being recorded as a master in the city’s painter’s guild in August 1519. This is attested to by a legal dispute between the two artists in this year, in which Benson requested the return of two chests of drawings, patterns and unfinished paintings that he had left in David’s workshop, and which the latter refused to relinquish. In his defence, David claimed that the chests contained unfinished pattern drawings belonging to him, with the additional charge that Benson owed him a large sum of money. Despite this acrimonious litigation, David’s works clearly continued to be an important source for Benson’s workshop and many of his successful designs, including the Lamentation, can be traced to patterns and models of Gerard David’s invention.

The shape of the present panel suggests that it would once have formed the centre of a small triptych. Greater difficulty comes in trying to judge what the subject of the wings would have been, given the diverse selection of themes that Benson and his workshop chose for the wings in existing complete triptychs depicting the Lamentation, ranging from kneeling donor portraits (Sotheby’s, London, 9 July 2008, lot 9), saints (these Rooms, 9 February 2012, lot 641) and extensions of the Lamentation narrative itself (Sotheby’s, London, 10 April 2013, lot 4).

We are grateful to Till-Holger Borchert for endorsing the attribution on the basis of high-resolution images.