Rogier van der Weyden (1399/1400 Tournai/Flanders - 1464 Brussels) Successor, probably active 2nd half 15th to early 16th century Lamentation of Christ The present painting is based on the well-known painting in the Mauritshuis in The Hague, which Rogier van der Weyden and his workshop probably executed around 1460-1464. The devotional or altarpiece shows Christ being taken down from the cross and mourned by the four grieving Marys - Our Lady, Mary Magdalene (with her hair loose), Mary Salome, Mary Cleophas and the young apostle John, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, who, moved by grief, give free rein to their tears. Although the artist of the present painting adopted the main group of figures from Rogier van der Weyden, he also changed the composition of the Mauritshuis Lamentation from a horizontal to a vertical format. In doing so, he omitted three figures on the right-hand side of the painting - a kneeling bishop (?, as the donor) and the two standing apostles Peter and Paul, while at the same time extending the painting above by the cross and the ladder. He also depicted the landscape in the background in much greater detail and depicted a veritable small town. This is therefore not a direct copy after Rogier van der Weyden, but a completely independent version, probably created by one of his pupils. This is also suggested by the landscape in the background, which can also be found in a similar way in works by Rogier van der Weyden. After his contemporary Jan van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden is considered one of the most important Flemish painters of his time and both were important innovators in the introduction and development of oil painting. This technique enabled a new, unprecedented intensity of colour and flowing brushwork through finely glazed layered painting. At the same time, they placed the scenes from the Bible in familiar surroundings and conveyed the illusion of a real world through lifelike details. Rogier van der Weyden added a decisive element to this naturalism by rendering emotions - as in the Mauritshuis Lamentation, the figures in this painting are also truthful in their gestures and facial expressions, moved by genuine grief, bowing their heads, wringing their hands, clutching their heads. Oil on canvas, double, transferred from a wooden panel to canvas in the 18th/19th century. 123 cm x 102 cm. Frame. General reference: Dirk De Vos: "Rogier van der Weyden. The Complete Works. Munich 1999, no. C5, pp. 403-04 (on the Mauritshuis painting). Provenance: Dissolution of an important German private collection - Part II. Follower of Rogier van der Weyden (1399/1400 - 1464), active probably second half 15th century or early 16 century. Oil on canvas, relined, transferred in 18th/19th from a panel.