Artist: Cornelis Cornelisz Ii Buys
Date: 1545
Size: 47 x 39 cm
Technique: Oil On Panel
The centre panel of this triptych depicts The Lamentation of Christ. The composition is a reduced and slightly simplified version of SK-A-4219 or fig. f, which is attributed to Cornelis Buys II. The proportions of the figures have changed, Joseph of Arimathaea is turning Christ’s head towards the Virgin, and the standing and kneeling Marys behind Mary Magdalen have changed places. Mount Calvary behind the figure group has been replaced by an empty cross and a ladder. The cloudy sky and the rather minimalist landscape behind the figures extend onto the wings. On the left wing is a kneeling monk accompanied by St Benedict holding a crosier adorned with a small pennant. In the past it was thought that this figure was probably St Francis,3 which is unlikely, given the crosier and the absence of a stigmata. On the right panel is a nun in a brown habit and the crowned St Elizabeth of Thuringia with her usual attributes of a double crown in her hand and a beggar at her feet.4 Unfortunately it is not possible to identify the monk and the nun or to tie them to specific monastic institutions. The outer wings were left unpainted. The small size of the triptych suggests that it was used for private devotion. As noted, the centre panel is a simplification of an existing composition. The linear underdrawing, which was followed faithfully in the painted surface, appears to have been done freehand from a model. Taking the difference in size into account, the nature of the underdrawing differs little from that of the larger version of The Lamentation SK-A-4219. Although it is conceivable that the wings were added to the centre panel later, the mouldings of the frames resemble each other very closely. The painting of the wings could have been later than that of the centre panel, but one argument against that is the background landscape, which is in the same style on all three panels. The cursory underdrawing on the wings is comparable to that on the centre panel, but the way in which the donors and their patron saints were painted is more refined and old-fashioned, and is more closely related to the work of Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen. Only the broadly painted landscape extending across the panels, the style of which is reminiscent of Jan van Scorel, appears to be by one hand. The figures on the wings were probably painted by an artist other than the one responsible for the centre panel and the landscape. Dendrochronology suggests a late date for the wings: the beginning of the 1540s at the earliest. This rules out the possibility that the young Jan van Scorel painted the figures in Jacob Cornelisz’s workshop, as suggested by Kloek.5 In view of the broad similarities to SK-A-4219 and the resemblance of the underdrawings, it seems likely that the triptych was made in the workshop of Cornelis Buys II, which is why we have retained that attribution. (Jan Piet Filedt Kok)
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