German, Erfurt, last quarter 15th century

Christie's, Amsterdam, 19 December 2007, lot 671;

Where acquired.

This large and moving relief with the Lamentation relates to a group of similar reliefs made in the central German city of Erfurt, Thuringia, in the closing decades of the 15th century. Intended for altarpieces adorning churches in the local area and beyond, these reliefs have traditionally been ascribed to the anonymous 'Master of the Lamentation of Christ'. Like the present relief, many of these works incorporate an architectural landscape populated by small figures above the central scene of mourners over the body of Christ. Depicting the Virgin, Saint John and Mary Magdalene surrounding the dead Christ, the present relief shows close stylistic and compositional parallels with two Lamentation reliefs in the Diocesan Museum, Fulda (op. cit., figs. 2 and 4), as well as one in the Staatliche Museen, Berlin (ibid., fig. 8) and a fourth formerly on the art market in Aachen (ibid., fig. 9). All of these are considered to have been carved in Erfurt in the last quarter of the 15th century.

RELATED LITERATURE

F. M. Kammel, 'Erfurter Passionsbildwerke des Spätmittelalters: eine Neuerwerbung im Fuldaer Diözesanmuseum', in Alte und neue Kunst, vol. 43, 2006, pp. 94-104