Triptych with the Lamentation of Christ, 1480
Hans Memling
Museum Sint-Janshospitaal,
Musea Brugge (Belgium)
O.SJ0177.I
The centre panel of this triptych shows the Lamentation on Mount Golgotha. Jesus has been taken down from the cross and Mary, weeping, kneels down beside him. Mary Magdalene looks on mournfully as John the Evangelist carefully removes the crown of thorns from Jesus’s head. In the background, Saint Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea prepare the tomb. On the left-hand panel, the patron Adriaan Reins kneels in prayer. The patron can be identified by the A.R. monogram on the frame. Moreover, he is accompanied by his name saint, Saint Adrian. He is identified by the implements he was tortured with: hammer, anvil and sword. At his feet sits a lion, symbolizing his courage. Saint Barbara, a hospital saint, is depicted on the right-hand panel. She is carrying her attribute, the tower, on her right hand and she is portrayed against a backdrop of trees. At the top of the frame of the centre panel is the year the work was created: 1480. On the outer panels, you see, on the left, Saint Wilgefortis and, on the right panel, Mary of Egypt.
Curious about the different layers in Memling's works?
Technical examination is used to study Hans Memling’s paintings. This is a method within art history that applies the latest scientific techniques to examine the various layers that make up a painting. KIK-IRPA used four modes of macro photography and infrared reflectography to research and document Hans Memling’s paintings.
DETAILS
| Title | Triptych with the Lamentation of Christ |
| Location | Museum Sint-Janshospitaal, Musea Brugge, Bruges (Belgium) |
| Category | Paintings |
| Subject | Religious |
| Inventory number | O.SJ0177.I |
| Inscriptions | Central panel: 1480 (top) |
| AR (bottom) |
| Creator | Hans Memling |
| Date | 1480 |
| Materials | Oil paint, oak |
| Technique | Oil paint on panel |
| Dimensions | Left wing, with (original) frame: height 54.0 x width 22.9 cm |
| Left wing, painted surface: height 45.2 x width 14.2 cm | |
| Central panel, with (original) frame: height 54.1 x width 45.7 cm | |
| Central panel, painted surface: height 44.0 x width 35.8 cm | |
| Right wing, with (original) frame: height 54.0 x width 22.9 cm | |
| Right wing, painted surface: height 45.2 x width 14.2 cm |
| Permalink | |
| IIIF manifest | https://dam.museabrugge.be/memling/manifests/manifest-16.json |
| Copyright | Musea Brugge is committed to making data available as usable open data. Images of artworks are not subject to copyright restrictions are published for this purpose under the Creative Commons Zero license. These may be freely used. |
The images were taken by the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK-IRPA, Brussels) on behalf of Musea Brugge.
The stitching of the images is thanks to VUB spinoff Universum Digitalis BV.