Over the course of the 150 years or more that this painting was in the Lyversberg collection in Cologne, this Lamentation was variously attributed to Jan van Scorel (1495–1562), Quentin Massys (1492–1562), Jan Massys (1509–1575), and finally to an anonymous follower of Quentin’s known as the Master of the Mansi Magdalena. Fewer than two dozen paintings have now been attributed to the hand of this unidentified artist, whose sobriquet derives from a painting depicting Mary Magdalene that was formerly in the collection of Giovanni Battista Mansi of Lucca and is today in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin.
The tightly confined space of the Simon panel emphasizes the grief shared by the Virgin and her attendants, who respond to the broken body of Christ with a variety of expressions. The stoic figure of Nicodemus appears in profile on the left, cradling a container of salve. Next to him Joseph of Arimathea, portrayed with wide, reddened eyes, supports the shoulders of the dead Christ as he looks out toward the viewer with an expression of restrained sadness. Behind the Magdalene and Virgin Mary, who quietly cast their eyes down toward the body of Christ as tears run down their cheeks, another woman holds her hand to her face as she weeps. His head tilted back as if to fit within the panel, John the Evangelist stands behind the Virgin, gently supporting her left arm; his furrowed brow, strained expression, and the tears from his reddened eyes reveal his anguish. Ultimately, the individualistic, almost caricature-like faces and the emotional impact of the figures reveal the Master of the Mansi Magdalena’s indebtedness to Quentin Massys.
Details
- Artist Name: Master of the Mansi-Magdalena (Dutch, active c.1510-25)
- Title: The Lamentation of Christ
- Date: 1505-1530
- Medium: Oil on panel
- Dimensions: panel: 21-1/4 x 25-1/2 in. (54.0 x 64.8 cm); painted surface: 20-3/4 x 24-3/4 in. (52.7 x 62.9 cm)
- Credit Line: The Norton Simon Foundation
- Accession Number: F.1972.43.2.P
- Copyright: © The Norton Simon Foundation
Object Information
Jakob Johann Nepomuk Lyversberg (1761-1834), by descent to his daughter;
Maria Eva von Geyr (nee Lyversberg), by 1840, by descent to;
Haan family, ca. 1900, by descent to;
Frau Dr. Christine Virnich (nee Haan), Bonn, (sale, Cologne, Lempertz, 26 May 1971, lot 11, ill., as Beweinung Christi).
[G. Cramer, The Hague, sold 1972 to];
The Norton Simon Foundation
Kunsthistorische Ausstellung
- Dusseldorf, 1904 to 1904
Albert Dürer aux Pays-Bas, son voyage (1520-1521), son influence
- Palais des Beaux-Arts, 1977-10-01 to 1977-11-27
Lust und Verlust: Kölner Sammler zwischen Trikolore und Preussenadler
- Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, 1995-10-28 to 1996-01-28
Albrecht Durer's Journey through the Netherlands (1520-21)
- Palais des beaux-arts (Brussels, Belgium), 1977-10-01 to 1977-11-27
Joy and Loss - Cologne Collectors between Tricolour and Prussian Eagle
- Josef-Haubrich Kunsthalle, Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne, Germany, 1995-10-24 to 1996-02-11
- Catalogue of the Collection of Paintings of the late J. Lyversberg Esq. at Cologn, 1837,
- Clemen, Paul, Die Kunstdenkmäler der Rheinprovinz im Auftrage des Provinzialverbandes, vol. IV, III: Die Kunstdenkmäler der Stadt und des Kreises Bonn, 1905, p. 224
- Friedländer, Max J., Jahrbuch der königlich preussischen Kunstsammlungen, 1915, pp. 8, 10
- Förster, Otto Helmut, Kölner kunstsammler vom Mittelalter bis zum Ende des bürgerlichen Zeitalters, ein Beitrag zu den grundfragen der neueren Kunstgeschichte, 1931, pp. 90-91
- Held, Julius, Dürers Wirkung auf die niederländische Kunst seiner Zeit, 1931, p. 69
- Friedländer, Max J., Early Netherlandish Painting, Quentin Massys, 1971, p. 19
- Wolfthal, Diane, The Beginnings of Netherlandish Canvas Painting: 1400-1530, 1989, pp. 21, 74
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. 860 p. 345
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