The Virgin and St John lamenting over the body of Christ

This work by Master of Delft, created around 1505, reflects the anonymous workshop traditions that produced much of Europe's devotional art during the High Renaissance period. Such panels served the liturgical and devotional needs of churches and private patrons across the continent. The tempera-on-panel medium required a carefully gessoed surface and was painted in fine, precise layers, yielding a luminous, jewel-like surface of great durability.

Oil on panel with the careful craftsmanship characteristic of established late fifteenth-century workshops. The work demonstrates competent handling of standard devotional or narrative subjects.