The Virgin Mary Mourning

The Meister der Stalburg-Bildnisse painted this Virgin Mary Mourning around 1504. Beyond portraiture, this anonymous Frankfurt painter also produced devotional works. The mourning Virgin as an isolated figure served as a powerful devotional image for meditation on the Passion. 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 careful rendering of the Virgin's grief-stricken expression and subdued coloring. The emotional restraint reflects the devotional function of the isolated mourning figure.