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Master of Delft, 'The Deposition: Right Hand Panel', about 1510

About the work

Overview

This panel, which shows Christ’s body being taken down from the Cross, is the right wing of a triptych (a painting in three parts) made for a convent near Delft in around 1510. The other panels, which are also in the National Gallery’s collection, show Christ being led out after his trial and the Crucifixion.

In the background three men gently support Christ’s body. Mary Magdalene, in the same red dress and white headdress as in the central panel, is helping them. In the foreground the Virgin and Saint John are surrounded by grieving women, as they are in the Crucifixion scene; if these are the same four women, they are wearing different clothes here.

On the back of the panel, Saints Peter and Mary Magdalene are painted to look like stone statues in a shared niche. They would have been visible when the shutters were closed.

Key facts

Details

Full title
The Deposition: Right Hand Panel
Artist dates
active early 16th century
Date made
about 1510
Medium and support
oil on wood
Dimensions
102 × 49.4 cm
Acquisition credit
Presented by Earl Brownlow, 1913
Inventory number
NG2922.3
Location
Not on display
Collection
Main Collection
Frame
20th-century Replica Frame

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

Images

About the group: Triptych: Scenes from the Passion of Christ

Overview

The story of the Passion (Christ’s torture and crucifixion) unfolds across three crowded panels. On the left, Christ is led out from his trial; in the centre he has been crucified; to the right, his dead body is taken down from the Cross.

The sacred events seem to be taking place near the city of Delft: we can see the tower of its New Church in the background of the centre panel. The triptych (a painting made of three parts) was probably made for the convent of Koningsveld, just outside Delft. The man wearing a white habit and kneeling at the front of the centre panel is likely to be Herman van Rossum, provost of Koningsveld, who may have commissioned the triptych for the high altar in around 1510.

Works in the group

This painting is so crowded it takes a while to understand everything that is happening, but the nuns for whom it was probably made must have had plenty of time to examine the details. It is the central panel of a triptych (a painting made up of three parts) painted around 1510, probably for the...
Not on display
This is the left wing of a triptych (a painting in three parts) made for a convent near Delft in around 1510. The other panels, showing various episodes of the Crucifixion, are also in the National Gallery’s collection.Here we see Christ, his hands bound and the crown of thorns on his head, being...
Not on display
This panel, which shows Christ’s body being taken down from the Cross, is the right wing of a triptych (a painting in three parts) made for a convent near Delft in around 1510. The other panels, which are also in the National Gallery’s collection, show Christ being led out after his trial and the...
Not on display