The Lamentation of Christ
The original, as its museum records it
Every line above is reproduced from the holding institution’s own catalogue entry, which is linked. Where their title, date or attribution differs from ours, theirs is the one printed here.
The file this print is made from
Sizes
About this painting
Van der Goes's original is lost, among his most copied compositions. Half-length figures fill the panel edge to edge, leaving grief nowhere to go, a closeness the museum reads as drama.
Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus carry the body, the only two the Gospel lets touch it, one bringing myrrh and aloes for a burial this panel never reaches: John's garden and new sepulchre stay outside the frame.
He broke down at the Rood Klooster and died in 1482. His mind survives in a fellow monk's account; this picture, in another man's hand.
Sources: Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, inv. 1951-M, object record · MSK Gent, 'The Lamentation of Christ', collection page · Vlaamse Kunstcollectie, De Vlaamse Primitieven, 'De bewening van Christus', inv. 1951-M · Vlaamse Kunstcollectie, Flemish Primitives, biography of Hugo van der Goes · The National Gallery, London, artist record: Hugo van der Goes · Douglas Brine (Trinity University, San Antonio), review of 'Hugo van der Goes: Between Pain and Bliss', Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, 31 March - 16 July 2023, Historians of Netherlandish Art Reviews · John 19:38-41, Douay-Rheims
Printed on demand. Public-domain masterwork, reproduced from a 6,757 px master of the original. The whole image is printed — never cropped to fit the sheet — so every sheet carries an archival margin, and the dimensions and resolution listed above are the ones you receive.