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Jan Provoost
Netherlandish, c. 1465–1529
The Lamentation
c. 1490
Joseph of Arimathea supports Christ’s body as John the Evangelist wipes away a tear and places a consoling hand on the Virgin’s shoulder. Mary Magdalene clasps her hands in prayer. In the background, three crosses refer to Christ’s recent Crucifixion, and a man preparing a tomb alludes to his future entombment. The painting may originally have formed part of a polyptych, an arrangement of four or more panels, telling the story of Christ’s life. By including a Gothic church, Provoost set these scriptural events in the fifteenth century.

Image Caption

Jan Provoost, The Lamentation, c. 1490, oil on panel. Clark Art Institute, 1955.949
Medium
oil on panel
Dimensions
16 5/8 x 12 15/16 in. (42.3 x 32.9 cm)
Object Number
1955.949
Acquisition
Acquired by Sterling and Francine Clark before 1955
Status
On View

Select Bibliography

John Shapley.. "The Antwerp Exhibition of Old Flemish Art.". II.. Parnassus.. (Nov. 1920).. Max J. Friedländer.. Van Eyck bis Brugel.. Berlin: Verlegt bei Julius Bard.. 1921.. Martin Conway.. The Van Eycks and Their Followers.. London: J. Murray.. 1921.. Friedrich Winkler.. Die Altneiderländische Malerei: Die Malerei in Belgien und Holland von 1400-1600.. Berlin: Im Propylaen-Berlag.. 1924.. Baker, C. H. Collins. "Old Masters at Messrs. Agnew." The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 46, no. 267 (June 1925): 299305. London: Thomas Agnew and Sons.. Loan Exhibition of Old Masters.. 1925.. . Internationale Coloniale, Maritime et d'Art Flamand. Antwerp (Netherlands). June-Sept. 1930.. Max J. Friedländer.. Die Altniederländische Malerei.. Berlin: Paul Casirer.. 1930.. Paul Lambotte.. "The Belgian Centenary.". XII,. Apollo.. (July 1930).. Walter Cohen.. "Die Malerei auf die Ausstellung Altflämischer Kunst in Antwerpen.". VI.. Pantheon.. (Sept. 1930).. Max J. Friedländer.. Early Netherlandish Painting.. Leyden: A. M. Sithoff.. 1930. repr. 1967-1976.. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Exhibit Eight: 15th and 16th Century Paintings. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1957. C., R. F. "Williamstown: Nuove opere alla Galleria Clark." Emporium 129, no. 770 (February 1959): 76-81. Max J. Friedländer. Ed. by F. Grossmann; tr. by Marguerite Kay.. From Van Euck to Bruegel.. London, New York: Phaidon.. 1969.. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1970. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1972. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1984. Kern, Steven, ed. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1992. Liedtke, Walter, and Guy Ballman. Flemish Paintings in America: A Survey of Early Netherlandish and Flemish Paintings in the Public Collections of North America. Flandria Extra Muros. Antwerp: Mercator Fonds. 1992. Held, Julius S. "Old Masters in the Clark Collection, Part I: Paintings." The Magazine Antiques 62, no. 4 (October 1997): 504–9.