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.
| 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 |
Image Caption
Jan Provoost, The Lamentation, c. 1490, oil on panel. Clark Art Institute, 1955.949
Select Bibliography
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C., R. F. "Williamstown: Nuove opere alla Galleria Clark." Emporium 129, no. 770 (February 1959): 76-81.
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.
Max J. Friedländer.. Early Netherlandish Painting.. Leyden: A. M. Sithoff.. 1930. repr. 1967-1976..
