Schlosser, from Germany, sells on 27 March 2020 as Lot 3 an "Early Netherlandish Master, 2nd half of the 16th century" Lamentation, estimated at 4,500 Euro.
This composition exists in many versions, but there doesn't seem to be an actual original. It does hark back to a Joos van Cleve composition now in the
Städel in Frankfurt, as the RKD notes, but some intermediate step is missing to explain how all these poorer copies made the exact same changes (e.g. in the position of the head of the Virgin).
Most copies are somewhat closer to the Cleve in the figure of the Magdalen on the right: in the work for sale, this has been modernized somewhat, and perhaps this version must be dated closer to 1600 than the others.
The two anonymous versions from the RKD show how much closer these are to the one for sale than to the Cleve. The
first one was sold at Sotheby's in 2010, the
second one was with art dealer Van der Lubbe in The Hague in 1941
Another version was for sale with
Promenade Antiques, as "circle of Van Cleve, ca. 1530". All these versions have a "table" or similar in front of the Christ, with elements of the Passion; the one or sale has lost this aspect.
A very nice version was sold at
Sotheby's in 2012 for $8,750 Euro, good value for money there. it is very close to the two RKD examples, but better executed.
The one for sale will probably struggle to meet expectations, as it is not the best copy, and slightly later than hoped for.
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