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Figures from a Deposition
In this group from a carved altarpiece (Walters 61.148), Mary swoons in a visual echo of the dead body of Christ - her suffering paralleling his suffering. The figures loosely derived from the great painter Rogier van der Weyden's famous altarpiece of the Deposition, of around 1442 for the Church of Our Lady Outside the Walls in Louvain (in present day Belgium). This piece was carved at the same time as its companion piece focused on the dead body of Christ (Walters 61.148).
Van der Weyden set out to imitate the three-dimensional modeling and shallow box-like space of contemporary sculpted wooden altarpieces. The sculptural quality of his painted masterpiece made it in turn an especially effective model for sculptors.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
Arnold Seligmann, Rey and Co., New York; Henry Walters, Baltimore, December 1919, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
| 1980 | Salute to Belgium. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
| 1979 | Rogier van der Weyden. Musée Communal de Bruxelles, Brussels. |
Conservation
| Date | Description | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| 2/7/1969 | Treatment | other |
| 1/1/1979 | Examination | examined for condition |
| 3/1/1979 | Treatment | stabilized; cleaned |
| 8/10/1979 | Loan Consideration | other |
| 12/17/1979 | Examination | examined for condition; examined for loan |
Geographies
Belgium, Brussels (Place of Origin)
Measurements
12 13/16 x 15 9/16 x 4 1/2 in. (32.5 x 39.5 x 11.5 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters, 1919
Location in Museum
Centre Street: Third Floor: 15th-Century Art of Northern Europe
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
61.147
