Panel with the Lamentation

Art Historical Context

This oak panel from early 16th-century France the Lamentation, a poignant moment in Christian tradition when Christ’s followers mourn his body after the Crucifixion. Created as architectural woodwork, likely part of an altarpiece, choir screen, or chapel furnishing, the carving would have once adorned a sacred space within a church or monastery. The Cloisters Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art acquired the piece in 1950, preserving a fragment of late medieval devotional art as Northern Europe transitioned toward Renaissance influences. Oak, valued for its durability and fine grain, ...