Title

The Lamentation. Altarpiece dedicated to the life of Christ

Budapest Master [attributed to] [circle of] (Active in Burgos between 1475-1495)

Generic classification

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Object history

This panel was part of an altarpiece dedicated to the life of Christ that no longer exists. According to Gaya Nuño (1958) the panels that made up the set were: the Annunciationfrom the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Arrest, the Crucifixion, the Pietà, Saint Augustine and Saint Martinfrom the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest and the triptych by Heinemann. However, Haraszti-Takács (1972) rejects this hypothesis and considers that only the five panels preserved in the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest belong to the altarpiece. Although there are doubts about the authorship of some panels, since Post (1933) considered that they belonged to the circle of Fernando Gallego, the most accepted hypothesis is that of Silva Maroto (1990), who attributed the Pietà to a collaborator of the Master of Budapest: "The variations he uses for the figures and aspects such as the different way of executing the landscape point to this". We do not know where the altarpiece came from, nor the circumstances under which it disappeared from its original location, but it must have been in present-day Castilla y León.

Most of the Spanish painting collection kept in the museum comes from the private collection of the Esterházy family. Nicolás Esterházy bought between 1818-1820 numerous works of art from the Danish diplomat Edmond Burke, who lived in Madrid for a period of time. Subsequently, Joseph Fischer, who was appointed by Esterházy as director of his collection of paintings and prints, acquired numerous Spanish paintings from the Kaunitz collection in Vienna and the Casa Artaria in Vienna.

According to Haraszti-Takács (1972) this set was acquired in 1910 by the museum, however, Silva Maroto (1990) provides more details. He argues that the panels belonged to Marczell de Nemes, a Hungarian magnate and collector who traveled through Spain with the aim of acquiring new pieces. Due to economic problems, De Nemes was forced to sell part of his collection in 1912. Thus, this set was sold in 1912 in Paris -in 1913 he offered more paintings for sale at theGalerie Manziin Paris and in 1926 at the Hôtel Drouot- and the panels were acquired at that time by the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest, where they remain today.

Description

In the scene five figures can be seen in the lower part at the foot of the cross: St. John holding the head of Christ and removing the crown of thorns; one of the Marys with a jar of ointment in her hand; the Virgin holding in her arms the inert body of Christ and the Magdalene at the other end sobbing. Christ appears diagonally placed in the composition with a part of the body resting on the ground and the other half supported by the Virgin and St. John, something that according to Silva Maroto (1990) is reminiscent of the works of Rogier van der Weyden.

Locations

• XV^th c.

  region

  Possible origin from Castile and Leon, Castilla y León (Spain)

• Early XX^th c. - ca. 1912

  private collection

  Marczell de Nemes, Budapest (Hungary) *

• ca. 1913 - present

  museum

  Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, Budapest (Hungary)