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In this Lamentation, Christ lies on the ground on a shroud, surrounded by only three figures: the Virgin, St John, and Mary Magdalen. The Lamentation became a popular theme in Northern art in the fourteenth century. It gave prominence to the Virgin, who often holds the body of her son. By the sixteenth century there were many different compositions relating to the Christ figure, the number of accompanying figures, and the setting. In this painting the composition is minimal and sober, it verges on the classical and almost sculptural. The prototype for the painting could be Gerard David's versions of the Lamentation in the Philadelphia Museum of Art or in the National Gallery, London.
Several other versions of the Lamentation by Benson and contemporaries are related to the present painting. It is clear that these paintings can be traced back to several examples by Gerard David, showing that Benson and his generation continued with the themes of their predecessors, altering very little in the composition and style of the familiar Bruges paintings of the fifteenth century.
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