The work was described initially at TEFAF as possibly the work of Adriaen Isenbrandt or one of his associates, which is possible given Isenbrandt’s likely association with David. On inspection, Till-Holder Borchert was of the view that it was better described as within David’s own workshop. Dr. Jochen Sander, however, further confirmed the work as an autograph painting of David’s. With reference to his extensive article, Ein unbekanntes Werk Gerard Davids: Die Beweinung Christi in Halbfigur, he notes that it is “of course dependent on an earlier full-length composition of this scene but highly characteristic for the artist´s production of such small-scale variants for individual devotional practices.” In that regard, see the similarities of imagery in David’s Lamentation at the National Gallery in London, on which this work was undoubtedly modeled. It is thus of such a diminutive scale that it was almost certainly painted to function as a private devotional object, to be held in the hands, kissed or touched, and contemplated at close range rather than set up for far-sighted viewing by a large congregation.
