Mater Dolorosa (Sorrowing Virgin)
Workshop of Dieric Bouts (Netherlandish, 1415–1475)
c. 1490
View the original$24
Type
Size · in
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Materials & printing
Archival matte paper, 189 g/m² (10.3 mil), sourced from Japan, printed with multicolor water-based inkjet so every brushstroke stays crisp. Framed prints arrive ready to hang in a .75″ ayous-wood frame with an acrylite front. Sized to standard frames by cropping, never stretching — at most about 3% comes off one edge, which isn’t noticeable on most pieces, and we only offer a size when it stays that small.
Shipping & returns
Made to order and delivered in 5–8 business days (2–4 to print, 3–4 in transit). US shipping only for now. Because each print is made for your order, all sales are final — but if it arrives damaged or defective, send us a photo within 14 days and we’ll replace it free. Full policy.
Why is it this affordable?
A thin, flat margin on every piece — just enough to keep the store running. Most of what you pay is the print itself. We only sell sizes that reproduce at full quality, and we don’t mark up the large sizes the way most shops do.
About this work
This grieving Madonna likely originally faced another panel depicting a similarly sorrowful Christ crowned with thorns. Portable devotional diptychs such as these were extremely popular in Northern Europe, and workshops like that of artist Dieric Bouts had a system for meeting this demand. A master artist’s design book, a closely guarded tool of the workshop, contained drawings that could be transferred by assistants directly onto the surface of a panel. The assistants could use the same drawing multiple times, as they did for this panel and others of the same subject, allowing for efficient production while maintaining the quality of the master’s design.
- Medium
- Oil on panel
- Original size
- 38.7 × 30.3 cm (15 1/4 × 11 7/8 in.)
Museum record · 1 owner · 9 exhibitions
Provenance
- Williams, Paris, possibly by 1871 until 1889; sold to Joseph Spiridon, Paris, 1889; sold, Cassirer and Helbing, Berlin, May 31, 1929, as workshop of Dieric Bouts, to Baron Joseph van der Elst (d. 1971), Brussels and numerous diplomatic posts; by descent to his son, François van der Elst; on loan to the Cleveland Museum of Art, June 1978–Oct. 1980; sold to the Art Institute through Richard Collins as agent, 1986.
Exhibitions
- Vienna, Vereinigung bildender Künstler Wiener Secession, Drei Jahrhunderte vlämische Kunst, 1400–1700, 1930.
- Antwerp, Exposition d’art flamand ancien, 1930.
- Brussels, Exposition universelle et internationale, Cinq siècles d’art bruxellois, 1935.
- Paris, Musée de l’Orangerie, De Van Eyck à Bruegel, 1935.
- New York, Knoedler, Flemish Primitives: An Exhibition Organized by the Belgian Government, 1942.
- Antwerp, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, De Madonna in de Kunst, 1954.
- Brussels, Palais des Beaux-Arts, and Delft, Museum Prinsenhof, Dieric Bouts, 1957–58.
- Art Institute of Chicago, Recent Acquisitions from the Photography Collection, 1988–89 (no cat.).
- Art Institute of Chicago, Spiritual Expressions: Art for Private Contemplation and Public Celebration, November 22, 1995–March 17, 1996 (no cat.).
