CIRCLE OF QUENTIN MASSYS (17TH CENTURY)LamentationOil on canvas, 98 x 68cmThe original composition of this subject by Quentin Massys, now lost, is documented by the numerous copies, of varying size and quality, that exist today. Of all the known examples, the present painting appears to be both the most complete in terms of composition, and also the finest in quality. It was almost certainly produced by a highly accomplished Antwerp school artist, working directly from the Massys original, and as such is, at the very least, an important document of that lost work.Quentin Massys (1466-1530) was a Flemish painter in the Early Netherlandish tradition, and a founder of the Antwerp school of painting.