The Descent from the Cross was painted for the Chapel of Our Lady Outside the Walls at Leuven, which was founded in the fourteenth century by the Great Crossbowmen`s Guild, sold in 1798 and demolished [+]
The panel has been trimmed on all four sides but little of the painted surface can have been lost. It is made from two boards of Baltic oak, both from the same tree; the last ring was formed in 1372. [+]
The panel has been extended at the top: the original part is one board of Baltic oak, horizontal in grain and about 27 cm high. Sections of the unpainted edges survive on all four sides. The last ring [+]
The composition is inspired by Rogier van der Weyden`s models. The figure of Christ is based in reverse of the Crucifixion in Vienna (Kunsthistorisches Museum) and the Mary Magdalene is quoted from th [+]