Mary as Mater Dolorosa (Mother of Sorrows) (SA 20)

Inspiration for this work by Baron Jean-Baptiste Bethune (1821-1894), the Pugin of Belgium, was Northern Renaissance religious painting, specifically paintings by Netherlandish painters, the so-called Flemish Primitives. At least three very similar archetypical versions in oil on wood panels exist. Bethune probably knew the diptych attributed to the workshop of Simon Marmion now in the Groeninge Museum, Bruges, Belgium (Inventory No. 0000.GRO0201.I). But, for convenience, see Product ID: 228447176644645403 on Zazzle for a version attributed to Rogier van der Weyden from a Private Collection. Note the similarity of the pose, the veiling, and, above all, the expressive gesturing of the hands. The chief compositional difference lies in Bethune's addition of the sword of sorrow recalling Simeon’s prophecy at the Presentation of the Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:35).