The work is part of a diptych painted by Adriaan Isenbrandt, a pupil of Gerard David. The second part is in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Brussels. The iconographic treatment clearly goes back to the Flemish Primitives. The architectural decor with the stylized acanthus leaves, the claws in the volutes, the striking columns, however, is innovative. In a niche, Maria is the Mother of Sorrows dressed in a wide open spread dark blue cloak. A sharp white headscarf surrounds the pale sad face. Voting landscapes give color to the seven scenes. From the bottom left we see: the mission of Jesus in the temple the flight to Egypt the recovery in the temple the carrying of the cross the crucifixion the descent of the grave.
Flemish art and heritage collections, in great detail