Man of Sorrows (Geertgen tot Sint Jans)

Man of Sorrows is a small Early Netherlandish oil on wood panel painting completed c. 1485–1495. It is attributed to Geertgen tot Sint Jans and in the tradition of the devotional images of the "Man of Sorrows", which typically show Christ before his crucifixion, naked above the waist, bearing the wounds of his Passion. The panel has an unusually complex and suffocating spatial design, and depicts the mocking of Jesus, and his grieving mother. The panel is steeped in both complex iconography and deep pathos. Christ is in obvious pain and holds his wounds up for the viewer. He looks out while white robed weeping angels bear the Arma Christi -objects associated with his crucifixion and death- float around him. The attending saints include Mary and the Magdalene.

Man of Sorrows has been described as "one of the most moving ... in Early Netherlandish art", and is usually considered a highly emotive and sorrowful work, especially in its description of Christ's pitiful, almost defeated expression and blood-run face. Nothing is known about the lost right hand panel; it may have contained another religious scene or a donor portrait. It is housed in the Museum Catharijneconvent, Utrecht.