Northern Netherlandish School, circa 1540

Oscar and Maria Salzer, Los Angeles;
By whom given to the Fresno Metropolitan Museum of Art and Science, 1983 (acc. no. L84.14).

Panels are uncradled. there is a vertical panel join which runs from top to bottom in center of central panel. this is visible to naked eye and old, discolored repaint can be seen along join, most noticeable on the back and thigh of the figure at lower center. the paint surface on lower half of composition is well retained; areas of thinness in upper portion in saints and figure of Christ. some areas of underdrawing can be seen on some of the figures at lower left side. under ultraviolet, retouches are scattered throughout the sky and clouds, along join and small ones scattered on body of Christ and saints. the figures at lower portion of composition look good with just a few retouches here and there, including the areas mentioned above along join. right wing: paint surface is well retained aside from some thinness in the dark costume of the kneeling donor; ultraviolet light reveals a few small retouches to sky. left wing: as in other wing, there is some thinness in the dark costume of donor; under uv, there is an area of retouching to jaw of donor and one or two tiny retouches on figures of Adam and Eve. In plain brown original framing element.
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The triptych shows Christ in judgment in the central panel, flanked by the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist.  Below and extending into the side panels are the saved, who make their way to paradise and the damned, who are being dragged off to hell by demons.  Also in the side panels are the kneeling donors, accompanied by St. James at the left and what appears to be the Virgin Mary holding the Christ Child at the right. 

The present work was formerly attributed to Aertgen Claesz. van Leyden (Leiden circa 1498 - circa 1564), who painted two known versions of the Last Judgment, one in Valenciennes, Musée des Beaux-Arts and another formerly in the New York Historical Society, (sale Sotheby's, New York, 12 January 1995, lot 9, as attributed to Aert Claesz. van Leyden) and recently acquired by the Lakenhal Museum.  Although Aertgen's oeuvre shows great variety and is in the process of being reevaluated, the composition and figure types in this Last Judgment seem distinctly different.  This triptych can be more closely associated with the works of Jan van Scorel and his circle and probably dates from around 1540.