The Seven Sorrows of the Virgin is the earliest known altarpiece by Dürer. It was originally very large, about 2x3 m. The right half, representing the Seven Joys of the Virgin, is now missing and only the left part with sorrows survived. The central part depicts the grieving Virgin after the Crucifixion. Around the Virgin are seven smaller panels with detailed scenes from the life of the Christ (from top left): the Circumcision, the Flight into Egypt, the 12 year old Christ among the Doctors, the bearing of the Cross, the Nailing to the Cross, the Crucifixion and the Lamentation. The altarpiece was bought in mid-sixteenth century by the artist Lucas Cranach the Younger (1515-86), it was probably him who sawed the work into separate panels.
