Bronze plaquette depicting the Lamentation over the dead Christ. The body of Christ lies on the ground, the head and shoulders supported on the knees of the Virgin; St. Mary Magdalene kneels at his feet and St. John stands behind lamenting. There is a rocky background, showing the door of the sepulchre and the foot of the Cross. The plaquette has a laurel wreath border. The style of this plaquette shows Italian influence which was prevalent in the North around 1600.

Plaquettes are small plaques or reliefs made of bronze, brass, lead or precious metals. They originated in the 1440ies with the desire to reproduce coins and hardstone engravings from ancient Greece and Rome. Some were made as collector's pieces, to be viewed and displayed in private, and others for practical purposes. They also inspired designs in other media, from architecture to book-bindings.
Whilst religious plaquettes had both public and private functions, and mounted religious plaquettes, known as paxes, were held up during mass for the kiss of peace, those with a secular subject matter were usually for private, personal use. They were used as pendants, desk ornaments, and applied to functional objects such as pounce-pots. They were also valued as fine miniature works of art.