Maria als Schmerzensmutter (Rückseite: Johannes Ev.)

Sebald Bopp's Maria als Schmerzensmutter — the Mater Dolorosa or Sorrowful Mother — with its reverse showing the Evangelist John represents a devotional diptych or altarpiece panel type in which Mary's grief at the Passion is the primary devotional focus. The Mater Dolorosa image, showing Mary alone with her grief, sometimes with sword piercing her breast in reference to Simeon's prophecy, invited the viewer into empathetic compassion — a cornerstone of late medieval devotional theology. Paired with John, Christ's beloved disciple who stood at the Cross, the panel creates a complementary pair of Passion witnesses.

Mary appears in three-quarter bust view, her expression conveying inward grief with the Flemish tradition's characteristic restraint. Bopp models her face with warm flesh tones against a dark or blue robe. The reverse John is painted in matching format, the two figures forming a devotional unit across the physical panel.