This painting and 'The Crucifixion' were painted by the same anonymous artist who painted a 'Christ and the Virgin attended by seventeen Dominican Blessed and Friars' in the sacristy of Santa Maria Novella, Florence. Originally the panels served as the shutters of a small altarpiece, probably with a 'Virgin and Child' in the centre and the 'Angel' and 'Virgin of the Annunciation' above each side panel. The Virgin, St John the Evangelist and Mary Magdalen, who appear in 'The Crucifixion' appear lamenting over the body of Christ, together with other mourners mentioned in the Gospels. The figures without halos may be included in the scene to represent humanity in general with whom the viewer, meditating on the Lamentation, could identify. Above the cross, the scene of the pelican feeding its young with its own blood is a traditional symbol of the Crucifixion.