The artist of this work is unknown to scholars, though he is thought to have been part of the circle of Albrecht Dürer. Stylistic similarities suggest that he also painted a pair of portraits, currently in Dresden, of Johann Neudorffer and his wife Magdalena. Christ as the Man of Sorrows does not depict any specific narrative, but instead is meant to be a visual representation of the eternal suffering of Christ. The theme was common in medieval German painting and was taken up in a drawing by Albrecht Dürer, of 1522. The interpretation seen here is particularly unusual for its portrayal of Christ offering his right breast to the viewer, a gesture that in a very general sense, conveys the idea of charity.