The Magdalen
Artist: Workshop of the Master of 1518 (not listed, Active early 16th century)
Original Dimensions: 20 3/4" x 13 3/4"
Location: National Gallery of Art, London
About Artwork: (Before 1524-6) "Saint Mary Magdalene stands behind a stone ledge and holds her attribute – the pot of oil with which she anointed Christ’s feet. Behind her, a window opens onto a landscape; the cliffs and buildings on the left are a fairly accurate view of La Sainte-Baume, east of Marseille, where, according to legend, Mary Magdalene spent the last years of her life. The composition is based on Quinten Massys‘ Saint Mary Magdalene (Louvre, Paris). The Master of 1518 seems to have made an effort to suggest that the saint lived in an exotic past: her clothes are extravagantly rich and present a strange assortment of elements of historic, German, Italian, oriental and fancy dress. Her hairstyle is reminiscent of Venus’ in Botticelli’s Venus and Mars; the artist may have seen a print of it by one of Botticelli’s Florentine contemporaries." - (National Gallery of Art, London)

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