The Magdalen in a Landscape

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

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Mary Magdalene, wearing a red mantle over a startlingly see-through dress, kneels in prayer in a landscape. A splendid manuscript, presumably a Book of Hours, rests on a large, conveniently shaped rock in front of her. Although she is gazing inwards, her eyes unfocused, the object of her prayer appears before her: an angel holds a large wooden Crucifix from which hangs the dead Christ.

She appears again in the middle ground, reclining in front of a grotto. Mary Magdalene was one of Christ’s followers who, according to legend, ended her life in Provence. She lived for 30 years at La Sainte-Baume, east of Marseille (baoumo is a Provençal word for cave) – a popular pilgrimage site in the Renaissance. Her pose copies that of a statue displayed at La Sainte-Baume, images of which must have been available in Bruges, where this small panel was probably made.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

The Magdalen in a Landscape

Date

perhaps about 1510-25

Medium

Oil on oak

Measurements

H 40 x W 31.1 cm

Accession number

NG2585

Acquisition method

Salting Bequest, 1910

Work type

Painting

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The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

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