Mary Magdalene

Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen depicted Mary Magdalene around 1519, one of many devotional half-lengths produced by his busy Amsterdam workshop. The Magdalene was an enduringly popular subject in Netherlandish art, and Jacob Cornelisz's versions typically combined decorative richness with the contemplative mood appropriate to the repentant saint. The oil medium allowed for rich tonal transitions and glazed layers of color that created luminous depth impossible with the older tempera technique. Such devotional panels served both liturgical contexts in churches and chapels and private devotional use in the homes of wealthy families who maintained personal altars and oratories.

The panel displays Jacob Cornelisz's characteristic warm palette and detailed surface treatment, with the ornamental richness and flowing hair that typically distinguish his Magdalene compositions.