MASTER of Female Half-lengths
(active 1530-1540 in Antwerp)

Mary Magdalene Holding the Unguent Jar

1530s
Oil on oak panel, 29 x 23 cm
Private collection

The artist derives his name from the series of works depicting half-length female figures behind a writing desk, reading, or playing a musical instrument, that he painted in Antwerp, though inspired by the art of Bruges. Here the figure holds, as if to open, an unguent jar that identifies her as Mary Magdalene. Few of the Master's half-length females, if any, are as richly ornamented as this.