Mary Magdalene, Jan van Scorel, c. 1530 – (Jan Van Scorel) ◄ prijašnji Sljedeći ►

Umjetnik: Jan Van Scorel

Datum: 1530

Veličina: 66 x 76 cm

Tehnika: Oil On Panel

Long regarded one of the Rijksmuseum’s masterpieces, the Mary Magdalen shows the saint half-length, seated before a broad, luminous landscape. She sits on a narrow plateau which is defined on the right by a curving tree trunk with a broken stump near the base. The saint’s portrait-like appearance, which Scorel intensified by having the Magdalen glance out at the spectator, was a well-established convention by this time. The Magdalen holds her traditional attribute of an ointment jar, referring to biblical accounts where she wiped and anointed Christ’s feet (Luke 7:37; John 12:3). Her richly decorated garments, especially the colourful robe that may depict an actual mid-eastern fabric and the dark blue-violet dress with sleeves wrapped by crossed pearl-studded black ribbons, allude to the Magdalen’s worldly life of luxury. Striking features are her wavy, reddish-blonde hair and her transparent chemise of thin cambric. The Hebrew letters on her bodice were no doubt meant to evoke her origins in Magdala in the Holy Land, even though they have no apparent meaning.15 Details in the background relate to the Magdalen’s life as told in De Voragine’s Legenda aurea.16 The unusual rock formation in the left background can be identified as the Sainte-Baume, a mountain grotto in Provence, where it was believed the Magdalen lived as a hermit for the last 30 years of her life. Her ecstasy has been depicted just to the left of her cave as a group of tiny figures that are barely discernible near the base of the rock outcropping. According to the Magdalen’s legend, she was borne aloft by angels at the seven canonical hours, and as a result required no earthly sustenance. Lower in the landscape, Scorel has even included the figure of a hermit priest who, according to De Voragine, was allowed to witness this miracle.17 Scorel’s master, Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen, showed the Magdalen as a penitent in the background of his 1519 portrayal of the saint,18 but Scorel’s depiction of the Sainte-Baume with the minuscule figures of the Magdalen’s ecstasy is closer to that in the background of Lucas van Leyden’s 1519 engraving of the Dance of St Mary Magdalen.19 The form of Scorel’s mountain influenced Maarten van Heemskerck and was repeated in a drawing he executed around 1535.20 The provenance of the Rijksmuseum painting from the Knights of St John in Haarlem has led to the assumption that it was painted during Scorel’s stay in that city, and perhaps for a member of the order.21 Some speculate that Simon van Sanen, commander of the order from 1514 to 1542, was the patron, since it was known from Karel van Mander that Scorel executed several works for him which were still to be seen in the Commandery.22 Even though this commission cannot be confirmed, the image of the Magdalen would not have been out of place in the Haarlem cloister. Beyond the fact that the order itself had special veneration for this saint, it would have been the Magdalen’s penitent life, specifically chosen for the background narrative, which had direct correlation with the lives of St John’s brothers. In addition, the Magdalen had widespread appeal as a repentant sinner who had been redeemed by Christ.23 In this respect, the tree on the right may have a special meaning. Previous growth is rotten and dead, while the new branch flourishes as the sign of the Magdalen’s new life after her conversion.24 The original format of the Mary Magdalen without the added plank at the top is best reflected in an important copy of this work in Palermo (fig. a). Dendrochronology indicates that this copy was executed late in the 16th century during the period when the location of the original Magdalen was unknown.25 All the other known copies show the state of the Mary Magdalen after the strip was added.26 As demonstrated by technical investigation, the Palermo copy was taken directly from the surface of the Amsterdam painting.27 There is just a bit of sky above the Magdalen’s head; her coiffeur is somewhat tighter, and there is only one long branch behind her head on the right. As is typical of a copy, the Palermo painting shows absolutely no change in its execution, while change is evident everywhere in Scorel’s original. In the underdrawing of the Amsterdam painting (fig. b), the Magdalen’s lower hand and ointment jar were first seen frontally and were then changed in the paint surface so that they are now seen slightly from above, suggesting that the artist may have been working from sketches that he then had to adapt to the larger pictorial space of painting. The Magdalen originally had a slashed sleeve, and the folds in the cloth on her lap were in different positions.28 The fact that Scorel did not specify the ornamental details of the ointment jar or fabric in the underdrawing indicates that he must have sought out specific models for these items during the painting stage and underscores his intention to enhance the Magdalen’s elegant appearance. He also changed the Magdal../..