Galerie Pardo, Paris, vers 1957 ;

Collection de Madame Tillitse ;

Vente anonyme ; Londres, Sotheby's, 6 avril 1977, n° 111 ;

Galerie De Jonckheere, Paris ;

Acquis auprès de cette dernière par les parents des actuels propriétaires en 2004 ;

Collection particulière, France

Burlington Magazine, mars 1957, p. VIII

The name of Master of the Magdalene Legend was coined by Max J. Friedländer from the polyptych, now dispersed, that was dedicated to the life of Mary Magdalene. One of the panels, Saint Mary Magdalene Preaching, is in the Philadelphia Museum, while another work, Mary Magdalene Before Her Conversion, was in the collections of the Kaiser-Friedrich Museum in Berlin before being destroyed during the Second World War. The body of work of this anonymous painter was enriched by other works given to him on stylistic grounds. Jeanne Maquet-Tombu attempted to reconstruct the polyptych by adding four other works: Noli me tangere and Louis X de France with Donors and Saint Margaret of Antioch (Staatlisches Museum, Schwerin), The Feast in the House of Simon the Pharisee (Szépművészeti Múzeum, Budapest) and The Raising of Lazarus (Copenhagen, Staatens Museum for Kunst). Other works he was given include the Annunciation (Musée Oldmasters Museum, Brussels), the Rest during the Flight into Egypt (Melbourne, National Gallery of Victoria), The Holy Family (Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp) and The Virgin of the Annunciation (Westfälisches Landesmuseum, Munster) (1). Most likely active in Brussels, the Master of the Legend of Saint Magdalene probably produced his works between 1483 and 1527. He drew much of his inspiration from the works of his illustrious Brussels predecessor Rogier van der Weyden, as well as from the more recent works of Bernard van Orley. The master remains anonymous despite Max J. Friedländer's attempt to identify the Master of the Legend of Saint Magdalene with the painter Pieter van Conninxloo. Among the characteristics of his work are the strong features of the men's faces, revealing their bone structure, while the women's faces are softer and rounded, usually with half-closed eyes. Our Virgin, with her elongated face pressing her child to her breast, is stylistically in line with the master's pictorial developments. She has a long, thin nose, a small, pinkish mouth and light, half-closed eyes. The Infant Jesus gently rests his head on the Virgin's shoulder, his right hand against her head and his left hand against his mother's breast. According to Jeanne Tombu, this type derives from the Master of Flémalle, via Rogier van der Weyden. She likens this motif to the Medici Madonna by Rogier van der Weyden in the Städel Museum collection (n° 850).

The Master of the Magdalene Legend is the author of a group of Madonnas with Child, depicted half-length, in various poses (2). Several of these panels are related to our work. This is true of the diptych by Willem van Bibaut, a Carthusian originally from the Netherlands who lived and died at the Grande Chartreuse in Grenoble, which has the same composition as our panel (Amsterdam, private collection, 24.5 x 14.5 cm, fig. 1)(3).

Again with a gold background, we know of a version in the Museum Mayer van den Bergh in Antwerp (inv. 384, fig. 2) and another presented at Sotheby's (Anonymous sale, Paris, Sotheby's, 14 June 2022, no. 31). Both of these works are depicted on a gold background - so this may also have been the case for our panel, to which the nimbus was later added around the Virgin's face.

We know of another version of the Madonna and Child, even closer to our own, with a black monochrome background, which led to them often being confused, particularly at the Sotheby's sale in 1977. This other Madonna was formerly in the Warneck collection, which was sold in Paris on 27 and 28 May 1926. This painting formely belonged to Count G. Stroganoff in Rome (private collection, fig.3).

In all, Jeanne Tombu counts seven replicas of this work. Perhaps our panel is the one formerly in the Carvalho collection, or perhaps the one in the Demandolx-Dedons collection in Marseille, although the dimensions seem to rule out the latter (26 x 18 cm). In the 15th century, these Madonnas were produced and sold in large numbers to meet the huge demand for devotional pieces. As a result, it was not uncommon for painters to produce several versions based on the same prototype. The sheer number of versions is a clear indication of the success of the composition.

We would like to thank Peter van den Brink for kindly confirming the authenticity of this work, having examined it in person on 2 July 2024.

1.    Jeanne Tombu, « Un triptyque du Maître de la légende de Marie-Madeleine », Gazette des beaux-arts, XV, 1927, p. 299-310; Jeanne Tombu, « Le Maître de la légende de Marie-Madeleine », Gazette des beaux-arts, XVII, 1929, p. 258-292.

2.    Let us mention a Virgin and Child holding her breast between her fingers to offer it to her young child attributed to the Master. A work in the Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Gand, inv. n° 1957.

3.    Recent analyses of the wood have led to the conclusion that the Virgin and Child was painted by the Master of the Magdalene Legend, while the portrait of Willem de Bibaut was probably produced by another anonymous French master. The Virgin and Child is painted on oak, while the portrait of Willem van Bibaut is on hazelnut wood. The work was shown in the 2007 exhibition The Flemish Primitives: The Most Beautiful Diptychs (Nico Van Hout, John Oliver Hand, Ron Spronk (eds.), Washington, National Gallery, Antwerp, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, 2006-2007, pp. 64-65, as well as in the more recent exhibition Vergeet me niet (2021-2022) at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. This work was once in the collection of the Count and Countess of Outremont.