The Master of the Magdalene Legend

The Flemish Primitives. Corpus of Early Netherlandish Paintings, vol. XX, Museum Mayer van den Bergh, Antwerp, p. 170, reproduced fig. 9, as by the Master of the Magdelene Legend.

"The following condition report has been provided by Sarah Walden, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This little painting is on a fine oak panel, which has been encased within the frame with its back board. It is not possible to tell if the original panel has been attached to the board behind, but the frame has been incorporated into the painting around all the edges, as an integral original frame would be, and has a detailed craquelure, sometimes incised sometimes painted, which has been finely done in historically accurate form and material. The enclosure of the back does in fact help both to protect the panel and to reduce atmospheric changes, which might cause movement and cracking, and the painting appears entirely secure and stable. There have been cracks in the past: one running down through the gold background on the right through the arm of the Child and fingers of the Madonna to the base. This has a narrow line of retouching in the figures and wider old retouching in the gilding. Two other cracks run quite closely down from the top edge in the centre: one through the Madonna's temple, the corner of her eye and nostril and the fingers of the Child, while the second runs down nearby through the cheek and corner of the Madonna's mouth to her bodice. Both of these have quite wide old retouching in the gilding at the top and narrow retouching in the face and neck, now slightly dulled and greyish. There are a few little minor retouchings in the neck of the Madonna and the cheek of the Child, with a rather broader patch at the base of His back beside the Madonna's hand. Apart from these cracks the figures are quite beautifully preserved, with a delicate detailed craquelure. The blue drapery is largely finely intact, with a little patch of darkened retouching by the crack at the peak of the folds above the head. The gold background seems to have had old flaking and has also been strengthened along the cracks, around the edges and sometimes elsewhere, but with tact. Other details such as the hair are in lovely condition. This report was not done under laboratory conditions."
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

This much favoured composition was repeated by the Master of the Magdalene Legend on several further occasions; in a panel in the Museum Mayer van den Bergh, Antwerp (curved top); in the Diptych of the Virgin and Child with Willen van Brabant in an Amsterdam private collection (square top); in another single panel formerly in the Demandolx Dedons collection in Marseilles (square top); and in the panel offered New York, Sotheby's, 25 January 2001, lot 31 (curved top and sold as 'Attributed to the Master of the Magdalene Legend').