1595
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
Heroines of the New Testament: Mary Magdalen is a 1595 by Jan Pietersz Saenredam, a Renaissance work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a woman crying, holding a vessel with ointment. She's Mary Magdalene, a figure from the Bible. Her story is complex - she's often shown as a prostitute who later devoted her life to Jesus. The artist focused on Mary Magdalene's emotions. Her beauty and the vessel she holds are important details. The scene in the background shows her bathing Christ's feet. Check out the work of artist: Jan Saenredam (Dutch, 1565–1607) for more like this.
Mary Magdalene bathing Christ’s feet is relegated to a tiny vignette in the background of this engraving. Nearly all of the foreground space is devoted to the weeping Magdalene, her voluptuous beauty referencing her previous life as a prostitute. She holds a vessel containing the ointment she will use to bathe Christ’s feet.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Jan Pieterszoon (abbr. Pietersz.) Saenredam (c. 1565 – 6 April 1607) was a Dutch Northern Mannerist painter, printmaker in engraving, and cartographer, and father of the painter of church interiors, Pieter Jansz…
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