Biography

The Master of the Legend of Mary Magdalene was identified by Max J. Friedländer (1900) on the basis of two panels from a polyptych depicting the legend of this saint. The panels, dated around 1515–1520, have undergone various vicissitudes: The Sermon of Mary Magdalene is currently in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, while Mary Magdalene Before Her Conversion was destroyed during World War II. This painter, active in Brussels in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, developed a specific model for faces, with female faces being rounded and male faces triangular. His style is characterized by following the works of Van der Weyden and Bernard van Orley. Notable among his works are the Triptych of Saint Christopher (Mayer van der Bergh Museum, Antwerp, Belgium), Portrait of a Man (Narodni Muzeum Srbije, Belgrade), and the Triptych of the Virgin and Child, the Crucifixion of Christ, and Saint Peter with a Donor (Burgos Cathedral, Spain).

Bibliography

• BAUTIER, Pierre (1913): "Le Maître de la légende de Marie-Madeleine", vol. 12, Bulletin des Musées royaux du Cinquantenaire, pp. 81-86.
• BERMEJO, Elisa (1988): "Novedades sobre Juan de Flandes, el maestro de la leyenda de la Magdalena y Jan de Beer", vol. 61, nº 243, Archivo español de arte, pp. 231-242.
• BUSTO HEVIA, Gabino (2020): "Círculo del Maestro de la Leyenda de la Magdalena (act. en Bruselas entre 1490 y 1535)", en Guía del Museo de Bellas Artes de Asturias, Museo de Bellas Artes de Asturias, Oviedo, pp. 68-69.
• FRIEDLÄNDER, Max J. (1900): "Die Leihausstellung der New Gallery in London, Januar-März 1900. Hauptsächlich niederländische Gemälde des XV. und XVI. Jahrhunderts", vol. 23, Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft, pp. 245-248.
• TOMBU, Jeanne (1929): "Le Tryptique du maître de la Légende de Marie-Madeleine", vol. 2, Gazette des beaux-Arts, pp. 190-193.