Jan van Scorel
Hello, today is the first day of our new series - DailyArt presents works from the Europeana Collection. For the next four weeks on Mondays, we will show you four pieces of art showing beautiful examples of fashion. Please enjoy!
The woman in this painting is Mary Magdalene. She can be identified by her jar of ointment, which she used to anoint the feet of Jesus. The painting shows her wearing a dark green dress set with pearls. The text on the border of the dress has Hebrew writing on it, though it is not legible. Mary Magdalene is portrayed by van Scorel as a seductive, luxuriously dressed courtesan, a reference to her reputed past as a prostitute.
Jan van Scorel painted this portrait in 1530, after a long study trip to Italy. He introduced Italian Renaissance influences into Dutch and Flemish painting.