MARY MAGDALENE TRAVELLING TO MARSEILLE. OIL ON BOARD. CASTILLIAN SCHOOL, CIRCA LAST THIRD 15TH CENTURY.

Mary Magdalene on her way to Marseille. Oil on panel. Castilian school, towards the last third of the 15th century. Oil on panel depicting a landscape in the background with a walled city, mountains, and the bank of a waterway (the subject matter suggests it is the seashore). In the foreground, full-length figures appear: a boat with a sail and a circus, richly dressed figures with their respective halos (decorated with engraved geometric and vegetal motifs), two women, and three men. Note the anecdotal detail of the fish swimming in the water beneath the boat. Chapter XCVI of the Golden Legend is dedicated to Mary Magdalene, including the journey she undertook with Saint Maximinus, Lazarus, Martha, her servant Martila, and Saint Cedonius ("the man born blind, cured of his blindness by Christ"), along with other Christians, after being expelled by the infidels living in the region they had gone to evangelize. They left their ship at sea, without oars, sails, or anything else to aid navigation, hoping it would sink, but God ensured its arrival in Marseille. Catholic Christian tradition concludes that this journey began in the Holy Land at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer (near Arles), from where Mary Magdalene traveled to Marseille, beginning the evangelization of Provence. Note that the figures depicted here are Saint Mary Magdalene, as the central figure of the group, Saint Maximinus, Lazarus, Saint Cedonius, and Martha. There are some known examples where the Saint is depicted with other figures, all of them on a ship or associated with one. However, this iconography is not very common and apparently became even less so after the Council of Trent. Examples include the 16th-century altarpiece by Pere Mates (Girona Cathedral Museum) with this legend (a Provençal legend) in which the saint appears already on land, with the ship in the background; her figure entering the vessel in the altarpiece by Jean Béguin (Rosary Altarpiece in the Basilica of Saint Maximin in Var, France); her preaching in the port of Marseille in a painting by Ronzen (early 16th century, Marseille History Museum); and in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, Giotto painted the Miracle of the Governor of Marseille (a theme related to this arrival) with figures in the boat and the governor's wife on the island. Altarpiece of Mary Magdalene by Lucas Moser (Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Tiefenbronn). Stylistically, a clear Flemish influence can be seen in the painting: note the details of the jewels on the garments, the qualities, the faces and the naturalism sought in them (within the idealization that corresponds to the sacred characters), the landscape and the strength of the background, etc. The influence of Flemish art on the Castilian school began thanks to the patronage of the Mendoza family, shortly after the middle of the century. Its development was also aided by both the growing relations with Flanders (it is worth recalling Jan van Eyck's journey in 1427) and the importation of Flemish works. Thus, the Hispano-Flemish style reached its peak in the last quarter of the 15th century in the Kingdom of Castile, with a series of interconnected minor schools, thereby lending a certain unity to the art of this style in this geographical area. Regarding names (and bearing in mind that there are a large number of anonymous works and artists about whom we have no information), we have Jorge Inglés, considered the introducer, as well as figures like Fernando Gallego, centers such as Valladolid, and prominent workshops such as those in Burgos and Toledo.

· Size: 83x11x128 cms int 73x118 cms