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 that shows a landscape in the background with a walled city, some mountains and the shore of a watercourse (from the subject it can be seen that it is the shore of the sea). In the foreground and in full body, there appears a boat with a sail with circus characters richly dressed and with their respective nimbuses (these decorated with engraved geometric and vegetal elements), two women and three men. Note the anecdotal detail of the fish crossing the waters under the ship.
In the Golden Legend, chapter XCVI is dedicated to the figure of Mary Magdalene, including the journey she made together with Saint Maximinus, Lazarus, Martha, her maid Martila and Saint Cedonius ("the man blind from birth cured of his blindness by Christ), along with other Christians, for being expelled by the infidels who lived in the region where they went to evangelize. They left the ship in the sea, without oars or sails or anything that could help in navigation with the idea that it would be shipwrecked, but God The Catholic Christian tradition ended up ending this journey from the Holy Land in Saintes Maries de la Mer (near Arles), from where Mary Magdalene went to Marseille, undertaking the evangelization of Provence. Note that the Characters represented here are Saint Mary Magdalene, as the main figure of the group, Saint Maximinus, Lazarus, Saint Cedonius and Martha.
There are some known examples in which the Saint is seen accompanied, all the characters located on a ship or related to it. It is not, however, a very common iconography and it seems that it will become even less common after the Council of Trent. Let us cite, as examples, the altarpiece by Pere Mates (Girona Cathedral Museum) from the 16th century with this legend (Provençal legend) in which the saint appears already on land, with the ship in the background; figure entering the boat in Jean Béguin's altarpiece (Rosary Altarpiece in the Basilica of Saint Maximin in Var, France); appears preaching in the port of Marseille in a painting by Ronzen (early 16th century, Marseille History Museum); In the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua Giotto painted the theme of 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; Magdalene Altarpiece by Lucas Moser (St. Mary Magdalene Church in Tiefenbronn).
Stylistically, a clear Flemish influence can be seen in the painting: note the details of the jewelry on the clothing, the qualities, the faces and the naturalism sought in them (within the idealization that corresponds to the sacred figures), the landscape and the strength of the fund, etc.
The influence of flamenco art on the Castilian school began thanks to the patronage of the Mendozas, shortly after the middle of the century, and the growing relations with Flanders also contributed to its development (it is necessary to remember the trip of Jan van Eyck in 1427) such as the importation of flamenco works. Thus, the Hispano-Flamenco style reached a great development in the last quarter of the 15th century in what refers to the Kingdom of Castile, with a series of interconnected minor schools, thereby providing a certain unitary character to the art of this style in this geographical area. . As for names (and remembering that there are a large number of anonymous works and authors about whom we do not know data), we have the one who is considered the introducer, Jorge Inglés, and figures such as Fernando Gallego, centers such as Valladolid and notable workshops such as the from Burgos or Toledo."


· Size: 83x11x128 cms int 73x118 cms