Lot 2009 Dα

The present painting is listed in the RKD database under no. 63570 as an autograph work by Ambrosius Benson.
In an auction at the Hôtel Drouot in Paris in 1910, however, the painting was sold with an attribution to Jan Mostaert as a portrait of Margaret of Austria, an aunt of Emperor Charles V and governor of the Habsburg Netherlands. But this is certainly a depiction of Saint Mary Magdalene made by Ambrosius Benson and his Bruges workshop. The motif apparently enjoyed great popularity in the Flemish trading city in the second quarter of the 16th century, for there are several versions of this depiction, whereby two types of composition can be distinguished: on the one hand, as in our painting, showing the saint reading in a book with an ointment vessel in front of her on the table as an attribute (e.g., Sotheby's, pp. 1-4, Sotheby's, London, 5.12.2018, lot 1), and secondly Mary Magdalene holding the opened ointment vessel in her hands (e.g. Sotheby's, New York, 27.1.2022, lot 5). In both versions, the saint is depicted with the utmost elegance and in sumptuous clothing, in the present example with pearl- and gem-studded hemlines and fur-trimmed sleeves. In this respect it may be understandable that at the beginning of the 20th century people mistakenly assumed that this was a representation of a princess. In our painting, Mary Magdalene is shown leafing through an illuminated manuscript whose floral border reveals white blossoms and strawberries on a gold background. A distinctive feature of our depiction lies in the half-rolled scroll on the table, which has a quotation from Psalm 24: "Delicta juventutis mea[e] et ignorant[ias meas] ne memineris [domine]" (Of my youthful sins and of my iniquities, remember them no more, Lord) - quite fitting for a depiction of Mary Magdalene!


Ambrosius Benson originally came from Lombardy. He worked in the studio of Gerard David in Bruges until 1518, and a year later he was admitted as a master to the painters' guild there. After the death of his teacher Gerard David in 1523, Benson rose to become Bruges' leading painter. He was one of the most prolific artists of the Northern Renaissance, successfully combining the style of his native northern Italy with the precision and refinement of Dutch painting.


We would like to thank Dr Till-Holger Borchert, Aachen, for his assistance in cataloguing the present lot. He dates the painting to 1530/40.