Mary Magdalene On The Way To Marseille. Oil On Panel. Castilian School, C.15th Century.

Mary Magdalene on the way to Marseille. Oil on panel. Castilian school, towards the end of the 15th century.
 Oil on panel showing a landscape with a walled city in the background, some mountains and the edge of a waterway (it is clear from the subject that it is the seashore). In the foreground, full-length, there is a boat with a sail and a circus of richly dressed figures with their respective halos (these decorated with geometric elements and engraved plants), two women and three men. Note the anecdotal detail of the fish crossing the waters beneath the ship.
In the Golden Legend, chapter XCVI is dedicated to the figure of Mary Magdalene, including the journey she made with Saint Maximinus, Lazarus, Martha, her servant Martila and Saint Cedonius ("the man born blind and cured of his blindness by Christ), along with other Christians, after being expelled by the infidels who lived in the region they went to evangelise. They left the ship at sea, without oars or sails or anything that could help in navigation, with the idea that it would sink, but God saw to it that it reached Marseille. The Catholic Christian tradition ended this journey from the Holy Land in Saintes Maries de la Mer (near Arles), from where Mary Magdalene went to Marseille, undertaking the evangelisation 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, with all the characters placed on a boat or related to it. However, this is not a very common iconography and it seems that it will be even less common after the Council of Trent. Let us cite, as examples, the altarpiece by Pere Mates (Museum of the Cathedral of Girona) from the 16th century with this legend (Provençal legend) in which the Saint appears already on land, with the boat in the background; she appears entering the boat in the altarpiece by Jean Béguin (Altarpiece of the Rosary of the Basilica of Saint Maximin in Var, France); she appears preaching in the port of Marseille in a painting by Ronzen (early 16th century, Museum of History of Marseille); in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua Giotto painted the theme of the Miracle of the Governor of Marseille (theme related to this arrival) with figures in the boat and the governor's wife on the island; Magdalene Altarpiece by Lucas Moser (Church of St. Mary Magdalene, 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 fortress in the background, etc. The influence of Flemish art on the Castilian school began thanks to the patronage of the Mendozas, shortly after the middle of the century, and its development was also contributed to by the growing relations with Flanders (it is worth remembering the journey of Jan van Eyck in 1427) and the importation of Flemish works. Thus, the Hispano-Flemish style reached a great development in the last quarter of the 15th century as far as the Kingdom of Castile is concerned, 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 of whom we do not know the details), we have the one considered to be the introducer, Jorge Inglés, and figures such as Fernando Gallego, centres such as Valladolid and outstanding workshops such as those of Burgos or Toledo.
Size: 83x11x128 cms int 73x118 cm