2-974-714 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Mary Magdalene, c.1530. A jar of ointment is the Magdalene's usual attribute, with which she is said to have tended Jesus’s feet. Van Scorel portrayed her as a seductive, lavishly dressed courtesan, a reference to her apparent origins as a prostitute. Her costume shows the influence of Italian painting on Van Scorel, which he absorbed when he travelled to Rome.