medievalthedas:

books0977:

The Magdalen Reading (fragment of an altarpiece), c.1435-1438. Rogier van der Weyden (Flemish, 1400-1464). London National Gallery.

The fragment has been described by Campbell as “one of the great masterpieces of fifteenth-century art and among Rogier’s most important early works.” It has been linked to two small heads in the collection of the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum (Lisbon), of Saint Catherine and of St Joseph. It is now widely believed that these three fragments came from the same large altarpiece depicting the “Virgin and Child with Saints.” Before 1811, this altarpiece was carved up into these three fragments.

I’m curious about the white object in the foreground, and what it contains. Because I did a double-take, thinking some joker had photoshopped in a Starbucks cup or something.

The white object is a jar of ointment/perfume. Mary Magdalen was commonly conflated with Mary of Bethany, who anointed Christ’s feet in the gospel accounts of Mark, Matthew, and was referenced as having anointed his feet in John’s account, and the unnamed woman in Luke who did the same.