Master of the Legend of the Magdalene

The Master of the Legend of the Magdalen was an Early Netherlandish painter active from circa 1483 to 1527. He has not been identified. His Notname was coined by the art historian Max Friedländer and is derived from a large, now-dispersed polyptych with scenes from the life of Mary Magdalene. Based on the costumes of the donor portraits, this work has been dated to between 1515 and 1520. Many paintings have been attributed to the Master based on similarities with the polyptych. The Master painted religious subjects as well as portraits. The Master was not an innovator as his work relies heavily on the older Netherlandish style of Rogier van der Weyden with some inspiration from the innovations introduced in Netherlandish paintings by Bernard van Orley who had been in contact with contemporary Italian art.