The Master of the Female Half-lengths

Dimitri Schevitch collection;
Probably his sale, Paris, Chevallier, 4–7 April 1906, lot 7;
Paris art market in 1960, when acquired by the grandmother of the present owner.

M. J. Friedländer, Early Netherlandish Painting, vol. XII, Leiden/Brussels1975, p. 98, cat. no. 82, reproduced plate 41.

The following condition report is provided by Hamish Dewar who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's: Structural Condition The artist's panel is uncradled and is providing an even and secure structural support. Paint Surface The paint surface has an uneven and discoloured varnish layer and would undoubtedly be transformed by cleaning. I would be confident of a considerable colour change once the discoloured varnish layers had been removed. Inspection under ultra-violet light shows small scattered retouchings, the most significant of which are: 1) retouchings on the left vertical and upper horizontal framing edges, 2) an area on the sitter's jaw-line measuring approximately 1 cm in diameter with a number of very small spots on her face and neck, 3) a small retouching just above the sitter's head which is approximately 0.5 cm in diameter, and 4) small retouchings just above the lower horizontal framing edge. There may be other retouchings beneath old opaque varnish layers which are not identifiable under ultra-violet light. It is very encouraging to note that the fine detail of the painting appears to be intact with little evidence of wear or abrasion. Summary The painting would therefore appear to be in very good and stable condition with the potential to be transformed by cleaning and revarnishing.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

The master derives his name from the series of works depicting half-length female figures behind a writing desk, reading, or playing a musical instrument, that he painted in Antwerp, though inspired by the art of Bruges, during the second and third decades of the sixteenth century. Here the figure holds, as if to open, an unguent jar that identifies her as Mary Magdalene. She is dressed in magnificent white, gold and crimson, her sleeves slashed and her neck and bosom decorated with a highly ornate necklace of large, precious jewels and her perfectly brushed hair crowned with a jewel-encrusted gilded cap. Unusually she meets our eye, where in the vast majority of the Master’s works her eyes are downcast or cast to the side. The edges of her lips curl upwards into the beginnings of a smile and her starkly lit and well-polished face leaps from the jet black behind to meet us with a provocative yet innocent and irresistible gaze.  

Few of the Master’s half-length females, if any, are as richly ornamented as this. The pristine condition of the paint surface preserves each of the finest details, every strand of hair and thread of gold, of this mysterious Mary Magdalene. Her billowing slashed sleeves, encrusted at each pleat with jewels, her bodice, necklace and cap are unequalled in their luxuriance, though recur sporadically, one or two at a time, in a few other works such as the St Catherine in the Brera, Milan.¹

1. Friedländer, under Literature, cat. no. 81, reproduced plate 41.