This wonderful carving which dates from the first decade of the 16th century depicts Mary Magdalene and is an important recent discovery which adds to the oeuvre of a group of carvings attributed to The Master of Elsloo. She is shown as the penitent Magdalene with her head slightly bowed and her long fingered hands in prayer and she wears a sumptuous dress decorated with slashed sleeves and scalloped arms. Her crowning glory is of course her hair which is parted high on her head and curls back from her face and cascades down her back beyond her waist. Her dress has traces of original red paint and her cloak has blue paint decorated with gilding. The Master of Elsloo was actually probably a small group of craftsmen centered around Thorn Abbey in Limburg. This was a noble endowed convent and it is suggested that smaller carvings such as this were possibly commissioned by the wealthy female members of the abbey who did not have to undertake a vow of poverty. Possibly truncated the figure is 15 inches high and 16 1/2 inches high including the integral plinth.
Ref: 10872
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