Carlo Crivelli, 'Saint Mary Magdalene', probably about 1491-4
About the work
Overview
This elegant woman is Mary Magdalene, holding the pot of oil with which she anointed Christ’s feet. Although a biblical figure, she is dressed in the height of fifteenth-century fashion. Her red cloak and uncovered hair were meant to hint at the medieval understanding that she ‘gave herself to all delights of the body’.
In a kind of Renaissance virtual reality, Crivelli plays with our knowledge that we are looking at a flat painted surface by creating an illusion of three-dimensional space. Here Mary stands on a shelf in front of a curved stone recess, casting a shadow on the wall behind her. Her toes in their red sandals protrude over the edge of the shelf, as if she is about to step forward into our world.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- Saint Mary Magdalene
- Artist
- Carlo Crivelli
- Artist dates
- about 1430/5 - about 1494
- Part of the series
- Panels from a Frame or a Predella
- Date made
- probably about 1491-4
- Medium and support
- egg tempera on wood
- Dimensions
- 37.5 × 18.5 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Bought, 1874
- Inventory number
- NG907.2
- Location
- Room 10
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Previous owners
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Martin Davies, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools’, London 1986 and supplemented by Anna McGee; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Exhibition history
-
2022Carlo Crivelli. Shadows on the SkyIkon Gallery23 February 2022 - 29 May 2022
Bibliography
-
1951Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, London 1951
-
1986Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, revised edn, London 1986
-
2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.
Images
About the series: Panels from a Frame or a Predella

Overview
These two female saints, Mary Magdalene and Catherine of Alexandria, almost certainly came from a polyptych (a multi-panelled altarpiece) and were part of the frame or predella, the bottom tier below the main panels.
Both Mary Magdalene and Catherine were enormously popular throughout the Middle Ages so their inclusion doesn't help us to work out where the altarpiece was meant to go originally. They are attributed to Carlo Crivelli, though have often been thought to be by his assistants.