Marten van Heemskerck, 'The Donor and Saint Mary Magdalene', about 1540
About the work
Overview
A statuesque Mary Magdalene, one of Christ’s followers, rests her fingers on the shoulder of a kneeling donor. In the other hand, she nonchalantly lifts a large golden vessel. This is the pot containing the precious ointment with which she anointed Christ’s feet (Luke 7:37). In sharp contrast to her colourful opulence, the donor is a serious-looking middle-aged man dressed as a canon. He appears to be both balding and tonsured.
This is one of two shutters from a triptych (a painting made up of three sections), the central part of which is lost. We are not sure who or where they were made for, but the coats of arms painted on the back of the panels are similar to those of the Hamal and Kersbeke families. The donor may have been a canon whose father was a Hamal and whose mother was a Kersbeke.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- The Donor and Saint Mary Magdalene
- Artist
- Marten van Heemskerck
- Artist dates
- 1498 - 1574
- Part of the series
- Two Shutters from a Triptych
- Date made
- about 1540
- Medium and support
- oil on wood
- Dimensions
- 125.7 × 47.7 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Bought, 1986
- Inventory number
- NG6508.2
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Frame
- 17th-century Dutch Frame
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: Two Shutters from a Triptych

Overview
These two panels formed the shutters of an altarpiece and are painted on both sides. On the front left we see the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Evangelist, and on the right, Saint Mary Magdalene and the donor. The reverses show two bishop saints and coats of arms (unidentified).
The central panel is lost. It was probably, although not certainly, a painting, showing the suffering Christ. If it was a painting, and was put into a frame at the same time as the present old, but not original, frame, its painted surface would have measured about 123.5 by 107.5 cm. Various suggestions have been made as to panels by Marten van Heemskerck which might fit the bill.