Master Of Magdalen

Magdalen Master (Master of Magdalen or Maestro della Maddalena) was an Italian painter. One of the most influential artists in 13th-century Florence, he was named by Sirén (1922) after a panel showing a standing figure of St Mary Magdalen flanked by eight small scenes from her life (Florence, Accademia). Sirén first attributed three pictures of the Virgin and Child (Berlin, Gemäldegalerie; S Michele in Rovezzano, nr Florence; Arezzo, Museum of Medieval and Modern Art) to this Master and emphasized the apparent influence of Coppo di Marcovaldo. In 1926 he added another group of paintings to the Magdalen Master's oeuvre, including the altarpiece of the Virgin Enthroned between SS Andrew and James (Paris, Musée des Arts Décoratifs). This, one of the painter's most beautiful and important works, had already been linked by Toesca to the panel in the Accademia. Offner (1927) identified other early works, such as the dossal of the Virgin and Child Enthroned between SS Leonard and Peter (New Haven, CT, Yale University Art Gallery) and the tabernacle showing the Virgin and Child Enthroned with SS Peter and Paul (New York, Metropolitain).

View all works →