St. Mary Magdalene Reading (c1525-1550). Artist not known, described as Master of the Half-Figures (Dutch, active in the first third of the sixteenth century. Oil on wood. Louvre Museum. Department of Paintings. Acquired in Brussels in 1834.
St. Mary Magdalene, recognizable by the attribute, the box of ointment, is represented in a domestic context which approximates portraiture; her clothing is after the fashion of the 1520s, and the clock hanging on the wall, referring to time passing, doubles as an allegory of vanity.
(via almawinemiller)
