(Milan active circa 1525 – circa 1540)
Mary Magdalene,
oil on canvas, 49 x 39 cm, framed

We are grateful to Mauro Lucco for suggesting the attribution of the present painting.

The female figure depicted here shows traits entirely typical of sixteenth century Milanese art. The anonymous master, who was infloenced by Leonardo, travelled to Milan in 1513, where he picked up the latter’s art primarily by studying the works of Luini, Giampietrino and Francesco Melzi. The name “Master of Ercole and Girolamo Visconti” refers to the patrons of his most important work, an altarpiece in Besnate (Varese) dating from 1538 (see F. Frangi, Brera mai vista. All’ombra di Leonardo. La pala di Sant’Andrea alla Pusterla e il suo maestro, Milan 2003).

The protagonist seems to be Mary Magdalene bemoaning the death of Christ, even if explicit attributes are lacking. In its luminosity, the figure distinctly stands out against the opaque black backdrop. Leonardo’s influence is clearly noticeable, as are similarities with Bernardino Luini’s Mary Magdalene in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and Giampietrino’s Madonna and Child, the so-called Madonna della Mela, in the Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan. The style of the garment and the hairstyle suggest a date of execution in the first half of the sixteenth century. The work most probably dates from the late 1520s.