Description
oil on cradled panel, framed
Dimensions
64cm x 47cm
Footnote
Exhibited: Manchester City Art Gallery, 'Exhibition of Works of Art from Private Collections in the North West and North Wales', 21st September to 30th October, 1960; Cat. 27
Note: This painting, dating from the early 16th century, is a re-imagining of the Flemish artist Dieric Bouts' c.1460 painting of the same subject. The scene depicted illustrates Luke 7:36-50 in which Christ is dining in the house of Simon the Pharisee. A woman from the village, traditionally identified as the Magdalen, enters. "As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them." Simon reacts in protest, explaining to Jesus that she is a sinner. Jesus explains that her actions prove her love and penitence and forgives her sins before the assembled guests. Though faithfully emulating many aspects of Bouts' painting, this scene has several notable differences. The figure on the far right in this version is a wine bearer, whose animated pose enhances a sense of the dramatic within the scene. In Bouts' original however, the figure on the far right is a stern-looking Dominican monk, kneeled in prayer.