Saint Mary Magdalene (far right panel)
- Artist: Master of the Dominican Effigies
- Date: 1345
- Medium: tempera on panel
- Museum: The Courtauld Gallery
- Collection record: The Courtauld Gallery website
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About this artwork
This is the "Saint Mary Magdalene (far right panel)" by the Master of the Dominican Effigies. Created in 1345, the work is tempera on panel, a typical medium for Florentine artists of the mid‑thirteenth century. The Master was active in Florence and is thought to have trained under Pacino di Bonaguida, a name that appears in the same workshops that produced the brilliant manuscript illuminations of the time. The artist’s skill in detailed illumination shines through here, especially in the fine rendering of drapery and the subtle play of light.
The altarpiece itself owes much to Bernardo Daddi, whose compositional balance and gentle figure style can be seen in the way the saints are arranged around the central Virgin and Child. While most of the saints are familiar figures for such a setting, the far‑right panel is intriguing: what we now call Saint Mary Magdalene was originally painted as Saint Margaret. An inscription beneath the figure confirms this, and a small dragon—the traditional attribute of Saint Margaret—still peeks out from her hand. This small but striking detail links the panel back to its original subject and adds an extra layer of historical intrigue.
See it in person
Saint Mary Magdalene (far right panel) hangs in The Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House, London. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
