St. Mary Magdalene at the Foot of the Cross

Mary Magdalene, the repentant sinner, kneels at the foot of the cross gazing up at the lifeless body of Christ. She holds her veil in her right hand, perhaps to wipe away her tears, and clutches the foot of the cross with her left. Next to her on the ground to the left, is a jar of ointment, which she would use to anoint Christ’s body for burial. Her sorrowful presence below the Cross contrasts with the soldiers and the other witnesses to the Crucifixion visible in the distance, who are departing the scene.

Jan Muller was one of the most sought-after Mannerist printmakers, engraving the compositions of the leading artists of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. This is one of his relatively rare original compositions which he conceived as a devotional image, situating the viewer as witness to Christ’s sacrifice and inviting us to contemplate its meaning. It resembles a small altarpiece, in an illusionistic frame with an arched top and a panel below for the inscription. Muller used the same device in The Virgin with the Child Blessing (2014.662), also thought to date from 1593, and in The Man of Sorrows (51.501.6337), but there with a less elaborate format.