This unpublished painting is a noteworthy addition to the oeuvre of the artist. It proves that he was the first of the Pre-Rembrandtists to paint the Crucifixion with Mary Magdalen alone at the Foot of the Cross. Pieter Lastman apparently did not take up this theme until 1615 (Private collection, New York; A. Tümpel, P. Schatborn, Pieter Lastman, 1991, no. 8). As pointed out by Tümpel, op.cit., p. 100, this subject rarely occurs in Dutch early 17th century painting; however Matham made a print of the subject after Goltzius (Tümpel, op.cit., p. 101, fig. 8.1). It was of course popular in Italian High Renaissance art.

The figure of the Mary Magdalen in the present lot was repeated from Pynas' earliest dated work of 1605 of the Raising of Lazarus in the Museum of Aschaffenburg (Tümpel, op.cit., p. 28, fig. 14). The small format of the present lot suggests that it was made for private devotional use

See illustration