St Mary Magdalene

The saint stands holding the pot of ointment in her left hand. She wears a tight fitting dress with full hanging undersleeves; over this is a mantle, one end of which is caught up over her left arm. Over her long hair is a white head-dress held by a fold bound under her chin. The flesh is painted in natural colours, the mantle is lined with dark blue and the sleeves are crimson lined with green; the remainder of the draperies and the dress is gilded. The dowel-hole at the top of the head (now filled in) indicates how the block of wood was carved. It would have been laid horizontally and turned on a dowel, as the sculptor worked. The back is only roughly finished, as the figure would have stood against a wall, or within an altarpiece.