A gilt-bronze rectangular plaque with the Penitent Magdalene, The Netherlands, late 16th century

Cast and chased gilt-bronze plaque, unattributed

Mary Magndalene in mournful attitude, holding crucifix, behind her a city, Jerusalem, by her side a skull, a scourge, and her attribute an ointment jar

With later loop

See for a comparable gild-bronze plaque with the mourning St. Peter in: Warren, Jeremy, Vol 3 Medieval and Renaissance Sculpture in the Ashmolean Museum: Plaquettes (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum Publications, 2014), pp. 1046 – 1048 no. 506.

Mary Magdalene was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to his crucifixion and its aftermath. Mary’s epithet Magdalene may mean that she came from the town of Magdala, a fishing town on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee.