Christus gezalfd door Maria Magdalena - Doen Pietersz.

A sixteenth-century hand-coloured woodcut by Doen Pietersz. depicting the biblical scene of Christ being anointed by Mary Magdalene.

This hand-coloured woodcut by the Dutch printer and publisher Doen Pietersz. depicts the biblical scene of Christ being anointed by Mary Magdalene. The composition follows the conventions of early sixteenth-century Northern European book illustration, where narrative clarity takes precedence over spatial depth. Christ sits at a table with his disciples, while Mary Magdalene kneels in the foreground, her posture conveying humility and devotion as she attends to his feet.

The print exhibits the characteristic aesthetic of the period: bold, functional lines designed for clarity in a printed format, supplemented by a limited palette of applied colour. The figures are rendered with a focus on gesture and costume, reflecting the social and religious visual language of the Dutch Renaissance. The background features a simple, schematic representation of an interior, which serves to frame the primary action without distracting from the central figures. The use of woodcut as a medium allowed for the mass production of religious texts, making such imagery accessible to a wider audience during the early modern period.

Doen Pietersz. was active in Amsterdam during the first half of the sixteenth century, primarily known for his work as a publisher of religious and secular texts. This particular illustration demonstrates the integration of text and image common in the devotional literature of the time. The print is a fine example of the graphic arts from the Netherlands, capturing the directness and narrative focus typical of the era's woodcut tradition. Its preservation within a bound volume suggests its original function as a visual aid for meditation or reading, providing a tangible connection to the religious practices of the sixteenth-century Low Countries.