Compartment from an altarpiece dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene

In the 15th century, a city like Vic, with such an important cathedral and episcopal see, must have had several painters' workshops, from
where the commissions for the churches in the city or the bishopric were done. One of these painters, whose activity in Vic at the beginning of the 15th century is recorded, is “Nicolau Verdera”. Gudiol i Ricart suggested the possibility of him being the painter of a series of anonymous works from Osona and El Bages, which have a great stylistic affinity and are conserved chiefly in the Museu Episcopal de Vic. His art presents the use of a very varied and contrasting palette of colours that distances him from the pastel colours typical of Italianate Gothic, and takes him close to the International Gothic style introduced by Lluís Borrassà. There is also the wish to represent reality more truthfully. The panel with the figure of Saint Mary Magdalene with the little box of ointments from the old monastery of Santa Magdalena in Conangle shows the saint dressed in a tunic with some flowing creases drawn that recall the sinuous shapes of Joan Mates, typical of this early International Gothic style.