The Magdalen Reading is one of three surviving fragments of a large mid @-@ 15th @-@ century oil on panel altarpiece by the Early Netherlandish painter Rogier van der Weyden . The panel , originally oak , was completed some time between 1435 and 1438 and have been in the National Gallery , London since 1860 . It show a woman with the pale skin , high cheek bones and oval eyelids typical of the idealised portraits of noble women of the period . She is identifiable as the Magdalen from the jar of ointment placed in the foreground , which is her traditional attribute in Christian art . She is presented as completely absorbed in her reading , a model of the contemplative life , repentant and absolved of past sins . In Catholic tradition the Magdalen was conflated with both Mary of Bethany who anointed the feet of Jesus with oil and the unnamed " sinner " of Luke 7 : 36 – 50 . Iconography of the Magdalen commonly show her with a book , in a moment of reflection , in tears , or with eyes averted . Van der Weyden pay close attention to detail in many passages , in particular the folds and cloth of the woman 's dress , the rock crystal of the rosary beads held by the figure standing over her , and the lushness of the exterior .