FELIPE GIL DE MENA ( Palencia, 1603-1673). "Jesus and Mary Magdalene". Oil on canvas. Relined. Measurements: 82 x 120 cm; 97 x 134 cm (frame). In the scene there is a devotional theme in which Jesus is inscribed, together with a woman kneeling in front of him. She can be identified as either the Good Samaritan or Mary Magdalene. It is probably Mary Magdalene because of the small perfumer in the scene between the two figures. Because Mary Magdalene is identified as the woman who anointed Jesus' feet with perfumes before his arrival in Jerusalem, her main iconographic attribute is a knob of essences. While Eastern Christianity honours Mary Magdalene especially for her closeness to Jesus, considering her "equal to the apostles", she is also considered "equal to the apostles". Felipe Gil de Mena began his artistic training in Valladolid with the master Diego Valentin Diaz, although he later moved to Madrid and attended the workshop of the painter Juan Van der Hamen. As the Royal Academy of History points out, Gil de Mena was linked throughout his life to his master Valentin Díaz "He trained with this painter, although it is thought that he may also have been at the Court and even met Zurbarán. He inherited his master's workshop and became the most renowned painter in the city and nearby towns. From then on he was commissioned by various convents to paint series of canvases, including the cloister of the convent of San Francisco in Valladolid. The Museo Nacional de Escultura houses several canvases, such as the painting of Saint Francis and Saint Dominic in the refectory, probably inspired by prints from the late 16th century. Before 1660 Gil de Mena received commissions for several convents in the province of Valladolid, such as the convent of San José de Medina de Rioseco, belonging to the Discalced Carmelites, where some of his paintings of Franciscan and Carmelite themes have survived. But it was from that date, the date of his master's death, that Gil de Mena became a much sought-after painter. He then worked for the church of Santa María and the church of San Antolín in Tordesillas, where he collaborated on the altarpiece painted by José de Alejo in 1659. He also produced various works for the parishes of Ítero de la Vega, Baltanás and San Miguel de Peñafiel, as well as for the Jesuits, such as the altarpiece of paintings dedicated to the Immaculate Conception (1664) for the collegiate church of Villagarcía de Campos; or the canvas of the Apotheosis of the Eucharist, for those of Valladolid, now the church of San Miguel, in which the artistic evolution of Gil de Mena can be seen". Dimensions 82 x 120 cm; 97 x 134 cm (frame).