31/03/2026
Bernardino Luini (c. 1480/82 – June 1532) was a north Italian painter from Leonardo's circle during the High Renaissance. Both Luini and Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio were said to have worked with Leonardo directly; he was described as having taken "as much from Leonardo as his native roots enabled him to comprehend". Consequently, many of his works were attributed to Leonardo. He was known especially for his graceful female figures with elongated eyes, called Luinesque by Vladimir Nabokov.
The painting you are likely referring to, titled Saint Mary Magdalene (c. 1524), is held by the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore. The artwork is not by an artist named "Luu I," but rather has been attributed to the Italian Renaissance artist Bernardino Luini or Andrea.
Bernardino Luini (Italian, ca. 1480–1532)
St. Mary Magdalene
Genre Portrait / Religious painting
About ca. 1524
Oil on panel
755 mm × 592 mm
The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, USA 🇺🇸
This panel has long been associated with Bernardino Luini, whose mature Lombard style reflects the teachings of Leonardo da Vinci, particularly in the subtle use of sfumato and the softly rendered transitions of light and shade. The work has also been alternately connected with the circle of Andrea Solario, a reminder of the close stylistic relationships within early sixteenth-century Milanese painting. The subject is identified by the ointment jar, a longstanding attribute of Mary Magdalene in Christian iconography. The ceramic vessel in the painting includes the inscription “I. PIST,” recorded in the museum’s catalogue, and the composition reflects the devotional character typical of small Lombard panels from this period. The painting was acquired by Henry Walters prior to 1922 and entered the museum’s collection in 1931. Little is documented about Luini’s private life beyond his Lombard origins and long activity in Milan.
