 Although internationally successful in his lifetime , van der Weyden fell from view during the 17th century , and was not rediscovered until the early 19th century . The Magdalen Reading can first be traced to an 1811 sale . After passing through the hands of a number of dealers in the Netherlands , the panel was purchased by the National Gallery , London , in 1860 from a collector in Paris . It is described by art historian Lorne Campbell as " one of the great masterpieces of 15th @-@ century art and among van der Weyden 's most important early works . " 
