Italian school (XVII) - Maddalena penitente

Venetian school from the first half of the 17th century. Oil on copper depicting Saint Mary Magdalene penitent, a subject both intense and captivating. The Saint is generally identified with the penitent prostitute described in the Gospel of Luke and, according to the Golden Legend, she retired to prayer in a cave in France.

Magdalene is rendered with delicately sensuous nuance, with bare shoulders covered only by a mat, hands joined in prayer, gaze lifted upward with her face streaming with tears. Beside her are her typical iconographic attributes: the crucifix, a memento mori skull, an open book, and the small flask of ointments.

Behind her we glimpse a magnificent church, a spatial reference to her spiritual retreat in France. The composition should be related to the Penitent Magdalene painted around 1598 by the Venetian painter Domenico Tintoretto, son of the great master Jacopo Robusti, called Tintoretto. The painting, today exhibited at the Capitoline Museums in Rome, enjoyed great success and numerous reworkings by Italian and foreign artists.

A painting of great allure, ideal for collectors of sacred painting from the high period and perfect for small reception rooms and studies with a cultivated taste. 20th‑century frame in carved and gilded wood, with fine decoration, showing a few small losses. The work shows some signs of time but is overall in good condition. Painted light: Height 18.5 cm, Width 14 cm.