Artist: Georges de La Tour (French, Vic-sur-Seille 1593–1653 Lunéville) Date: ca. The dating has been established indirectly, based on a 1455 copy from Neri di Bicci's workshop now in the Museum of the Collegiate of Empoli. Between 1638 and 1643, master painter Georges De La Tour created ‘The Penitent Magdalen’ with oil on canvas, a painting that is regarded by many as one of the most treasured and unforgettable art works, and is especially appreciated by those of the Catholic faith. The hall. The Penitent Magdalene is a piece that seems intent on creating a visceral reaction in the viewer. Sometime between 1400 and 1410, before he created the Penitent Magdalene, Donatello created a Crucifix for the Franciscan basilica of Sante Croce. Is her countenance one of sorrowful repentance or spiritual ecstasy? View in Street View. 1550. Choose your favorite the penitent magdalene designs and purchase them as wall art, home decor, phone cases, tote bags, and more! Caravaggio, Penitent Magdalene, 1597, oil on canvas, 122.5 x 98.5 cm (Doria Pamphilj Gallery, Rome) Her downcast, kneeling figure has drawn comparisons with Caravaggio’s Penitent Magdalene, which Canova would have seen in Rome. The Penitent Magdalene Description Exhibitions Provenance Credit According to Christian tradition, after meeting Christ, Mary Magdalene repented of her former sinful ways. The Penitent Magdalene by Donatello can be said to have influenced how artists carved and modelled for decades after. Antonio Canova (1757-1822), the great Neoclassical sculptor, left a truly prodigious body of work, much of it portraiture or mythological in subject matter or, not infrequently, as in Paolina Borghese as Venus Victorix and Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker, a mixture of the two. This came to light after the carving was damaged in the Florentine flood of 1966. She was a popular figure in the Eastern Churches, who had been a prostitute before spending thirty years repenting in the desert. The fact that Donatello used both carving and modelling showed to other artists that the experimentation of the Florence Renaissance and some independent thinking could indeed produce astounding works of art. During life: Since there are no surviving documents related to the creation and "life" of Donatello's Mary Magdalen, it is difficult to say how the statue was received at the time of its completion. Mary Magdalene has long been recognized as one of the New Testament’s more alluring women. Penitent Magdalene, by Domenico Tintoretto, c. 1598-1602. According to the tenets of the 17th–century Catholic church, Mary Magdalene was an example of the repentant sinner and consequently a symbol of the Sacrament of Penance. On 14 February 1612 Juan Bautista Maíno signed the contract to execute the paintings for the monastery church of San Pedro Mártir in Toledo. Since then, the statue has been moved a few times: in 1688 it was replaced by the baptismal font and put in storage, in 1735 it was moved back to the Baptistery against the southeast wall and in 1912 it was put back against the southwest wall. Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte Italy. The Penitent Magdalen Giuseppe Mazzuoli (1644–1725) Manchester Art Gallery Back to image. The Penitent Magdalene – Works – The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art Artist: Doménikos Theotokópoulos, called El Greco (Greek, 1541 - 1614) Previous depictions of Mary Magdalene’s long flowing hair were a sign of her beauty, but Donatello decided to give her hair a matted and unkempt look thus taking beauty from her and keeping her more in line with the churches change of opinion of her. Though the "Penitent Magdalene" was the usual depiction for the many single figures of Mary Magdalene in art, Donatello's gaunt, emaciated figure differs greatly from most depictions, which show a beautiful young woman in nearly perfect health. Buy Antonio Canova Prints Now from Amazon. Most people think of her as a prostitute who repented after encountering Jesus. Title: The Penitent Magdalen. The quiet atmosphere of this painting perfectly fits the subject, Mary Magdalen, a witness of Christ who renounced the pleasures of the flesh for a life of penance and contemplation. It is now in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo in Florence. The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, a bold, innovative and caring museum that is welcoming to all disciplines such as the visual arts, history and science. In 1500 the work was in the city's baptistery. According to the Golden Legend, Mary Magdalen spent the end of her life in a cave near Marseilles where she was visited daily by angels, their songs her only nourishment.Giaquinto shows her dressed as a penitent (around her chest she wears a cilice, a metal belt with spurs), her gaze focused on the gesturing angel and the crown of thorns displayed by a cherub. The Penitent Magdalene is a Baroque Oil on Canvas Painting created by Georges de La Tour in 1640. It it a picture of the Penitent Magdalene, or St. Mary Magdalene of gospel fame! © www.donatellosculptures.com 2018. What is striking about the Penitent Magdalene by Donatello is the height of the carving (188cm) and that some of the strands of hair are either individually or partially modelled. In this scene, Magdalene is shown at a moment of contemplation. This influence can be clearly seen by the posture of the Penitent Magdalene, her hands nearly joining, as if in prayer, her open mouth like she is begging for forgiveness. The work was damaged by the 1966 flood of the Arno River, and the restoration process revealed some of the statue's original polychrome and gilding. With her ivory skin and long golden hair, the beautiful Magdalene turns her gaze toward heaven. Choose your favorite the penitent magdalene paintings from millions of available designs. He shaped the main body of the work from white poplar wood and the finer points were then finished with gesso (stucco). There is no doubt that some artists of the Renaissance at the time were eager to emulate Donatello and it was rumoured that both he and the artist Filippo Brunelleschi were in a contest to produce the best Crucifix. The Penitent Magdalene is a wooden sculpture of Mary Magdalene by the Italian Renaissance sculptor Donatello, created around 1453–1455. Donatello's interpretation of the penitent Mary Magdalen. In both, her kneeling posture emphasises humility, a word originating from the Latin humus or ‘ground.’ Documentation about the work is scarce. In this location, paintings from Venice, one of the major centers of the Italian Renaissance, where some of the greatest Italian artists of all time lived, are gathered. He thus ignored the Western legends by which Mary was daily fed by angels in the desert. Titian and his workshop created many copies and variations of … Medium: Oil on canvas. Today, being moved after restoration, it can be seen in the Sala della Maddalena in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo in Florence.[1][2]. Oil on panel. Previously artists had shaped the figure then hollowed out the pith at the centre to minimise cracking but since Donatello had not been trained in such techniques, he solved the problem in his own unique way. The earliest mentioning of the Penitent Magdalene dates from 1500 and mentions that the statue is being placed back in the Baptistery in Florence against the southwest wall. The Penitent Magdalene Titian signed ca. Antonio Canova was an Italian neoclassical sculptor born on 1st November 1757 in the Venetian city of Possagno. The Penitent Magdalene. 1 / 2. [4], "ArtWay - Penitent Magdalene by Donatello", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Penitent_Magdalene_(Donatello)&oldid=1009231307, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Strom, Deborah, "A New Chronology for Donatello's Wooden Sculpture" in, This page was last edited on 27 February 2021, at 13:04. Domenico Tintoretto (Domenico Robusti, Venice 1560 - 1635) Painting. The Penitent Magdalene 1752 Oil on canvas, 48 x 64 cm Gemäldegalerie, Dresden: Anton Raphael Mengs painted this picture in 1752 in Rome, and it led to his admittance to the Accademia di San Luca. Donatello's depiction is similar to, and very probably influenced by, Eastern Orthodox icons of Mary of Egypt, which show a similar emaciated figure. In the early 15th century, when Donatello sculpted this figure, there was a push by the Roman Catholic Church to promote penitence amongst the faithful. During the restoration of the flood-damaged carving, it was discovered that the Penitent Magdalene is essentially a nude figure with strands of hair nailed or pinned to the main body of the carving. The sculpture was probably commissioned for the Baptistery of Florence. Penitent Magdalene. View in Augmented Reality. Religious works by him are comparatively rare, though, the most celebrated being The Penitent Magdalene. The Gospels paint a very different picture. Unfortunately, Mary Magdalene later became known primarily as a sinner more than a penitent, even as a temptress and a prostitute. Donatello executed the work when he was more than sixty years old, after he had spent a decade in Padua. The Penitent Magdalen 1978.517 The subject of this painting by Georges de la Tour is Mary Magdalene, an important figure in Christianity and follower of Christ during his lifetime. It is regarded as his first masterpiece as a truly independent artist and was completely carved from a solid piece of pear wood. Along the medieval pilgrim road from France to Rome, there were so many churches dedicated to Mary Magdalene, the penitent saint. In the gospels, she was a close friend of Jesus in a lot of different ways. Later he tackled the subject on numerous occasions, and in very different ways. The hair on the sculpture doesn’t fall smoothly but more in matted ropes, sticking to her face and clinging to her wasted body and the absence of feminine features highlighted by the belt around her thin waist. According to an Italian historian, it was seen by Charles VIII of France in the 1480s, when he was camped with his army near Florence. It is now in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo in Florence. In contemporary British artist Chris Gollon’s painting of The Pre-penitent Magdalene (above), Mary appears as a defiant femme fatal adorned with jewelry and make-up. The Penitent Magdalene by Donatello is thought to have ended depictions of Mary Magdalene as being attractive and influenced other artists to render her in a more unfavourable tone for decades later. The position of the figure in the trunk of wood was done in such an ingenious way, it brought the chance of the wood cracking down to a minimum. Capitoline Museums, Rome, Italy. A native of the duchy of Lorraine in eastern France, La Tour was much indebted to Caravaggesque painting, but tended towards even more simplified forms. These life-sized figures were usually hollowed out but not in Donatello's carvings, which pointed to the fact that Donatello had not been trained in woodworking techniques, so was free from restrictions that more classically trained artists found themselves bound by. In all likelihood, however, the statue was appreciated for its emotional rawness and realism. Dimensions: 52 1/2 x 40 1/4 in. According to legend, Mary led a dissolute life until her sister Martha persuaded her to listen to Jesus Christ. 1640. A reformed prostitute, the Magdalene washed and anointed Christ’s feet, leading him to pardon her sins. [3]. The wood used by Donatello is that of White poplar. The Renaissance art historian Giorgio Vasari mentions the work in his Vite: "In the same baptistery, opposite this tomb, a statue from Donatello's own hand can be seen, a wooden Saint Mary Magdalene in Penitence which is very beautiful and well executed, for she has wasted away by fasting and abstinence to such an extent that every part of her body reflects a perfect and complete understanding of human anatomy." Although there were other images of the cave-dwelling saint in the 13th and 14th century depicting her as being … The Penitent Magdalen. Medieval hagiography in the Western church had conflated the figure of Mary Magdalene, already conflated with Mary of Bethany and the unnamed sinner in the Anointing of Jesus, with that of Saint Mary of Egypt. Brunelleschi did carve a crucifix from pear wood as well, but this was done later to Donatello’s, between 1410 and 1415. The subject of the penitent Mary Magdalene lifting her teary eyes to heaven gained great popularity in sixteenth-century Italy amongst aristocrats, religious figures and the wealthy middle class alike. Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 1978. The use of pear wood was an uncommon wood to be used in Tuscany at the time and the fact that his crucifix was also not hollowed out does leave credence to the fact he may have been trying to better Donatello using the same techniques. Many Catholics today view her with suspicion, or worse. It seems likely that Donatello's own reckoning with his mortality informed his piece portraying Mary. ‘The Penitent Magdalen’ was created in 1649 by Guercino in Baroque style. Penitent Mary Magdalene is different from Caravaggio's other youthful works in its suppression of most highlights, particularly on the flesh and the drapery. In this painting, by the French artist Georges de La Tour, Mary Magdalene sits in a meditative pose, with a candle and a mirror in front of her, and … And yet, while in Rome several cardinals chose the subject of the penitent Magdalene to decorate their opulent residences, in an ancient abbey at the gates of Rome Mary Magdalene was celebrated in a very different way. (133.4 x 102.2 cm) Classification: Paintings. Donatello carried on the tradition of portraying Mary Magdalene as a figure from history that was perceived to have had long flowing hair. This painting depicts Mary Magdalene, a symbol of the power of repentance. It lives at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The wood used by Donatello is that of White poplar. The Magdalene Penitent is famous for the detailed and very realistic carvings on the statue. All the penitent magdalene artwork ships within 48 hours and includes a 30-day money-back guarantee. What is evident though, is the fact that Donatello grasped and understood the problems that came with working with wood on this sort of scale. The Penitent Magdalene is a wooden sculpture of Mary Magdalene by the Italian Renaissance sculptor Donatello, created around 1453–1455. The statue was carved after Donatello himself suffered a long bout of illness in Padua. Accession Number: 1978.517 The work that he executed on that piece may have influenced how he proceeded with the work that he carried out on the Penitent Magdalene. All the penitent magdalene paintings ship within 48 hours and include a 30-day money-back guarantee. The first version, completed for a private patron between 1794-6, is in the Museo di Sant’Agostino in Genoa, the second, d… Whether through suppression or neglect, the Gospel of Mary was lost in the early period—just as the real Mary Magdalene was beginning to disappear into the … To construct life-sized figures, Donatello and other artists from that time used one solid piece of wood to start with. Donatello carried on the tradition of portraying Mary Magdalene as a figure from history that was perceived to have had long flowing hair. The piece was received with astonishment for its unprecedented realism. All Rights Reserved. Saint Mary Magdalen is the queen of penitents. Penitent Magdalene, a wooden sculpture of Saint Mary Magdalene by Donatello is thought to have been inspired by the then Bishop of Florence, Sant' Antonio. The image is in the Public Domain, and tagged Mary Magdalene and Skulls. The Penitent Magdalene in the Grotto of Sainte-Baume 1612 - 1614. The piece was received with astonishment for its unprecedented realism. Past restoration may have reduced the highlights somewhat, but the general effect is of an intentional utilization of softer light, modified by atmosphere. He began his art work at quite a young age using craving marble. Her special title is Penitent.That is the way she is referred to in the Church’s liturgy, and that is the way we lovingly remember her. The Penitent Magdalen in a Landscape (Annibale Carracci)‎ (2 F) Penitent Magdalene (Titian, 1565) ‎ (11 F) 17th-century paintings of penitent Magdalene ‎ (15 C, 99 F) The sculpture was probably commissioned for the Baptistery of Florence. Find more prominent pieces of religious painting at Wikiart.org – best visual art database. The complete crucifix carvings from solid wood by Donatello and Brunelleschi show that both had the capabilities to complete carvings without hollowing out wood. 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