Unknown Artist - Penitent Magdalene (copy of Guercino)

Mary Magdalene, known as Mary Magdalene, is a very popular subject, especially in Western religious art. This is explained by the fact that, according to both the New Testament and the apocryphal Gospels, she was a very close follower of Jesus, so much so that she personally witnessed the crucifixion. Indeed, the presence of the Magdalene in art is often linked to scenes of the Passion. There are also versions of the crucifixion in which only the Magdalene appears at the foot of the cross. Her presence is more common in the Lamentation of the Dead Christ, a scene in which she is always depicted kissing Jesus' feet, a reference to the episode, narrated in the Gospels, in which the Magdalene anointed the Lord's feet with perfumed ointment (indeed, she is often depicted holding jars). Also popular are versions of the Penitent Magdalene, who, according to the Golden Legend, withdrew to the desert to meditate after Jesus' death. In this case, she is depicted covered by a simple robe or only her red hair. She is often meditating on a skull (a symbol of transience) or instruments of the Passion.

A beautiful reproduction from Guercino, from which we can appreciate the more classicist side of the painter from Cento. Like other artists from the Bolognese area close to the Carracci school (Guido Reni, Lanfranco, Domenichino), Guercino always struggled between a more balanced, classicist language and a more baroque temperament. In this work, given the solitary subject, classicism prevails. It is undoubtedly a product of the great 17th-century naturalism that, aiming to repair the supposed errors of Mannerism, drew directly from the great masters of the late Renaissance, Raphael in particular. Hence the monumentality of the figure, with its rounded forms that undoubtedly also have something to do with Titian. A completely naturalistic rendering, therefore, that is also expressed in a restrained atmosphere. The Magdalene, in fact, interacts with the space in a balanced way, with a light sfumato that makes her contours undefined, her flesh soft to the touch, and her hair light in the air. Even the few landscape elements fade naturally into the distance, creating a harmonious blend of tones. The light strikes the subject from the left, creating shadows on the right arm with perfect verisimilitude and illuminating the complex drapery, characterized by an almost sculptural plasticity. The color palette, with a predominance of dark hues, is typically 17th-century.

The anonymous artist who painted this work after Guercino demonstrates a mastery of high-quality painting. This mastery is expressed through an absolutely naturalistic rendering, requiring a refined technique of glazing. In this way, the artist achieves the indefiniteness of contours, the continuity between subject and space, which are the fundamental prerequisites of classicism in modern painting. The entire surface of the canvas is harmoniously unified by an atmosphere in which the prevalence of cool, dark tones is in keeping with seventeenth-century aesthetics. Such high technical skill suggests that the anonymous artist who painted this canvas likely trained in a prominent workshop. Given the subject, a copy of Guercino, we can assume it originated in the Bolognese-Emilian area. From an analysis of the painting, therefore, we can outline the figure of a painter trained in the Carracci school, a worthy representative of the seventeenth-century classicist style.

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