The Penitent Magdalen

ca. 1750
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 627
According to the Golden Legend, Mary Magdalen chose to spend her last days nourished only by angels’ song in an act of penitence. Giaquinto shows her dressed for self-punishment—she wears a painful metal belt with spurs known as a cilice—and turning away from her contemplation of a skull, book, and crucifix to gaze on an angel. This painting was executed for Cardinal Mario Bolognetti (1690–1756) around the time he was appointed deacon of Santa Maria ad Martyres in Rome, better known as the Pantheon. It was among six religious works by Gianquinto that hung in Bolognetti’s bedroom when he died.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Penitent Magdalen
  • Artist: Corrado Giaquinto (Italian, Molfetta 1703–1766 Naples)
  • Date: ca. 1750
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 63 x 46 1/2 in. (160 x 118.1 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Mark Fisch and Rachel Davidson Gift, in honor of Keith Christiansen, 2006
  • Object Number: 2006.54
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

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