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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

More Artwork

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Medea Rejuvenating Aeson, Corrado Giaquinto Italian, Oil on canvas
Medea Rejuvenating Aeson
Corrado Giaquinto
ca. 1760
Lobster-Tail Burgonet, Steel, leather, gold, North Italian
Lobster-Tail Burgonet
North Italian
ca. 1610
Piazza San Marco, Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal) Italian, Oil on canvas
Piazza San Marco
Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal)
late 1720s
Dead Christ Supported by Angels, Francesco Trevisani Italian, Oil on canvas
Dead Christ Supported by Angels
Francesco Trevisani
ca. 1710
Saint Joseph Presented by the Virgin to the Holy Trinity, Corrado Giaquinto Italian, Red chalk, pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, highlighted with white
Saint Joseph Presented by the Virgin to the Holy Trinity
Corrado Giaquinto
ca. 1735

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