Saint Mary Magdalen Penitent
Domenico Fetti
(Italian (Roman), about 1589–1624)
about 1615
Medium/TechniqueOil on canvas
Dimensions99 x 77.2 cm (39 x 30 3/8 in.)
Credit LineCharles Potter Kling Fund
Accession number1979.767
On View
On viewClassificationsPaintings
Collections
Mary Magdalen was thought to have been a woman of sin, who retreated to a life of piety and penitence following her contact with Jesus Christ. Images of the Magdalen typically accentuated her appeal as a beautiful young woman, but also included such items as the crucifix and the prayer book, representing her solitary and virtuous existence. Fetti stresses the intensity of the Magdalen's devotion through his expressive treatment of her fluttering garments and clasped hands, and by representing her from below, as if she has already begun to ascend to the heavens.
ProvenanceSaid to have belonged to Carlo Pignatti Morano, Conte di Custoza (b. 1869 - d. 1944), Modena [see note 1]. By 1953, private collection, Modena [see note 2]. 1978, Edoardo Testori, Milan; 1979, sold by Testori to an unknown dealer, Milan [see note 3]. December 12, 1979, anonymous sale, Sotheby's, London, lot 93, to Somerville and Simpson, Ltd., London, for the MFA. (Accession Date: November 14, 1979)NOTES:
[1] According to information provided by Edoardo Testori to the MFA (correspondence of June 19, 1982 and April 18, 2013), before he owned it, the painting belonged to the Marchese Pignatti Morano di Custoza, Modena, and before that to the Coccapani Imperiali collection and the Galleria Estense, Modena (about which, see below, n. 3).
[2] The painting was first published by Roberto Longhi, "Antologia di artisti," Paragone (1953): 51-53, fig. 32.
[3] In the 1979 Sotheby's catalogue, possibly following the information that was provided by EdoardoTestori, this painting was tentatively identified with the "Santa Maria Maddalena contemplante il cielo, mezza figura al naturale dipinta in tela con molto espressione" by Fetti described at the Ducal Gallery, Modena, in 1787 (see "Descrizione delle pitture del Ducale Appartamento," 3d ed. [Modena, 1787). The MFA painting does not, however, depict the Magdalen contemplating heaven, as described in this inventory. Eduard Safarik, Fetti (Milan: Electa, 1990), p. 230, cat. no. 100a, has rejected this hypothesis outright, identifying the Magdalen from the Galleria Estense with a painting presently at Hampton Court.
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