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Description: | The uncertain authorship of Portsmouth's Penitent Magdalene is made evident by the painting's varied attribution history revealed during conservation by the presence of two spurious signatures: those of Salvator Rosa (1615-1673) and Elisabetta Siriani (1638-1654). While some of the former's dramatic tenebrismo is evident in the painting's striking chiaroscuro effects (extreme contrasts of light and dark) and wild landscape setting, the essentially classical composition of the figure and putti in the upper left corner, indicate the work's Bolognese origin, heavily influenced by Guido Reni (1575-1642). However the bold contraposto pose of the figure is unusual and suggests the work of a distinctive creative personality: Guido Cagnacci (1601-1663), one of Reni's most original Bolognese followers. Cagnacci specialised as a painter of women and frequently treated the subject of Mary Magdalene. In the monumental Portsmouth painting, Cagnacci shows the Magdalene seated, facing left and turning her head over her right shoulder towards a vision of putti above her. With hands together in prayer, she is partially draped by a dark blue silk garment. She is surrounded by the attributes associated with her story: at her feet an oil jar recalls how she anointed Christ's feet at supper with Simon Pharisee, while the books indicate her seclusion as a hermit. The skull, cross, bloody whip and razor girdle visibly cutting into Mary's side are depicted with the brutal realism typical of counter-reformation imagery of sinner-saints made for the promotion of the sacrament of penance. | Subjects: | religion (Mary Magdalene) | Source: | Vads | Creator: | Artist: Cagnacci, Guido (Italian painter, 1601-1663) Æ Attributed to Previously attributed to Italian (Bolognese) School | Identifier: | http://www.vads.ac.uk/large.php?uid=8497... | Go to resource |
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