Spanish school; 18th century.

Spanish school; XVIII century.
"Magdalene."
Oil on canvas. Relined.
Measurements: 76.5 x 58 cm; 93 x 75 cm (frame).
Mary Magdalene is mentioned in the New Testament as a distinguished disciple of Christ. According to the Gospels, she housed and materially provided for Jesus and his disciples during their stay in Galilee, and was present at the Crucifixion. She was a witness of the Resurrection, as well as the one in charge of transmitting the news to the apostles. She is also identified with the woman who anointed Jesus' feet with perfumes before his arrival in Jerusalem, so her main iconographic attribute is a knob of essences. While Eastern Christianity honors Mary Magdalene especially for her closeness to Jesus, considering her "equal to the apostles", in the West, based on her identification with other women in the Gospels, the idea developed that before meeting Jesus she had dedicated herself to prostitution, hence the later legend that narrates her penance in the desert. In art she was preferably represented in this way, especially in the 17th century, a time when Catholic societies felt a special fascination for the lives of mystics and saints who lived in solitude in wild places, dedicated to prayer and penance. The theme of the Magdalene, moreover, offered the possibility of representing a beautiful woman who shows some parts of the anatomy then considered taboo, such as the feet or the breast, but who in her respects decorum in that she is mortified flesh expressing repentance for her past sins.