The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 22, 2024

Saint Mary Magdalen

Saint Mary Magdalen

c. 1630
(French, 1590–1649)
Framed: 159 x 132 x 13 cm (62 5/8 x 51 15/16 x 5 1/8 in.); Unframed: 130.8 x 103.5 cm (51 1/2 x 40 3/4 in.)
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The skull beside Mary symbolizes the fleeting nature of life and ultimate worthlessness of material possessions.

Description

Vouet worked in Rome for several years before he was summoned back to France in 1627 to serve as court painter to King Louis XIII. This painting, executed soon after his return, reveals how skillfully Vouet adapted his Italian experiences to local tastes: the focus on a single monumental figure, positioned close to the picture plane, reflects the influence of Caravaggio, but the vivid pastel colors accord with the French preference for a brighter palette. Representations of the penitent Magdalene as a hermit—expressing Christian devotion but also sensuality—were exceedingly popular in the 1600s.
  • by 1769
    Marquis Laurent de Migieu (Paris, France), by descent to Vicomte René de Vaulchier
    by 1951
    Vicomte René de Vaulchier, Chateau de Savigny-les-Beaune, Cote d'Or
    June 6, 1978
    Sale: Guy Loudmer, Palais d'Orsay, Paris, June 6, 1978, no. 30
    December 14, 1987
    Sale: Guy Loudmer, Hotel Drouot, Paris, December 14, 1987, no. 24
    1987-1988
    Matthiesen Fine Art (London, England), sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1988-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Picart, Yves. La vie et l'œvre de Simon Vouet. Paris, France: Cahiers de Paris, 1958. Mentioned: p. 50; Reproduced p. 61, no. 137, vol. II
    Dargent, Georgette. "La Madeleine dans l'Oeuvre de Simon Vouet." Bulletin de Société de l'Histoire de l'Art Français 1959: 31-40. Mentioned: P. 34, 38-40
    Crelly, William. The Painting of Simon Vouet. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1962. Mentioned: p, 54; Reproduced: p. 216, no. 140, fig. 47
    Bardon, Francoise. "Le Theme de la Madeleine Penitente au XVIIeme siecle en France," Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes XXXI (1968). p. 277, n. 14
    Brejon de Lavergnee, Arnauld. "Four New Paintings by Simon Vouet,: Burlington magazine CXXIV no 959 (November 1982). p. 686
    Lurie, Ann Tzeutschler, Ann Percy, and Bernardo Cavallino. Bernardo Cavallino of Naples, 1616-1656. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1984. p. 189, cat. no. 69
    Duret-Rpbert, Francois, "Derniers Succes, Derniers Revers," Connaissance des Arts no. 432 (February 1988). p. 29, fig. 1
    "Recent Acquisitions at the Cleveland Museum of Art," The Burlington Magazine Vol CXXXIII No. 1054 (January 1991). p. 63, no. 1
    Brejon de Lavergnee, Arnauld, "Vouet at the Grand Palais," Exhibition Review, The Burlington Magazine CXXXIII (February 1991). p. 139, under no. 28
    Lurie, Ann Tzeutchler. "The Repentant Madgalene by Simone Vouet." The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art LXXX, no. 4 (April, 1993): 158-163. Reproduced: p. 158, Detail p. 162
    Ramon, Artur. Nada es bello sin el azar: quince episodios sobre pintura. Barcelona, Spain: Elba, 2012. Reproduced: p. 71, fig. 18
    Chamska, Isabelle, Marie Paule Botte, Magali Briat-Philippe, and Pierre-Gilles Girault. Marie Madeleine: la passion révélée. Saint-Étienne, France: IAC Éditions d’Art, 2016. p. 153 Mentioned: P. 153
  • The Year in Review for 1988. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 1-May 14, 1989).
    Les Plus Belles oeuvres des Collections de la Cote d'Or. Palais de Ducs, Dijon, France (1958).
  • {{cite web|title=Saint Mary Magdalen|url=false|author=Simon Vouet|year=c. 1630|access-date=22 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1988.108