Saint Mary Magdalen
Simon Vouet (French, 1590–1649)
c. 1630
- Medium
- oil on panel
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- 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.)
- Culture
- France
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
Simon 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.
