Artwork

Saint Mary Magdalene, with an Angel [left panel]

Saint Mary Magdalene, with an Angel [left panel], by Pietro Lorenzetti, tempera, 1340
Saint Mary Magdalene, with an Angel [left panel], by Pietro Lorenzetti, tempera, 1340

Saint Mary Magdalene, with an Angel [left panel] is a tempera painting by the Italo Byzantine artist Pietro Lorenzetti. It dates from 1340 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.

About this work

Subject & Meaning

The left panel of the triptych presents the biblical figure of Mary Magdalene, identified in both the artwork's title and the Wikidata entry as the depicted subject. In this composition she is shown in a half-length format typical of 14th-century devotional images, clothed in modest robes and positioned beside an angel, a pairing that underscores her role as a penitent witness to divine grace. As part of a religious triptych painted by Pietro Lorenzetti around 1340, the panel functions as a visual meditation on repentance and redemption, aligning with contemporary understandings of Magdalene's symbolic association with conversion and contemplation.

Technique & Style

The half-length format, with the figure shown close to the picture plane, reflects the intimate scale typical of private devotional objects of the period.

Executed in tempera on panel, the work was subsequently transferred to canvas, a conservation intervention documented in the provenance records. The medium and support are consistent with mid-fourteenth-century Sienese practice and with Pietro Lorenzetti's handling of small devotional panels. The half-length format, with the figure shown close to the picture plane, reflects the intimate scale typical of private devotional objects of the period.

Stylistically, the panel belongs to a group of half-length saints that scholars have associated with Lorenzetti's workshop or close circle, though attribution to the master himself remains debated. The transfer from panel to canvas, carried out in connection with the early-twentieth-century ownership history, indicates prior condition issues that prompted structural intervention.

History & Provenance

Attributed to Pietro Lorenzetti and dated to 1340, this panel likely entered the art market in Florence by 1924, though contemporary reports were imprecise regarding its attribution. By 1926, the work was in the collection of Alessandro Contini in Rome, who gathered expert opinions on the triptych that year. Correspondence involving Contini, restorers, and advisor Paul Sachs indicates that Felix M. Warburg of New York purchased the panel in 1927.

Following Warburg's death, ownership passed by inheritance to his wife, Frieda Schiff Warburg. In 1941, she gifted the painting to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., where it remains part of the permanent collection.

Context

Scholarship situates the left panel of the Saint Mary Magdalene triptych within Pietro Lorenzetti's early 14th-century output, noting its religious subject and tempera technique. Early twentieth-century dealers and collectors, including Alessandro Contini and Felix Warburg, documented its provenance, while art historians such as Raimond van Marle and Miklós Boskovits referenced it in discussions of the Lorenzetti bottega. The work's inclusion in the National Gallery of Art's collection has reinforced its reputation as a key example of Sienese Gothic painting, illustrating the artist's role in bridging Byzantine tradition and naturalistic detail.

Overview

Pietro Lorenzetti, an Italian painter active in the first half of the 14th century, created Saint Mary Magdalene, with an Angel around 1340. This work, originally tempera on panel and later transferred to canvas, exemplifies the Sienese artistic tradition of its era. It depicts a religious narrative, showcasing the artist's engagement with naturalistic representation within a devotional context.

Saint Catherine of Alexandria, with an Angel [right panel]
Saint Catherine of Alexandria, with an Angel [right panel], Pietro Lorenzetti

Artist & collection

Portrait of Pietro Lorenzetti

Artist

Pietro Lorenzetti

Pietro Lorenzetti (Italian:; c. 1280 – 1348) or Pietro Laurati was an Italian painter, active between c. 1306 and 1345. Together with his younger brother Ambrogio, he introduced naturalism into Sienese art. In their…

This work is in the public domain (CC0). Image source: National Gallery of Art open access. Spotted an error in this record? Tell us.

Frequently asked questions

Who painted Saint Mary Magdalene, with an Angel [left panel]?

Saint Mary Magdalene, with an Angel [left panel] was painted by Pietro Lorenzetti in probably 1340.

Where can I see Saint Mary Magdalene, with an Angel [left panel]?

Saint Mary Magdalene, with an Angel [left panel] is held by National Gallery of Art.

What movement is Saint Mary Magdalene, with an Angel [left panel]?

Saint Mary Magdalene, with an Angel [left panel] is associated with Italo Byzantine.