1630
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Saint Mary Magdalen is a 1630 unspecified by Simon Vouet, a Barbizon school work, depicting Mary Magdalene, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a woman in a red robe, her hands clasped, looking up at a beam of light. Her face is half in shadow, half lit. Vouet painted this soon after returning from Rome to France. He kept the strong light-and-dark contrast he learned in Italy but used softer colors to please French tastes. The way the figure fills the frame feels dramatic, almost like she’s stepping out of the painting. To see how Italian style changed in France, look up *chiaroscuro*.
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 skull beside Mary symbolizes the fleeting nature of life and ultimate worthlessness of material possessions.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Simon Vouet (French pronunciation: ; 9 January 1590 – 30 June 1649) was a French painter who studied and rose to prominence in Italy before being summoned by Louis XIII to serve as Premier peintre du Roi in France.
See the richer artist page
