Pedro Campaña, after Federico Zuccaro, 'The Conversion of Mary Magdalene', about 1562

The Conversion of Mary Magdalene

Pedro Campaña, after Federico Zuccaro

Not on display

About the work

Overview

Christ sits enthroned in the Temple of Jerusalem. He blesses the woman in the lower right, who is extending her arms and kneeling in repentance. This is Mary Magdalene, whose conversion is not specifically mentioned in the Gospels, but which was often represented in art. Her sister Martha stands beside her, pointing at Christ.

Pedro Campaña’s painting is inspired by a lost fresco by Federico Zuccaro, datable to 1563 and formerly in the Grimani chapel in the church of San Francesco della Vigna, Venice. The chapel, which was dedicated to Mary Magdalene, also included a fresco of the Raising of Lazarus (which has survived). Among the crowd of onlookers are numerous portraits, presumably of members of the Grimani family.

This panel can be associated with a small painting mentioned in the will of Giovanni Grimani (1506–1593). Its attribution there to ‘Pietro di Fiandra’ (literally ‘Peter the Fleming’) confirms Campaña’s authorship, as the artist was also known by this name (referring to his Flemish origins).

In-depth

A youthful Christ sits enthroned, preaching in the Temple of Jerusalem, which is filled with people. He blesses the woman in the lower right corner, who is extending her arms and kneeling in repentance. This is Mary Magdalene, and she wears opulent clothing and lavish jewellery which she will soon give up to pursue a life of piety. The woman standing beside her pointing at Christ is her sister Martha.

The conversion of Mary Magdalene is not specifically mentioned in the Gospels but it was often represented in art and featured in several Renaissance plays; another example in our collection is Paolo Veronese’s version, also painted in Venice around the middle of the sixteenth century. The spatial recession within the temple is created by the colonnade and tiled floor leading the eye to the arch in the centre, through which an imaginary city is visible.

Here Pedro Campaña has drawn inspiration from a lost fresco by Federico Zuccaro, datable to 1563 and formerly in the Grimani chapel in the church of San Francesco della Vigna, Venice. The chapel, which was dedicated to Mary Magdalene, also included a fresco of the Raising of Lazarus (Martha and Mary’s brother) which has survived. Zuccaro’s fresco of the conversion of Mary was severely affected by damp and was completely lost by the eighteenth century, but several of his preparatory drawings for the composition exist. Campaña’s painting may be based on an initial design by Zuccaro.

Among the crowd of onlookers are numerous portraits, presumably of members of the Grimani family. These include the little girl standing behind Mary Magdalene and the two children above her, silhouetted against the columns, as well as the numerous male figures in sixteenth-century dress who look out of the picture.

The colours in this painting have changed drastically, particularly evident in the figure of Christ. The red lake pigment of his robe has faded considerably, its brilliant rose colour surviving only in the deepest shadows. The dull grey-brown cloak he wears was originally blue – the smalt pigment used here has discoloured.

This work can be reasonably associated with Campaña. A small painting of the same subject by ‘Pietro di Fiandra’ (literally ‘Peter the Fleming’) is mentioned in the will of Giovanni Grimani (1506–1593), the powerful patriarch who had assumed responsibility for decorating the chapel in San Francesco della Vigna after 1558. ‘Pietro di Fiandra’ is the name by which Campaña was also known, referring to his Flemish origins. At the end of the eighteenth century, the art historian Luigi Lanzi wrote that Grimani had invited Campaña to Venice, where he painted various portraits and the ‘famous painting of Magdalene led by Saint Martha to the Temple to hear Christ preach’. This, and the evidence provided by Grimani’s will, point to Campaña’s authorship for this painting, despite the stylistic discrepancies between it and other works by the artist.

After spending extensive periods working in both Spain and Italy, Campaña returned to his native Brussels around the time that this picture and Zuccaro’s frescoes were painted.

Key facts

Details

Full title: The Conversion of Mary Magdalene
Artist: Pedro Campaña, after Federico Zuccaro
Artist dates: 1503 - 1580; 1541 - 1609
Date made: about 1562
Medium and support: oil on wood
Dimensions: 29.8 × 58.6 cm
Acquisition credit: Bought, 1888
Inventory number: NG1241
Location: Not on display
Collection: Main Collection
Previous owners: Jean Paul Richter

Provenance

Almost certainly painted for Giovanni Grimani, Patriarch of Aquileia, and bequeathed by him in 1593 to the Commendatore Lippomani. By about 1775 in the collection of Count Vitturi, Venice, by whom sold to Thomas Moore Slade. Purchased from Slade by Richard Hart Davis, by whom sold to Philip Miles of Leigh Court. Catalogued as by Campaña and hung in the Withdrawing Room at Leigh Court, near Bristol. Sold on 28 June 1884 at Christie’s (lot 8) for 190 guineas (£199 10s.), where bought by Richter. He was acting, according to The Times, for the Berlin museum, but it seems to have been a false rumour (or perhaps there was a misunderstanding with Berlin, or indeed perhaps Bode was disappointed by the work when he saw it). The painting was, judging from a label on the back of the panel, exported to Italy before being sold to the National Gallery in 1888.

Additional information

Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Nicholas Penny, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Paintings’, vol. 2, ‘Venice 1540–1600’, London 2008; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.

Bibliography

1822

L.A. Lanzi, Storia pittorica della italia dal risorgimento delle belle arti fin presso al fine del XVIII secolo, Florence 1822
1822

J. Young, A Catalogue of the Pictures at Leigh Court, Near Bristol: The Seat of Philip John Miles, Esq., with Etchings from the Whole Collection, London 1822
1824

W. Buchanan, Memoirs of Painting: With a Chronological History of the Importation of Pictures by the Great Masters into England Since the French Revolution, London 1824
1872

A. D'Ancona, Sacre rappresentazioni dei secoli XIV, XV e XVI, Florence 1872
1878

G. Vasari, Le vite de'più eccellenti pittori, scultori ed architettori: Con nuove annotazioni e commenti di Gaetano Milanesi, ed. G. Milanesi, 8 vols, Florence 1878
1890

G. Morelli, Kunstkritische Studien über italienische Malerei, Leipzig 1890
1893

A. Venturi, Il Museo e la Galleria Borghese, Rome 1893
1897

G. Morelli, Della pittura italiana, studii storico critici, Milan 1897
1954

P. Della Pergola, 'Contributi per la Galleria Borghese', Bollettino d'arte, XXXIX/2, 1954, pp. 134-40
1955

P. Della Pergola, 'Riferimenti a Luca Longhi', Bollettino d'arte, XL/1, 1955, pp. 83-4
1958

W.R. Rearick, 'Battista Franco and the Grimani Chapel', Saggi et memorie di storia dell'arte, II, 1958, pp. 105-39
1962

Gould, Cecil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Schools (excluding the Venetian), London 1962
1966

J. Gere, Mostra di disegni degli Zuccari (Taddeo e Federico Zuccari, e Raffaellino da Reggio): Catalogo critico, Florence 1966
1987

Gould, Cecil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Schools, London 1987
1990

M.S. Mantovanelli, Arte e committenza nel Cinquecento in area veneta. Fonti archivistiche e letterarie, Padua 1990
1992

M. Hochmann, Peintres et commanditaires à Venise (1540-1628), Rome 1992
1999

B.W. Meijer, 'Pieter Cornelisz. Van Rijck and Venice', Oud Holland, CXIII, 1999, pp. 137-52
2001

C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
2001

C. Richardson, D. Saunders and M. Spring, 'Reconstructing Altered Colours by Image Processing: "The Conversion of the Magdalen" attributed to Pedro Campana', Zeitschrift für Kunsttechnologie und Konservierung, XV/2, 2001, pp. 338-46
2001

M. Spring et al., 'Colour Change in "The Conversion of the Magdalen" attributed to Pedro Campaña', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, XXII, 2001, pp. 54-63
2005

M. Spring, C. Higgitt and D. Saunders, 'Investigation of Pigment-Medium Interaction Processes in Oil Paint containing Degraded Smalt', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, XXVI, 2005, pp. 56-70
2008

Penny, Nicholas, National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Paintings, 2, Venice, 1540-1600, London 2008

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.