Probably by Correggio, 'The Magdalen', perhaps about 1518-19

The Magdalen

Probably by Correggio

Not on display

About the work

Overview

Mary Magdalene leans on a large book and holds the pot of ointment with which she anointed Christ’s feet. According to legend, she retreated into the wilderness of Provence and lived there alone, unreachable by man, and was brought bread by angels who sang to her. In penitence for her former life as a prostitute, she has abandoned all her jewels and finery and her hair is in disarray. She turns from her book to look at us, with one naked foot crossed over the other, and her breasts exposed.

Correggio’s depiction of a full-length Mary Magdalene in a landscape is very original. She is seamlessly integrated into her wild setting and the ivy, dandelions and plants are depicted in meticulous detail. A change made to the composition during painting has been considered as evidence that the picture is definitely an original by Correggio, but some regard it as a copy of a lost larger picture.

In-depth

Mary Magdalene leans on a large book and holds the pot of ointment with which she anointed Christ’s feet. According to legend, she retreated into the wilderness of Provence, in southern France, to avoid human contact. She lived there alone, unreachable by man, and was brought bread by angels who sang to her.

In her penitence in the wilderness she has abandoned all her jewels and finery and her hair is in disarray. She is a voluptuous penitent: her simple blue cloth has slipped down, revealing her breasts and reminding us of her past life when she was reputedly a prostitute. Correggio allows us to see her in this remote location where no one else can reach her. She turns to look at us, with one naked foot crossed over the other, as though we have just interrupted her reading. Her gaze is open and direct, meeting our eye in an intimate moment.

Correggio’s depiction of a full-length Mary Magdalene in a landscape is very original. She is seamlessly integrated into her wild setting, anchored in a cross shape formed by her limbs and the rocky ledge, in the centre of the composition. Correggio has depicted the ivy, dandelions and plants surrounding her in meticulous detail. The dandelion was associated with the bitterness of the Passion. Two of the flowers with ragged pale petals in the foreground appear to be pinks, which were also associated with the Passion. The other plants – such as evergreen ivy suggesting immortality – may have had similar associations with Christ.

This is probably a relatively early work by Correggio, but it is not in good condition. With her sweet face and fair hair, Mary Magdalene looks like Correggio’s Diana in his frescoes for the Camera di San Paolo (Chamber of Saint Paul) in a convent in Parma, painted in 1518–19. Her body also resembles Correggio’s nude Three Graces for the same room, and may have been painted around the same time. Several other versions of the composition are known, but this appears to be the best of them. A change made to the picture during painting has been considered as evidence that it is definitely an original by Correggio, but some regard it as a copy of a lost original.

As with many small early works by Correggio, there is not much information about the origins or history of this picture prior to the beginning of the last century. A painting by Correggio in the collection of King Charles I was described as Mary Magdalene ‘standing and leaning, being a little intire figure, which has been too much washed.’ (This means that the painting had been over-restored.) However, the description may have been referring to a slightly larger version of this picture.

Key facts

Details

Full title: The Magdalen
Artist: Probably by Correggio
Artist dates: active 1494; died 1534
Date made: perhaps about 1518-19
Medium and support: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 38.1 × 30.5 cm
Acquisition credit: Salting Bequest, 1910
Inventory number: NG2512
Location: Not on display
Collection: Main Collection
Previous owners: George Salting

Provenance

A Magdalen attributed to Correggio and measuring about 1.027 × 0.77 m. is recorded in the collection of the Duke of Savoy at Turin in 1631 and Vertue describes a version 18" high by 15" broad in Charles I’s collection in which the Magdalen is ‘standing and leaning, being a little intire figure, which has been too much washed’. But it is doubtful whether either of these entries is relevant to no. 2512. Both sets of dimensions are too large and it seems that no. 2512 has not been cut down, since round the painted area there is an unprimed strip, about a quarter of an inch wide, of what appears to be the original canvas.

Apparently no. 25 in the Ravaisson-Mollien sale, Paris (Hôtel Drouot) 23rd November, 1903, bought by Christian de Marinitsch. Next recorded in England, in 1907, in the possession of George Salting (by whom lent to B.F.A.C. exhibition, 1907 (32)). Although on the strength of a reproduction in colour of lot no. 25 in the Ravaisson-Mollien sale catalogue there can be little or no doubt that no. 2512 is identical with that picture, its history during the intermediate period of four years is not satisfactorily accounted for. On the one hand it is stated by Herbert Cook that the picture came to England from Italy in 1907 and was then purchased by Salting. On the other, a picture of the Virgin and Child with two Angels (now National Gallery, no. 2608, (?) after ‘Campin’) which had also been bought by Christian de Marinitsch at the Ravaisson-Mollien sale had entered Salting’s collection by 1904.

Salting Bequest, 1910.

Additional information

Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Cecil Gould, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Schools’, London 1987; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.

Exhibition history

2008

Correggio in Parma

Galleria Nazionale (Parma)

20 September 2008 - 25 January 2009

Bibliography

1907

C. Phillips, 'Art Notes', Daily Telegraph, 1907
1910

C. Phillips, 'The Salting Collection, II: The Italian Pictures', The Burlington Magazine, XVII/85, 1910, pp. 9-22
1930

C. Ricci, Correggio, London 1930
1936

B. Berenson, Pitture italiane del Rinascimento: Catalogo dei principali artisti e delle loro opere con un indice dei luoghi, Milan 1936
1953

P. Bianconi, Tutta la pittura del Correggio, Milan 1953
1958

R. Longhi, 'Le Fasi del Correggio Giovine e l'Esigenza del suo Viaggio Romano', Paragone, IX/101, 1958, pp. 34-53
1962

Gould, Cecil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Schools (excluding the Venetian), London 1962
1965

M. Laskin, The Early Works of Correggio, Ann Arbor 1965
1975

C. Gould, Delaroche and Gautier: Gautier's Views on the 'Execution of Lady Jane Grey' and on other Compositions by Delaroche, London 1975
1976

C. Gould, The Paintings of Correggio, London 1976
1987

Gould, Cecil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Schools, London 1987
1993

M. Di Giampaolo and A. Muzzi, Correggio: Catalogo completo dei dipinti, Florence 1993
1995

M. Mussini, Correggio Tradotto: Fortuna di Antonio Allegri nella stampa di riproduzioni fra Cinquecento e Ottocento, Milan 1995
1997

D. Ekserdjian, Correggio, London 1997
2001

C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
2003

M. Spagnolo, 'Correggio's Reclining Magdalen: Isabella D'este and the Cult of St. Mary Magdalen', Apollo, CLVII/496, 2003, pp. 37-45
2005

M. Spagnolo, Correggio: Geografia e storia della Fortuna (1528-1657), Cinisello Balsamo 2005
2008

L.F. Schianchi (ed.), Correggio (exh. cat. Galleria Nazionale, Camera di San Paolo, Cattedrale, Chiesa di San Giovanni Evangelista, 20 September 2008 - 25 January 2009), Milan 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.

Images

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You've viewed 6 of 11 works

Probably by Correggio, 'The Magdalen', perhaps about 1518-19

About the work

Overview

In-depth

Key facts

Details

Provenance

Additional information

Source

Exhibition history

Bibliography

About this record

Images

More works by Correggio