The Penitent Magdalen by Georges de La Tour
$97.92
Type
Size
Frame Color
Quantity
1
The Penitent Magdalen by Georges de La Tour: what it depicts
The Penitent Magdalen by Georges de La Tour
One flame, seen twice
The only light in the room is a candle, and we see it twice: once on the table, once in the mirror behind it. Mary Magdalene sits in profile, chin on her hand, looking not at herself but at the reflected flame. In her lap lies a skull, her other hand resting on it lightly. The jewels she has taken off are scattered on the table and floor. La Tour builds the entire meaning out of those few objects — vanity, the light that outlasts it, and death held in the lap like something familiar.
Silence as the subject
La Tour painted the Magdalen several times, always at night, always by a single flame, always without drama. Nothing moves. The palette is reduced to reds, browns and the gold of the candle, and forms are simplified almost to geometry: the rounded shoulder, the oval of the mirror, the cylinder of the candle. The effect is closer to meditation than to narrative.
A painter rediscovered
La Tour was successful in his lifetime in Lorraine, then forgotten so completely that his pictures were attributed to others for two centuries. He was reidentified only in the early twentieth century. This is one of the works that restored him.
Where it hangs
The painting is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and measures 133 by 102 centimetres.
About this print
Made from a 3,636-pixel photograph of the original, enough to print sharply at up to about 24 inches on its longest side.
Sources: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York · Wikidata Q3210251 · Wikimedia Commons
Who Made It
Created by Georges de La Tour. Painted in 1640. Oil on Canvas.
All Available Options
Below is a list of all available sizes and product types.
| Type | Size | Color | Price | Availability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canvas | 12″ x 18″ (Vertical) | - | $44.13 | In Stock |
| Canvas | 16″ x 24″ (Vertical) | - | $71.62 | In Stock |
| Framed | 12″ x 18″ (Vertical) | Black | $97.92 | In Stock |
| Framed | 12″ x 18″ (Vertical) | Espresso | $97.92 | In Stock |
| Framed | 12″ x 18″ (Vertical) | White | $97.92 | In Stock |
| Framed | 16″ x 24″ (Vertical) | Black | $121.38 | In Stock |
| Framed | 16″ x 24″ (Vertical) | Espresso | $121.38 | In Stock |
| Framed | 16″ x 24″ (Vertical) | White | $121.38 | In Stock |
Image: source, Public domain (work and photograph).
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