Why it matters
The penitent Mary Magdalene sits by candlelight, lost in thought. De La Tour painted two nearly identical versions; this one is in the Louvre, the other in Los Angeles.
Did you know?
- It dates from around 1640.
- The Louvre bought it in 1949.
- The versions differ in the books on the table and the shape of the flame.
Based on the Wikipedia article Magdalene with the Smoking Flame (CC BY-SA 4.0).
