Why it matters
Mary Magdalene looks up to heaven with tears in her eyes, at a moment of elation and deep repentance. Titian's radiant Magdalene inspired the poet Vittoria Colonna, who saw her as 'aglow with her burning passion for Christ'.
Did you know?
- It was painted around 1531 for Federico Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua.
- It is signed 'TITIANUS' on the ointment jar.
- Legend said her clothes had fallen apart during thirty years of penance in the desert.
Based on the Wikipedia article Penitent Magdalene (Titian, 1531) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
