La Tour, Georges de (1593-1652)
La Madeleine aux deux flammes (The Penitent Magdalen with two flames)
c.1640
Oil on canvas, 133.4 x 102.2 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
With its extreme contrasts of candlelight and shadow, pared-down geometry, and meditative mood, this painting exemplifies La Tour’s painting at its most accomplished and characteristic. These visual qualities were a powerful countertrend to Baroque painting’s typical pomp and showiness. A native of the duchy of Lorraine in eastern present-day France, La Tour was indebted to Caravaggesque painting, but tended toward even more simplified forms. The quiet atmosphere of this painting perfectly fits the subject, Mary Magdalen, who renounced the pleasures of the flesh for a life of penance and contemplation. She is shown with a mirror, symbol of vanity; a skull, emblem of mortality; and a candle that probably references her spiritual enlightenment. (MET)
Compare:
La Tour, Georges de (1593-1652)
La Madeleine au miroir
c.1635–1640
National Gallery of Art, Washington