georges de la tour the penitent magdalen

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The Penitent Magdalen

Georges de La Tour French

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 622

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.

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Artwork Details

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Title: The Penitent Magdalen

Artist: Georges de La Tour (French, Vic-sur-Seille 1593–1652 Lunéville)

Date: ca. 1640

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 52 1/2 x 40 1/4 in. (133.4 x 102.2 cm)

Classification: Paintings

Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 1978

Accession Number: 1978.517

Learn more about this artwork

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Timeline of Art History

France, 1600-1800 a.d., related artworks.

• All Related Artworks
• In the same gallery
• By Georges de La Tour
• European Paintings
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• From A.D. 1600–1800

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European Paintings at The Met

The Penitent Magdalene: Georges de la Tour

The Penitent Magdalene is an undated Religious Painting by French Baroque artist Georges de la Tour.

Analysis of The Penitent Magdalene

The Penitent Magdalene is an exquisite somber scene by Georges de la Tour where Mary Magdalene meditates on her past life of sin with true contrition. She is turned from us as if from shame but looks to the mirrored reflection of the Christian flame of faith.

The picture is characterized by a bold contrast of light and dark as if a manifestation of the battle between virtue and sin in the human heart. On her lap is a skull, a memento mori or ‘reminder of death’: all earthly life will end before the Last Judgement will cleanse all of the truly penitent of their sins. de la Tour painted this sometime around 1625-50.

Georges de la Tour’s The Penitent Magdalene is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, United States.

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Georges de La Tour

French Artist

Summary of Georges de La Tour

One of the greatest exponents of 17 th century Baroque painting, La Tour's mastery of chiaroscuro was such that he is often named as Caravaggio's natural successor. But La Tour's paintings, although relatively small in number, stand on their own terms for an economy of styling that charge his brooding candlelit scenes with a sense of enigmatic tranquility. La Tour's oeuvre shows a steady progression towards a uniquely minimalist style that would touch upon elements of symmetrical abstraction. Indeed, several historians have championed la Tour as the true progenitor of the Cubist movement. Although he was much admired in his own day, La Tour joins the exalted company of Piero della Francesca and Vermeer as canonical artists whose names and works had fallen into obscurity (and in La Tour's case, misattributed) before being rediscovered (and re-championed) by historians in the 20 th century.

Accomplishments

• La Tour's distinguished himself from others working in the Baroque style through a series of works that feature figures lit dramatically by the soft glow of a single light source. La Tour became increasingly drawn to candlelight scenes - often featuring a young boy or girl absorbed in an everyday task, whereby the flame spreads an atmosphere of otherworldly calm across the whole canvas. As his style evolved, La Tour's works would become increasingly sparse, with his masses reduced to simple, almost geometrical, dimensions. This technique imbues his works with a somewhat modern appearance that has provided a significant addition to the catalogue of 17th century French art.
• La Tour is sometimes referred to as a realist on the grounds that his works addressed the lives and experiences of the "common folk" of his hometown of Lorraine. But La Tour was not a naturalist. For his "real-life" works he achieved a sober, but meditative, quality. Indeed, rather than fixate the picturesque style that was prevalent in Northern Europe at the time, La Tour turned to the Caravaggesque realist approach since it provided the best means of representing "the soul of man".
• La Tour's sparsely populated pictures are rendered in "anonymous" locations with the absence of setting or scenery. His subjects never pose in front of architectural backgrounds or landscapes, with borders and boundaries delineated typically through partitioning devices such as walls. He omitted subsidiary figures with incidental accessories kept to the bare minimum (even his saints and angels were without haloes and wings). This technique, which brought a sense of silent calm, contributed to the enigmatic quality that has come to distinguish his work.
• La Tour's paintings, almost exclusively genre and religious works, can be divided between daytime and night-time scenes. Whereas the latter are defined by artificial light and a near elimination of color, the former, such as The Cheat with the Ace of Diamonds (c. 1635) and The Fortune-Teller (undated, c.1630-34), are distinguished by for their sharp, clear lighting, and a precision of brushwork. La Tour's works from this phase already indicate something of his individuality in their exquisite ornamentations and rendering of textures.

The Life of Georges de La Tour

According to author Christopher Wright, La Tour, "was seen as the great master of candlelight paintings, set apart from his contemporaries, by a near magical approach, both in subject matter and technique".

Important Art by Georges de La Tour

The Payment of Taxes

An important early work by La Tour, it shows an elderly man paying a tax (or debt) to group of men. The scene carries an element of threat in that the taxpayer seems as if he is being intimidated by the group. Author Philip Conisbee says of the work, "It has been convincingly suggested that its source lies in the tradition of tax-paying scenes, a well-established theme in Netherlandish art since the sixteenth century". Yet the painting carries a certain ambiguity in that, what might be on surface level a generic peasant scene of the powerful subjugating the meek, could be a modern reinterpretation of the biblical story of the "Calling of Matthew" (the tax collector who became a disciple) if, as some historians believe, it was painted during the earliest period of his career when he was chiefly engaged in painting the saints. In either case, this work offers confirmation of La Tour's skill at creating complex group compositions. According to Conisbee, here "La Tour employs a crowded space, somewhat awkward, eccentric poses, and a self-conscious use of artificial light to create the atmosphere of a silent and unsettling drama. Every feature of the painting - gestures, expressions, enigmatic poses, the play of light and shade - works to produce a tense, concentrated mood. Even the elevated viewpoint adds to the tension we experience from this encounter. [Even though early in his career, it] is already characteristic of La Tour's approach to painting: he rarely chooses an innovative subject, but he meditates on it deeply and presents it in a highly focused or concentrated way. There is no visual distraction, no ornament for ornament's sake. Forms are reduced to essentials, as are the gestures and expressions of his actors, establishing in this case a threatening mood".

Oil on canvas - Museum of Fine Arts, Lviv, Ukraine

Old Peasant Couple Eating

This painting is one of La Tour's key early works. It amply demonstrates his flair for capturing the mood of his subjects. As author Vittorio Maria de Bonis notes, the couple "ignore each other and instead sink their melancholy gaze into the eyes of the viewer as they angrily and greedily eat spoonfuls of the bright peas inside chipped, rough terracotta bowls". The mature figures are desperately hungry and they might easily symbolize the population of Lorraine (in Northeastern France) who had grown exhausted through war and famine. The bleak mood is reinforced through the dramatic Baroque style that sets the figures, whose faces and figures are cast in shadows, against a dour, featureless, background. De Bonis calls the painting, "one of the most eloquently desolate images of hunger and poverty ever painted". This work is also interesting because, unlike the artist's later pieces, it is not obvious to the viewer what message La Tour was trying to communicate. According to author Philip Conisbee, the work, "presents something of a dilemma for the modern viewer, for there are no clues about how the artist and his public understood such a picture: should we pity their plight, look down on them, or just savor their picturesqueness?". Conisbee suggests that La Tour invests his subjects "with a certain dignity, which perhaps means we should admire them as 'salt of the earth'". It is this fascinating element of ambiguity that contributed to the painters soaring reputation amongst 20 th century historians.

Oil on canvas - Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, Germany

The Fortune-Teller

Art historian Deanna MacDonald writes, "This painting is full of enigmas relating to its painter, subject and provenance. Signed in Latin in its top right corner 'G. de La Tour Fecit Luneuilla Lothar' (made by G. de La Tour, Lunéville Lorraine), this is one of the few daylight paintings by an artist who specialised in nocturnal scenes". In this narrative work, a well-to-do young man looks questioningly at the toothless old woman on the far right of the canvas as she holds out a coin. While focused on whatever tale she is spinning, he fails to realize that the other women standing around him, in cahoots with the older woman who has distracted him, are in the act of picking his pockets. MacDonald observes, "There is no indication of setting, though all wear colourful costumes. Are they in a brothel? Are the robbers gypsies? As it has a theatrical air, could it be a scene from a play, such as the parable of the prodigal son? But la Tour does not play the scene for comedy or eroticism. Sideways glances, expressive hand gestures and a mix of shadow and crisp daylight create an atmosphere ripe with tension: what will happen next? Details are meticulously rendered; from the patterns on the colourful fabrics to the words AMOR (love) and FIDES (faith) written minutely on the young man's watch chain. Despite the moralising theme, the artist seems to imbue each character with humanity: the foppish youth seems more naïve than dissolute and there is a sense of sadness and peril about the thieves (punishments for stealing in the 17th century included cutting off an ear, branding or death). The picture seems to warn of the dangers for all in a world of deceit and greed". MacDonald also introduces an interesting historical caveat into readings of the painting. In 1984 the art historian Christopher Wright published a book in which he claimed that all of La Tour's daylight pictures were in fact forgeries. MacDonald observes, "Wright, who as a young scholar had been involved in La Tour authentications, said that he had been pressured to pronounce the work genuine by powerful figures such as Sir Anthony Blunt, the famed art expert/spy. Wright even suggested that a French restorer (who died in 1954) named Delobre who worked for Wildenstein in the USA had painted them. Many have dismissed Wright's claims, including the Met [Museum of Art] but an aura of mystery remains".

Oil on canvas - Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

The Penitent Magdalen

The Penitent Magdalen is rich in the type of religious symbolism that would have been easily understood by audiences of La Tour's day. As the Metropolitan Museum of Art explains, "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". Here, as in his others works in this style, La Tour uses heightened chiaroscuro - or tenebrism - to underscore the mood and/or motivation of his subject. Conisbee writes, "At its most basic level the darkened interior enabled the artist to play on the theme of light and reflected light in contrast with the surrounding obscurity. It could set a mood conducive to contemplation and meditation, both for the actors in his pictures and for the participating spectator. Light and darkness had symbolic values on several levels: most obviously in the contrast between the spiritual darkness of our mortal world, illuminated by the light of the divine". Indeed, Mary Magdalene is a fitting subject for La Tour's Baroque treatment. The candle, which was widely interpreted as a symbol of Christ's presence, features here to connote an act of meditation and Magdalen's new faith (in Jesus) that will lead her away from a life of sin. But perhaps the most striking stylistic feature of this work is the reflection of the candle in the mirror. As Conisbee explains, "The two flames really dominate the picture, not only because they are the source of light, illuminating the figure of the Magdalene, but also because the repeated image of the flame and its reflection are so compelling; we can see both sides of the candle, and the far side best because it is illuminated by the reflected light. Only the skull on Magdalene's lap suggests that she may be pondering the earthly reality of our mortality and the eternal truth of the spiritual life, while deciding to abandon the blandishments of the material world".

Saint Joseph in the Carpenter's Shop

A rarely depicted subject, La Tour has shown Jesus as a young boy in the workshop of his carpenter father. Joseph dominates the scene and is bent down over a piece of wood, which he is working with a tool. Jesus holds a candle to help his father to see, effectively bathing his whole face in light. Joseph's eyes seem to be turned upward towards his son, suggesting they are in conversation. In fact this could be read as a humble familial scene were it not for the painting's title. La Tour's nocturne painting shows how he used lighting effects to elevate drama over naturalism. As authors Claudio Falcucci and Simona Rinaldi write, "one example of the extent to which what is portrayed in his paintings can be divorced from reality is visible in the Child's hand hiding the candle [...]. It is commonly known that light transmitted across a hand with its fingers closed produces a bright red colour, which is at its brightest where the fingers touch one another, and darker where the hand is thicker. In no case do we ever observe a white contour around the fingers, especially when they slightly overlap as they do in the representation. [...] Indeed, a constant element in La Tour's canvases seems to be his moving beyond the mere description of the physical phenomenon of the light released by the candle in the name of a more highly symbolic value".

Oil on canvas - Louvre Museum, Paris, France

The Choirboy

This work is characteristic of La Tour's penetrating application of the Baroque style. To enhance the drama of his scenes, and demonstrating his sophisticated handling of chiaroscuro that expresses itself in sharp tenebrism, he allowed his figures, in this case a solitary choirboy wearing a plumb colored alb with a delicately embroidered collar, to be illuminated by the light of a single candle. What is perhaps most interesting about this work from a compositional point of view is that the candle is not visible; rather it is hidden behind the hymn book that the boy holds. Only the tip of the flame and the base of the candle in the boy's hand is peeking out from behind the book. La Tour's clever composition reinforces the dedication of the boy to the task at hand while perhaps allowing the viewer to contemplate their own faith and devotion. Art critic Laura Cumming offers this reading of the painting: "La Tour must have seen a Caravaggio somewhere, if only as a print - but nobody has ever put such emphasis on the behaviour of candlelight. The way it strokes surfaces, sends out showers of highlights, gives warmth as well as light while casting everything beyond its ambit into blackness. His figures appear spellbound by the magical flame, seized with its mystery; only the candlelight shifts. He often achieves this by hiding the light source itself. [Here a] choirboy holds a candle up to his hymns but we only see the tip of the flame above a book that's as black as night. All that is visible, in fact, in this cave of seething darkness are the fingers, the face and this mesmerising flicker, giving the queer sense of a soul in trance. And what a serene mask the boy has, radically simplified and slightly oriental like many of de La Tour's characters. His candlelight seems to sheer away irregularities like a laser, polishing skin and making diamonds of eyes".

Oil on canvas - Leicester Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester, England

The Adoration of the Shepherds

In La Tour's nativity painting, the Christ child, swaddled in white cloth, is featured bathed in light in the center of the composition. Mary sits on the left, hands clasped in prayer while Joseph, sitting directly across from her, has his hands raised in praise. Two shepherds and a peasant girl occupy the background and look down on the baby adoringly. While the nativity has been a popular theme for artists throughout history, La Tour's approach distinguishes itself from other works in this theme. According to Conisbee, "the story lent itself to a nighttime scene, and there are countless prototypes in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. La Tour has gathered a group of five sympathetically observed worshippers around the Christ Child, who seems to radiate more light than he can possibly simply reflect from the candle held by Joseph. This last detail is significant. [...] La Tour brings a sense of intimacy and tenderness to the scene, and we can admire his powers of observation in the swaddled child. [...] There is no sense of theatricality in La Tour's interpretation: no dramatic gestures or exaggerated expressions". In this example we can see a style of rendering figures that helped distinguish La Tour from the approach of Caravaggio (to whom he was/is routinely compared). As Falcucci and Rinaldi explain, "while Caravaggio tended to emphasize the sculptural qualities of his subjects by painting them before he painted the background, which he then darkened depending on what was needed, always being sure not to let the background and the subject come into pictorial contact with each other, La Tour made very distinct borders between the background colours, which he then painted independently so that the figures were transformed into shapes applied to the background, with no dialectical rapport between the two".

Biography of Georges de La Tour

Childhood and education.

There is little information about the early life of Georges de La Tour, and without a surviving self-portrait (assuming he had painted one), we do not even have an image of the artist. All that is known (rumors that he was arrogant and unpopular with his neighbors notwithstanding) is that he was the second of seven children, born in Vic-sur-Seille (Vic), a large market town in the independent duchy of Lorraine (now part of north-eastern France). His father, Jean de La Tour, was a baker, his mother, also from a family of bakers, was named Sybille de Crospaux. His baptismal certificate was registered in Vic on 14 March 1593.

Early Training

That La Tour must have had an early interest in art can be assumed given that in the seventeenth century one would not have been accepted into a workshop to study unless he or she had already demonstrated a nascent talent. Art historian Gail Feigenbaum suggests that "His apprenticeship likely began around 1605, perhaps in Vic with Alphonse de Rambervilliers, a writer and amateur engraver close to the bishop of Metz, and he very likely worked in Nancy with the painter, etcher, and draftsman Jacques Bellange". Authors Claudio Falcucci and Simona Rinaldi have also conjectured that La Tour "received his artistic education in the workshop of the Swiss painter Claude Dogoz, who was working in the lively Lorraine area at the time". And while little is known about his religious upbringing, Feigenbaum observes that his devotional paintings, such as The Repentant Magdalen (c. 1640), "demonstrate powerful introspection and intense spirituality [that] may reflect the strong Catholic sentiments of Lorraine, which bordered northern Protestant states".

The influence of the Italian Baroque style , especially in the dark and dramatic backgrounds of Caravaggio (La Tour was still a teenager when the archetypal artistic rebel died, or was killed), begs the question: where would the artist have seen and studied such paintings? As Feigenbaum writes, "there has been much unresolved discussion about a possible trip to Rome". La Tour had begun painting with Dogoz and it is thought that he could have travelled to Italy with Dogoz between 1614-16, where he discovered the paintings of Caravaggio. Feigenbaum acknowledges that "La Tour's low-life subjects and his bold tenebrist manner of painting seem to be heavily indebted to the work of Caravaggio [...] and his followers in Rome [such as Bartolomeo Manfredi]. But Caravaggio's influence was spreading throughout Europe in the second decade of the century so it was by no means necessary for La Tour to have made an Italian trip". Indeed, Gerrit van Honthorst and Dirck van Baburen were working in the Baroque style in Utrecht, while in Lorraine, Jacques Bellange and Jean Leclerc were both exploring the dramatic potential for tenebrist lighting effects.

Mature Period

La Tour was married to Diane Le Nerf, a woman of status and wealth, in 1617 (La Tour gave his profession as painter on the marriage certificate). Her family were silversmiths and her father served as the minister of finance to the Duke of Lorraine. Having lived at the Le Nerf's family residence in Vic, they settled in the city of Lunéville (15 miles south of Vic) following the birth of their first child (Philipp) in 1620. (The couple were parents to a total of nine or ten children, although only three would reach adulthood, including their son, Etienne, who was officially ennobled as a painter in 1670.) In Lunéville, La Tour joined the studio of Claude Baccarat and between 1621-24 the Duke bought two of La Tour's paintings. With his reputation secured, La Tour established his own workshop in Lunéville where he employed apprentices.

The La Tours lived through a time of great uncertainty. It was the period of the Thirty Year War (1618-48) and by the 1630s Lunéville was becoming increasingly unsafe. As historian Gabriel Diss states, "La Tour needed great determination and unflinching energy not to be crushed by the incursions of armed rabble, the hordes of poverty-stricken refugees, the state of famine and the plague that struck Lorraine three times, in 1631, 1633, and 1636. He shouldered the great responsibility of supplying the needs of a workshop and a family of nine children, a burden made still greater in 1631 when he was appointed guardian of his nephews Antoine and François Nardoyen. The records show that he performed his duties with fairness and clear-sightedness".

The independent duchy of Lorraine (now northeastern France) sat between France and the Germany of the Holy Roman Empire. The citizens of Lunéville (located within the duchy of Lorraine) were trapped in the war between these two mighty colonial powers and La Tour and his family lived with a constant fear for their safety. After his home was ransacked, and his workshop razed, during a sack of Lunéville by the French in 1638, La Tour moved his family 30km to Nancy. Despite his close friendship with the Duke of Lorraine, La Tour now pledged his loyalty to the French. With his family safely settled in Nancy, La Tour left for Paris in 1639 where he took up his most prestigious position as peintre du roi ("Painter in Ordinary to King Louis XIII of France"). He made such an impression in this role that he was granted permission to set up a living space in the Louvre a year later.

Later Period

Once Lorraine became secure again (now under control of the French) La Tour was able to return home with his family. According to records dated 1643 he established a successful new studio in Lunéville. He produced religious and domestic scenes, both genres of which were popular throughout Europe. According to author Philip Conisbee, "La Tour conducted his artistic affairs in a solidly professional way: there were contracts, agreements, and schedules of payment. We know that he ran a small studio [and engaged apprentices] who helped out in the day-to-day running of his business and learned at least the rudiments of art from him. He [also] presumably trained his son Etienne".

Feigenbaum writes that, "between 1644 and 1651, the marquis de La Ferté-Sénecterre [...] the French governor of Lorraine, received six of La Tour's paintings as tribute from the cities of the region". It was also during this period that his nocturne paintings became popular. Anchored in the Baroque style, it was through his nocturnes that La Tour distinguished himself among his peers in the subtle way he used light to dramatize the actions of his subjects. Historian Pat Bauer writes, "The paintings of La Tour's maturity [...] are marked by a startling geometric simplification of the human form and by the depiction of interior scenes lit only by the glare of candles or torches. His religious paintings done in this manner have a monumental simplicity and a stillness that expresses both contemplative quiet and wonder".

Tragically, the plague that swept through Europe in the 1650s ravaged Lorraine and it is believed to have been the cause of La Tour's wife's death in 1652. What wider success La Tour might have achieved will remain unknown as this epidemic, a possibly a deep sense of grief, most likely claimed the artist's life only two weeks after his wife's passing. La Tour was fifty-eight years old.

The Legacy of Georges de La Tour

According to the author Dimitri Salmon, "La Tour's works were seldom copied in engravings and hence little known, nor did he have a biographer to record his life for posterity. Finally, Lorraine was constantly devasted by war for three centuries, and with it not only the painter's workshop but also the churches, monasteries, castles and mansions where his paintings hung". It wasn't until the early twentieth century that art historians began to examine La Tour's work through a contemporary lens, beginning in 1915 through the writings of art historian Hermann Voss. Calling his art "one of the great rediscoveries of the 20 th century", the historian Susan Moore states, "Today it seems inconceivable that this most compelling and singular of artists, highly successful in his day, should have been almost entirely forgotten for three centuries. [...] The reconstruction and rehabilitation of his artistic career have been described as 'the triumph of art history, and its justification'".

La Tour's work has had a profound influence on subsequent generations of artists. As Salmon states, "it is the fame of these works which is taken to task by the artists of the end of the twentieth and beginning of the twenty-first century as much as their beauty and the interest they arouse. Whatever their age, their career path or their nationality, whatever their aim or their technique, in their own way, today's artists - from the Chinese artist Yin Xin to the Mexican Alejandra Figueroa, the French artists Jérome Mesnager, Gérard Collin-Thiébaut and Frédéric Coché and the Italian Gerardo Dicrola - amply illustrate the tremendous infatuation with Georges de La Tour and the fascination that his Christ with Saint Joseph in the Carpenter's Shop and Adoration of the Shepherds exert more powerfully than ever before".

Influences and Connections

Useful Resources on Georges de La Tour

• Georges de La Tour and his World Our Pick By Philip Conisbee
• Georges de La Tour By Jacques Thuillier
• Georges de La Tour and the Enigma of the Visible By Dalia Judovitz
• Georges de La Tour: The Adoration of the Shepherds Christ with Saint Joseph in the Carpenter's Shop Our Pick Edited by Valeria Merlini, Dimitri Salmon, and Daniela Storti
• Flickers of genius By Laura Cumming / The Observer / July 15, 2007
• Georges de la Tour: The Fortune Teller - c1630s By Deanna MacDonald / Great Works of Western Art
• The Fortune-Teller Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• A sale in Cologne turns the spotlight on Georges de La Tour By Susan Moore / Apollo Magazine / November 25, 2020
• French Paintings of the Fifteenth through the Eighteenth Century By Gail Feigenbaum / The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue, Washington, D.C. / 2009
• Georges de La Tour By Pat Bauer / Britannica.com
• Georges de La Tour's paintings in the UK: French Caravaggism in Leicester, Wiltshire and Teesside Our Pick By Christopher Wright / Art UK / January 19, 2012
• A Sale in Cologne Turns the Spotlight on Georges de La Tour By Susan Moore / Apollo Magazine / November 25, 2020
• Georges de La Tour's Penitent Magdalen | Painting of the Week Podcast | S3 EP17 This podcast provides an indepth look at Georges de La Tour's painting the Penitent Magdalen
• Lecture: Dr. Lynn Orr, Ph. D - September 28, 2019 This lecture presented at the Portland Museum of Art features Dr. Lynn Orr discussing Georges de La Tour's nocturne painting The Magdalen with the Smoking Flame
• George de La Tour National Gallery of Art

Related Movements & Topics

Content compiled and written by Jessica DiPalma

Edited and revised, with Summary and Accomplishments added by Antony Todd

The Penitent Magdalene

The Penitent Magdalene is a Baroque   Oil on Canvas   Painting created by Georges de La Tour in 1640 . It lives at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York . The image is in the Public Domain , and tagged Mary Magdalene and Skulls . Source Download See The Penitent Magdalene in the Kaleidoscope

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The Penitent Magdalen (1638-43) by Georges De la Tour

Artwork Information

About the penitent magdalen.

Georges de La Tour’s iconic oil-on-canvas painting, The Penitent Magdalen, is a somber scene that showcases Mary Magdalene in deep meditation about her past life of sin. This work of art is regarded by many as one of the most unforgettable and treasured pieces in the world of religious art. It measures 52 1/2 x 40 1/4 inches, making it a grand masterpiece to look at.

La Tour’s intense naturalism makes religious allegory more accessible to every viewer. The painting features a candle as its center point, which has become an identification mark for La Tour. It exudes spirituality that can be felt by those who view it and appreciate art on a spiritual level.

The artwork also reveals contemporary history paintings’ symmetry, which was a hallmark during the French baroque era. Although deeply spiritual in tone, the forms are solid and massive emphasizing clarity- this is what made La Tour renowned globally. Two other works from him with the same theme are Magdalene at the Mirror and Magdalene with Two Flames.

Other Artwork from Georges De la Tour

The Dream of St Joseph (c. 1640) by Georges De la Tour

Georges de la tour biography and artwork.

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  ARTWAY:   OPENING EYES,   HEARTS & MINDS

22 July - Mary Magdalen by Georges de la Tour

Georges de la Tour: The Penitent Magdalen

A Monument to God’s Love

by Irena Tippett

When we are forgiven, our lives become a living monument to God’s love. Ben Roberts, Ash Wednesday sermon, 2022

There are few women as iconic as Mary Magdalene. Her reputed wealth and beauty combined with her humble and penitent heart attract both saint and sinner. She is the woman in red in Crucifixion scenes and she is the first to behold the Risen Lord early on Easter morning. For this reason Mary is a natural subject for artists exploring the full range of womanhood from sensuousness to quiet godly beauty.

It is evident that Georges de La Tour spent considerable effort meditating on the Magdalen’s inner life and transformation and he does this in a remarkable and specific way in his painting The Penitent Magdalen , also called Madeleine aux deux flammes . Fully engaging the two sides of Mary’s persona the artist brings us to see, beautifully and without sentimentality, their resolution in her soft and penitent heart.

The peace and calm of this painting in the soft glow of the candlelight sets the tone. One can imagine it as a meditation piece hanging in a special room itself lit by candlelight. It does not demand attention but waits for a thoughtful moment and a longing heart.

In Luke 8:2 it is said that Mary was a woman from whom the Lord had cast out seven demons. She also followed the Lord and provided for him out of her own means, as did other prominent women. In this painting Mary is seated by a beautiful gilt mirror, her skirt is a rich red, striped with golden embroidery from top to bottom, and she possesses sumptuous pearl jewelry. Her wealthy position is well established.

But it is not just wealth we see. Artists have often used Mary Magdalene as an opportunity to display female sensual beauty and our Magdalen is certainly full-fleshed and beautiful. Remembering that Mary was early on identified with the sinful woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her hair (Luke 7:36-50), the intense vermillion skirt, open blouse, and loosened hair could all plainly suggest uncontrolled sexual passion. To heighten this thought, common vanitas symbols are found throughout the painting: the mirror for self-admiration, the opulent jewels for self-adornment, the candle to imply that life is fleeting and the skull for the certainty of death. De La Tour teases the viewer with these thoughts and then he powerfully turns them on their head.

Beginning with the very symbols of jewelry and skull he leads us into Mary’s heart. Fairly quickly we notice that the rich jewelry has been rejected outright, scattered across the table and ground at her feet. Precious pearls have no present value. Upon the skull, which retains its ability to shock, Mary’s hands rest fully relaxed in a manner suggesting prayer. O, death, where is your sting?!

One would expect a coquettish Magdalen to engage our eye, but Mary turns away. Is it to gaze at herself in the mirror? Her face is not seen there either. By now we realize that we have been given a privileged view into a private and solitary moment. We do not look at her; we look with her. Soon we find ourselves driven to reflect on the empty—or not so empty—mirror. It now becomes the focal point as the black rectangle of the mirror and the two candles, one a reflection of the other, engage in a dramatic optical play of darkness and light.

From this focal point the duplicated and spreading light of the candle becomes something of a protagonist in the painting, actively pushing back the darkness and gathering within its borders the red skirt, the open blouse, and the bare chest in which her heart beats. In a final tour-de-force the light finally catches with precision the elegant line of the Magdalen’s neck and the turn of her head. Here we behold the actual instant of her conversion, her turning to God, as the forgiven Magdalen passes from darkness to light, from death to life.

Who better than Mary Magdalene to demonstrate in her person the thing we all long for in our heart of hearts? By the seventeenth century her persona had grown to incorporate the stories of many penitent women: Mary the sister of Lazarus who evangelized Provence; Mary the sinner who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears; Mary who anointed her Lord for his burial; Mary who beheld her Lord’s death and was first to behold his resurrection. The gathering of all these women into the person of the Magdalen is a monumental tribute to the Lord who says to those who turn to him ‘Your sins are forgiven.”

Georges de La Tour: The Penitent Magdalen , ca. 1640, oil on canvas, 133.4 x 102.2 cm.  Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.

Georges de La Tour (1593 -1652) was born in Vic-sur-Seille, Lorraine, while it was still part of the Holy Roman Empire and he died, along with his family, in 1652 in Lunéville, France during an epidemic. De La Tour ran a busy workshop, providing paintings for the Dukes of Lorraine but more often for the local bourgeoisie. During his career he also received the title “Painter to the King” of France. He is known for his nuits , night scenes utilizing a Baroque technique called ‘tenebrism’, like that developed by Caravaggio and the Utrecht School. There are no records to show how he encountered ‘tenebrism’ or even that he travelled to Italy or to the Netherlands. After his death in 1652, the artist and his works were increasingly forgotten. The importance and success of Georges de La Tour were not again recognized until an exhibition of his works at the Orangerie des Tuileries in Paris in 1934. Today he is considered one of the greatest and most popular painters of the seventeenth century.

Irena Tippett has a Master's degree in Art History from the University of Toronto, Canada, but it was during studies at Regent College, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada that she discovered the beauty of her field in relation to her faith. While most of her energy is presently spent in women's ministry at St. John's Vancouver, she continues to lecture from time to time out of this newly found passion. 

ArtWay Visual Meditation March 27, 2022

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The Penitent Magdalene

Description of the artwork «The Penitent Magdalene»

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• Art History

Georges De La Tour’s Magdalene and the Smoking Flame

• February 28, 2021
• by Kelly Bagdanov

Georges de La Tour’s, Magdalene with the Smoking Flame, is a French Baroque work that envisions Mary Magdalene in a state of deep contemplation. With clarity of form, and a limited color palette, De La Tour creates a forceful work that captures this quiet moment. In this post we will explore the composite character that was Mary Magdalene during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

Who was De La Tour?

Georges De La Tour was a French Baroque painter who worked during the first half of the 1600’s. He was noted for his use of light and moving religious works.  Heavily influenced by Caravaggio, De la Tour combined Caravaggio’s use of light with simplified forms that eliminated extraneous details, and concentrated the focus of the viewer on the indispensable details of his story.

While De La Tour would eventually become the painter to the King, the bulk of his work was bought by the wealthy bourgeoisie. Painting, with this audience in mind, likely explains why there are multiple versions of the painting we are going to look at today.

Why did De La Tour paint so many Mary Magdalenes?

In France, during the 1600’s  Mary Magdalene was one of the most popular saints, and the fascination with her life appeared to be insatiable. Mary Magdalene’s early story of sexual promiscuity and worldly pursuits was fertile ground for the artistic imagination.

Then, her conversion and renunciation of that early life, layered on a spiritual lesson that justified the innumerable paintings she has been featured in. Always beautiful, hair falling down, shoulders bared, Mary is pictured penitent and remorseful. She was the saint artists loved to portray.

Mary was also popular because she was relatable. Many of the stories of saints are filled with such self-sacrifice and courage that we cannot imagine being them. But Mary Magdalene, well, she is relatable, and her story provides comfort and hope.

Not only did Jesus forgive Mary of her past, she became an integral part of the group that traveled with him. She is frequently mentioned in the company of the Virgin Mary, and was given the title, “apostle to the apostles.” Surely, if her life could be redeemed, there is hope for the rest of us.

And so, De La Tour began making his paintings of the penitent Magdalene. We do not know if he had specific commissions for these canvases, if they just sold well so he continued to paint them, or if Mary Magdalene was a favorite of his.

Whatever the reason, the series of paintings on this topic are striking. I’ve chosen to focus on The Magdalene with the Smoking Flame , but as you will see, these other two Magdalene’s vary in only a few details.

Historical context of the De La Tour’s Magdalenes

De La Tour’s Magdalene’s were painted during the counter-reformation. The Reformation (1517-1648) was a period of religious upheaval and reform which saw the Catholic church splintering. A variety of groups formed, that rejected various elements of Catholic practice and doctrine.  As religion and governments were closely tied, wars and political struggles ensued. The Catholic Church recognized that reforms were needed and a period of Catholic Revival followed.

During this period, the Catholic Church enacted a collection of reforms and began a publicity campaign to reassert the doctrines that were under attack by the Reformers.

Art and the Reformation

One area that was contested, by each group, was the role that art played in religious life. Protestants largely renounced religious art, feeling it promoted idolatry. This belief resulted in periods of iconoclasm, or the destruction of religious imagery.  In particular, Protestants objected to the portrayals of the saints and the Virgin Mary.

In response to these Protestant “cleansings,” Catholic leaders doubled down, and invested heavily in art. They skillfully used  art as a powerful tool to reinforce their doctrinal distinctives.

Artists thrived in the Catholic regions of Europe. In the largely Protestant areas of the North, artists instead explored new areas of expression, including genre paintings, portraits, and landscapes.

Reformation churches, particularly Lutherans, did not eliminate all art, but what was acceptable was limited.

Mary Magdalene was popular with both groups

Interestingly, Mary Magdalene was popular in both camps. Catholics loved Mary Magdalene for a variety of reasons. First, Catholics embraced the legends of the Saints and used their stories as didactic tools to help inform their followers about holy living. Secondly, Mary was held up as a defender of Roman Catholic sacraments, which were under attack by the Reformers.

On the other side, Protestants, looking to down play the importance of the Virgin Mary, had, perhaps unintentionally, played up the story of Mary Magdalene. Because Mary was called the “apostle to the apostles,” Reformers felt she embodied their doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Her title, “apostle to the apostles,” was given to her because she was the first to see Christ after the Resurrection, and then carried the good news to the other disciples.

In Catholic theology the priests play the critical role of administering the sacraments, essentially they serve as intermediary between God and man. Protestants rejected the need for this go-between and declared that all believers act as priests and can approach God directly. Mary Magdalene was a clear example of this belief.

Understanding De La Tour’s Mary Magdalene

De La Tour was painting during the 1600’s when the popularity of Mary Magdalene was quite high. Living in France, a Catholic area, De La Tour embraced the Catholic vision of Mary Magdalene and the need to strengthen the churches core teachings.

E Book coming soon

As I researched Mary Magdalene, I discovered that the composite figure that was understood by artists like De La Tour was actually quite complicated. I collected the various stories, and an amazing collection of Mary Magdalene art, and decided to write an e-book about what I’ve discovered. If you are subscribed to my blog or YouTube channel you will be notified when the e-book is available.

But today I will just include what is pertinent to this painting.

Mary Magdalene became a composite character

The Mary Magdalene of the Middle Ages and Renaissance was a composite character. This means that Mary’s narrative is a blending together of several women to create one story.

De La Tour’s Magdalene references several of these different sources, so let’s explore the many characters that contributed to the Renaissance version of Mary Magdalene.

The Anointing Mary

Mary Magdalene is mentioned, by name, 12 times in the New Testament. From these stories we know that she was healed by Jesus of 7 demons, and that she financially supported Christ’s ministry. We know that she traveled with Jesus and the disciples in the company of the Virgin Mary, and several other women.

Mary Magdalene was also believed to be the harlot who washed Christ feet while he was at a dinner party. We will note that the harlot of the story is never named, and yet ,this becomes the defining story of Mary Magdalene.

This woman, repenting of her poor choices, washed Jesus’ feet with her tears, wiped them with her hair, and anointed his feet with oil.

As a prostitute, Mary was frequently painted as a penitent. De La Tour’s Magdalene embraces this interpretation, and the artist uses her demeanor and other visual clues, to remind the viewer of Mary’s genuine repentance and God’s grace.

This anointing story gave rise to the most significant iconography of Mary Magdalene, a jar of ointment. When there is a group of women in a Biblical scene, we can identify Mary by her jar.

The Contemplative Mary

This is just one story of Christ being anointed with oil, there are three others. Mary Magdalene quickly became identified with all of them.

In one story, theologians determined that Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, was also Mary Magdalene. In this story the woman anoints Jesus head as if for burial. This combining of Mary Magdalene with Mary the sister of Martha, gave rise to the idea that Mary lived a contemplative life, in contrast to her sister who lived an active life.

During this time period there was a belief that people fell into one camp or the other. In the story of Martha and Mary we have Martha bustling about getting ready to serve dinner, and Mary seated at the feet of Jesus listening to his teaching. When Martha complains that she isn’t helping, Jesus defends Mary saying that she has chosen the better path. It is this idea of the contemplative Mary, or the one sitting at Christ’s feet to learn from him,  that De La Tour’s portrays for us.

The Faithful Mary

Mary was also present at the crucifixion. When the other disciples fled, she stayed. Her faithfulness in this moment is one of the attributes of her character that is most praised. She is steadfast and loyal no matter the circumstance. De La Tour gives this part of Mary’s story a nod by including a cross on the table.

The Witness Mary

We also know from the gospels that Mary Magdalene was the first person Christ revealed himself to after his resurrection. At that appearance, Christ instructed Mary to carry word of his resurrection to the other disciples. This made Mary Magdalene the first to declare the gospel, that Christ had risen from the dead. Her role in bringing the good news to the other disciples is why she is called the “apostle to the apostles.”

The Evangelist Mary

Legend has it, that Mary Magdalene, with other believers, during the persecution of the early Christians, was put into a rudderless boat and pushed out into the Mediterranean sea to die of exposure and starvation. Miraculously, the boats were guided to the shore of Provence in France, and this is where Mary lived out the rest of her life. Having been saved by Christ, both spiritually from her early sinful life and now physically, Mary set out to spread the gospel in France. This is how France was converted to Christianity, and why Mary Magdalene is the patron saint of Provence.

Reading De La Tour’s Magdalene

Light and form.

As I’ve noted above, what De La Tour was particularly known for was his use of light. A dark room and a single source of light is used to focus the attention. As we examine this painting we can see an excellent example of this. When we examine the work closely, the most striking example of the artist use of light is the luminosity of the Magdalene’s sleeves. With light pinks, and brighter whites, De La tour creates an amazing effect of the light shining through the gauzy fabric. It’s a lovely detail that shows his absolute mastery and understanding of how light works.

Along with the hauntingly beautiful use of light, De La Tour simplifies his forms and limits his palette creating a quiet calm. This calm, controlled picture doesn’t jump out of the canvas toward us, as so many Baroque works do, instead the space invites us in. Mary is closed into herself, unaware we are observing her, and this creates in us the desire to be still and not disturb her.

Unusually, De La Tour’s Magdalene and the Smoking Flame uses an oil lamp, as opposed to a candle as the source of light. The lamp illuminates a still life on the table that gives us more information about the woman we are observing. There is smoke rising from the flame in two curling columns. Generally, flames represent the presence of God, and as we see the Magdalene in an attitude of contemplation we can assume that part of her thoughts are on God’s presence with her.

The Still Life

Also on the table are a stack of books, which indicates this is an intellectual woman who possesses a depth of understanding and curiosity. The books add to the serious note of Mary’s reflections. In front of the books is a cross. Lying flat on the table, the cross could easily be missed, but again, the cross reminds of Mary’s role during the crucifixion and resurrection. Lying on top of the cross is a whip, a gathering of leather cords that were used to beat oneself in penance for sin.

Mary’s Appearance

While not being obvious, the iconography used to identify Mary Magdalene is evident here. De La tour has painted the Magdalene in red, a reminder to the viewer of her past occupation. The term scarlet woman originates in the book of Revelation, with the whore of Babylon, also called the Mother of Whores.  It is unlikely that the historical Mary Magdalene is the same woman who anointed Christ feet, or that she was a prostitute, however she will be remembered throughout history as one, and the iconography, like a red dress, will keep that understanding of her story alive.

Along with the red clothing we have her top falling off of her shoulders, a further indication of her ‘loose’ past. Her hair falls down her back, an indication to men that she was available, as women only let their hair down in front of their husbands. To be fair, this is not just an indication of her moral state, but also done because, according to legend, after she used her hair to wipe her tears from Christ feet she never cut it again.

While we may see a skull as a bit morbid, and perhaps as an unhealthy preoccupation with death, that is not how it was interpreted in religious art. A skull is a vivid reminder of our mortality, and when we realize our time is limited, we become more focused on what is truly important. Our purpose in life is clarified when viewed through the lens of death, and we are encouraged to not waste a single hour on the vanities of life, but to pursue those things that “rust and moth cannot destroy.”

In Mary Magdalene’s case, she has renounced riches and earthly pleasure and instead is focused on the mission of spreading the gospel. She is “living in the light of eternity.” Rather than a morbid reminder of death, the skull is a testament that Mary has chosen to live her life “in the light of eternity,” and that demonstrates her wisdom.

Mary Pregnant?

The last part of Mary Magdalene’s story that I believe De La Tour is referencing in this painting is a bit more controversial, and you will have to decide if you agree with me or not. I personally find the concept of a metaphorical pregnancy rich with meaning and themes to be explored.

Some suggest Mary Magdalene has been painted pregnant, not just in this work, but in many. This is not some Dan Brown conspiracy that Mary bore Jesus a love child, but is meant to be interpreted metaphorically. The use of marriage and childbirth imagery to explain God’s relationship with his people is not new, it is where we get the term “born again.” The idea is that Mary carried the good news of Christ’s saving message and when she arrived in France she delivered, giving new life to the people there.

Concluding thoughts

I have serious problem’s with the way the historical Mary’s story was co-opted and transformed into this sensational, sexualized, fantasy Mary. Likely Mary Magdalene was actually a respected member of her community with financial means to support Christ’s ministry. She is a constant companion of the Virgin Mary and is included with the disciples at the critical moments of Christ’s ministry.  The low view of women held during the middle ages obviously played a large part in how the composite character of Mary developed, and her story reveals the clergy’s prejudices.

That said, there is a richness and complexity to Mary Magdalene, as she was understood during the Renaissance, that the other women of the Bible lack. She is multi-layered and has a depth of development that few women of the Bible receive.

Historical accuracies aside, this painting leaves us with a lot to contemplate.

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Category : Magdalen with two flames by Georges de La Tour

Media in category "Magdalen with two flames by Georges de La Tour"

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• Paintings of penitent Magdalene by La Tour
• 1630s oil on canvas paintings in the United States
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Georges de La Tour was a French Baroque painter, who spent most of his working life in the Duchy of Lorraine, which was temporarily absorbed into France between 1641 and 1648. He painted mostly religious chiaroscuro scenes lit by candlelight.

Georges de La Tour was born in the town of Vic-sur-Seille in the Diocese of Metz, which was technically part of the Holy Roman Empire, but had been ruled by France since 1552. Baptism documentation revealed that he was the son of Jean de La Tour, a baker, and Sybille de La Tour, née Molian. It has been suggested that Sybille came from a partly noble family. His parents had seven children in all, with Georges being the second-born.

La Tour's educational background remains somewhat unclear, but it is assumed that he traveled either to Italy or the Netherlands early in his career. He may possibly have trained under Jacques Bellange in Nancy, the capital of Lorraine, although their styles are very different. His paintings reflect the Baroque naturalism of Caravaggio, but this probably reached him through the Dutch Caravaggisti of the Utrecht School and other Northern (French and Dutch) contemporaries. In particular, La Tour is often compared to the Dutch painter Hendrick Terbrugghen.

In 1617 he married Diane Le Nerf, from a minor noble family, and in 1620 he established his studio in her quiet provincial home-town of Lunéville, part of the independent Duchy of Lorraine which was occupied by France, during his lifetime, in the period 1641–1648. He painted mainly religious and some genre scenes. He was given the title "Painter to the King" (of France) in 1638, and he also worked for the Dukes of Lorraine in 1623–4, but the local bourgeoisie provided his main market, and he achieved a certain affluence. He is not recorded in Lunéville between 1639 and 1642, and may have traveled again; Anthony Blunt detected the influence of Gerrit van Honthorst in his paintings after this point. He was involved in a Franciscan-led religious revival in Lorraine, and over the course of his career he moved to painting almost entirely religious subjects, but in treatments with influence from genre painting.

Georges de La Tour and his family died in 1652 in an epidemic in Lunéville. His son Étienne (born 1621) was his pupil.

More Artworks by Georges de La Tour

The Musicians’ Brawl (1625–1630)

Saint Andrew

Saint Peter Repentant (1645)

Young Virgin Mary (ca. 1640)

The Magdalen with the Smoking Flame (circa 1635-37)

The Cheat with the Ace of Clubs (c. 1630–34)

The Penitent St Jerome

The Repentant Magdalen (c. 1635-1640)

The Fortune-Teller (probably 1630s)

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The Penitent Magdalen

Georges de la tour ca. 1640, the metropolitan museum of art new york city, united states.

• Title: The Penitent Magdalen
• Creator: Georges de La Tour
• Date Created: ca. 1640
• Physical Dimensions: 52 1/2 x 40 1/4 in. (133.4 x 102.2 cm)
• Type: Painting
• External Link: http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436839
• Medium: Oil on canvas
• Repository: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

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