Moretto da Brescia (Alessandro Bonvicino; Italian, c. 1492/95–1554)
Mary Magdalene
INV-2144
Moretto da Brescia (Alessandro Bonvicino; Italian, c. 1492/95–1554)1540–50
sixteenth century16th Centuryoil on canvasItalian
Date
1540–50
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
166 × 47 cm (65 3/8 × 18 1/2 in.); Framed: 181 × 66.1 × 5.1 cm (71 1/4 × 26 × 2 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William Goodman
Mary Magdalene turns to cast a melancholy glance back at the viewer with the gravity and directness typical of Moretto da Brescia’s approach to religious subjects. This painting has been linked to other tall, slender canvases by the artist depicting Saint John the Evangelist, the Samian Sibyl, and King Solomon, in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan. These works may have been segments of an altarpiece or, more likely, part of a series with a decorative rather than liturgical function. The artist effectively combined characteristics of Italian painting from different regions: the realism of his native Lombardy, Venetian color and atmosphere, and the monumentality of Roman models.
Also notable
Works in the same vein
