Giampetrino – Penitent Mary Magdalene Hermitage ~ part 04

Description of the painting "Penitent Mary Magdalene" by Giampetrino

The late Giampetrino embodies his entire inner world in "Penitent Mary Magdalene" with an aesthetic and penetrating note. This canvas was painted on a very typical subject for the Counter-Reformation era.

On the other hand, the artist, in fact, again and again confirms the presence in his work of pagan and humanistic foundation. The viewer should notice how the convinced, realist to the bone, confidently revises the religious-mystical situation, thereby making a canvas which, in relation to its conception and embodiment, is hostile to the reactionary-mystical inner line.

For the author, it is not the pathos component of the overall subject of repentance, nor the alluring taste of religious worship, nor the corruptibility of the flesh from which the human soul rushes to heaven that comes first.

Particular attention should be paid to the non-transparent but tense color tones, which give a special dramatic quality. At the same time, thanks to the play of light and shadow, it is possible to achieve dynamics in the texture. At the same time rigid contours and lack of plasticity are not observed. In general, the certainty of form fully coincides with the internal dynamics and movement.

The chest seems to breathe, and the hair is not just lying down, but falling. You can notice how the light ripples pleasantly in the hair, at the same time, as if it wrestles with lush shadows and literally sculpts the shape of the body.

The master directly admires the Magdalene. The canvas shows how beautiful the man is in his natural beauty, and his feelings at the same time, the most significant and distinct, come to the fore. But despite all this, it is not only Mary who suffers, but also the author of the painting, and these feelings are clearly conveyed to the viewer. The serenity has been broken, but despite this, even the unruly human background is not burdened by grief.