The Repentant Magdalen

Französische Malerei 1425–1650, c. 1635/1640

A young woman with pale skin sits at a table in a darkened room in this vertical painting. Long chestnut-brown hair drapes over her shoulder and her deep, cream-colored, long-sleeved garment is open at her neck. She rests her chin in her right hand, farther from us, as her left reaches for a skull placed on a thick book on the table in front of her. The scene is lit by a single candle mostly out of sight behind the skull. Shown in profile, she looks into a small mirror next to the skull, which reflects that object and the book.
Artist
Französische Malerei 1425–1650
Date
c. 1635/1640
Type
Painting
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
113 × 92.7 cm
Collection
National Gallery of Art, Washington
Licence
Public domain, CC0

Image description

A young woman with pale skin sits at a table in a darkened room in this vertical painting. Long chestnut-brown hair drapes over her shoulder and her deep, cream-colored, long-sleeved garment is open at her neck. She rests her chin in her right hand, farther from us, as her left reaches for a skull placed on a thick book on the table in front of her. The scene is lit by a single candle mostly out of sight behind the skull. Shown in profile, she looks into a small mirror next to the skull, which reflects that object and the book.

Französische Malerei 1425–1650