Italian school; 17th century.

Italian school; XVII century.
"Bust of Mary Magdalene".
Bronze and blued brass.
Measurements: 63 x 55 x 36 cm.
Bust of Mary Magdalene of the Italian School of the seventeenth century, made of bronze and bluing brass. The work is presented as a bust of great emotional strength and technical elegance, in which converge the intense devotion and formal sophistication that characterize the Italian sacred sculpture of this period. Mary Magdalene is represented with her gaze raised upwards, in a gesture of mystical ecstasy that refers to her role as a converted penitent, associated with contemplation and repentance. The treatment of her face, serene but intensely expressive, channels an interiorized spirituality, and her half-open mouth suggests an imminent supplication or spiritual revelation.
The piece stands out for the fineness of the modeling, especially in the elaboration of the hair, treated with wide undulating locks that fall over the shoulders with a naturalistic and enveloping rhythm. The bluing bronze technique enhances the hallmarks of light and shadow, intensifying the sensation of volume and drama, while the use of brass introduces nuances. In her hands, the saint delicately holds a small container, traditionally interpreted as the jar of ointment with which she anointed Christ's feet, an iconographic attribute that immediately identifies her and underlines her role as a privileged witness of the Passion and Resurrection.
The bust sits on a base also cast, carefully ornamented with classicist motifs, which harmoniously integrates the figure in a sober architectural environment, typical of private devotional works or of the domestic oratories of the baroque aristocracy. The choice of bronze as a material responds not only to a desire for permanence and nobility, but also to a desire to emulate the sculptural grandeur of Antiquity, something very present in Italian art of the Seicento, particularly in the circles influenced by Roman classicism and by figures such as Gian Lorenzo Bernini. However, the expressive intensity of the face and the emphasis on suffering spirituality also suggest a counter-reformist sensibility, which seeks to move and attract through restrained emotion and idealized beauty.