Sebastián de Llanos y Valdés

SEBASTIÁN DE LLANOS Y VALDÉS (ca. 1605-1677).
"Penitent Magdalene," 1666.
Oil on canvas. Relined.
Presents faults in the frame.
Signed and dated in the lower right area.
Measurements: 101 x 72 cm; 112 x 84 cm (frame).
This canvas represents Mary Magdalene as a penitent in a pensive and melancholic attitude, wearing a long blond and loose hair, accompanied by the skull as a symbol of the brevity of earthly life, the cross, the Holy Scriptures and a jar of ointment that is carried by a small angel that is located in the sky of the scene. Mary Magdalene was a biblical figure widely represented in the Baroque period, especially in the more sensualist Italian painting. Here, a strong chiaroscuro models the soft features and lush flesh tones of the saint. While Eastern Christianity honors Mary Magdalene especially for her closeness to Jesus, considering her "equal to the apostles", in the West the idea developed, based on her identification with other women in the Gospels, that before meeting Jesus she had dedicated herself to prostitution. Hence the later legend narrates that she spent the rest of her life as a penitent in the desert, mortifying her flesh. In art she was preferably represented in this way, especially in the 17th century, a time when Catholic societies felt a special fascination for the lives of mystics and saints who lived in solitude in wild places, dedicated to prayer and penance. The theme of the Magdalene, moreover, offered the possibility of representing a beautiful woman who shows some parts of the anatomy then considered taboo, such as the feet or chest, but in it respects the decorum because it is mortified flesh that expresses repentance for their past sins.
Spanish Baroque painter, active in Seville and, apparently, a disciple of Francisco de Herrera the Elder, the style of Sebastián de Llanos Valdés shows much influence of Francisco de Zurbarán. He is known to be mayor of the Painters Guild in Seville in 1653, and is supposed (according to contemporary texts) to have a comfortable economic position. In addition, he co-founded the Academy of Drawing of San Lucas in 1660, together with Murillo and Herrera el Mozo. His work is preserved in the Cathedral of Seville, in addition to some monumental Evangelists in the Casa de Pilatos in the same city.