Italian school; second half of the 17th century.

Italian school; second half of the seventeenth century.
"Magdalene Penitent."
Oil on copper.
Measurements: 24 x 18,5 cm; 40,5 x 35,5 cm (frame).
Painting of the Italian school of the second half of the seventeenth century, it represents one of the most recurrent images of religious baroque: the figure of Mary Magdalene in her penitent phase. The work, of a remarkable emotional charge, presents the saint in a natural environment that refers to the desert or the hermit retreat, usual scenario to emphasize her voluntary isolation from the world as an act of repentance.
The female figure dominates the composition. Seated in an almost undone manner, her body leans to one side, with a gesture of surrender and abandonment that conveys a deep melancholy. Her long, loose, reddish hair, an iconographic constant that alludes to both her past sensuality and her present penitence, falls freely over her shoulders. The raised, lost gaze, with moist eyes, suggests a mystical ecstasy or a silent supplication addressed to heaven. The dramatism of her expression is accentuated by the dim lighting that falls on her face, leaving the background in semi-darkness and thus reinforcing the theatrical effect so characteristic of baroque.
The use of color is concentrated in the folds of the dark blue cloth covering part of her body, in contrast with the earth tones of her inner tunic and the background. This sober palette not only directs attention to the figure's face and hands, but also reinforces the contemplative and austere character of the scene.
In the lower right, a skull becomes a powerful memento mori, symbolic of mortality and the transience of earthly pleasures, central elements in the iconography of the penitent Magdalene. The inclusion of the skull, together with the posture of abandonment and the open gesture of the left hand, configures a visual narrative in which repentance merges with the acceptance of death as a transit to the divine.
The pictorial treatment, although somewhat eroded by the passage of time, reveals a solid technique, especially in the handling of the volumes and the texture of the hair. The brushstroke, restrained but effective, highlights the hallmarks of light, a characteristic of the tenebrism that influenced many Italian artists of this period.