German school, ca. 1800 Mary Magdalene Penitent... Lot 49

German school, ca. 1800 Mary Magdalene Penitent Oil on panel 119.5 x 74 cm This painting can be seen as part of the stylistic legacy of a very famous artist of the second half of the 18th century, Anton Raphael Mengs (1728-1779), a German painter and lover of Italian classicism. His pure, statuesque forms were the main model for Neoclassicism until the 19th century. Our Penitent Magdalene is in fact related to some of Mengs' works, notably to the Saint John the Baptist Praying in a Wooded Landscape (Museum of Fine Arts, Houston), to theImmaculate Conception in the Louvre (n. RF 1997 24), for the pious gaze and bright eyes, the oval face, but especially with the Magdalene from a private collection (Dorotheum, Vienna, October 17, 2012, lot no. 610). It is in the latter painting that we find the changing blue sheet that shyly covers the nudity of the saint, the cross-shaped staff and the unmistakable skull, an instrument of penitence. In the lower right corner, the snake and thistle are drawn with naturalism, symbolizing evil and sin.