The Magdalen

c. 1525

Bernardino Luini

Artist, Milanese, c. 1480 - 1532

Shown from the waist up, a woman with smooth, pale skin looks out at us from the corners of her wide-set hazel eyes in this vertical painting. Against a nearly black background, her body is angled to our left and wavy, auburn hair cascades down her back. Her hair is arranged into a bow shape over a thin, pale pink ribbon, and delicate tendrils frame her face and fall over her shoulders. She has thin brows, and her long, straight nose is wide at the bridge. Her pale, coral-pink lips are closed in a slight smile. She is lit from our left so shadows engulf the corners of her eyes and lips, and her far cheek, to our right, is shaded. Her moss-green gown has a golden-brown panel across the chest and voluminous, puffy sleeves. The green sleeves fall back over the deep folds of the white garment she wears underneath, and the dress is tied with a pink sash just below her bust. She holds the flaring foot of an oyster-white lidded vessel, like a miniature urn, with one hand and tips the conical lid up with the other.

Media Options

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On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 18

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on panel

  • Credit Line

    Samuel H. Kress Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 58.8 x 47.8 cm (23 1/8 x 18 13/16 in.)
    framed: 75.4 x 65.3 x 7 cm (29 11/16 x 25 11/16 x 2 3/4 in.)

  • Accession

    1961.9.56

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Federico Borromeo [1564-1631], by 1607; Biblioteca and Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan, until 1796;[1] Lucien Bonaparte [d. 1840], Prince de Canino, Paris and Rome, by 1812;[2] (Exhibited for private sale of Lucian Bonaparte collection, London, 6 February 1815, no. 23, as by Leonardo); (Bonaparte sale, Stanley, London, 15 May 1816, no. 165, as by Leonardo). Henry Petty-FitzMaurice, 4th Marquess of Lansdowne [1816-1866], Bowood Hall, Wiltshire, by 1844;[3] by inheritance to Henry Charles Keith Petty-FitzMaurice [1845-1927], 5th Marquess of Landsdowne, Bowood Hall; by inheritance to Henry William Edmund Petty-FitzMaurice [1872-1936], 6th Marquess of Landsdowne, Bowood Hall; acquired 25 April 1952 by (Thomas Agnew and Sons, London); sold 29 April 1952 to(Rudolf Heinemann, New York);[4] on joint account 1952 with (M. Knoedler and Co., London and New York); sold 1957 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[5] gift 1961 to NGA.
[1] For the early provenance of the picture, see Pamela M. Jones, "Bernardino Luini's 'Magdelene' from the collection of Federico Borromeo: Religious Contemplation and Iconographic Sources," in Studies in the History of Art 24 (1990): 67-7
[2] Choix de Gravures a l'eau forte d'apres les Peintures Originales et les Marbres de la Galerie de Lucien Bonaparte, Londres, 1812.
[3] Included in Mrs. Anna Jameson, Companion to the Most Celebrated Private Galleries of Art in London, London, 1844: 313-314.
[4] Stockbook no. 0718, Thomas Agnew & Sons, London.
[5] M. Knoedler & Co. Records, accession number 2012.M.54, Research Library, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles: Stock book no. 10, p. 78, no. A4905; Sales book no. 17, p. 314. Receipt from Knoedler dated 2 January 1957. (See copies of Knoedler documents in NGA curatorial files and The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/2226).

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1876

  • Exhibition of Works by Old Masters. Winter Exhibition, The Royal Academy, London, 1896, no. 185, as by Leonardo.

1898

  • Exhibition of Pictures by Masters of the Milanese and Allied Schools of Lombardy, The Burlington Fine Arts CLub, London, 1898, no. 35

1961

  • Exhibition of Art Treasures for America from the Samuel H. Kress Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1961-1962, no. 57.

2004

  • Painters of Reality: The Legacy of Leonardo and Caravaggio in Lombard Painting [Pittori di realtà: Le Ragioni di una Rivoluzione da Foppa e Leona..., Museo Civico Ala Ponzone, Cremona; Metropolitan Mus. of Art, New York, 2004, unnumbered cat., repro.

Bibliography

1844

  • Jameson, Mrs. (Anna). Companion to the Most Celebrated Private Galleries of Art in London. London, 1844: 313-314, no. 62.

1854

  • Waagen, Gustav Friedrich. Treasures of Art in Great Britain: Being an Account of the Chief Collections of Paintings, Drawings, Sculptures, Illuminated Mss.. 3 vols. Translated by Elizabeth Rigby Eastlake. London, 1854: 3:159.

1897

  • Ambrose, George E. Catalogue of the Collection of Pictures belonging to the Marquess of Lansdowne. London, 1897: 126, no. 116

1900

  • Williamson, G.C. Bernardino Luini. London, 1900:107

1905

  • Reinach, Salomon. Répertoire de peintures du moyen âge et de la Renaissance (1280-1580). 6 vols. Paris, 1905-1923: 3(1910)720, no. 1.

1907

  • Berenson, Bernard. North Italian Painters of the Renaissance. New York and London, 1907: 246.

1909

  • Latham, Charles. In English Homes. 3 vols. London, 1909: 1:395.

1911

  • Beltrami, Luca. Luini. Milan, 1911:583, 617

1961

  • Walker, John, Guy Emerson, and Charles Seymour. Art Treasures for America: An Anthology of Paintings & Sculpture in the Samuel H. Kress Collection. London, 1961: 102, color repro. pl. 96.

1965

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 80.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 70, repro.

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian Schools, XV-XVI Century. London, 1968: 142-143, fig. 338.

  • Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Central Italian and North Italian Schools. 3 vols. London, 1968: 1:235.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 206, repro.

1979

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1979: 1:288-289; 2:pl. 205.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 227, no. 282, color repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 239, repro.

1990

  • Jones, Pamela M. "Bernardino Luini's Magdalene from the Collection of Federico Borromeo: Religious Contemplation and Iconographic Sources." Studies in the History of Art 24 (1990): 67-72, repro.

1997

  • Avanzini, Alessandra. Profumi D'Arabia, Atti del Convegno. Roma, 1997: cover, repro.

2004

  • Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 92, no. 65, color repro.

2006

  • Natale, Mauro, ed. Capolavori da scoprire: La collezione Borromeo Exh. cat. Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan, 2006: 182-183, repro. (under no. 18, by Christina Quattrini).

2011

  • Vowinckel, Annette. Das relationale Zeitalter: Individualität, Nomalität und Mittelmass in der Kultur der Renaissance. Munich, 2011: 169, 170, fig. 49.

2015

  • Swicklik, Michael, Barbara H. Berrie, and Gretchen Hirschauer. "Sfumato and Sheen: Bernardo Luini's Lady in Black." Facture: conservation, science, art history 2 (2015): 140-157, fig. 10.

2019

  • Quattrini, Cristina. Bernardino Luini: Catalogo generale delle opere. Turin, 2019: 9, 11, 71, 72, 237, 268, 293, 300-301, 351, 352, 397, 447, cat. 112, pl. XXVII.

Wikidata ID

Q20175833

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