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Overview

According to the tenets of the 17th–century Catholic church, Mary Magdalene was an example of the repentant sinner and consequently a symbol of the Sacrament of Penance. According to legend, Mary led a dissolute life until her sister Martha persuaded her to listen to Jesus Christ. She became one of Christ's most devoted followers and he absolved her of her former sins.

In Georges de La Tour's somber canvas Mary is shown in profile seated at a table. A candle is the source of light in the composition, but the light also carries a spiritual meaning as it casts a golden glow on the saint's face and the objects assembled on the table. The candle light silhouettes Mary's left hand which rests on a skull that is placed on a book. The skull is reflected in a mirror. The skull and mirror are emblems of vanitas, implying the transience of life.

The simplification of forms, reduced palette, and attention to details evoke a haunting silence that is unique to La Tour's work. La Tour's intense naturalism rendered religious allegory accessible to every viewer. Although his work is deeply spiritual in tone, the solidity and massing of the forms reveal the same emphasis on clarity and symmetry that pervaded contemporary history painting and was a hallmark of French baroque art.

Provenance

Marquise de Caulaincourt, by 1877; by inheritance to his sister, comtesse de Andigné, by 1911.[1] art market, Paris; André Fabius, Paris, by 1936;[2] purchased 1974 by NGA.

[1] On the back of the stretcher is the stencil of Etienne-François Haro (1827-1897) and his son Henri (1855-1911), important Parisian restorers and vendors of art supplies, as well as artists themselves. An entry in the Haro account book for 9 October 1877 provides the early provenance, information that was first published by Pierre Rosenberg and Jacques Thuillier, "George de La Tour," Revue du Louvre et des Musées de France 22, no. 2 (1972): 161, followed, with slightly differing details, by Pierre Rosenberg and François Macé de l'Épinay, Georges de La Tour: vie et oeuvre, Fribourg, 1973: 140, and Benedict Nicolson and Christopher Wright, Georges de La Tour, London, 1974: 175.

[2] The three references to the painting that discuss its provenance (see note 1) provide differing accounts of when and where Fabius acquired the painting: Rosenberg and Thuillier 1972 say 1936; Rosenberg and Macé de l'Épinay 1973 say a public sale in 1936; Nicolson and Wright 1974 say the Paris art market before 1936.

Exhibition History
1937
Chefs d'oeuvre de l'art français, Palais National Des Arts, Paris, 1937, no. 24, repro.
1951
French Painting 1100-1900, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, October-December 1951, no.56, repro.
1951
Mostra del Caravaggio e Dei Caravaggeschi, Palazzo Reale, Milan, April-June 1951, no. 128, repro.
1953
La femme dans l'art français, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, 1953, no. 77, pl. 45.
1958
Fem Sekler Fransk Konst, Miniatyrer, Malningar, Teckningar, 1400-1900, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 1958, no. 35, repro.
1972
Georges de La Tour, Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris, 1972, no. 15, repro., as La Madeleine Fabius.
1993
Georges de La Tour's "Repentant Magdalene", National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1993, brochure, color repro. on cover.
1993
Masterpiece in Focus: The Magdalenes of Georges de la Tour, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1993-1994.
1996
Georges de La Tour and His World, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, 1996-1997, no. 22, as The Magdalene at the Mirror.
1997
Georges de La Tour, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, 1997-1998, no. 37, repro.
1998
Conversion by Candlelight: The Four Magdalens by Georges de La Tour (1593-1652), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1998, no cat.
1999
Caravaggio's 'The Taking of Christ': Saints and Sinners in Baroque Painting, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1999, brochure, no. 2, repro.
2016
Georges de La Tour, 1593-1652, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, 2016, no. 22, repro.
2020
Georges de La Tour. L'Europa della luce, Palazzo Reale, Milan, 2020.
Bibliography
1937
Alfassa, Paul. "Review of 'Chefs-d'oeuvre de l'art français'." (Exh. Palais national des arts). Revue de Paris (15 October 1937): 930-931.
1937
Chefs d'oeuvre de l'art français. Exh. cat. Palais national des arts, Paris, 1937: no. 87, pl. 34.
1937
Florisoone, Michel. "Le sentiment religieux et l'art de 1600 à 1900." Art Sacré (June 1937): 187, repro.
1937
Sterling, Charles. "A New Picture by Georges de La Tour." The Burlington Magazine (1937): 8-14, repro.
1938
Pariset, François-Georges. "L'image Saint Alexis' de Georges de La Tour." Gazette des Beaux-Arts ser. 20, 2 (1938): 63.
1938
Sterling, Charles. "Two New Paintings by Georges de La Tour: Magdalen with the Nightlight and Dead Monk." The Burlington Magazine 72, no. 422 (May 1938): 203-208.
1939
Jamot, Paul. "Georges de La Tour, à propos de quelques tableaux nouvellement decouverts." Gazette des Beaux-Arts ser. 6, 21 (April 1939): 244-245, 248, repro.
1942
Jamot, Paul. Georges de La Tour. Paris, 1942: 32, 37, repro.
1948
Pariset, François-Georges. Georges de La Tour. Paris, 1948: 152, 155, 158-159.
1949
Bloch, Vitale. "Beschouwingen over Georges de La Tour." La Art Français. Maanblad voor Beeldende Kunsten 25, nos. 4-5 (April-May 1949): 86, 88, 94, 96, 98, repro.
1949
Furness, S.M.M. Georges de La Tour of Lorraine, 1593-1652. London, 1949: 86-90.
1949
Richardson, E.P. "George de la Tour's 'St. Sebastian Nursed by St. Irene'." Art Quarterly 12, no. 1 (Winter 1949): 83.
1950
Bloch, Vitale. Georges de La Tour. Amsterdam, 1950: no. 16, repro.
1951
Malraux, André. Les voix du silence. Paris, 1951: 391, repro.
1951
Sterling, Charles. "Observations sur Georges de La Tour à propos d'un livre récent." Revue de l'Art 1 (September 1951): 150, 154.
1953
Arland, Michel. Georges de La Tour. Paris, 1953: repro.
1953
Bloch, Vitale. Georges de La Tour: un saggio sulla sua opera, preceduto da un catalogo delle sue pitture. Milan, 1953: no. 16.
1955
Pariset, François-Georges. "La Servante à la puce par Georges de La Tour." Revue des Arts 5, no. 2 (June 1955): 93.
1956
Verdier, Philippe. "L'art religieux." In Formes de lart. Paris, 1956: 106, 107, repro.
1957
Chastel, André. "L'art et le sentiment de la mort au XVIIe siècle." Bulletin de la Société d'Étude du XVIIe siècle 36-37 (July-October 1957): 293.
1961
Dorival, Bernard. "La résurrection de Georges de La Tour." Réalités (February 1961): 62-71, repro.
1961
Pariset, François-Georges. "La Madeleine aux deux flammes: un nouveau Georges de La Tour." Bulletin de la Société de l’Histoire de l’Art Français 1960 (1961): 40-42.
1962
Faré, Michel. La nature morte en France: son histoire et son évolution du XVIIe au XXe siècle. 2 vols. Geneva, 1962: 1:112.
1967
Ottani Cavina, Anna. La Tour. Chefs d'oeuvre de l'art: grand peintres. Paris, 1967: repro.
1967
Tanaka, Hidemichi. "Étude sur l'évolution stylistique des oeuvres de Georges de La Tour." Bijutsu-shi, Journal de la Société japonaise d'histoire de l'art 16, no. 4 (March 1967): 129-143, French summary on 148-149.
1970
Tanaka, Hidemichi. "Georges de La Tour dans ses rapports avec Le Clerc, Callot et Rembrandt." L'Information d'histoire de l'art 15, no. 2 (March-April 1970): 55.
1971
Szigethi, Agnès. Georges de La Tour. Budapest, 1971: figs. 19, 20, 21.
1972
Adhémar, Hélène. "La Tour et les couvents lorrains." Gazette des Beaux-Arts ser. 6, 80 (October 1972): 219-222.
1972
Blunt, Anthony. "Georges de La Tour at the Orangerie." The Burlington Magazine114, no. 833 (August 1972): 520, 525.
1972
Chastel, André. "La Tour perdu et retrouvé." Médecine de France 233 (June 1972): 53.
1972
Moussalli, Ulysses. À la recherche de Georges de La Tour. Paris, 1972: 50, 81, 99.
1972
Picard, Raymond. "L'unité spirituelle de Georges de La Tour." Gazette des Beaux-Arts ser. 6, 80 (October 1972): 217.
1973
Choux, Jacques. "Le miroir de la Madeleine chez George de La Tour." Le Pays Lorrain 54, no. 2 (1973): 111-112.
1973
Fahy, Everett, and Francis John Bagott Watson. The Wrightsman Collection. Vol. 5: Paintings, drawings, sculpture. New York, 1973: 141-143, repro.
1973
Rosenberg, Pierre, and François Macé de l'Epinay. Georges de La Tour, Vie et Oeuvre. Fribourg, 1973: 140-143, no. 36, repro.
1973
Solesmes, François. Georges de La Tour. Lausanne, 1973: 77, 126, 158-159, repro.
1973
Thuiller, Jacques. "Georges de La Tour: un an après." Revue de l'Art 20 (1973): 94-95, repro.
1973
Thuiller, Jacques. L'opera completa di Georges de La Tour, Paris, 1973: no. 39, pl. 34.
1974
Bloch, Vitale. "Revoyant Georges de La Tour." In Liber Amicorum Karel G. Boon. Amsterdam, 1974: 54.
1974
Crespelle, Jean-Paul. "Adieu Madeleine!" Journal du Dimanche 29 (29 September 1974).
1974
Editorial, "Visa pour Washington." Connaissance des Arts (June 1974): 7, repro.
1974
Forgey, Benjamin. "Waiting for de La Tour." (27 September 1974): D1, repro.
1974
Glueck, Grace. International Herald Tribune (27 September 1974).
1974
Glueck, Grace. "National Gallery Buys a French Masterwork." New York Times (26 September 1974): 1, 25, repro.
1974
International Herald Tribune (28-29 September 1974).
1974
Jacquet-Francillon, Jacques, and Alain Vernay. Figaro (30 September 1974).
1974
Kramer, Hilton. "De La Tour: A Rediscovery of Modern Scholarship." New York Times (26 September 1974): 50-51.
1974
New York Times (27 September 1974).
1974
Nicolson, Benedict, and Christopher Wright. Georges de La Tour. London, 1974: 174-176, no. 29, repro., pls. 57, 58, 60.
1974
Rovner, Sandy. "A Masterpiece for the Gallery." The Washington Post (26 September 1974): B1, B4.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 188, repro.
1976
Larcan, Alain. "À propos du tableau de Georges de La Tour du Musée Lorrain dit 'La Femme à la Puce'." Le Pays Lorrain 57, no. 3 (1976): 160.
1976
Pariset, François-Georges. "Georges de La Tour; notes et réflexions sur l'artiste et son oeuvre." Le Pays Lorrain 57, no. 3 (1976): 143-146, 153-154.
1976
Rosenberg, Pierre. "Review of Nicolson and Wright, Georges de La Tour." The Art Bulletin 58, no. 3 (September 1976): 452.
1976
Spear, Richard E. "The Literature of Art: A New Book on La Tour [Review of Nicolson and Wright, Georges de La Tour]." The Burlington Magazine 118, no. 877 (April 1976): 235.
1977
Wright, Christopher. Georges de La Tour. Oxford, 1977: 19, 129, repro.
1979
Watson, Ross. The National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1979: 74, pl. 60.
1980
Stoichita, Victor. "Melancolia II. Eseu Despre Georges de La Tour sù migratia simbolurilor in secolul al XVII-LEA." Studii si Cercetari de Istoria Artei. Seria Arta Plastica Bucresti 27 (1980): 95-131, repro. 111.
1981
Lacau St. Guily, Agnès. "Images de la femme dans l'oeuvre de Georges de La Tour." Colóquio Artes 49 (June 1981): 22.
1982
Rosenberg, Pierre. La peinture française du XVIIe siècle dans les collections américaines. Exh. cat. Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Art Institute of Chicago. Paris, 1982: no. 5, 355, repro. (English ed., France in the Golden Age: Seventeenth-Century French Paintings in American Collections, New York, 1982).
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 308, no. 406, color repro.
1985
Bajou, Thierry. De La Tour. Milan, 1985: 69, repro.
1985
Del Bravo, Carlo. "Quadri a lume di notte: Georges de La Tour e Sant'Agostino." Artibus et historiae 11, VI (1985): 9+, repro.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 219, repro.
1991
Kopper, Philip. America's National Gallery of Art: A Gift to the Nation. New York, 1991: x, 263, 290, 295, repros.
1992
Lacau St Guily, Agnès. La Tour, une lumière dans la nuit. Belgium, 1992: 100-102, repro.
1992
National Gallery of Art, Washington. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 161, repro.
1992
Rosenberg, Pierre and Marina Mojana. Georges de La Tour: Catalogo completo dei dipinti. Florence, 1992: no. 24, repro.
1993
Conisbee, Philip. "Georges de La Tour's Repentant Magdalene." Exh. booklet, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1993.
1993
Thuillier, Jacques. Georges de La Tour. Translated by Fabia Claris. Paris, 1993: no. 43, 157, repro. (French ed., 1992).
1994
Ramade, Patrick. "Review of Jacques Thuillier, Georges de La Tour." The Burlington Magazine 136, no. 1096 (July 1994): 461.
1995
Le Floch, Jean-Claude. La Tour, le clair et l'obscur. Paris, 1995: 56, repro.
1995
Le Floch, Jean-Claude. Le signe de contradiction: essai sur Georges de La Tour et son oeuvre. Rennes, 1995: 49, 47, repro.
1995
Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History. New York, 1995: 775, figs. 19-30; rev. ed. 1999: 774-775, figs. 19-26.
1996
Conisbee, Philip, et al. Georges de La Tour and His World. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington; Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, 1996-1997. Washington, 1996: no. 22, 102-109, 250-254, 271, repro.
1996
Du Bois de Cendrecourt, Louis. "Les Madeleines de Georges de La Tour." Le Pays Lorrain 93, 77, no. 1 (January-March 1996): 65-67.
1996
Seidel, Katrin. Die Kertze: Motivgeschichte und Ikonologie. Hildesheim, Zurich, and New York, 1996: 276, no. 17.8, repro.
1997
Bond, Bruce. Radiography. New York, 1997: cover, repro.
1997
Cuzin, Jean-Pierre, and Dimitri Salmon. Georges de La Tour: Histoire D'une Redécouverte. Paris, 1997: 104, repro. detail.
1997
Cuzin, Jean-Pierre, and Pierre Rosenberg. Georges de La Tour, Les expositions de l'oeil. Exh. cat. Galeries nationale du Grand Palais, Paris, 1997: 59, no. 37, repro.
1997
Fohr, Robert. Georges de La Tour: Le maître des nuits. Paris, 1997: 64, repro.
1999
Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History. 2 vols. Revised ed. New York, 1999: 774-775, fig. 19-26.
2004
Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 176-177, no. 139, color repro.
2005
Fahy, Everett, ed. The Wrightsman Pictures. New Haven, 2005: 148-149, under cat. 41, fig. 2.
2009
Conisbee, Philip, et al. French Paintings of the Fifteenth through the Eighteenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 2009: no. 63, 272-278, color repro.
2013
Harris, Neil. Capital Culture: J. Carter Brown, the National Gallery of Art, and the Reinvention of the Museum Experience. Chicago and London, 2013: 164-165.
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