ITALIE, XVIIE SIÈCLE Lot n° 12

SAINTE MARIE-MADELEINE White marble, carved wooden frame Medallion: H. 29 cm, L. 43 cm Frame: H. 50 cm, L. 64 cm Bibliography Rosa Giorgi, Les Saints, iconographic landmarks, Ed. Hazan, Paris, 2003, p. 249 This marble medallion carved in high relief shows Saint Mary Magdalene lying down, her hair scattered over her chest. Her life of penance is symbolized by the presence at her side of the cross and the skull, while the vase of perfume recalls the evangelical episode of the meal at Simon the Pharisee's house, where Madeleine coated Christ's feet with this essence. The whole is set in an elegant oval wooden frame carved with a wrapped frieze and a laurel frieze. The iconography of the undone hair, the skull and the perfume bottle is characteristic of the representations of Saint Mary Magdalene. It can be found in many contemporary paintings of our high relief, including two representations by Georges de La Tour (fig. 1) and Caravaggio (fig. 2). The image of Mary Magdalene follows the tradition that flows from Gregory the Great's interpretation, according to which the two figures of Magdalene are identified in her person: the one who anointed the feet of Jesus in the house of Simon the Pharisee, and the sister of Martha of Bethany. Mary Magdalene would therefore be present in different episodes of the Gospels. Famous sinner, she presented herself to Jesus, guest of Simon's house, to ask forgiveness for her sins, bathing her feet with her tears, wiping them with her hair and perfuming them with a precious ointment. This episode, linked to the one in Bethany where, to honour Jesus, she opened an ointment vase and poured it on his head and feet, is a prefiguration and a proclamation of Christ's death. Mary Magdalene is one of three women who, the day after the Sabbath, went early in the morning to the Sepulchre to anoint the body of Jesus, and it is she who saw the risen Christ before the apostles.