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= Penitent Magdalene (Donatello) = The Penitent Magdalene is a wooden sculpture of Mary Magdalene by the Italian Renaissance sculptor Donatello thought to have been created sometime between the 1430s -1450s. The sculpture was thought to be commissioned for the Baptistery of Florence, though this is sometimes disputed. While realistic, the piece is often cited as a staute with great expressive power by multiple scholars. It is currently housed in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo in Florence.

Contents

1 Literary and Artistic Tradition

2 Chronology, Location, and History

3 Sculpture Features and Interpretations

4 Legacy

5 References

6 Sources

Literary and Artistic Tradition
Mary Magdalene, as a literary figure, is actually a fusion of multiple biblical and legendary characters. In some sources, Mary Magdalene is one of the women in Christ's company who was one of the first to see him after his resurrection. Another woman associated with Mary Magdalene is Mary, sister of Martha, who received Jesus in the house of Bethany. However, traditionally, and most preferred by Roman Catholicism, Mary Magdalene is identified as an unnamed sinner who came to Christ while he was dining in the house of Simon the Pharisee. While her specific sin is never mentioned, it is assumed to be prostitution, as she was known to be a beautiful and wealthy prostitute. At Simon's house, she washed Christ's feet with her own tears and further dried them with her hair, before anointing them with expensive ointments. Christ, because of the Magdalene's faith and humility, decided to pardon her because of her faith. Because of this, she has become an important example of conversion in Christian hagiography. In fact, she has been become a patron saint to converts generally and especially prostitutes.

What is being represented by Donatello's Magdalene, however, is Mary during her part in the Passion, and the Golden Legend of her life after Jesus Christ's resurrection, when she retreated into the French wilderness and lived a life of fasting and penance for thirty years. At the height of her penance, she discarded her worldly clothing and was supposedly clothed in only her hair, something that is seen in many depictions of the ascetic Magdalene.

In visual art, she has been portrayed in many ways - both as a young beautiful woman and as an ascetic. In general, she can be identified by long, reddish hair and holding a jar of ointment, both of which are in reference to her time in the house of Pharisee. The haggard Magdalene with very long hair is often seen as combined with "Mary of Egypt" who gave up her carnal ways of life and retreated to an ascetic life in the desert, "naked, the body blackened and burned by the fiery sun." The image of an emaciated, naked women covering herself with long hair was especially common since thirteenth century Italy.

Chronology, Location, and History
Scholars often say that the date, original location, and patronage of Donatello's Penitent Magdalene are uncertain. Others, such as Janson, have tried to piece together some documentation regarding her whereabouts. Earliest references date the statue to the 1500s, where Giorgio Vasari reported seeing the image in the Florence Baptistery. In 1688, the statue was supposedly put in storage until 1735, when it might have been installed against the southeast wall of the church.

After a great flood in Florence in 1966, the statue was recovered, cleaned (revealing her polychrome and gilding) and placed in her present location in the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo.

Her association with one of Donatello’s other works, St. John the Baptist, has led to the general acceptance of the Baptistery being the intended location. Some scholars, namely Strom, do dispute her intended location as the Baptistery, as a wooden statue in a baptistery would have been considered unusual, especially since most wooden figures were placed in chapels or altarpieces.

Sculpture Features and Interpretations
Donatello, as an artist, is known for his ability to grant his sculptures personality, and the Penitent Magdalene is an example of this skill. She is represented praying, clothed in her own hair, with many of her common attributes (like the ointment jar) removed, supposedly so that her character and emotional state are emphasized, and the observer is invited into her experience. Her ascetic and penitent state are seen in her sunken eyes, open, toothless mouth, and elongated figure. Even so, some experts note a sense of hope in this sculpture, suggested by her upward gaze and praying hands.

A unique feature, Donatello also portrays the Magdalene in contrapposto, exemplifying shifts in body weight and creating a feeling of movement in an otherwise static figure. Donatello’s choice of wood is also considered novel to Italian Renaissance artists and possibly a deliberate choice to enforce the “craggy” and “weathered” look that the Magdalene was supposed to portray.

While Penitent Magdalene is considered an innovative and impressive show of Donatello’s ability to create drama and pathos in his figures, it’s possible Donatello was influenced by an earlier Tuscan Gothic tradition of dramatic narrative started by Giovanni Pisano.

Legacy
Multiple historians agree that Donatello’s Penitent Magdalene inspired and influenced many other artists with their renditions. Some examples of possible emulations of Donatello’s Magdalene are a statue of the Magdalene in the Collegiata in Empoli dated in 1455, the Magdalene in Boticelli’s Holy Trinity in 1493, and the Magdalene in Botticini’s Virgin and Child in Glory with Saints Mary Magdalene and Barnard in 1485.