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The Magdalen with the Smoking Flame
Georges de La Tour · Baroque & Dutch Golden Age
- Artist
- Georges de La Tour (1593–1652)
- Date
- c. 1640
- Dimensions
- 117 x 91.8 cm
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Location
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, United States
This painting shows Mary Magdalene seated in a dark room at night, her hand resting on a skull in her lap, gazing in silent meditation at the flame of an oil lamp on the table before her.
A closer look
La Tour reduced the scene to its essentials: a single light source, a woman, a few objects. The flame, with its thin trail of smoke, lights up her face, her white blouse and her red skirt, while the rest dissolves into deep shadow. On the table lie books, a whip for penance and a wooden cross. The Magdalene, the repentant sinner of Christian tradition, has abandoned her former life of luxury and contemplates death and the shortness of life. The stillness and simplicity give the image an almost mystical calm.
