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In the beginning of my college career, I was thinking of becoming an Art History major. Its always been interesting to me to dig deeper and understand the bigger picture of a work of art, not just experience it with my eyes. Although I never became an Art History major, I loved buying as many of those discounted art books at Barnes and Noble as I could; I would finish them within a matter of days. I stamped post-its on my favorite pages and paintings and never looked back.
This fall season I took a load off (or thought I was) by taking the semester off school and working two jobs so I could save up, buy a car, and complete other things on my to-do list. As expected I ended up with little free time, so I took to reading and sorting through all my books... and that's how I rediscovered some of my favorite paintings that inspire me. I've decided to blog about this particular painting because there are just sooo many things I love about it! Like how its one of those pieces where there,s more that meets the eye (and especially your first impression). Or that you don't see her face... its not focused on what she looks like, but rather the story the artist wants to tell and your emotional reaction to it.
The Penitent Magdalene
By Georges de la Tour (1593- 1652)
This Fench artist portrays Mary Magdalene in the view that she was a prostitute (a common misconception- today's scholars agree that no where in the Bible does it directly state or allude that she was ever one).
In the Penitent Magdalene, the artist portrays the disciple at a midway point between her old life of promiscuity and her new life as a disciple of Jesus Christ who will spend the rest of her days lamenting her sins and doing penance to expiate them. She sits at her dressing table where she used to doll herself up for her next sensual conquest.
She wears a red dress and a white blouse. Red is the color of sexual passion, while white is the color of purity. That her blouse is open and her chest is almost exposed suggests that Mary is early in her conversion, that the allures of the flesh may still have some hold on her.
In her lap she holds a human skull, a traditional symbol of someone who is trying to be "dead to the world" and its false pleasures and temptations. But she is seated before a beautiful, expensive mirror, no doubt purchased during her decadent period. A mirror is a traditional symbol of vanity, but in this painting it does a double duty; reflecting the lights from the candle to cast more light on Mary. The candle serves a dual purpose as well; lighting up the picture ( a common tenebrist prop and a signature of de la Tour's work) while also symbolizing Christ, Mary'snew master and the light of the world.
-Paraphrased from Craughwell's The Book of Art
Thoughts on this? Am I the only one who thinks it paints a good picture of what temptation looks like in a Christian's walk?
