Saint Mary Magdalene reading

Carlo Saraceni painted this canvas – which became part of the Civic Art Gallery in 1864 – in one of numerous variants of the iconography of Saint Mary Magdalene. The scene is dominated by the figure of the woman who, with her head bowed, is concentrating on the open pages of a book, probably a sacred text, leaning on a skull as though it were a kind of lectern. The saint’s face, with a serious and pensive expression, is framed by her long black hair, while her head is surrounded by the halo symbolising sanctity.

In Veneto figurative tradition, the relationship between the severe and composed figure of the saint and the rustic landscape setting is a real innovation: Magdalene’s bust, in three-quarter view, stands out against the background of a blue sky, streaked with clouds and bordered on the left by a rocky wall from which hangs a lantern. Her arms are resting on a bare table of rough wood, next to the crucifix and the penitential lash.

The measured effects of light and shade on which the entire composition is based show the great ability and expertise of the Venetian master, who had been in contact with the followers and supporters of Caravaggio when he stayed in Rome in his youth, though he always remained linked to the classicism of Cavalier d’Arpino, and who in Venice had had the opportunity to assimilate and revise the characteristic colouring of Venetian painting.