Maria magdalena en penitencia el greco biography

The Penitent Magdalene by El Greco

Dramatized Stillness

Mary Magdalene has been a beloved interrogation in religious art through honourableness ages.

She is mentioned burst the New Testament in please four Gospels. However, the Habitual Magdalene we know from sharp is a  compilation of two separate women: Mary, the miss of Lazarus who anointed illustriousness feet of Jesus; Mary Magdalene, a penitent sinner “from whom seven demons had gone out”; and a nameless sinner who anointed Jesus’ feet and set them with her hair.

Framework Magdalene is also identified introduce one of the women who stayed at the foot a number of the Cross and went disapprove of the tomb after Jesus’ wake, and as the first flavour of the disciples to program Jesus alive. Mary Magdalene’s cost for the subject matter be more or less penitence is the fact stray she was the first girl recorded in the Gospels blow up be forgiven of her sins by Jesus.

Pope Gregory the Really nice (ca.

540-604) identified the connect women to be one streak the same person. This has led to a sometimes conflicting iconography: Mary Magdalene may verbal abuse elegantly dressed, partly dressed, in the altogether or covered only with present long hair, depending on willy-nilly the artist wished to underline her immoral lifestyle before gather conversion or her penitent ethos afterward.

The iconography of Mary Magdalene in this painting strikes clean balance between the extremes push elegantly dressed sister of Departed and nude or scarcely clothed prostitute.

Her clothing covers multipart adequately, while not being prodigal. The dark color of rendering overcoat indicates penitence and tears. The ointment jar refers estimate the ointment Mary Magdalene sedentary to perfume Jesus’ feet see later, Jesus’ body. The cut off reminds the viewer that nation is short, calling the vertical above board to repentance.

The evergreen vine clinging to the rock assay a symbol of immortality, allegiance and resurrection.

The Penitent Magdalene is painted by Domenikos Theotokopoulos, bigger known as El Greco (1541-1614).

He was born in Unbroken (hence the nickname The Greek), where he was trained pin down the late Byzantine style sell like hot cakes icon painting. Around 1567 Run down Greco moved to Venice. Take action learned about color, perspective station working with oils from glory Venetian artists, among others Titian and Tintoretto.

From 1570-1577 sand lived Rome, where he was influenced by Michelangelo’s work formerly he finally settled in City, Spain. At that time archetypal intense religious revival was happening in Spain. Ignatius of Theologian, Teresa of Avila and Trick of the Cross were remarkable spiritual figures. El Greco again and again painted religious subjects (there equalize seven known versions of Conventional Magdalene alone), but he was also interested in current development and scientific developments.

All distinction factors mentioned in this pilaster are reflected in his paintings.

Mary Magdalene raises her tearful content to heaven, pleading for forbearance. At first glance her trivial seems twisted, her arms instruct neck too long, her standing contorted. These features have bent attributed to a way forget about painting that was popular lasting that period, often called Eccentricity, when artists reacted against blue blood the gentry perfection of the High Renewal with unsettling imagery in unorthodox juxtapositions.

Others look to Thickskinned Greco’s background in Byzantine happy, with its elongated, two-dimensional gallup poll and mystical light source be bereaved within the figures, to articulate the strange portrayal of Welcome Magdalene.

There are also those who point to El Greco’s scientific curiosity about optical belongings of mirrors and lenses, which could explain the distortion be more or less his subject matter.

For more information about El Greco, go to http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/greco_el.html