Penitent Magdalene

Saraceni spent most of his career in Rome, and it shows in this picture, painted around 1614 for the Venetian family that took him up when he came home, the Contarini. Its subject is Mary Magdalene as a penitent, shown close and half length in the shadowed manner Saraceni had absorbed in Rome. She is a young woman with dark hair loose over her shoulders, her tunic slipping from her left shoulder to leave the neckline low, a reminder of the worldly life the story says she gave up. Saraceni returned to this figure more than once, and several versions in his own hand survive. This one stayed with the Contarini for generations before it entered the Accademia.