Mary Magdalene

Mary Magdalene at the Rijksmuseum, painted around 1645, depicts the penitent saint in Guercino's mature style. The Magdalene's contemplation of mortality through the skull was a standard Counter-Reformation devotional image. Guercino's vivid early style, with its bold chiaroscuro and emotional immediacy, gave way after 1621 to a more classical manner influenced by the taste of Rome, creating two distinct bodies of work that represent the Baroque's competing impulses toward drama and order.

The saint's expression of spiritual contemplation is rendered with Guercino's mature refinement. The smoother handling and harmonious palette characterize his evolution toward a more classical style.