The Last Moments of Saint Mary Magdalene

This Last Moments of Saint Mary Magdalene from 1491 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art depicts the Magdalene's death after years of desert solitude, fed only by angels who lifted her heavenward daily in a foretaste of her final assumption. The subject—combining the reformed sinner's ultimate vindication with the drama of supernatural nourishment—was popular in Florentine painting as an illustration of the power of penitence and divine mercy. Botticelli's version brings the emotional directness of his mature religious work to this hagiographic scene. Philadelphia's acquisition of this work through the Johnson Collection documents the systematic American assembly of Florentine Renaissance painting through the Gilded Age and early twentieth century.

The dying Magdalene is rendered with Botticelli's characteristic linear grace, the flowing hair and emaciated form creating a powerful contrast between earthly beauty and spiritual transcendence.