Mary Magdalene as Melancholy

Painting by Artemisia Gentileschi

Mary Magdalene as Melancholy

Artist	Artemisia Gentileschi
Year	c. 1622 – 1625
Medium	oil on canvas
Movement	Baroque
Dimensions	100.6 cm × 136.3 cm (39.6 in × 53.7 in)
Location	Museo Soumaya, Mexico City

Mary Magdalene as Melancholy is a 1622–1625 painting by Artemisia Gentileschi, showing Mary Magdalene as a personification of Melancholia. It is now in the Museo Soumaya in Mexico City.

It is an autograph copy of Penitent Magdalene by the artist now in the Treasury of Seville Cathedral, although X-ray examination has shown that the fabric on the saint's shoulder is wider in the Seville version and was probably added later to fit with the canons of the Catholic Church. This has also demonstrated that the two faces are different - the Mexico City version seems to be a self-portrait by comparison with Judith Slaying Holofernes and Cleopatra - and that there are corrections in the brushstrokes in the Seville version but not in the Mexico City variant.^[1]

References

^ Garrard, Mary18:55:38D. (2001). Artemisia Gentileschi around 1622. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 25–35. ISBN 0520224264.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

Artemisia Gentileschi

Paintings

1610s	Susanna and the Elders (Pommersfelden) Madonna and Child (Rome) Judith Beheading Holofernes (Naples) Danaë Portrait of a Nun Allegory of Inclination Judith and her Maidservant (Florence) Self-Portrait as a Lute Player Self-Portrait as a Female Martyr Self-Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy Saint Catherine of Alexandria
1620s	Cleopatra (Milan) Cleopatra (Ferrara) Portrait of a Lady, dressed in a gold embroidered costume Jael and Sisera Saint Cecilia Allegory of Painting Judith Slaying Holofernes (Florence) Mary Magdalene as Melancholy Susanna and the Elders (Stamford) Portrait of a Gonfaloniere Portrait of a Lady Holding a Fan Lucretia (Milan) Christ Blessing the Children Medea Penitent Magdalene Judith and Her Maidservant (Detroit) Venus and Cupid Esther Before Ahasuerus Lucretia (Los Angeles) Aurora
1630s	Annunciation (Naples) Corisca and the Satyr Self-Portrait (Rome) Clio, Muse of History The Birth of Saint John the Baptist Lot and His Daughters Bathsheba (Columbus) Cleopatra (Rome) Saint Januarius in the Amphitheatre at Pozzuoli Adoration of the Magi Saints Proculus and Nicea Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting David and Goliath Christ and the Woman of Samaria Judith and her Maidservant with the Head of Holofernes Susanna and the Elders (London) Susanna and the Elders (private collection)
1640s	Susanna and the Elders (Brno) Lucretia (Potsdam) Judith and her Maidservant (Naples) Judith and her Maidservant (Cannes) Saint Apollonia
1650s	Susanna and the Elders (Bologna) Virgin and Child with a Rosary