| Method | Copper engraving |
| Artist | after Charles Le Brun |
| Published | A Paris chez P. Gallays, rue St. Jacques à St. Fraçcois de Sales [n.d. c. 1745] |
| Dimensions | Image 250 x 188 mm, Plate 271 x 190 mm, Sheet 317 x 239 mm |
| Notes |
After Charles Le Brun's 1656 painting 'Penitent Magdalene', this depiction of Mary Magdalene presents the repentant saint within an interior beside a window, the frame of which has been immersed by clouds. Divine light emerges from the clouds to fall upon Mary Magdalene's face. Dynamically presented leaning to the right, her head raises towards the light. At her feet, an overturned box spills jewellery onto the floor. Charles Le Brun (1619 - 1690) was a French painter and art theorist, and a particularly dominant figure in 17th-century art in France. Between 1642 and 45, Le Brun spent time in Italy with Nicolas Poussin, whom he was greatly influenced by. Le Brun later began working for Louis XIV, from whom he received numerous commissions, most famously the decoration of Versailles. In 1662, Louis XIV named Le Brun Premier peintre, and is said to have declared him 'the greatest French artist of all time'. Le Brun also played a prominent role in the reorganisation of the Académie de Peinture et de Sculpture, of which he became director. Pierre Gallays (1677 - 1749) was a French publisher and printseller. He specialised in popular and semi-popular material, and often in large-scale works. Condition: Some foxing and discolouration to sheet. Light crease to lower right. |
| Framing | unmounted |
| Price | £180.00 |
| Stock ID | 40539 |