This is a short essay composed for my Art Heritage of the Western World course, which I took the second semester of my freshman year of college. You can find a link to an online image of this beautiful painting in the bibliography (unfortunately, the online image is in black and white rather than full color)!

I was immediately attracted to La Tour's painting The Penitent Magdalen because of its dramatic contrast of light and dark. The only light source in the entire piece is the single tall flame of a taper candle and its reflection within the mirror. La Tour's use of such extreme contrast, known as tenebrism, is a beautiful element that draws one's eye to the main subjects of the image. The focal points of this piece are also emphasized by their placement within the overall composition. A triangle which ties all three components together is formed between the candle, the face of the Magdalen, and the human skull that rests in her lap. Mary's face is turned away from the viewer, and it almost seems as if she is either listening to a distant conversation, focusing her vision on the flame she has set on the table before her, or both. The overall mood of this painting drew my attention as well. It has a wonderful meditative, somber, and melancholic aura about it which makes perfect sense considering the content of the piece. Since much of the composition is drenched in the light of the candle, delineating the contours of form and rendering broad areas as almost flat shapes, it appears rather geometrical. However, there are also a number of lovely moments achieved where the seeming planes of light undulate and curve back into shadow, interrupting the overall simplicity and showing La Tour's sensitivity to the nature of light. The loosely draped sleeve of the Magdalen nearest to the viewer is one such area as well as the puddling of her crimson skirt on the floor. The small details including the scrollwork on the gold frame of the mirror, a string of pearls on the table, three parallel gold lines that plunge down the length of her skirt, and various necklaces strewn on the floor also serve as accents to the simplicity of the entire painting. On the whole, I was drawn to this piece because of its intriguing subject matter, its contemplative mood, and its dramatic light and shadow.

The Penitent Magdalen falls within the Baroque style of art. In keeping with the general traits of pieces from this period, this painting has definite allegorical elements, it seeks to represent a mystical event as temporal, it displays an interest in human psychology, and it is an example of realism. The allegorical elements present in this piece include the candle, the mirror, and the human skull. The candle is thought to symbolize spiritual enlightenment, the mirror to depict vanity, and the skull as a representation of human mortality. The mystical event is that of Mary's contemplation of the Divine. The component of human psychology is Mary's apparent pensive demeanor. As a follower of Caravaggio, La Tour utilized chiaroscuro extensively (especially in this painting) and painted in a realistic manner. Even though La Tour took much of his inspiration from Caravaggio, his "originality has often been seen to lie in his nocturnal scenes, lit with a candle, nightlight, or torch, the source sometimes visible [. . .]"( Turner 840). This painting is actually very similar to several of his other works in composition and subject matter. Magdalen and the Smoking Flame also features Mary wearing a white tunic and a red skirt with a skull in her lap, meditating on the flame of an oil lamp (Stokstad 783). In both paintings, Mary is a monumental figure seated at the foreground of the picture plane. Since La Tour's works are fairly small in scale, it is believed that he worked for a more private audience ( Turner 838). A specific patron for The Penitent Magdalen has not been identified.