In spite of the far-fetched attribution of this work to Caravaggio made by the compiler of the Inventario Fidecommissario, modern critics agree that the painting is a quality antique replica of the panel by Perugino held today at the Galleria Palatina in Florence. Probably a product of the Umbrian artist’s workshop, the work depicts Mary Magdalene, one of Christ’s disciples. The half-length portrait is set against a dark background, with Mary resting her hands on a parapet. Her name runs along the collar of her dress.
Salvator Rosa, 59.5 x 44 x 5 cm
Rome, Borghese Collection, 1693 (Inventory 1693, room VIII, no. 15; Della Pergola 1955; 1965); Inventario Fidecommissario Borghese 1833, p. 21. Purchased by Italian state, 1902.
Neckline: "S MARIA MADALENA"
The provenance of this painting is unknown. It was first mentioned in connection with the Borghese Collection in 1693, when it was described in the family inventory of that year as ‘a work of roughly two-and-a-half spans on panel, a portrait of a young man [sic], with the inscription of Saint Mary Magdalene on his chest, no. ..., with a carved, gilded frame. Artist uncertain’ (Inv. 1693; see Della Pergola 1955; 1965).
While the Inventario Fidecommissario astoundingly ascribed it Caravaggio (‘A saint, by Caravaggio’; Inv. Fid. 1833), Giovanni Piancastelli (1891) rightly identified the work as a copy of the Pitti Mary Magdalene (Palazzo Pitti, Florence inv. 1912, 42), which Perugino executed in roughly 1500, distancing himself from the traditional iconography of the saint attired in penitent’s clothing. Influenced by trends in Flemish painting during his time in Florence, the Umbrian master presents Mary in contemporary dress. He set the portrait against a dark background, with the subject resting her hands on a parapet (F. Navarro in Perugino 2004). Her name is clearly visible on the broad collar of her dress: perhaps the painter feared that in the absence of her typical attribute – the small container with ointments – her identity could be mistaken.
As Paola della Pergola (1955) suggested, this copy is certainly an antique work, probably a product of the master’s workshop from the first quarter of the 16th century. This scholar’s opinion has been accepted by subsequent critics (Camesasca 1959; 1969; Navarro 2004; Herrmann Fiore 2006).
Antonio Iommelli