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Magdalen Essay

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George De La Tour was a lost master who was rediscovered in the 20th century. He was born on March 13, 1593 in the town of Vic-upon- Seille, in Lorainne. He is the second son out of seven. It is not known where he studied or where he spent his youth.. Influenced by Caravaggio, he created paintings in the chiaroscuro style. He devoted himself mainly to the representation of genre and religious subjects, both in day scenes as well as nocturnal ones. One of those many paintings was, “Magdalene with the Smoking Flame” (1638-1640). He received a commission to paint a piece for the Council of Trent. It met as a response to the Protestant Reformation. Their goal was to use art to teach religious stories and virtues. Mary Magdalene was to …show more content…

Life leads to death and death leads to heaven. To Mary, death is something that is quite eerily beautiful. The darkness brings out her curious questionable state and the light only takes us to that private moment that she is having of self reflection. Her body posture and light set the mood, and the books bring out the purpose of knowledge. Mary gazes out at the flame in a state of meditation. The followers of Christ considered the light to represent of love’s victory over darkness, that is, sin. De la Tour went through a long process to depict this image of Mary. He did multiple renderings of the same subject. Each one was done with a different view, pose, and mood. They were all meant to depict the same message in a different way. He kept repainting until he was satisfied with what he considered to be the perfect portrayal of Magdalene. “The Penitent Magdalene” also shows Mary looking into a mirror which is a symbol of vanity. The candle is reflected in the mirror. This painting is considered to be more elegant than the other versions because of the way her head is turned. Her hands are folded upon the skull as an extension of her thoughtful state. In “The Repentant Magdalene” the light is barely seen as it is being blocked by the skull. The light exposes her upper body only and her posture gives a hint of sadness to her thoughtful state. Her hands barely touching the skull show a slight hesitation of truly accepting death. The small flicker of the flame represents

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