PROVENANCE: Private
collection, Ireland (?); sale, Dublin, October 1964; Julius Weitzner,
New York, 1965; BJU, 1965.
This arresting Mary Magdalene Turning from the World to Christ plainly
identifies Jan van Bijlert's with the group of Utrecht Caravaggisti.
He is often considered among the primary leaders of the movement, although
he adapted his style throughout his career to the classicist and genre
tendencies.
The present work illustrates a crossroad in Bijlert's career, blending
the naturalism, lighting, shallow background, and composition of the
Caravaggesque movement with the color palette and detailed precision
of Classicism. The clear brilliance, invention, and superb condition
of this work contribute to its identification as the artist's most important
masterpiece in America.
Beyond its sheer beauty, the subject of the painting has become an intriguing
puzzle for Dutch Caravaggesque scholars. That Bijlert is showing the symbolic
moment of the Magdalene's conversion as she turns away from the world and
its riches toward the sacrifice made by her Savior is the most convincing
interpretation. The blue and white colors and courtesan style of her dress
are her traditional depiction. The other theory, supported by the lack
of an ointment jar and of her long, flowing hair, is that the painting
is an allegory of faith. The painting does not strictly conform to either
of these interpretations; it combines critical elements of both. As an
allegory, the painting invites comparison to the Allegory of Faith by
Johannes Vermeer (Metropolitan Museum of Art). Bijlert is amazingly innovative
regardless of the interpretation, especially when one considers that he
painted relatively few religious subjects.
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