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Martha and Mary Magdalene (Caravaggio)
Encyclopedia
Martha and Mary Magdalene (c. 1598) is a painting by the Italian
Baroque
master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. It is in the Detroit Institute of Arts
. Alternate titles include Martha Reproving Mary, The Conversion of the Magdalene.
The painting shows the sisters Martha
and Mary from the New Testament
. In fact Martha's sister "Mary" in the Gospels is Mary of Bethany, but she was often confused with Mary Magdalene
, hence the old title, which is not from the artist, but later. Martha is in the act of converting Mary from her life of pleasure to the life of virtue in Christ. Martha, her face shadowed, leans forward, passionately arguing with Mary, who twirls an orange blossom between her fingers as she holds a mirror, symbolising the vanity she is about to give up. The power of the image lies in Mary's face, caught at the moment when conversion begins.
Martha and Mary was painted while Caravaggio was living in the palazzo of his patron, Cardinal Francesco Maria Del Monte
. His paintings for Del Monte fall into two groups: the secular genre pieces such as The Musicians
, The Lute Player
, and Bacchus
- all featuring boys and youths in somewhat claustophobic interior scenes - and religious images such as Rest on the Flight into Egypt
and Ecstasy of Saint Francis. Among the religious paintings was a group of four works featuring the same two female models, together or singly. The models were two well-known courtesans who frequented the palazzi of Del Monte and other wealthy and powerful art patrons, and their names were Anna Bianchini and Fillide Melandroni. Anna Bianchini appeared first as a solitary Mary Magdalene in the Penitent Magdalene
of about 1597. Fillide Melandroni appeared in a secular Portrait of a Courtesan
done the same year for Del Monte's friend and fellow art-lover, the banker Vincenzo Giustiniani
. In 1598 Caravaggio painted Fillide again as Saint Catherine
, capturing a beauty full of intelligence and spirit. In Martha and Mary the two are shown together, Fillide perfectly fitted to the role of Mary, Anna to the mousier but insistent presence as Martha.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. It is in the Detroit Institute of Arts
Detroit Institute of Arts
The Detroit Institute of Arts is a renowned art museum in the city of Detroit. In 2003, the DIA ranked as the second largest municipally owned museum in the United States, with an art collection valued at more than one billion dollars...
. Alternate titles include Martha Reproving Mary, The Conversion of the Magdalene.
The painting shows the sisters Martha
Martha
Martha of Bethany is a biblical figure described in the Gospels of Luke and John. Together with her siblings Lazarus and Mary, she is described as living in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem...
and Mary from the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
. In fact Martha's sister "Mary" in the Gospels is Mary of Bethany, but she was often confused with Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene was one of Jesus' most celebrated disciples, and the most important woman disciple in the movement of Jesus. Jesus cleansed her of "seven demons", conventionally interpreted as referring to complex illnesses...
, hence the old title, which is not from the artist, but later. Martha is in the act of converting Mary from her life of pleasure to the life of virtue in Christ. Martha, her face shadowed, leans forward, passionately arguing with Mary, who twirls an orange blossom between her fingers as she holds a mirror, symbolising the vanity she is about to give up. The power of the image lies in Mary's face, caught at the moment when conversion begins.
Martha and Mary was painted while Caravaggio was living in the palazzo of his patron, Cardinal Francesco Maria Del Monte
Francesco Maria Del Monte
Francesco Maria Del Monte, full name Francesco Maria Bourbon Del Monte Santa Maria, was an Italian Cardinal, diplomat and connoisseur of the arts...
. His paintings for Del Monte fall into two groups: the secular genre pieces such as The Musicians
The Musicians (Caravaggio)
The Musicians is a painting by the Italian Baroque master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio . It is held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York....
, The Lute Player
The Lute Player (Caravaggio)
The Lute Player is a composition by the Italian Baroque master Caravaggio. It exists in three versions, one in the Wildenstein Collection, another in the Hermitage Museum, St...
, and Bacchus
Bacchus (Caravaggio)
Bacchus is a painting by Italian Baroque master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio . It is held in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence....
- all featuring boys and youths in somewhat claustophobic interior scenes - and religious images such as Rest on the Flight into Egypt
Rest on the Flight into Egypt (Caravaggio)
Rest on the Flight into Egypt is a painting by the Italian Baroque master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, in the Doria Pamphilj Gallery, Rome....
and Ecstasy of Saint Francis. Among the religious paintings was a group of four works featuring the same two female models, together or singly. The models were two well-known courtesans who frequented the palazzi of Del Monte and other wealthy and powerful art patrons, and their names were Anna Bianchini and Fillide Melandroni. Anna Bianchini appeared first as a solitary Mary Magdalene in the Penitent Magdalene
Penitent Magdalene (Caravaggio)
Penitent Magdalene is a 16th century oil on canvas painting by Italian Baroque painter Caravaggio. The painting portrays a repentant Mary Magdalene, bowed over in penitent sorrow as she leaves behind her dissolute life, its trappings abandoned beside her. At the time of its completion, ca...
of about 1597. Fillide Melandroni appeared in a secular Portrait of a Courtesan
Portrait of a Courtesan (Caravaggio)
Portrait of a Courtesan was a painting by the Baroque master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. Painted between 1597 and 1599, it was destroyed in Berlin in 1945 and is known only from photographs...
done the same year for Del Monte's friend and fellow art-lover, the banker Vincenzo Giustiniani
Vincenzo Giustiniani
thumb|upright|Vincenzo Giustiniani in a portrait by [[Nicolas Régnier]] Marchese Vincenzo Giustiniani was an aristocratic Italian banker, art collector and intellectual of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, known today largely for the Giustiniani art collection, assembled at Palazzo...
. In 1598 Caravaggio painted Fillide again as Saint Catherine
Saint Catherine (Caravaggio)
Saint Catherine of Alexandria is an oil painting by the Italian Baroque master Caravaggio. It is part of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection of Madrid....
, capturing a beauty full of intelligence and spirit. In Martha and Mary the two are shown together, Fillide perfectly fitted to the role of Mary, Anna to the mousier but insistent presence as Martha.