Christ on the Cross with Mary Magdalene
c. 1645
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
74.4 × 55.6 cm (29 5/16 × 21 7/8 in.); Framed: 101.3 × 86.7 cm (39 7/8 × 34 1/8 in.)
Classification
oil on canvas
Department
Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
53061
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
This small painting showing the grief-stricken Saint Mary Magdalene alone at the foot of the cross was probably intended as a private devotional work. The same expressive figure of Magdalene appears in more complex treatments of the Crucifixion and the Lamentation by followers of Simon Vouet. Having worked in Rome before returning to Paris as first painter to Louis XIII in 1627, Vouet was a gifted teacher, attracting many students and collaborators to his Paris workshop. Vouet's followers Charle...