The Last Communion of St. Mary Magdalen, after Benedetto Luti
ca. 1761–64
Medium
Red chalk, heightened with white, on brown paper.; framing lines in pen and brown ink
Dimensions
13 x 9 7/16 in. (33 x 23.9 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, David L. Klein Jr. Memorial Foundation Inc. Gift, 1984
Accession Number
1984.352
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the intimate drawing *The Last Communion of St Mary Magdalen, after Luti* (ca. 1761–64), French artist Louis Jean Jacques Durau pays homage to the Italian Baroque master Benedetto Luti. This poignant religious scene captures the saint in her final moments of spiritual ecstasy, receiving communion amid ethereal angels and solemn male figures—a testament to 18th-century devotion to Mary Magdalene as the penitent saint embodying redemption and divine grace. Executed in red chalk heightened with white on brown paper, with delicate pen-and-ink framing lines, the work exemplifies virtuoso drafts...