A Painting a Day

The Penitent Magdalen (1638-43) Georges De La Tour

This is another discovery I made on my recent trip to the MET. The painting depicts Mary Magdalen (yes as in the one from the Divinci Code) turning away from her reflection in the mirror. This painting, with it’s dark overtones and Gothic style, truly captured me. There is something oddly beautiful about a sinner, holding a skull turning away from her own reflection. I find the mirror particularly fascinating. It does not reflect Magdalen, rather the candle. The candle appears illuminated in the mirror but dark in the real world creating conflict. “Between what?” you may ask. Between good and evil? Between right and wrong? Between Barney and Sesame Street? I’ll leave it up to you to decide.

Now at examining this painting again there is one part of the painting I hate. Her hands. They have a waxy quality that really makes me uncomfortable. The rest of her is bathed in a sort of calm realistic candle light but her hands look like plastic reflecting some sort of distant fluorescent light in a middle American high school. In fact… I hate her hands. They really bother me… thoughts?

(oh and in the future I promise these won’t all be so old. I do like modern art too. I promise :-p)