Landscape with the Penitent Mary Magdalene, Claude Lorren

Description of the picture:

Landscape with the penitent Mary Magdalene – Claude Lorren. 1636-1638. Canvas, oil. 162×241

   Claude Lorrain (1600-1682) – a famous French landscape painter, painter and engraver of the XVII century, one of the founders of the Euro classicism. The true name of the artist is Claude Jelly.

   “Landscape penitent Mary Magdalene” is a beautiful example of a creative wizard quest. Classical landscape motifs in Lorren’s canvases receive inimitable beauty and originality.

   In this work, as in most others, compositional construction is based on the usual techniques for classicism. The painter uses the scenes – trees located in the right and left parts of the composition, which reports her symmetry; the central part reveals a view of the endless plains, which at the very horizon are closed by the silhouette of mountains melting in the haze. In the foreground is Mary. Kneeling before the crucifixion, she turns to God with her repentance. Her figure, somewhat offset from the center, is illuminated by a dull light, which brings some intonation of theatricality to the canvas.

   The painter idealizes the landscape, demonstrating the perfect nature, uses naturalistic accuracy and poetic spirituality, which allows him to achieve the greatest harmony and expressiveness."