The Penitent Magdalene,previously inscribed 1599 (oil on canvas)

Mary Magdalene is stretched diagonally across the picture, leaning on a ledge of rock and resting her head on a skull. She clasps a crucifix and looks up from reading. She is swathed in drapery, which reveals her left leg and her shoulders and arms. Her golden-red hair is loose and flows down her back, framing both her face and the skull. The scene is set at night; the light of a vision appears above her head and in the sky behind is the moon. There are traces of an inscription, which could have included a signature and possibly a date, on a stone by the bottom edge towards the right, but nothing is now legible. Nevertheless, this is a powerful picture and the traditional attribution to Palma Giovane has not been doubted. The general type is better matched in his numerous Penitent Saint Jeromes than in his other Magdalenes. Good comparative material is provided by the ‘Triumph of David’ organ-shutters in the Chapel of S. Anastasio, S. Zaccaria, Venice, dated 1595, where the lighting and the vigorous treatment of hair and flesh are very similar.