2.10 Gian Domenico Cerrini The Praying Magdalene Paris, Musée National du Louvre
In a skillfully written passage in The Leopard, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa evokes the sort of secret alchemical changes that repeatedly transpired in the home of the Prince of Salina during the daily recitation of the rosary when, in an atmosphere of intense meditation created by prayer, things, while remaining unchanged physically, took on an unusual meaning. Thus “even the Magdalene, between the two windows, looked more like a penitent than a beautiful blond woman, lost in who knows what dreams, as she usually did”. Although it is hard to imagine that the author of The Leopard had before him Gian Domenico Cerrini’s painting of The Magdalene, today in the Louvre, he could easily have been referring to one of any number of variations on this theme in Italian and European painting, from the second half of the 16th century and particularly frequent in the following one, which emphasized the sensual if not erotic aspect of the woman. In the wake of the Counter-Reformation, the Roman Church had imposed rigid guidelines concerning the representation of religious subjects; in that regard, any elements that were too ‘human’ in nature were prohibited in works destined for ecclesiastical sites. With works produced for private use, however, things were quite different. In the privacy of one’s home, particularly those belonging to members of the elite, such restrictions did not apply, and such decisions were left to the artist and his patrons. A well-known example of this difference between artworks on view in churches and those created for private use is found in one of the most important rooms in Rome’s Palazzo Farnese. Under the cloak of the Counter-Reformation and during the pontificate of the intransigent Pope Clement VIII, Annibale Carracci was able with impunity to paint for Cardinal Odoardo Farnese the Loves of the Pagan Gods, subjects perhaps not actually lascivious but hardly devotional. This libertarian mental attitude was confirmed in theoretical writings of the time, such as the iconological treatise by Cesare Ripa published at the end of the 1500’s and popular throughout the entire following century wherein the Magdalene is represented as seminude or scantily clad, as she appears in the works of various artists. This Jewish saint was the subject of many paintings: in Cerrini’s work alone, three versions are known - the present example in the Louvre, another in Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum, and a third in the Prado Museum, Madrid. To these three, and further testimony to the popularity of such an image, is a copy conserved in the Musee de Langes and possibly another that was cited as being in Cerrini’s Rome residence, and research suggest that this might be the present version today in the Louvre. The circumstances surrounding The Praying Magdalene’s arrival in France are unknown, but it is believed to have occurred during the Napoleonic era when innumerable works of art were officially imported and registered while others of a more private nature were more or less voluntarily put into the art market where their small format and 94
Umbrian artistic heritage worldwide
profane subject matter made them particularly appealing. Before going to the Louvre, the present painting, oil on canvas and measuring 148 x 105 cm, was kept in the Maison-Lafitte Castle between 1912 and 1919, and again from 1944 until 1967. When it first reached France it was thought to be by Annibale Carracci: the unlikely attribution might be explained by the fact that the work’s ownership and provenance were unknown but more to the point for its vaguely Bolognese elements which, however, relate less to Carracci than to Guido Reni who actually was an influence on Gian Domenico Cerrini, as demonstrated in a number of his paintings. It wasn’t until Roberto Longhi’s 1925 catalogue that the ‘Cavalier Perugino’ was mentioned as the Magdalene’s creator, and this has remained unchallenged. But while Cerrini’s authorship is certain, there are diverse points of view concerning its date which range from around 1642, proposed by those who see in it Cerrini attracted to the style of Viterbo artist Giovanni Francesco Romanelli, among the central figures of Roman painting at that time, to the early 1650’s. Neither supposition is supported by documentation, and the question remains open. The saint is represented in three quarter figure, with her gaze directed towards a cross leaning against a rock wall on her left that appears to be a cave entrance. Next to her is an open book from which she seems to have just looked away. The rather low horizon line allows the figure of the saint, strongly illuminated by a light coming from the upper right, to completely dominate the picture plane. What commands attention, however, are her garments: beneath a dull red mantle which is in keeping with the soft, muted tones of the entire painting, the Magdalene wears a whitish-pink dress which leaves her breasts entirely exposed. Even her long tresses are insufficient to cover her nudity. This unusual depiction of a saint is nonetheless close to Cerrini’s handling of women in his profane paintings, indicating the growing secularization of the Magdalene theme, the loss of the figure’s religious connotations and the increasing emphasis on formal pictorial values over iconographic dictates.