The Penitent Magdalene, oil on canvas, 132.2 x 184.2 cm, framed

Provenance:
1759/1760 Giangiacomo de Marinis (1698–1765), Marquis of Genzano and Prince of the Palazzo San Gervasio, Naples;
1765 Giovanni Andrea de Marinis;
1825 Giuseppe de Sangro III (1776–1837), Prince of Fondi, Naples;
De Sangro Collection, until 1895;
1895 purchased by Dr. A. Walther, Sangiorgi, Naples, 22 April – 1 May 1895;
sale, Helbing, Munich, 8 June 1896, no. 146;
sale, Phillips, London, July 1995, lot 35;
European private collection

Exhibited:
Mengs. La scoperta del Neoclassico, catalogo della mostra (Padova, Palazzo Zabarella, 2001), ed. by S. Roettgen, Venice 2001, cat. no. 57, pp. 206/7.

Documentation:
1824 Inventory, State Archive of Naples (ASNa), de Sangro Archive, Copia dell’Inventario de’ beni del fu Ecc. M.se di Genzano, Giovann’andrea de Marini: “Raffael Mengs, La Maddalena distesa col corpo a terra, sopra tela; quadro fatto in casa dal detto Mengs”;
Mid-19th-Century Inventory of De Sangro Collection, ACS, Min. P.I., Dir. Gen. AA.BB.AA., Dir. Musei Gallerie e Pinacoteche, Naples, b. 250, fasc. 117-121, Catalogo de’ quadri componenti la Galleria del principe di Fondi: “Cavaliere Mengs, la Maddalena”.

Literature:
G. L. Bianconi, Elogio storico del cavaliere Anton Raffaelle Mengs scritto dal Consiglier Bianconi con un Catalogo in fine delle opere da esso fatte, Milan 1780, p. 94
Doray de Longrais, Oeuvres de M. Mengs, traduites par J. P. Doray de Longrais, avec un Eloge historique de Mengs, rédigé par L. T. Hèrissant, sur des Notes qui avaient été envoyées de Stuttgard au traducteur par Guibal, éleve de Mengs, Regensburg 1782, p. 27
M. C. F. Prange, Des Ritters Anton Raphael Mengs ersten Mahlers Karl III. König in Spanien hinterlaßene Werke, 3 vols., nach den Originalhandschriften übersetzt und mit ungedruckten Aufsätzen und Anmerkungen vermehrt herausgegeben, Halle 1786, vol. I, p. 42
G. N. D’Azara, C. Fea, Opere di Antonio Raffaello Mengs, primo Pittore del Re cattolico Carlo III. Pubblicate dal Cavaliere D. Giuseppe Nicola d’Azara e in questa edizione corrette ed aumentate dal l’avvocato Carlo Fea, Rome 1787, p. XIX;
A. Fabroni, Elogi di uomini illustri italiani, Pisa 1789, vol. II, pp. 311–54
G. N. D’Azara, Opere di Anton Raphael Mengs, I, 1834, pp. 26/27
G. K. Nagler, Neues Allgemeines Künstler Lexikon, IX, Munich 1840
Grande Collection de tableaux et objets d’art qui serons vendus aux enchères par le ministère du chev. A. Sangiorgi au Palais du Prince du Fondi à Naples, catalogo d’asta, Naples, Piazza Medina, 22 April – 1 May 1895, no. 60;
H. Helbing, Catalogo d’asta, 8 June 1896, no. 146, fig. III, p. 18
G. Manieri Elia, La quadreria napoletana de Marinis-de Sangro dall’influenza del classicismo romano al dissolvimento del collezionismo aristocratico, in: Collezionismo e ideologia: mecenati, artisti e teorici dal classico al neoclassico, ed. by Elisa Debenedetti, Rome 1991, p. 311
S. Roettgen, Anton Raphael Mengs 1728-1779. Leben und Wirken, Munich 1999, I, no. 88, pp. 135/36
M. Savarese, La collezione de Sangro dei principi di Fondi in tre inediti inventari di famiglia: da quadreria seicentesca a moderna raccolta di arti decorative, in: Napoli nobilissima, 5th Ser., 7,2006, 5/6, pp. 190, 203

The provenance of the present painting is well documented and can be traced from the de Marinis collection which was one of the most remarkable collections in 18th Century Naples. Steffi Roettgen has indentified the present work as the painting cited in the Meng’s biography by D’Azara in 1834 as the “Maddalena di figura intera”, executed “per il principe di San Gervasio in Napoli” (see G. N. D’Azara, Opere di Anton Raphael Mengs, I, 1834, pp. 26/27). A confirmation of the provenance can be found in the 1824 inventory of de Marinis compiled after Giovanni Andrea de Marinis’s death. The inventory situates the painting in the Neapolitan Casino dell’Infrascata, specifying “quadro fatto in casa dal detto Mengs” (see M. Savarese, “La collezione de Sangro dei principi di Fondi in tre inediti inventari di famiglia: da quadreria seicentesca a moderna raccolta di arti decorative” in: Napoli nobilissima, 5th ser., 7,2006, 5/6, pp. 190, 203).

In 1824 the entire art collection, including the present Magdalene, passed to the de Sangro family after the marriage of Costanza de Marinis to Giuseppe de Sangro III, Prince of Fondi. In the collection of the de Sangro family collection there were other paintings of the same subject, and during the mid-19th Century they were exhibited together in one room, the present canvas by Mengs together with a work by Titian and a painting by Lanfranco showing the Madgalene with a group of angels (see G. Manieri Elia, La quadreria napoletana de Marinis-de Sangro dall’influenza del classicismo romano al dissolvimento del collezionismo aristocratico, in: Collezionismo e ideologia: mecenati, artisti e teorici dal classico al neoclassico, ed. by Elisa Debenedetti, Rome 1991, pp. 333/34).

Documented in subsequent inventories of the de Sangro collection, this painting was to stay in the family palace in Naples until 1895, when their art collection was sold at auction. Bought by Dr. A. Walther, the painting resurfaced once more a year later in Munich in 1896 and reappeared in 1995 in an auction in London (Phillips, 4 July 1995, lot 35). The composition of the painting was nonetheless known, since it had been copied in Mengs’ workshop.

Anton Raphael Mengs repeated the subject of the penitent Mary Magdalene on several occasions by request of his princely patrons. A model for the numerous representations of the whole figure of the Mary Magdalene, showing a high degree of female sensuality, was a work by Correggio, which arrived from Modena in Dresden in 1746 together with other works of the prized collection of the Este family. In this period Mengs was staying in his hometown, serving patrons like the Elector of Saxony, Frederick August II. Another inspiration for Mengs was the famous representation of the saint executed by Pompeo Batoni in 1742, who himself was influenced by Correggio; his painting was preserved in Dresden from 1754 onwards. Roettgen identifies parallels in the structure of the composition and in the conception of the glimpse of the landscape that can be seen outside the cave.

Anton Raphael Mengs left Dresden in 1751 to settle down permanently in Rome. He came into contact with the circle of artists and intellectuals that shared a passion for Roman antiquities and knew Johann Joachim Winckelmann. Mengs executed a great number of portraits, especially for aristocratic English visitors, and received important commissions for fresco decorations in Rome. In 1759 he was documented in Naples, where he remained for eight months to portray the royal family and study the newly discovered ruins of Herculaneum. Carl III invited him to join his court in 1761, where he held the position of the “Primer pinto de camara” until 1776.