(Pisa 1556–1622)
The Conversion of Mary Magdalene,
oil on canvas, 87 x 72.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
European private collection

We are grateful to Professor Pierluigi Carofano for suggesting the attribution after examining the painting in the original and for his assistance in the cataloguing of this lot (written communication, 18.02.2013).

Aurelio Lomi Gentileschi, the older brother of Orazio Gentileschi and uncle of Artemisia Gentileschi, executed the present painting around 1610–1611. After abandoning his late mannerist style, Aurelio Lomi in this decade, started painting with naturalistic style, also under the influence of Orazio and Artemisia, who were also living in Florence.

The present work reveals a new naturalistic interest, together with the echoes of the late Mannerist style. The shimmering blue of the clothing can be largely founded in other autograph works, such as the Saints Bishops in the Canonica di San Lorenzo in Florence (see Carofano in Ciardi-Carofano-Galassi, Aurelio Lomi. Maniera e innovazione, Pisa 1989, p. 246, no. 59). The Mary Magdalene depicted in the present work displays the distinguished facial features adopted by Lomi, almost a “signature” of the artist, which can be observed in works executed around 1610, as the Assumpted Virgin formerly in Palazzo dei Priori (Soprintendenza alle Gallerie di Pisa, deposit; see Carofano in Ciardi-Carofano-Galassi, op. cit., p. 227, no. 47) and in the Saint Mary of Egypt shows to Magdalene the penitential tools of the Piselli collection in Florence (Carofano in Ciardi-Carofano-Galassi, op. cit., p. 227-228, no. 47a).

Mary Magdalene is depicted here in the act of renouncing a life of pleasure, a popular subject during the Counter -Reformation. The Magdalene is represented sumptuously dressed, with sensuous hair and jewelry left on the table beside her. Carofano also suggests that the Magdalene could be inspired by the facial features of the artist´s niece Artemisia.

Aurelio Lomi Gentileschi was trained in his brother Baccio’s worshop; he worked in Rome around 1587, where he painted in fresco a chapel in the church of Santa Maria in Vallicella. He then moved to Pisa where he became the official painter of the Opera del Duomo. He spent seven years in Genoa (1597–1604), and by 1604 he was back in Pisa and in 1611 joined his brother Orazio and his niece Artemisia in Florence.