Alessandro Leone Varotari / Il Padovanino, Mary Magdalene or Young Woman, 17th Century, Oil on Canvas

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Alessandro Leone Varotari, known as Il Padovanino (Padua, Italy, 1588 – Venice, Italy, 1649)
Title: Mary Magdalene or Young Woman
… Read more Alessandro Leone Varotari, known as Il Padovanino (Padua, Italy, 1588 – Venice, Italy, 1649)
Title: Mary Magdalene or Young Woman
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: Without frame 50.5 × 76 × 1.5 cm
Painting without frame

Expertise by Giancarlo Sestieri, art historian

Publications: unpublished

Alessandro Leone Varotari, commonly known as Il Padovanino was born in Padua, Italy and was an Italian painter of the late-Mannerism and early Baroque-Venetian school. He was trained by his own father, who was a local painter and architect. He was known as a copyist and his paintings were characterised for their sexuality. The young woman, perhaps Mary Magdalene, in the painting is depicted with her back turned but her face turned towards the viewer. She has long, wavy blond hair that she is finishing to braid with one hand, while with the other she holds a small ampoule. The young woman's clothes suggest her high lineage, although the figure depicted in this beautiful painting seems to be an idealised female figure rather than a real one. See less