The Galleria Doria Pamphilj, in Rome, brings together two paintings by Caravaggio in his 16th century Saletta: Repose on the Flight into Egypt and the Penitent Magdalene, both from around 1597.
A break in the biblical journey
Rest on the Flight into Egypt depicts the Holy Family pausing during the biblical flight: the sleeping Virgin Mary, holding the baby Jesus, Joseph holding a musical score, and a young angel, with his back to the observer, playing the violin. It is a composition of rare serenity within Caravaggio's repertoire, more silent than dramatic.
Same woman, two roles
Penitent Magdalene shows the biblical sinner at the moment she renounces her previous worldly life, with pearls and jewels thrown on the floor next to a jar of ointment. Scholars identify the same model posing as the Virgin on one canvas and as Mary Magdalene on the other, a connection that brings the two paintings together and suggests that they were conceived together.
Caravaggio's work came before major commissions
Both paintings belong to Caravaggio's first years in Rome, when he had not yet received the large ecclesiastical commissions that would come later, and they show an artist already fully trained in attention to human detail, even before taking on the themes of greater dramatic weight that would define the rest of his career.
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What works by Caravaggio are in the Galleria Doria Pamphilj?
Repose on the Flight into Egypt and Magdalene Penitent, both from around 1597, exhibited in the museum's 16th century Saletta, in Rome.
What does Rest in the Flight into Egypt represent?
The Holy Family pausing during the biblical escape, with the sleeping Virgin Mary holding the baby Jesus, Saint Joseph holding a musical score, and a young angel with his back to the viewer playing the violin.
What is the connection between the two paintings?
Scholars identify the same model posing as the Virgin at Rest in the Flight into Egypt and as the repentant sinner in Magdalene Penitent, both painted around 1597.
Continue to the Caravaggio cluster: Who was Caravaggio? · Caravaggio and the Bible · What is chiaroscuro?
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