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La Pia Contrita or Maddalena
Translated as: The Penitent Magdalene
Sculptor: Marchesi, Pompeo
Figure of a partly draped nude woman with long hair dressed in Grecian style, seated on two rounded rectangular cushions, with her left leg extended behind her and her right bent up underneath her, She leans forward and rests her right elbow on a cushion in front of her, holding her right hand up to the right side of her jaw and neck. Her left arm, partly covered by her drapery, is extended in front of the cushion, and she gazes upwards.
History note: Made for Duca Pompeo Litta Visconti Arese and by 1840 situated in a grotto in the Nymphaeum of the Villa Lainate, near Milan; reputedly from a palazzo in Rome; purchased in England by Gallery Heim, London, and exhibited in their Autumn Exhibition, 1972, Paintings and Sculpture 1770-1830
Purchased with the Cunliffe, Perceval and Webb Funds, aided by the Friends of the Fitzwilliam, the Pilgrim Trust and Grant-in-aid from the Victoria and Albert Museum
Height: 106.5 cm
Width: 160 cm
Method of acquisition: Bought (1974-07-25) by Gallery Heim
19th Century
Production date:
AD 1832
Like 'Venus Pudica' (M.6-1974), this sculpture of ‘The Pious Penitent’ or ‘Magdalene’ was commissioned by Duke Pompeo Litta Visconti Arese for his residence in Lainate (Milan). A finished model was shown in the Brera, Milan, in 1831, described as ‘la bella convertita’ (‘the beautiful convert’) with the explanation that Marchesi was attempting to portray the moment of conversion. In 1831, the Genoese poet Felice Romani composed a grandiose poem featuring Marchesi’s statues of Venus and Magdalene as two contrasting muses, one joyful (love), the other serious (religion), in conversation.
Marchesi was the leading Neoclassical sculptor in Milan during the first half of the nineteenth century, whose output was influenced by the work of Canova, under whom he had studied between 1804 and 1809. He established a large and prolific studio, and was Professor of Sculpture at Milan’s fine art academy between 1838 and 1852. Many of his models, including the full-scale plaster model for this work, are preserved in the Galleria d’Arte Moderna in Milan.
Carving : Marble
Accession number: M.7-1974
Primary reference Number: 31227
External ID: CAM_CCF_M_7_1974
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Applied Arts
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "La Pia Contrita or Maddalena" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/31227 Accessed: 2024-12-26 09:33:25
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/31227
|title=La Pia Contrita or Maddalena
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-26 09:33:25|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-31227
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<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">La Pia Contrita or Maddalena</figcaption>
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