Florence

LEONARDO DEL TASSO

(c. 1460-1500)

WORK TITLE

St. Mary Magdalen in prayer

DATE OF THE WORK

Circa 1500

MATERIAL

Terracotta

MEASURES

158 × 59 × 34 cm

REQUEST INFORMATION

DESCRIPTION

A very representative genre in 15th-century Florentine art, the theme of Mary Magdalene became particularly popular towards the end of the century and through the early years of the 16th century, following the preaching of Savonarola, who exalted her as the embodied symbol of “repentant Florence”.
On a stylistic level, the artist is indebted to the vein of devotional sculpture characterising the end of the 15th century, interpreted by Andrea della Robbia and Baccio da Montelupo, while a tentative step towards Rustici-style expressionism can be seen in the face.

LITERATURE

A. Bellandi, Leonardo del Tasso. Scultore fiorentino del Rinascimento, Mizen Fine Art, 2016, p. 270.