Saint Mary Magdalene in a landscape (recto); Two studies of Saint Mary Magdalene seated (verso)

The drawings on both recto and verso can be related to a series of preparatory studies for the figure of Saint Mary Magdalene in The Crucifixion with the Madonna, the Magdalene and Saint Prosper, which Guercino painted in 1624-5 for the church of the Madonna della Ghiara at Reggio Emilia, where it remains (L. Salerno, I dipinti del Guercino, Rome, 1988, p. 187, no. 105). The two figures on the verso of the sheet can be linked to a sequence of five studies for the Magdalene on a sheet in the Fondation Custodia in Paris (inv. 5076). At this early stage, Guercino envisaged the Magdalene kneeling beside the cross and the stylistic aspects of the verso, with its delicate yet quickly-drawn contours, matches the technique of the Paris drawings. Unlike the Paris sheet, the present verso shows the Magdalene holding a handkerchief to her eyes. This motif derives from the female mourners whom Guercino originally intended to include in his great altarpiece of The Burial and Assumption into Heaven of Saint Petronilla (1623), for whom a study survives at the Royal Library, Windsor Castle (inv. 2250).

The dynamic and vigorous study on the recto shows the Magdalene at a later stage of the preparatory process, when Guercino had begun to experiment with the possibility of showing her at the moment of her arrival. Once again she holds a handkerchief, although the emphasis is on her sumptuous gown and flowing dark hair, both features which are preserved in the figure in the finished painting who, however, stands more sedately at left, supporting the swooning Madonna.

We are grateful to Nicholas Turner for confirming the attribution upon first-hand examination of the drawing and for his assistance in preparing this catalogue note.