The Penitent Magdalene

This composition recurs in van der Werff's treatment of the subject in the Staatsgalerie, Schleissheim. Also painted in 1707, the direction of the Schleissheim composition is reversed: the strong diagonal axis of the figure and the abnormally large size (195 x 128 cm.) suggest that it was painted as a pendant to a panel of the same dimensions showing Saint John the Baptist amongst Rocks (Bayerische Staatsgeäldesammlungen, Munich), which was formerly attributed to Raphael but is now recognised as a copy after a picture by Daniele da Volterra (see B. Gaehtgens, Adriaen van der Werff, Munich, 1987, pp. 351-2, no. 95). Although there is a considerable reduction in scale, Van der Werff makes no real adjustment to the compositional structure, but there are notable differences between the two pictures, both in the more generalised back and foreground areas and also in the detail. The skull which rests on its side in the Schleissheim panel is now upright, the scrolls are arranged differently, the ointment jar is of a different design and is here shown with a honeycomb and figs alongside.