Penitent Magdalene 1525

Quentin Matsys painted this Penitent Magdalene in Antwerp during the early 16th century. The figure of the Magdalene had long been associated with prostitution, so the painting's public role was to show the possibility of redemption for all. Here, the codes of femininity are both subverted and reinforced: Mary is beautiful and sexualized, but she is also mourning and repenting. In the Netherlands at this time, the Roman Catholic Church was still a major power and the dominant patron of the arts. But reformers were beginning to question the Church's wealth and power, and figures like the Magdalene were central to debates about morality. Was it possible for a 'fallen woman' to be saved? Studying these debates through period sources such as religious pamphlets and court records helps us understand not only the art of the time, but the complex social and institutional forces that shaped it.