Maria Magdalena 1590 - 1632

Curator: Pieter de Jode I created this engraving, titled *Maria Magdalena*, sometime between 1590 and 1632. It's currently housed at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: It's striking. The level of detail in the etching is really something—I am drawn to this atmosphere of opulent introspection. Curator: I agree. What really draws me is how it portrays Mary Magdalene, caught in a moment of reflection. Note how her material possessions, laid out on the table, are contrasted with the spiritual landscape hinted at through the archway in the back. Editor: That dichotomy between material and spiritual is powerful. I'm curious about the significance of these specific objects and their connection to contemporary attitudes towards female agency, and piety, versus representations of the fallen woman, since they appear to be both indicators of her former life and symbols of the choice she is making. Curator: Precisely! We must also remember how genre and history paintings frequently employed depictions of women and the home as didactic tools that bolstered early modern institutions. It's probable that the presentation of her moment of spiritual reflection invited viewers in a growing urban mercantile economy to mirror and engage in a similar practice of devotional contrition. The setting in which the narrative is enacted has meaning, too. The placement of the feline at the foot of the table as a domestic emblem certainly supports this assertion. Editor: And thinking about the engraving process itself, and how it made art and these sorts of concepts available for distribution, it encourages viewers to not only reconsider those notions in terms of religion and piety but also their role in supporting economic exchange and their broader societal impact. I also love the subtle erotic charge in those details on the table. Curator: An astute observation! Her gaze is fixed on the necklace in her hand, perhaps weighing the choice before her. Editor: It speaks volumes about the complexities of identity and morality at that moment in time. What seems on the surface to be a straightforward image opens up layers of interpretation on what it meant to have not just one's female identity be available for distribution and sale. Curator: Ultimately, de Jode’s engraving offers not just a glimpse into the past, but encourages us to consider the enduring tension between our inner lives and the allure of the material world. Editor: And more broadly the agency of images and representations of persons who occupied historically fraught cultural locations like Maria Magdalena to shape public understanding of their own social roles.