Italian, Florence, circa 1500

Aldo de Benedetti, Rome, circa 1967

Overall the condition of the terracotta is good, with dirt, wear and chips to the surface throughout consistent with age. There are minor traces of polychromy throughout the surface. There is a chip on the upper section of the front border on the right. On the lower section there are two chips just below the waist: one on the right and a smaller one on the left. There are two small holes on the top of the head which are probably a result of the firing process. There is a restoration on the left shoulder. There is a loss on the curl of hair in front of the right tree trunk. There are two small firing fissures on the lower left side tree trunk consistent with material. The right foot has two chipped toes and the left foot has a loss on the big toe. There are minor chips along the edges of the base. The figure has been examined under a black light and it is apparent that there are two fissures which have been filled, which are possibly a result of the firing process and therefore consistent with material. The first fissure is under the left shoulder going around to the back, and the second one is on the back of the lower section of the left tree trunk running horizontally to the right thigh, 10cm above the knee.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The present terracotta is similar to a pair of statues of Saint Francis and Saint Clare, of similar size and carved in marble, from an altarpiece in the Capella Maggiore of the convent church of Santa Chiara, Florence, dating to the second half of the fifteenth century. The present Saint Mary Magdalen shares with both Saint Francis and Saint Clare the tilt of the head, the placid expression and the loose gestures of the arms, while their feet are placed near the curved rims of their bases. Their faces are structured with a strong jaw line, high cheekbones and a slightly open mouth.

Since 1861, this altarpiece has been in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (inv. no. 7720-1861). It was once identified as the work of Leonardo del Tasso due to a note by Vasari in his writings on older sculptor Sansovino: ‘His disciples were… Leonardo del Tasso of Florence, who made in [the church of] Sant’Ambrogio above his tomb a [statue of] Saint Sebastian in wood and the marble altar of the nuns of Saint Clare’ (1878, iv, p. 523). The museum now attributes the grand altarpiece to Guiliano da Sangallo or Antonio Rosselino, both Florentine sculptures working in the second half of the fifteenth century.

The image of Mary Magdalen in prayer, draped only in her own hair, has a long history in Florentine art. The first major representation of the subject is found in a medieval altarpiece dating to 1280-1282 by an anonymous painter named the Maestro della Maddalena. The subject continued to gain popularity and particularly similar compositions to the present terracotta appear in 15^th- and early 16^th-century Florence. The Penitent Magdalene by Buglioni and Rustici illustrated in Butterfield (op. cit., no. 20) represents the saint in a frontal pose, eyes cast up and hands together in prayer; her hair is all that protects her. The slightly earlier wood figure of Santa Maria Maddalena by Donatello is a more harrowing version of the same composition, with Saint Mary especially gaunt and emaciated (illustrated in Avery, op. cit., no. 75).   

The sculptor of the present Saint Mary Magdalen focuses on devotional realism: Her calm and straightforward pose contrasts with the more heighted emotion of the subject as rendered by Donatello and the more decorative emphasis of the Santa Maria Maddalena by Andrea della Robbia (see Gentilini, op. cit., no. 70). The present Mary Magdalen’s eyes roll up underneath her top eyelids as though almost in sleep, evoking the deep slumber of absorbed prayer.

RELATED LITERATURE
J. Pope-Hennessy, Catalogue of Italian sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1964, pp. 128-129 and 177-179, no. 150; C. Avery, Donatello. Catalogo complete, Florence, 1991, pp. 130-131, no. 75; A. Butterfield, Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque sculpture, exh. cat., Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, New York, 2005, no. 20G; Gentilini and L. Fornasari (eds.), I Della Robbia: il dialogo tra le arti nel Rinascimento, exh. cat., Museo Statale d’arte medieval e moderna, Arezzo, 2009, pp. 238, 343-344, nos. 70-71