Christ on the Cross with Mary Magdalene

This small painting showing the grief-stricken Saint Mary Magdalene alone at the foot of the cross was probably intended as a private devotional work. The same expressive figure of Magdalene appears in more complex treatments of the Crucifixion and the Lamentation by followers of Simon Vouet. Having worked in Rome before returning to Paris as first painter to Louis XIII in 1627, Vouet was a gifted teacher, attracting many students and collaborators to his Paris workshop. Vouet's followers Charles Poërson, Michel Dorigny, and François Perrier have all suggested as the author of this painting. Though the artist remains unidentified, his debt to Vouet's weighty figure types, active draper, and rich colors is clear.