The theme of Mary Magdalene appeared in the visual arts as early as the 11th century. Ensor incorporated this long visual tradition into his own typology. As was often the case, he reworked a female figure that had (probably) originally been drawn from a model. Some attributes refer to Mary Magdalene: the skull at the bottom left and the cross in her hands. The death symbolism fits in with the traditional iconographic interpretations of the penitent Magdalene figure. In Ensor's work the skull had a pronounced morbid, ironic or fantastic connotation.
The Magdalene, 1887
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