The Penitent Magdalene Analysis

Although at first glance Titian’s (Tiziano Vecellio) “The Penitent Magdalene” (1555 - 1565) and Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Virgin and the Child with St. Anne”(1503) might seem like completely unrelated paintings, only relatable in the fact that they are both of christian themes. The both tell us that devotion is not something one is gifted with, it is something someone earns through action, and that one is never late to be penitent and to repent. Both Titian and da Vinci both chose to represent this in different ways, this was, at least to an extent, affected by the time periods both pieces were painted in. The early 1500’s which “The Virgin and the Child with St. Anne” was painted the Catholic church was the dominant religious entity in europe, …show more content…
Anne”, there is peculiar detail of Mary sitting upon the lap of St. Anne, this is peculiar not because of the action itself but its meaning, which as far we know, which is that there is none. But their placement is intentional, if we look upon St. Anne right arm is obscured by Mary’s, but it is obviously curved at the same angle as Mary’s arm, which extends to the infant Jesus, where her arm is hid by the infant’s where the arm extends to the baby lamb. This represent the lineage of faith and devotion in their family, beguin with St. Anne, to Mary, to the infant Jesus, and finally the lamb which represents the adult Jesus’ final sacrifice at the cross. But this also signifies something else while, unlike Magdalene, all members of the family was, were, and would, devout and faithful, but they were never haughty or ever grand of their statues as devout and faithful people, just as Magdalene never would. This would come to be an important topic during the reformation, as the Catholic church required people to partake in good works and faith, to enter heaven, but this could also be done by indulgences which was "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins", what this actually meant was that the richer believers could simply pay the church to enter into heaven. Martin Luther disagreed with this, and even named the famous Ninety-five Theses, the Disputation on the Power of Indulgences, Martin believed that only God would be able to pardon a sin, which would be an offense to God. And it has become obvious that the indulgences were being used to simply to fund expensive projects of Catholic rulers, such as the crusades and building of cathedrals, this what at its height in the medieval period where professional "pardoners," would promise salvation from eternal damnation in return for money, this led to indulgences growing to extraordinary magnitude, in terms of longevity and breadth of