01 Work, RELIGIOUS ART - Interpretation the bible, Edouard Kasparides' The penitent Mary Magdalene in the cave, with Footnotes - 127

Edouard Kasparides, (1858-1926 Austrian)

Detail; The penitent Mary Magdalene in the cave, c. 1890

Oil on canvas

45.5" H x 67" W

Private collection

Edouard Kasparides, (1858-1926 Austrian)

The penitent Mary Magdalene in the cave, c. 1890

Oil on canvas

45.5" H x 67" W

Private collection

The penitent Mary Magdalene was a sinner, perhaps a courtesan, Mary Magdalen was a witness of Christ who renounced the pleasures of the flesh for a life of penance and contemplation. Penitent Magdalene or Penitent Magdalen refers to a post-biblical period in the life of Mary Magdalene, according to medieval legend. 

According to the tenets of the 17th–century Catholic church, Mary Magdalene was an example of the repentant sinner and consequently a symbol of the Sacrament of Penance. According to legend, Mary led a dissolute life until her sister Martha persuaded her to listen to Jesus Christ. She became one of Christ's most devoted followers and he absolved her of her former sins. More on The Penitent Magdalen

The sacrament of Penance had important significance in Counter-Reformation spirituality, and artists frequently portrayed penitent saints as exemplars of religious fervor. Such works were meant to inspire a greater devotion. On the other hand, the popularity of The Magdalene as a subject is also associated with her implied sexuality. Her passive gaze and partially naked body appealed to male viewers, for whom such paintings offered a moralizing context through which to engage with the sensuality of the female form. The Penitent Magdalene

Eduard Kasparides  (Krönau 1858 - 1926 Bad Gleichenberg) was born in Moravia in the eastern part of the Czech Repubic. In 1876 he moved to Vienna to study at the Academy of Fine Arts. His teachers were Christian Griepenkerl and Josef Mathias von Trenkwald.  In 1884 he finished his studies and moved to Munich one year later, he came back to Vienna in 1886. He made several study trips during his career and traveled through Italy, Germany, Sweden and Russia.

At the begin of his career Eduard Kasparides painted mainly conversation pieces and historical paintings with religious motives. But from 1899 he found his individual style and focussed on impressionistic evening-landscapes with a strong atmospheric effect. He became a member of the Vienna Künstlerhaus in 1894 and was a co-founder of the artist group Hagenbund in 1900.

Eduard Kasparides was awarded several times, he got the Baron Königswarter-Künstlerpreis in 1899, the Mention honorable at the world exhibition in Paris in 1900 and the Kleine Goldene Staatsmedaille in Vienna, the Erzherzog Carl Ludwig Medaille in 1908, the Drasche Preis in 1911 and the Große Goldene Staatsmedaille in 1912. Eduard Kasparides died in 1926 in Styria. More on Eduard Kasparides

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