Francesco Lupicini (Florence 1590-1656 Zaragoza) - Lot 236

Francesco Lupicini (Florence 1590-1656 Zaragoza) Mary Magdalene Penitent Oil on canvas 74.5 × 63.5 cm. (recent restoration and lining) Related works: - Marie-Madeleine pénitente, oil on canvas, 49 x 38 cm, Palmer Art Museum, Pennsylvania State University, inv. 2019.14 - Marie-Madeleine pénitente, oil on canvas, 50.3 x 59 cm, Christie's London sale December 3, 2008, lot 218, sold for £103,250, current location unknown - Apotheosis of Mary Magdalene, oil on canvas, 50.3 x 59 cm, Porro Milan sale, March 14, 2019, lot 41, sold for €47,120, current location unknown Our painting is a poignant rediscovery of this rare Florentine painter who settled in Spain, where he developed a synthesis of Florentine grace and Hispanic expressiveness. Lupicini is one of those artists of great merit whose memory was, however, swallowed up by oblivion: Filippo Baldinucci (1625-1696), the biographer of the Florentine school, forgets to mention him in his Notizie of 1681. His career is now better known thanks to recent studies, notably by Francesca Baldassari. Trained in the wake of Lodovico Cigoli and Cristofano Allori in Florence, he developed a style marked by rigorous drawing and a restrained palette. He worked for the Holy Church, notably for the Carmelite Order, in their church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Pistoia ("The Fall of the Manna in the Desert", 1625). One of his masterpieces, dated circa 1625, "Marie se faisant réprimander par sa soeur Marthe", was acquired by his colleague Nicolas Régnier, then by Archduke Leopold-Guillaume of Habsburg, and published in the famous "Theatrum Pictorium" of 1660 (now in Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum, inv. GG-364). Evoking a difficult temperament, some documents report strained relations with both commissioners and fellow artists, perhaps explaining his decision to settle in Spain. Around 1630-1635, he settled in Saragossa, where he produced a major altarpiece for the Chapel of St. Helena in La Seo Cathedral, still in place today. Lupicini must have had a particular devotion to Mary Magdalene, a figure of sensuality and redemption, whom he depicted on at least five other occasions in different postures (see related works). Our version is, to date, the one with the most generous format. He must have used the same female model, whose particular physiognomy (high forehead, fine nose, small, slightly pinched mouth) is to be found in numerous compositions, notably in "Marie se faisant réprimander par sa soeur Marthe" (see above) and "Suzanne et les vieillards" (former J.E. Safra collection, his sale, Christie's London July 6, 2023, lot 24, current location unknown). We are grateful to Francesca Baldassari, a specialist in the artist, for confirming the attribution in a letter dated July 2025. Expert: Pierre-Antoine Martenet