Mary Magdalene

Abstract

Above the door to the bookshop of Santa Maria in Aracoeli in Rome, adjacent to the early fourteenth-century tomb of Cardinal Matteo d'Acquasparta (1240–1302) in the Chapel of the Holy Child, is a high-relief marble and gilded bust of Mary Magdalene set against a dark blue wooden background. The sculpture is in the style of Agostino di Duccio (1418–1481), particularly reminiscent of his work in the Malatestiano Temple in Rimini. This attribution is supported by an inscription beneath the bust, which notes that the work was donated to the church by Francesco Gualdi (1576–1657), a Riminese scholar and collector. Gualdi paired the bust with an ornate white and gold wooden frame from his collection. At the top of the frame is a scroll inscribed with the Greek acronym for "Mary Virgin Mother of God the Redeemer." The pairing of the bust and frame likely occurred when Gualdi gave the piece to the church. The bust is dated to the fifteenth century, while the frame is believed to be from the early sixteenth century. Photograph(s) licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.