The Temptation of the Magdalene

c. 1616/17

Jacob Jordaens
Flemish, 1593-1678

In this half-length biblical painting, an aged woman offering tempting jewels—possibly the proprietor of a brothel—and an angel bestowing spiritual guidance battle for the soul of Mary Magdalene. A ghoulish demon emerges from the shadows in the background with a fistful of snakes, a menacing symbol of evil. Jacob Jordaens had already developed his own rich realism, with earthy figures and naturalistic shadows, by the time he executed this early work, probably for an upper-class home in his native Antwerp.

Status: On View, Gallery 208
Department: Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Artist: Jacob Jordaens
Title: The Temptation of the Magdalene
Place: Flanders (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1611–1622
Medium: Oil on panel
Dimensions: 126.2 × 96.8 cm (49 11/16 × 38 1/4 in.)
Credit Line: Charles H. and Mary F. S. Worcester Collection; anonymous gift in honor of Kate and Morris Kaplan
Reference Number: 1991.111
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/111613/manifest.json

Michael Jaffé, “The Robust Virtuosity of Jordaens,” Apollo 88 (1968), p. 373, fig. 13.
R.-A. d’Hulst, exh. review of National Gallery of Canada, Jacob Jordaens 1593-1678 cat. by Michael Jaffé in Art Bulletin 51 (1969) p. 381.
John Rowlands, “Jordaens at Ottawa,” Pantheon 27 (1969) p. 316.
Julian S. Held, “Jordaens at Ottawa,” Burlington Magazine 111 (1969), p. 271.
“Conseils aux acheteurs,” Connaissance des arts no. 203 (1969) p. 89, fig. 6.
Art Institute of Chicago, Annual Report 1990–91, Chicago, 1991, p. 19, fig. 2.
Rüdiger Klessmann, “Johann Liss’s ‘Temptation of the Magdalene’,” Burlington Magazine138 (1996), p. 187. fig. 49.

Brussels, Jacob Jordaens, 1928, no. 34.
Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada, Jacob Jordaens 1593-1678, 1968, no. 7.

Private collection, Brussels, 1928 [see Brussels 1928, no. 34]. Édouard Napoléon César Edmond Mortier, duc de Trévise (died 1946), Paris [according to Jaffé in Ottawa 1968; it was not part of his sale in Paris, May 19, 1938]. Sold, Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels, March 12, 1951, no. 57. Morris I. Kaplan (died 1966), Chicago; offered for sale, Sotheby’s , London, June 12, 1968, no. 56, bought in; heirs of Morris I. Kaplan (on loan to the Art Institute of Chicago since 1969); sold to the Art Institute, 1991.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

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