Bartolomeo Schedoni

Anonymous Sale ("The Property of a Gentleman"), London, Phillips, 4 July 1995, lot 89 (as Attributed to Schedoni);
Private collection, France; 
By whom sold, London, Sotheby’s, 9 July 1998, lot 227;
There acquired. 

E. Negro and N. Roio, Bartolomeo Schedoni, Modena 2002, pp. 81-2, cat no. 25.1.

This luminous painting on copper is an autograph version of Bartolomeo Schedoni's very popular composition of the Penitent Magdalen with two Angels, which he first painted on panel in a larger scale for the Farnese, for whom he worked exclusively after his return to Parma from Modena in 1607/8.¹  Attesting to the success of the Farnese picture, Schedoni painted a handful of further versions, including one on panel in the Minneapolis Institute of Art, of roughly the same dimensions as the present work, and another on copper that was sold in London, Christie's, 4 July 1921, lot 49.² 

Bartolomeo Schedoni was born in Modena in 1578 and showed considerable artistic talent from a young age. After training in Rome with Federico Zuccaro, Schedoni returned to Emilia where he was largely active for the rest of his tragically brief life. His style was influenced not by the artists he encountered in Rome, but rather those from his native region, including Correggio, Parmigianino, Dosso Dossi, and the Carracci. As a young artist, Schedoni welcomed great success and quickly became the favored artist at the ducal courts of two of the most important families in Emilia, the Este family in Modena from about 1600–1607 followed by the Farnese family in Parma from about 1607 until his premature death in 1615. While such courtly patronage led to important commissions, Schedoni’s small religious paintings found a ready clientele outside of the court and provided him with supplementary income. Such works were perhaps an easy way for him to raise funds to cover the debts incurred from gambling and fighting—tumultuous characteristics of his personal life that were seemingly at odds with the sweetness and delicacy of his artistic production. 

Schedoni did not have a large working studio, and thus he did not often have apprentices to whom he would have assigned replicas; it therefore makes sense that the master himself would produce multiple versions of an attractive composition such as the Penitent Magdalene.  There are also pentimenti in the present work which further support the master's hand: the foot of the Magdalene has been moved, as well as the positioning of the hand arms and vase at bottom right.  

We are grateful to Emilio Negro and Nicosetta Roio for confirming the attribution to Schedoni based on digital photographs.  At the time of the 1998 sale, Dwight Miller also confirmed the attribution of the picture. 


1. Oil on panel, 37 1/4 by 28 7/8 in.  Also formerly in the collection of Willem II of Holland and most recently sold New York, Christie's, 31 May 1991, lot 82. 

2. See https://collections.artsmia.org/art/1511/the-penitent-magdalen-bartolomeo-schedoni