This unusual composition presents Mary Magdalene’s conversion as a renunciation of worldly adornment. Christ raises his hand in blessing while Magdalene, richly dressed in brocade, lace and pearls, removes her jewelled headdress. Martha stands behind her in prayer, and a table laden with jewellery and a perfume vessel gives visible form to the vanities being set aside.

The painting is attributed to Salvador Sandoval Inca, an Indigenous painter active in seventeenth-century Cusco. The illustrated study relates its figures, gestures, drapery and architectural setting to Sandoval’s documented paintings of 1659 in the church of San Pedro Apóstol at Quiquijana, placing the work within the renewal of painting in Cusco after the earthquake of 1650.

Illustrated study — Studies IX
The Conversion of Mary Magdalene
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