St. Mary Magdalene at The Louvre, Paris

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This extraordinary nude figure embodies Saint Mary Magdalene as a mystic ascetic. According to legend, the remorseful sinner led a secluded life in the cave of Sainte-Baume, clothed only by her hair. Every day she was elevated up in the sky by angels to hear the heavenly chorus. The statue emerged on the German art market in the 19th century and was acquired by the Louvre in 1902. The saint was originally suspended by intricately carved angels. Encased in a round metal framework, the wooden statue was hung from the vault of a church, possibly the church of Saint Mary Magdalene in the Dominican convent of Augsburg, which was rebuilt between 1513-15. It must have been viewed in its entirety, since both the front and back are equally meticulously carved and colored. The statue was later removed and the angels were taken away. This Mary Magdalene is attributed to Gregor Erhart through comparison with the Virgin of Mercy of Kaisheim crafted by the sculptor in 1502-03 (Staatliche Museen, Berlin, destroyed in 1945). Trained in Ulm, in Swabia, by his father Michael Erhart (mentioned in Ulm from 1469 to 1522), Gregor moved to Augsburg in 1494 where he became a prominent master sculptor. The generous, refined style of Saint Mary Magdalene, her peaceful demeanor and gentle face are indeed characteristic of the Swabian late-Gothic tradition. But the thrusting hip, which suggests a classical contrapposto, the harmonious proportions, and the fullness of the naked female body reveal knowledge of Dürer's work and a pursuit of formal beauty that is specific to the Renaissance. Gregor Erhart's genius was to interpret the traditional image of the saint being carried to heaven by angels in an unprecedented manner in sculpture. Far from the Gothic convention of a thin, unreal figure, he reveals feminine curves, barely hidden by the rippling mane of golden hair which flows over her shoulders and spreads across her back. The modeling of the body - the slight hollows of tensed muscles and faint grooves on the fleshy parts - shows great sensitivity. The beauty of the face, with its firm regular features chiseled from the lime wood with great subtlety, is accentuated by the original polychromy, which is pale and very refined in the Gothic tradition. The carnal presence of this life-sized statue must have been extremely imposing in the church. But the sensual, almost profane image that it offers today, bereft of its carved angels, should be tempered. The languid pose and the meditative expression are intended to convey the penitent's mystic ecstasy, while her marvelous beauty and glossy golden locks are meant to evoke her holy radiance. The conception of this female nude is thus in phase with the spiritual content of the religious image, idealized in the medieval tradition. Gregor Erhart here produced his masterpiece, a brilliant creation of Nordic humanism in the late Middle Ages, on the threshold of the Renaissance. This object is part of "Scan The World". Scan the World is a non-profit initiative introduced by MyMiniFactory, through which we are creating a digital archive of fully 3D printable sculptures, artworks and landmarks from across the globe for the public to access for free. Scan the World is an open source, community effort, if you have interesting items around you and would like to contribute, email stw@myminifactory.com to find out how you can help. Scanned : Photogrammetry (Processed using Agisoft PhotoScan)