In the city of Pergola in the Marche region, the presentation of Italian-French research studies conducted by an international team of experts announce the great discovery. A heart-pounding conference that took place in the Theater in the presence of the institutions, it is here that the work was revealed, we are talking about an oil painting on poplar panel measuring 46cm x 34cm.
The investigations conducted were presented publicly and reported in the scientific publication, “Open Science, Art and Science”. The study of the pigments and the substrate of the preparatory layers leaves no room for doubt. It is a masterpiece from the early 16th century. and the infrared reflectography highlights the dusting technique in part of the work, highlighted by some reference points, and the rest of the drawing created manually with the presence of multiple variations and repentances. Annalisa Di Maria, one of the leading international experts on Leonardo da Vinci and the Italian Renaissance, specialized in the Neoplatonic current, spoke at the conference. The scientific part was attended by Professor Emeritus Jean-Charles Pomerol of the Sorbonne University, who was rector of the Pierre and Marie Curie University, and Andrea da Montefeltro, an international researcher and sculptor who won the World Peace Prize in Art. Mother Maria Cecilia Visentin, a pontifical professor specializing in religious iconography of the order of the Servants of Mary, also spoke at the evening and brought her contribution on the iconography of the Magdalene.
Important information emerges from the study, especially on the technique and how the layers of color are truly thin, much thinner than those painted by Leonardo da Vinci; between the preparation layer and the pigment layer the entire thickness does not even reach 1 mm, the Magdalene finds herself illuminated in an explosion of strength, life and balance, this high technicality recalls the works of Rembrandt, Caravaggio but above all those of Leonardo .
A comparison between Raphael’s version of the Magdalene with that of Perugino and the Villa Borghese copy reveals many differences. Raphael’s has a rounder face like in the Madonnas we know of him from the Florentine period. In Raphael’s work, Chiara Fancelli as Perugino’s wife Maddalena is surprisingly natural unlike her Master’s more sophisticated version. This work not only demonstrates the surpassing of Perugino in terms of technique and grace, but it could represent the first version, the original one, that is, the first which served as a model for all the others. The board has a thickness of approximately 2-3 mm, and is too thin to be original, the wooden support was in fact thinned for installation on the back of a Florentine parquet. This procedure allowed for better conservation of the work, which has in fact reached us in good condition. We find the same technique in the poplar panel of the Three Graces by Raphael present in the Chantilly Castle Museum.
With this conference on Raphael’s Magdalene, Italy and France together once again stand at the top of research studies and valorization of the artistic heritage of all humanity. The evening was moderated by Ubaldo Alimenti member of the Pro Loco of Pergola with the greeting of the Deputy Mayor Graziano Ilari, the Hon. spoke at the event representing the institutions Antonio Baldelli. The conference entitled “Ideal Beauty” is one of the collateral projects of the national exhibition Arcana – Il Leone del Nuovo Orizzonte and sees the organisation, patronage and participation of important bodies. During the evening, the important “Leonardo The Immortal Light” award for the Cultural Research section promoted by the International Committee Leonardo da Vinci was also awarded to Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Culture.
The event also sees the patronage of Pesaro 2024 Capital of Culture. This international event represents how the Italian territory is alive and fervent with its protagonists of the past as witnesses to guide us towards new horizons.
