Giovanni Maria Viani and The Penitent Magdalene

'The Penitent Magdalene' (no date found) by Giovanni Maria Viani; Private Collection?

Giovanni Maria Viani, born on 11 September 1636 in Bologna, was the last painter on my list for today to check for paintings. I had already dismissed all the other options and when I read that Viani was an Italian Baroque painter, I almost knew that I couldn't go wrong. I thought, maybe there is a depiction of The Penitent Magdalene, and voilà, there is. Together with Lorenzo Pasinelli, Viani was a pupil of Flaminio Torre. The first works to be attributed to Viani date from 1677. I couldn't find a date nor location for today's painting but I found that it recently sold at Sotheby's, click here. It was part of a private collection and it changed hands to an anonymous buyer so it's likely to be in private hands still. It sold for 37,250 GPB. There's a catalogue note included which states that this painting has been more recently attributed to Viani because it was formerly believed to be a work by Gian Gioseffo dal Sole. Well, whoever painted this, I think it is beautiful. I particularly love the depiction of the folded hands. For further reading, click here.