The Penitent Magdalen (oil on canvas)

The Magdalen is nude to the waist, her lower body swathed in blue drapery. Her head rests on her right hand and gazes she upwards. A skull and white drapery is by her right side. The crucifixion can be seen in a landscape beyond. This painting came to Nostell in the 19th century, through the flower painter James Hewlett, when it was thought to be an original by the 17th century Italian master, Guido Reni. Hewlett married Miss Hill, governess to Charles Winn's eldest daughter, Emma, who left this and several other pictures to Miss Winn after her death. Several watercolour paintings by Hewlett hang in the Drawing Room at Nostell Priory. The painting shows the reformed courtesan, Mary Magdelene, who anointed Christ's feet and came to encapsulate the figure of the repentant sinner in Christian art. She is shown with a skull, to symbolise the transience of life on earth, and a crucifix in the background.