HUGUES MERLE (French, 1823-1881). Mary Magdalene in the Cave, 1868. Oil on canvas. 17-3/4 x 23-1/2 inches (45.1 x 59.7 c...

Description

HUGUES MERLE (French, 1823-1881)
Mary Magdalene in the Cave, 1868
Oil on canvas
17-3/4 x 23-1/2 inches (45.1 x 59.7 cm)
Signed and dated lower left: Hugues Merle 1868

PROVENANCE:
Private collection, Amsterdam.

The French academic painter Hugues Merle gained acclaim during his lifetime for his idealized depictions of family life and of historical and religious subjects. He was often associated with his friend and rival, William-Adolphe Bouguereau; in fact, their shared dealer, Paul Durand-Ruel, urged Bouguereau to add to his pictorial repertoire Merle's interpretation of familial love, which had defined his most successful Salon entries during the 1840s through '60s. Whether imaging modern-day Madonnas with children, Susanna at her bath, or, as here, Mary Magdelene, Merle favored emotion-filled, often seductive, facial expressions and languid bodies to connote drama and pathos. Indeed, his Mary Magdelene emerges as the enraptured captive of Christ's love.

The Musée du Luxembourg, Paris; Wallace Collection, London; and Metropolitan Museum, New York, are among the institutions featuring Merle's finest works.


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