A recently authenticated masterpiece by Raphaël soon to be exhibited in the Var

A portrait of Mary Magdalene, a masterpiece by the Italian Renaissance painter Raphaël, unknowingly purchased by French collectors and recently authenticated, will be exhibited in the Var from April 20, we learned on Wednesday from concordant sources.

One of the collectors, who wishes to remain anonymous, confirmed this information to AFP. When the masterpiece was revealed in October, he expressed the wish to share this discovery with the general public by entrusting it to a museum if possible.

Raphael's painting will finally be exhibited from April 20, for a month, in the sacristy of the Sainte-Marie-Madeleine basilica of Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume (Var) which has just been restored, and which is “considered the third tomb of Christianity after Jerusalem and Rome, recognized tombs of Christ and Saint Peter,” the town hall told AFP.

Mary Magdalene, the first witness to the resurrection of Jesus, of whom she was a faithful disciple, is an important figure in the Gospels, often presented as a repentant sinner. She would have spent the last 30 years of her life in a cave in the Sainte-Baume massif, about twenty km from the basilica, which has become a major place of Christian pilgrimage.

Also read: The crazy discovery of French collectors who acquired a masterpiece by Raphaël without knowing it

The French collector bought the portrait of Mary Magdalene, dating from the meeting between Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci (1505), from a London gallery on his website for 30,000 pounds (nearly 35,000 euros) thinking that it would was a work of the da Vinci school. He then called on the expertise of Annalisa Di Maria, member of the UNESCO group of experts in Florence (Italy) who authenticated the work in September.

The conclusions, available online, were published by the specialized journal “ISTE, Open Science, Arts et Sciences” whose editorial committee includes Philippe Walter, director of the CNRS and former director of the Louvre laboratory.

After countless analyses, including the visualization using infrared light of the layers of carbon hidden by the paint pigments, they were able to attribute the painting to Raphael (1483-1520).