FRANCESCO FURINI (ITALIAN 1604-1646) MARY MAGDALEN RENOUNCING WORLDLY VANITY Oil on canvas, octagonal 95 x 77cm (37¼ x 30¼ in.)Provenance: Private Collection, SwitzerlandSale, Koller, Möbel, Skulpturen, Porzellan & Silber von Barock bis Belle Epoque, 23 March 2018, lot 3059 (as Attributed to Artemisia Gentileschi , for £119.313)The present painting is closely related to another version traditionally identified as a Self-Portrait of Artemisia Gentileschi with a Casket of Jewels, formerly in the Dashwood Collection, West Wycombe, England. The Dashwood version has been variously attributed over time: it was published as a work by Artemisia Gentileschi (see M. Mosco, La Maddalena tra sacro e profano, Florence, Palazzo Pitti, 1986, p. 155, fig. 2), as a painting by Francesco Furini or Vincenzo Mannozzi (see R. Contini, Artemisia, eds. R. Contini and G. Papi, Florence, 1991, pp. 187-189), and as by an artist in the circle of Angelo Caroselli (see R. Ward Bissell, Artemisia Gentileschi and the Authority of Art, pp. 340-341, under no. X35, fig. 232).A further version of the present composition-also octagonal and of similar dimensions-was sold at Dorotheum on 3 June 2023, lot 48, as School of Caravaggio, circa 1620-1630.Following research and stylistic analysis, Professor Francesca Baldassari has now definitively attributed the present work to Francesco Furini. This revised attribution reflects a broader re-evaluation of the group of works previously associated with Gentileschi, and aligns with Furini's known approach to composition, figuration, and handling of allegorical subjects.We are grateful to Professor Francesca Baldassari for confirming the attribution on the basis of photographs.
Oil on canvas, octagonal