The Repentant Magdalen, Georges de La Tour
Original is in the National Gallery of Art, D.C. High-resolution downloadable file on Wikimedia Commons.
La Tour gives us one of his (if you’ll excuse the expression) tour de force candle-lit scenes, in which the flame itself is hidden, but the forms are revealed by the direct but gentle light. Other artists did similar scenes, but La Tour was the acknowledged master of the form. (See my previous posts on Georges de La Tour, linked below).
The mirror and skull make this a vanitas, reminding the viewer of the brief nature of life.
