  About the Artwork
  
  
  "There is a Michelangelo da Caravaggio who is doing extraordinary things in Rome.” This quote by a contemporary Dutch painter provides a sense of Caravaggio’s revolutionary impact on the European art scene. Caravaggio’s dramatic use of light and shadow animates his religious images, which feature ordinary-looking people as models. This painting takes as its starting point a passage from the Gospel of Luke in which Christ has been welcomed into the house of sisters Martha and Mary Magdalene. It shows an imaginary exchange between the modest Martha, shown reproaching her sister for her wayward conduct and enumerating on her fingers the miracles of Christ, and the sensual, vain Mary, who wears luxurious clothing and rests her hand on a large mirror. However, Caravaggio introduced details that hint at Mary’s forthcoming conversion. In her right hand, she holds an orange blossom twig, a symbol of purity; the ring on her left hand alludes to her status as the bride of Christ.
  
  
  Title
  Martha and Mary Magdalene
  
  
  Artwork Date
  ca. 1598
  
  Artist
  Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
  
  
  
  Life Dates
  1571 - 1610
  
  
  
  
  Nationality
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events.
  Some definitions include:
  Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation.
  
  
  
  Italian
  
  
  
  Culture
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group.
  
  
  
  
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  Medium
  Oil and tempera on canvas
  
  
  Dimensions
  Unframed: 39 3/8 × 52 15/16 inches (100 × 134.5 cm)
  Framed: 51 × 64 3/4 × 3 3/4 inches (129.5 × 164.5 × 9.5 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Paintings
  
  
  Department
  European Painting
  
  
  Credit
  Gift of the Kresge Foundation and Mrs. Edsel B. Ford
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  73.268
  
  
  Copyright
  Public Domain
