Holy Magdalene

The saint, clothed in an ideal garment, over which she wears a cloak fixed on her left shoulder, slightly bent forward, stands on the left leg from which the anterior half of the foot protrudes under the garment; the right leg is placed backwards on the circular, slightly arched base. The left hand drops down vertically and grabs the mantle, the right one is raised to the left breast, seizing a strand of hair; A shell is applied over the forearm so that a pronounced bowl fold is formed on the right side of the figure. The head slopes slightly forward, the hair parted in the middle falls open over both shoulders and also over the back; a part of it is, however, lifted up behind by an ornaments. The Rubensian softness and fullness not only appears to be tempered in the shaping of the garment, but also, more particularly, in the expression of the face in the sense of a genuine and general attitude. This neo-Classical movement makes the figure of Gerard von Opstal (circa 1597-1668) the Flemish, who had been working in Paris since the beginning of the 1940s, and who, in 1648, was among the 12 founders of the Acad. royale is very likely to appear.