Mary Magdalene before Christ’s Tomb
Ca. 1612. Oil on panel.Not on display
The presence in Valencia in 1521 of several works by Sebastiano del Piombo, acquired by the diplomat Jerónimo Vich, inspired various generations of local artists. In this oil on panel recently attributed to Ribalta, the artist adapted the figure of the Magdalene from one of those compositions, The Lamentation over the dead Christ, now in Saint Petersburg. As he dispensed with the other figures, he added the inscription “Quia Tulerunt Dominum Meum” (They have taken away my Lord), to express her grief.