Mary Magdalen, symbol of redemption through repentance, is depicted in a nocturnal setting, illuminated by the light of a candle that creates pronounced contrasts on her instruments of meditation: sacred texts, the cross and the skull, an emblem of death. Together these objects create one of Georges de La Tour’s most beautiful still lifes. The artist depicts the Magdalen as delicate and thus quite different to the rough, everyday nature of his rustic peasants, soldiers or street musicians who are far removed from the meditative, spiritual mood of this work.