Artemisia Gentileschi's Maddalena in Estasi Sets World Auction Record at Sotheby's Paris

At a Sotheby's auction in Paris, Artemisia Gentileschi's painting Maddalena in estasi sold for €865,500, far exceeding its estimate of €200,000–300,000 and setting a world record for the 17th-century artist. The work depicts Mary Magdalene in a state of religious ecstasy, a subject that gained prominence in Baroque religious painting. Gentileschi, often labeled a Caravaggesque painter, is compared to Caravaggio's Maddalena Penitente (1595) in the Galleria Doria Pamphilj in Rome. The article argues that the Penitent and Ecstatic Magdalene represent two sides of the same coin: penance and sorrow are linked to love and spiritual fulfillment. Unlike earlier depictions where Magdalene is alone, faceless, and despairing at the foot of the cross, Baroque art shows her as an example of redemption and humanity, imperfect yet forgiven. In Gentileschi's version, the Magdalene's face is visible, her human warmth palpable, and her pleasure intense, happy, and serene—a conscious, shared, and consensual love rather than a sudden, violent dart. This portrayal of female ecstasy may reflect Gentileschi's own dream, she who was raped and whose will and femininity were violated. The article is by Federica Maria Marrella for MIfacciodiCultura and was published on Artspecialday on October 14, 2026.