Mary Magdalene Comforted by Angels

Ricci employs a vigorous, Cortonesque approach characteristic of late Baroque Venice, using dramatic chiaroscuro to model forms and create a sense of depth. The brushwork is lively, with swift, luminous strokes that animate the drapery and the ethereal wings, while the composition balances dynamic movement with a harmonious arrangement of figures.

Painted toward the end of the 17th century, the piece belongs to the period when Ricci worked alongside contemporaries such as Giambattista Piazzetta and Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. It entered the collection of the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, where it remains part of the museum’s holdings of Italian Baroque painting.

Created during a time when Venetian artists were expanding the grand manner of fresco and canvas, the painting reflects the era’s fascination with theatricality and emotional intensity. Ricci’s work bridges the exuberant dynamism of earlier Baroque masters with the lighter, more decorative tendencies that would later define the Rococo.

While not as widely reproduced as some of Ricci’s later frescoes, this canvas illustrates his skill in integrating narrative drama with refined coloristic effects. It contributes to the understanding of late Baroque visual language and the evolving portrayal of sacred subjects in Venetian art.