Mary Magdalene in Michelangelo's Judgement

Investigations by Sara Penco stem from the insightful finding of the absence of a key figure in the Sistine Chapel’s Last Judgement fresco. Prior to this illuminating research, Mary Magdalene was not unequivocally identified within Michelangelo’s masterpiece. Father Pfeiffer, with whom Penco establishes an inescapable dialectic, had already hypothesised the presence of Mary Magdalene in the fresco, but it is the scholar, for the first time in these pages, who convincingly justifies her identification. Mary Magdalene is closely connected to the salient episodes in the life of Jesus. The author rightly wonders, therefore, how it is possible that a figure so central to the biblical narrative and the Christian imagination could have been excluded from the depiction of the Parousia. This observation gives rise to an accurate reflection on the iconography of the saint and the Judgement, in relation to the sacred texts and in relation to Michelangelo’s poetics and production. Sara Penco traces Mary Magdalene in the tangle of figures on the wall behind the altar of the Sistine Chapel, contributing to characterise the fresco - one of the best known and most appreciated works in the world - with an unprecedented theological message.

Text in English and Italian.

Sara Penco is an art restorer, whose work includes the restoration of the frescoes by Filippino Lippi in the Chapel Carafa in Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, of some of the ceilings in the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Parliament, restorations in the Villa Algardi, and in the interiors of Villa Pamphili, all in Rome. She is the creator of the Smarticon method, a patented technique for classification, cataloguing, and tracking valuable assets, particularly works from the art world. She has contributed to the preservation of prestigious works and written several unpublished works for the academic world, that were subsequently the subject of further studies, exhibitions, and publications. Sara has participated in numerous national and international conferences focusing on the discovery of newly uncovered works and on innovative technologies for the preservation of Cultural Heritage.