“The Fire of Love”: The Exhibition on Mary Magdalene in Agrigento, an Extraordinary Artistic Heritage

From 6 July to 30 October 2025, the Diocesan Museum of Agrigento hosts “The Fire of Love. Mary Magdalene. Witness to Female Hope” , an extraordinary iconographic exhibition that represents one of the most significant cultural events in the year of Agrigento Italian Capital of Culture 2025. The exhibition, sponsored by the Dicastery for Culture of the Holy See, constitutes an unprecedented journey through the figure of Mary Magdalene, symbol of a faith “without doubts, full of hope but autonomous and aware”. The thematic choice of the exhibition finds a strong identity value for the widespread presence of the figure of Mary Magdalene throughout the vast territory of the Archdiocese, since the Middle Ages .

The exhibition presents works of extraordinary quality from prestigious museum institutions. Among the artists present are Giovanni Di Pietro from Naples, Giovanni Portaluni, Guercino, Cecco del Caravaggio, Nicolas Regnier, Mattia Preti, Pietro D'Asaro, Andrea Vaccaro, Mariano Rossi, Fra' Felice da Sambuca and Francesco Hayez .

Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, 1591-1666) is represented with his famous Penitent Magdalene , a masterpiece of Baroque art where the saint, penitent and hermit, meditates on the instruments of the Passion carried by angels. The work, dated 1622, originally created for the high altar of the Church of Santa Maria Maddalena delle Convertite al Corso in Rome, symbolizes penitence and contemplative love for Christ.

Mattia Preti (1613-1699), the “Cavalier Calabrese”, presents works of intense baroque emotion. His Magdalenes, like the one preserved in Terni, show the saint in tears while contemplating the nails of Christ’s cross, transforming her tears into “an unbridled hymn of praise to feminine beauty”. Preti was able to masterfully unite the sensuality of the female figure with the spirituality of conversion.

Andrea Vaccaro (1604-1670) is present with two versions of the Penitent Magdalene – the one from Palermo, preserved in Palazzo Abatellis, and the one from Salerno. The works show different but equally intense connotations: in the Palermo version the saint appears immersed in the shadows, while in the Salerno version tears run down her face, intensifying the emotional tension.

Nicolas Regnier (1590-1667), a Flemish painter active in Italy, contributes his Penitent Magdalene set in a splendid twilight landscape, testifying to the influence of the Caravaggio school in the iconography of the saint.

Mariano Rossi (1731-1807), born in Sciacca as Mario Antonino Russo, represents Sicilian painting of the eighteenth century. Trained between Palermo, Naples and Rome, where he studied with Marco Benefial, Rossi developed a style that synthesized the best Neapolitan examples with Roman classicism. His fame is mainly linked to the frescoes of Villa Borghese in Rome and the Royal Palace of Caserta.

Fra' Felice da Sambuca (1734-1805), a Capuchin born Gioacchino Viscosi, worked between Sicily and Tuscany. His works, characterized by “clear spontaneity and particular spiritual grace”, bear witness to a popular religious painting that communicated directly with the faithful. Among his last works are the altarpieces of the Church of Maria SS. Addolorata in Marsala, dated 1790.

Giovanni Portaluni , a 17th century painter from Licata, is documented for religious works including a Madonna of Trapani from 1623 kept in the sanctuary of Sant'Angelo in Licata. His works testify to the liveliness of the Sicilian painting school of the Baroque period.

Francesco Hayez (1791-1882) ideally closes the chronological path of the exhibition with his romantic interpretation of the Magdalene. The Venetian artist, a famous portraitist and painter of 19th-century scenes, had already tackled the iconography of Mary Magdalene as a hermit in the desert in a painting from 1825, inspired by the homonymous sculpture by Antonio Canova from 1796. In the work from 1833, Hayez outlines a minimalist landscape in the background, against which stands out the solitary figure of the Magdalene who gently holds the cross.

The works come from prestigious institutions: Vatican Museums, Palazzo Barberini Corsini, Diocesan Museums Carlo Maria Martini of Milan and San Matteo of Salerno, National Museum of San Matteo of Pisa, Palazzo Abatellis, Fondazione Carit . This network of collaborations underlines the scientific importance of the initiative and the national relevance of the exhibition. The exhibition is enriched with works from the Archdiocese of Agrigento from Cammarata, Racalmuto, Sciacca and Sambuca di Sicilia . This dialogue between national masterpieces and local heritage highlights how devotion to Mary Magdalene has deep roots in the Agrigento area, also manifesting itself through the “cartelami” of Cammarata and the numerous painted and marble crosses of the diocesan heritage. The exhibition is part of the celebrations for Agrigento Italian Capital of Culture 2025 and the Jubilee Year, proposing Mary Magdalene as “witness of a feminine hope, strong, autonomous, capable of loving and fighting for the truth”. The figure of Mary Magdalene, who “embodies at the same time eroticism and mysticism, pain and joy, human weakness and the strength of faith,” offers a profound reflection on the role of women in the history of faith and on love as a transformative force.

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