Glazed and painted terracotta lunette of St Mary Magdalene.
Attributed to Benedetto Buglioni, an artist closely associated with the Della Robbia school, it was created in the late 15th or early 16th century. Its original location is unknown, though it may have once adorned a space belonging to the former lay confraternity dedicated to the saint, once situated on the south side of Piazza del Duomo.
The saint is depicted as a wanderer in a stark, rugged landscape of rocky cliffs and wild vegetation. Now missing its original polychromy, the figure appears to advance slowly, hands joined in prayer and eyes lifted toward a distant vision. Her emaciated body, worn by penance, is covered by a mantle of long, thick hair blending with a coarse garment of animal skins. The strong visual connection to Donatello’s earlier and celebrated statue of Mary Magdalene—on view nearby—is unmistakable.
According to Christian tradition, Mary Magdalene is identified with the repentant sinner redeemed by Christ and later counted among his disciples. Legend recounts that, following the Ascension, she withdrew to southern France, spending her final years in solitary devotion, fasting and praying. Her cult was at times conflated with that of Saint Mary of Egypt, another penitent hermit, who is likewise portrayed as emaciated and clothed only in her hair.
In Florentine devotional culture, Mary Magdalene was venerated as the patron of communities of converted women—former prostitutes who left behind worldly life to enter religious seclusion. She was also frequently associated with Saint John the Baptist, the city’s patron, who likewise lived as a hermit in the wilderness and is traditionally shown thin and clothed in furs.