The penitent Magdalena, one of the two paintings by El Greco that supports part of the collection of the Museu del Cau Ferrat, has returned to Sitges today, Friday. During the last months it was exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest, in one of the most important anthologies ever organized on Domenikos Theotokopoulos. Now it shines again next to The tears of Saint Peter.
The return of The penitent Magdalena penitente took place this Friday at noon. The painting left Budapest on Wednesday, after the El Greco exhibition ended. The work arrived in a specialized transport, following all safety and preservation protocols required by transfers of this type and under the supervision of the restoration manager, Pep Pascual. Once the reception inspection was carried out, it was placed in its place, in the Great Hall of the Cau Ferrat Museum, next to El Greco's other painting.
The penitent Magdalena and The tears of Saint Peter were acquired by Santiago Rusiñol in Paris and arrived in Sitges in 1894, during the Third Modernist Festival. Surrounded by artists, writers, musicians and other illustrious people of the time, Rusiñol organized a procession to take them to Cau Ferrat.
In Budapest, the penitent Magdalena shared prominence with other paintings by El Greco from the most prominent art galleries in the world, such as the Louvre, the National Gallery in London, the National Gallery of Arts in Washington or the El Greco Museum in Toledo itself.
Also this week, the works that were exhibited in the exhibition Feresa de silenci, at the Girona Art Museum, have returned to the Museu del Cau Ferrat. It consisted of about seven drawings of female figures by Maria Rusiñol dated between 1904 and 1907 and two works by Lluïsa Denís: a painting and a ceramic.