Multimodal Non-Invasive Investigation of the Penitent Magdalene, Formerly in the Joseph Robinson Collection: New Technical Evidence for Attribution

This study presents a comprehensive non-invasive technical investigation of The Penitent Magdalene from the former Joseph Robinson Collection, a painting traditionally attributed to Anthony van Dyck rather than Peter Paul Rubens. High-resolution imaging, digital microscopy, ultraviolet fluorescence, infrared reflectography, X-radiography, macroscopic X-ray fluorescence mapping, and reflectance imaging spectroscopy were used to examine its materials, technique, and conservation history. The results reveal seventeenth-century materials and painting practices consistent with both Rubens and Van Dyck, together with extensive compositional revisions and painting techniques showing close affinities with Rubens and his workshop. Comparison with Titian’s Penitent Magdalene and Cornelis Cort’s engraving further demonstrates strong compositional relationships. The combined technical and art-historical evidence suggests that the long-standing preference for a Van Dyck attribution should be reconsidered and that Rubens deserves renewed consideration as a possible author.