Magdalene with the Smoking Flame

Georges de La Tour

c. 1640 · Oil on canvas · Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Size2:3 ratio

Frame

$59Unframed print · made to order

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Complete the setHangs well with these two

This print

Magdalene with the Smoking Flame

The Cheat with the Ace of Diamonds

Entrance to the Grand Canal from the Molo, Venice

3 × $59 at 16 × 24 in, unframed = $177 → $159.30 as a set · 10% included · free shipping

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About this work

Artist: Georges de La Tour (1593–1652)
Year: c. 1640
Medium: Oil on canvas
Original size: 117 × 91.8 cm
Collection: Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Movement: Baroque

Mary Magdalene sits in the dark with a skull in her lap and her hand resting on it, gazing at the smoking flame of an oil lamp that is the only light in the room; books of Scripture and a scourge lie on the table. There is no grotto and no story, only a woman thinking about death and the light. Georges de La Tour painted it in Lorraine, far from Paris, around 1640, and it is one of at least four penitent Magdalenes he made by candlelight; a near-identical version is in the Louvre, and the two differ only in details like the books and the shape of the flame. The wavering lamp recalls what mystics of the day called the living flame of love. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art acquired this version in 1977 from the La Haye family in France through the Ahmanson Foundation, and it is one of the museum's best-known Old Masters.

This exhibition-poster edition shows the whole work beneath original typography set in-house. The original is in the public domain.

Details & materials

• Exhibition poster — original, drawn in-house • Heavyweight matte fine-art paper, giclée printed at 300 DPI • Sizes: 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in; 12×18 and 16×24 and 24×36 also available framed in black or natural wood • Made to order; colours may vary slightly from screen

Shipping & returns

Produced in 2–4 business days, then shipped from the facility nearest you. Delivery is typically 3–6 business days (US/UK/EU) and 5–12 worldwide. Because each print is made to order we don't take change-of-mind returns, but if it arrives damaged or flawed we'll reprint or refund it — no return needed. Full policy →

Is this the whole painting, or a crop?

The whole work, uncropped. The exhibition-poster edition sets the complete image above typography designed in-house.

Is Magdalene with the Smoking Flame in the public domain?

Yes. Georges de La Tour (1593–1652) died more than 70 years ago and the work was published before 1929, so the painting itself is public domain. This print is a reproduction made from a high-resolution scan of the original, which is held by Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

What is it printed on?

Heavyweight matte fine-art paper with pigment inks, made to order in 12×18, 16×24 and 24×36 inches; the two larger sizes are also offered framed. Colours are matched to the scan, not brightened.

When was Magdalene with the Smoking Flame painted, and in what medium?

Magdalene with the Smoking Flame dates from c. 1640 and was made in oil on canvas; the original measures 117 × 91.8 cm.

What size works above a sofa or bed?

For a standard three-seat sofa or a queen bed, 24×36 inches reads as a single statement piece; 16×24 suits a narrower wall or a pairing. The print's proportions follow the original, so a landscape-format painting is wider than it is tall.

About this design

A museum-exhibition poster of Georges de La Tour's Magdalene with the Smoking Flame — the Magdalene by candlelight, a skull in her lap, gazing at the smoking flame of a lamp — shown whole and uncropped beneath gallery typography. Candlelight: The French Baroque, styled as a blockbuster exhibition print. A gallery-style exhibition poster: a celebrated public-domain artwork shown whole and uncropped beneath original exhibition typography set in-house — printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper. Three sizes (12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in); the 16×24 and 24×36 are also offered framed. Part of the Madten Exhibition Posters Collection. — — — Printed to order and shipped by our production partner, Gelato.

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Gallery-grade archival giclée. Rich pigment inks on heavyweight fine-art paper (or gallery-wrapped canvas) — built to last, not a poster-shop print.

Arrives perfect or we reprint it — free. Every piece is made to order; if it shows up damaged or flawed we remake it, no return needed.

Free worldwide shipping. Made & shipped from the facility nearest you — most orders arrive in ~4–8 business days.

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