The Fries Museum in Leeuwarden acquired a remarkable painting by Wybrand de Geest (1592-1663/1665) at an auction in Barcelona. The work in question is Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy, which the Frisian painter created after the example of the Italian master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610).

The existence of this painting uniquely demonstrates that De Geest’s artistic output encompassed religious themes in addition to portraiture. The painting will be displayed for the first time in the major exhibition Wybrand de Geest. Meesterlijke Portretten (opening 6 September 2025). The purchase was realized with the support of FB Oranjewoud and Vereniging Rembrandt.

For his Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy, Wybrand de Geest based his work on Caravaggio’s legendary work from 1606. While the original Italian painting only came to light in a private collection in 2014, it was already known through numerous copies by other painters. For his version, De Geest adopted the composition, the pose of Mary Magdalene, and the use of color of the great Italian master, but he added an ointment jar, her customary attribute, and a skull, as a symbol of the transience of life. Mary is depicted with an ecstatic gaze, caught between lust and suffering, between earthly and spiritual love.

Notably, the text on the torn note with a broken wax seal beneath the skull reveals the painter identifying himself as a copyist of Michelangelo Caravaggio from Milan and simultaneously characterizing himself as Frisian. This is striking, as among the thirteen known copies of the painting, this is the only work in which the maker explicitly refers to the original artist as the source.

This acquisition will become part of Collectie Nederland (National Collection of the Netherlands). No original works by Caravaggio, nor any direct copies of his work, are found in Dutch museums. The acquisition is therefore not only important for the Fries Museum but also represents a unique addition to the Netherlands Collection.

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