This work is a study for La Magdeleine presented at the 1878 Salon (Mulhouse, Musée des Beaux-arts).
Mary Magdalene is shown half-naked, seated in a slumped posture, hands clasped and face turned skyward. This image breaks with the traditional representation of the saint, here placed in a closed universe, devoid of accessories and conducive to penitence.
Henner depicted this biblical figure many times, in different attitudes, but as Gabriel Séailles points out:
"[...] the Madeleine was most often for Henner only a pretext, only an opportunity to paint a woman's body touched with the sole grace of ancient Aphrodite"
