Physical Dimensions: overall: 58.8 x 47.8 cm (23 1/8 x 18 13/16 in.)
framed: 75.4 x 65.3 x 7 cm (29 11/16 x 25 11/16 x 2 3/4 in.)
Provenance: Federico Borromeo [1564-1631], by 1607; Biblioteca and Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan, until 1796;[1] Lucien Bonaparte [d. 1840], Prince de Canino, Paris and Rome, by 1812;[2] (Exhibited for private sale of Lucian Bonaparte collection, London, 6 February 1815, no. 23, as by Leonardo); (Bonaparte sale, Stanley, London, 15 May 1816, no. 165, as by Leonardo). Henry Petty-FitzMaurice, 4th Marquess of Lansdowne [1816-1866], Bowood Hall, Wiltshire, by 1844;[3] by inheritance to Henry Charles Keith Petty-FitzMaurice [1845-1927], 5th Marquess of Landsdowne, Bowood Hall; by inheritance to Henry William Edmund Petty-FitzMaurice [1872-1936], 6th Marquess of Landsdowne, Bowood Hall; acquired 25 April 1952 by (Thomas Agnew and Sons, London); sold 29 April 1952 to(Rudolf Heinemann, New York);[4] on joint account 1952 with (M. Knoedler and Co., London and New York); sold 1957 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[5] gift 1961 to NGA.
[1] For the early provenance of the picture, see Pamela M. Jones, "Bernardino Luini's 'Magdelene' from the collection of Federico Borromeo: Religious Contemplation and Iconographic Sources," in _Studies in the History of Art_ 24 (1990): 67-7
[2] _Choix de Gravures a l'eau forte d'apres les Peintures Originales et les Marbres de la Galerie de Lucien Bonaparte_, Londres, 1812.
[3] Included in Mrs. Anna Jameson, _Companion to the Most Celebrated Private Galleries of Art in London_, London, 1844: 313-314.
[4] Stockbook no. 0718, Thomas Agnew & Sons, London.
[5] M. Knoedler & Co. Records, accession number 2012.M.54, Research Library, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles: Stock book no. 10, p. 78, no. A4905; Sales book no. 17, p. 314. Receipt from Knoedler dated 2 January 1957. (See copies of Knoedler documents in NGA curatorial files and The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/2226).