Head of the penitent Magdalene. Drawing, c. 1794.

In the text, Lavater criticises "most pictures" of Mary Magdalene for their affectation: "they coquet too much with their beauty, and, if I may say so, with their repentence". However, he goes on to say that this particular version of her face is "too pure and too reflecting ... [and] it preserves a certain indolence incompatible with violent depression"