The United Kingdom has just gift the reknowned Mary Magdalene painting by Dutch artist Ary Scheffer to Abu Dhabi as a symbol of their friendship.
The painting, Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy, which was painted in 1856, is part of the Lubin Family Private Collection and was presented by His Excellency Patrick Moody, British Ambassador to the UAE, to Dr. Hamed Bin Mohamed Khalifa Al Suwaidi, chairman of Abu Dhabi Arts Society, at a ceremony, according to Arabian Business.
‘Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy’ was presented by the Lubin Family & Five Islands Capital LTD of London to Hamed Al Suwaidi, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Arts Society, at the Embassy yesterday. The artwork was painted by Ary Scheffer in 1856 & will remain in #AbuDhabi as a loan in perpetuity pic.twitter.com/zcxqZCUhiJ
— UKinUAE (@ukinuae) July 19, 2019
The artwork has been gifted on loan in perpetuity as a symbol of the friendship between the United Kingdom and the UAE.
Romantics painter Scheffer was a member of the influential Salon de Paris. He was known mostly for his works based on literature, with paintings based on the works of Dante, Goethe, and Lord Byron, as well as Biblical subjects. He was also a prolific painter of portraits of famous and influential people in his lifetime.
Scheffer had strong ties to King Louis Philippe I, having been employed as a teacher of the latter’s children, which allowed him to live a life of luxury for many years until the French Revolution of 1848.
The painting was vaulted into prominence after it was acquired by the Lubin Family Private Collection in London in 1978.
However. for those wanting to get a glimpse of the masterpiece, there are no plans to display it just yet. But the Abu Dhabi government is working on it.
