A Work Long Debated
The artist Caravaggio was a man of contrasts — a virtuoso of light and dark chiaroscuro, a towering painter and an accused murderer, a master in his own time who lived on the run and whose works have commanded up to $100 million and more.

The contrasts continue to this day. Only 60 to 65 confirmed Caravaggio works are known to exist – many more are under debate over whether they are a product of the artist's hand, that of his workshop, or by followers known as the Caravaggisti. The process is especially difficult as Caravaggio moved frequently and was known to paint several versions of the same subject.

Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy is one of these hotly debated works. The original was long thought to have been lost, with only copies painted by Caravaggio's followers believed to have survived. That has changed in recent decades. Three contenders for an original Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy have emerged — and the stakes are high. The verdict of a respected art historian can multiply the value of a single painting by tens of millions.

With her head thrown back and face marked by tears and sorrow, Mary Magdalene is a dramatic work that combines the spiritual with the sensual. To make matters of authentication even more complex, the painting appears in early art historical sources but lacks a clear location of origin. Provenance, the long paper trail used to trace ownership of particular art works, is also largely absent.

Indeed, it is presumed that the painting had been painted during the artist's final, turbulent months in Naples, Italy, or earlier, in Rome. For example, other famous Caravaggio works were commissioned in Rome, from where he fled after being convicted of murder in 1606.

The most recent contender for an authentic Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy emerged in 2020, purchased recently by owner Steven Maksin from an undisclosed London family.
It has caused a stir in the art world, with supporters citing its emotional power and realistic style, as well as the play of darkness and light, hallmarks of Caravaggio's style.

"This is one of his magical pieces," Maksin says. "I loved it from first sight. The emotional intensity, the look of ecstasy, are unique. I said I am going to buy it no matter what."

Maksin was also captivated by the New Testament story of Mary Magdalene, who rose from sinner to a famous saint. "She went 180 degrees," he says, adding that the move reflects Caravaggio's own life. "He painted holy subjects, but was a sinner, torn between good and evil, and on the cusp of both, like Jekyll and Hyde."

What Sets the Maksin Version Apart
Given the lack of impeccable provenance, there are other methods of verifying paintings, including technological ones such as scientific analysis, x-ray and pigment testing, and infrared reflectography. Maksin is open to utilizing these tests.

Nevertheless, there are several other elements making the Maksin version more compelling.

The subject's skin appears naturalistic in the painting, rather than idealized. Highlights were applied quickly and directly by a paintbrush, and there are resemblances to other late Caravaggio masterpieces like David with the Head of Goliath.

(Some think Goliath's head resembles the artist himself.)

Another candidate, the so-called Gregori version, emerged in 2014, but some scholars view it as a 17th century copy, questioning whether the light lacks the intensity of the master's established oeuvre.

An earlier discovery after World War II in London, the Klein version, initially attracted support among art critics. But doubts have arisen more recently, including questions about whether the work demonstrates alla prima, the direct and quick brushstrokes typical in confirmed Caravaggio pieces.

In his own time, Caravaggio's lifelike style was striking, even gripping, a departure from more staid and formal earlier Renaissance works. Male and female subjects both had vibrant, sensual red lips, for example.

In the Maksin version, Mary Magdalene's lips are indeed vibrantly red, unlike the lighter red or pink tones of the Gregori painting. And the braids of her hair are clearly delineated, complete with identifiable knots and individual strands, another difference from both the Klein or Gregori paintings.

Five Exhibitions in Five Years
All told, Maksin's version possesses the warm tones of a living person reflecting the blood flush of ecstasy. Its authenticity has been buttressed by its recent participation in five international Caravaggio exhibitions:

• Caravaggio. The Contemporary "Caravaggio. Il Contemporaneo" (MART, Rovereto, Italy 2020–2021)

• Maddalena. Caravaggio and Canova (Gypsotheca Museo Antonio Canova, Possagno, Italy 2021)

• Il Barocco è Noto (Convitto delle Arti, Noto, Italy 2023)

• Caravaggio and His Time: Between Naturalism and Classicism (Castello Normanno-Svevo, Mesagne, Apulia, Italy 2023)

• The Master of Light: Caravaggio and His Descendants (Hangaram Art Museum, Seoul, South Korea 2024–2025)

The Klein version also lacks a clear paper trail: early inventories, church or aristocratic records or mentions in contemporary documents.

A Life as Turbulent as His Art
It's easy to understand why — born Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio near Milan in 1571, the artist moved to Rome around 1592. Even as a prominent cardinal and the Roman Catholic church became patrons, Caravaggio fell in with the Roman underworld of gamblers and prostitutes – a well-known courtesan is believed to be the model for several paintings.

Some report that he was deeply religious – in keeping with what he painted – yet violent and unstable.

He killed an opponent, Ranuccio Tomassoni, with a sword during a duel in 1606, forcing Caravaggio to flee after being sentenced to death. His subsequent wanderings to Naples, Malta, and Sicily only complicate the origins and provenance of his works.

He died at the age of 38 on the way to back Rome for a possible pardon, and even the cause of his death is disputed — malaria, assassination and poisoning have all been suggested.

Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy is believed to have been painted between 1606 and 1610, around the time of Caravaggio's flight from Rome and stay in Naples. Although famous in his own time, and an influence on giants like Rembrandt, his reputation faded in the centuries that followed.

In the early 20th century, his notoriety was revived as art critics and the public recognized how revolutionary a figure he was in the history of art.

The Maksin version emerged as a possibly authentic candidate after noted art critic and historian Vittorio Sgarbi declared it to be "a version of the Magdalene that is perhaps one of greatest quality among the paintings in debate…a work that has a convincing attribution to Caravaggio."

It was exhibited as an authentic Caravaggio in 2020, at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MART) in Rovereto, Italy, a sign that Italian experts supported its authenticity. Indeed, at a later exhibition in Puglia, it was hailed as a unique, recently rediscovered work of a 17th Century genius.

Exhibitions like these also bolster claims of authenticity: the Maksin version has been exhibited five times in five years.

Maksin has an eye for discovering overlooked gems. Born in Kiev, Ukraine, he trained as an accountant and lawyer in New York before starting his own firm, Moonbeam Capital, with a focus on distressed malls and other properties.

Using some of the same skills employed to research provenance, Maksin was able to discover overlooked, declining malls and redevelop them. For example, he purchased a New Jersey site, the Burlington Center Mall for $3.4 million in 2012. Seven years later, he sold it for $22 million.

But buying art and sharing it with the public is his passion. Maksin's collection is wide-ranging, from antique firearms to Titian paintings to modernist works by Marc Chagall and Salvador Dali. Recently, he has loaned works to leading museums of the world, like the Art Institute of Chicago; the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; the Pinacoteca Manfrediniana in Venice, Italy; the Royal Palace of Naples, Italy; the Accademia Albertina of Turin, Italy; Palazzo Mocenigo, Venice, Italy; Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia, Italy; and the Espace Lympia, Nice, France.

On the market, Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy could be worth well over $20 million. But profit is not Maksin's goal.

"I did not buy it to sell or make money," he adds. "I bought Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy for posterity, to share it with the public and exhibit it."