"[2] The subject of the Magdalen as a sinner and fallen woman returned to the path of virtue by Jesus was very popular in the 16th century, allowing artists to combine eroticism and religion without courting scandal.

Titian's version of the subject shows her at a moment of elation and deep repentance, with tears in her eyes (referring to her washing Jesus' feet and drying them with her hair) and her gaze raised heavenwards.

Erotic though it is, as Vasari notes, her nudity refers to the medieval legend that her clothes fell apart during the thirty years she spent repenting in the desert after the Ascension of Jesus.

According to popular works such as the Golden Legend, she spent her last years naked and alone in a hermitage in the mountains of Provence, fed only by the singing angels who visited her daily.

Additionally, the Magdalen's golden hair, fleshy body, and full lips correspond with the Renaissance beauty standards at the time.