this post was submitted on 30 May 2025
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TIL: The Victorians used to put beauty filters on old paintings to make them fit the standards of the day.

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[–] tychosmoose@lemm.ee 11 points 9 months ago

From an article about the painting, it seems that the alabaster jar and faint halo over her head are references to Mary Magdelene? If the 19th century repaint was to make it a pretty picture for sellability then I could see why they wouldn't want such a heavy subject matter.