Out of Lascaux

Mary Magdalen in Art

It occurs to me that with all this attention on The Da Vinci Code, I haven't really posted much about Mary Magdalen. Now, I could say something self-deprecating about my "vast knowledge" here, but the fact is that I did a LOT of research on Mary Magdalen in grad school. She was going to be my PhD thesis. Ok, I could say something self-deprecating about my non-existent PhD, but I'll leave it at that.

So. Mary Magdalen. If you have seen any of the many shows about the Da Vinci Code, or even read the Da Vinci Code, you already know the basics. The Mary Magdalen from the bible is very different from the image that has developed over the centuries. In the bible, she was a rich woman who followed Jesus. She was one of the Mary's present at the crucifixion. She is the woman Jesus first appeared to after he had risen from the tomb. She is also the woman who had seven demons cast out of her. But there is no evidence that she was ever a prostitute; the woman taken in adultery and saved from stoning by Jesus was a different woman. So was the woman who washed Jesus's feet with her hair

In art, the Magdalen has had many incarnations and many functions. In early Christian art, she played an important role as the first person to see the arisen Christ. He told her to be happy, but that she could not touch him for he had not yet ascended to heaven.

Nolie Me Tangere by Giotto
1320's

She was also seen as the emaciated penitent clothed only in her hair. But again, this image stemmed from a story about an early saint, Saint Mary of the Desert, who spent years wandering and praying and being fed and nourished by angels. But she wasn't the Magdalen, either.

Penitent Magdalen by Donatello
1457

Another popular image of the Magdalen shows her with the alabaster ointment jar. This actually has two different origins. The first is from the story in which a woman, later identified as the Magdalen, washed Christ's feet with expensive oils. The second symbolizes her involvement in washing Christ's body after death, which may or may not be true but was never mentioned.

Mary Magdalen by Carlo Dolci
ca 1660

The penitent Magdalen was to have enormous influence in the Baroque period of art, but since that is my favorite era and I have a lot to say (and pictures to show), I think I'll leave that for another time.

Posted by Alexandra at March 17, 2006 09:24 AM