The life of Mary Magdalene has remained a mystery for millennia. Her controversial role in the Bible and in history has captivated the hearts of the masses. Yet recent controversy has shrouded the popular image of the Magdalene. When the bestselling novel, The da Vinci Code by Dan Brown became a star-studded movie, I became intrigued with the story of this infamous woman. Though The da Vinci Code is merely a work of fiction, it made me realize how little I knew about the Saint and woman Mary Magdalene. This woman, who has held a central role in Biblical scenes and centuries of great art, is an ambivalent figure to the world. She is either characterized as the sinner or the saint. By analyzing the art of the masters, we can glimpse the opposing perceptions of Mary Magdalene throughout time.
Perhaps the easiest way to justify this division in depictions is by looking at the Bible itself. In the King James Version of the Holy Bible, Mary Magdalene is first mentioned by name in Luke 8:2. Other than stating that she had been healed of seven demons, no more is said about her past. So where does the common belief that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute before she was saved by Christ originate? The passage shortly before that which names Mary describes a sinner who gently washes Jesus’ feet with her own tears:
And, behold, a woman in the city, who was a sinner…stood at his feet behind him, weeping; and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with ointment.
Luke 7:37-38
Although the woman is not named, this passage led to two assumptions. 1. That the sins committed were prostitution and 2. that Mary Magdalene was the unnamed woman. Such assumptions created the Magdalene image on one extreme side of the spectrum. Countless art masterpieces portray a beautiful, sensual, Venus-like woman with flowing hair as the “sinner” Mary Magdalene. The Venetian painter Titian exemplifies this view of the saved sinner in the Penitent Mary Magdalene (Plate 1). Completed in 1535, this stunning Renaissance painting conveys a both powerful and serene realism. Mary’s sexuality is vivid with her uncovered body and long, luxurious hair. Yet she gazes upward, repenting her sins to the heavens. The long hair and ointment jar are reminiscent of the unnamed woman who washed Christ’s feet in Luke 7:38.
Much like Titian’s work, Peter Paul Rubens later depicts the same scene of Luke 7 in Christ and Mary Magdalene (Plate 2). Rubens’ use of warm flesh tones and draping fabrics add to the more subtle sensuality of Mary Magdalene as she stoops to kiss Christ’s feet. Her lengthy hair and barely clothed body are, again, a reminder of her label as a prostitute.
Many other artists, however, chose to portray Mary Magdalene during her years of repenting in a desert. This is still under the assumption that the Biblical sinner was also the Magdalene. Rather than a sensuous beauty, she is thin and haggard.
Fra Filippo Lippi renders a stark contrast to previously mentioned works in his painting Saint John the Baptist and Saint Mary Magdalene (Plate 3). Her ever-present long hair is no longer the center of attention. Mary Magdalene’s scrawny body and discolored skin show the suffering she was said to have endured as penitence for her sinful ways. Looking down, she draws into herself, no longer holding Venus attributes of beauty. Though ragged, she is the redeemed Mary Magdalene who became a Saint in the Catholic Church, a symbol of piety and devotion to Christ.
Just as Fra Filippo Lippi depicted an emaciated Mary Magdalene, Donatello also exerts this same view with his statue of St. Mary Magdalene (Plate 4). This is a powerful wooden figure with a shockingly emotional face. But as Martha Levine Dunkelman asserts, “her face and upright figure illustrate not only the frequently emphasized pain and suffering, but also a great deal of strength and endurance. She can be read as a representation of continuing physical and emotional tenacity in the face of adversity” (Dunkelman 1). The tenacity of the suffering Magdalene would have appealed to many of the Saint’s followers in Christianity throughout centuries. She is a reminder that faith must remain through hard times.
Unlike other beliefs, some Christian sects, such as the Eastern Orthodox, never combined the two women of the Bible into one sinner (Marrow). As Jean-Yves Leloup points out in The Gospel of Mary Magdalene:
Mary’s identity as a prostitute stems from Homily 33 of Pope Gregory I, delivered in the year 591, in which he declared that she and the unnamed woman in Luke 7 are, in fact, one and the same, and that the faithful should hold Mary as the penitent whore:
She whom Luke calls the sinful woman, whom John calls Mary, we believe to be the Mary from whom seven devils were ejected according to Mark. And what did these seven devils signify, if not all the vices?…It is clear, brothers, that the woman previously used the unguent to perfume her flesh in forbidden acts.
Leloup xiv
In fact, many artists chose not to relate Mary Magdalene to the prostitute or decided to focus on her saintly rather than sexual qualities. Thus, the other end of the Magdalene spectrum is the iconic Saint. Mary Magdalene is mentioned again in the Bible as the first witness to the resurrection of Jesus. After the Crucifixion, Mary is crying when she doesn’t see Christ’s body in the tomb. Two angels in the tomb where Christ had been ask why she is weeping and she answers that they have taken her Lord away. When Jesus appears, she mistakes him for a gardener. She begs him to tell her where Jesus’ body is. He says, “Mary!” and she recognizes him as her teacher. Christ then says to her, “Noli me tangere (do not touch me), for I have not yet ascended to the Father,” (John 20:14-17). “Noli me tangere” became a very common scene from innumerable artists.
Often, “Noli me tangere” works include a more suitably dressed Mary Magdalene bowing in wonderment to the rebirth of Christ. Hans Holbein the Younger shows just that in his Noli me Tangere of 1524 (Plate 5). Radiating from the empty tomb, both angels can be seen in a glow of heavenly light. On the opposite side of the foreground, Christ stands back from Mary, hands raised, asking her not to touch him. The juxtaposition of their bodies creates the interaction of the Biblical passage that lets the viewer fully feel the emotion of the scene. Mary Magdalene is elegantly dressed, unlike the ragged clothes or naked body of other depictions. Her hair is covered and behind her back, unable to be seen, which differentiates her from the implied sexuality of long hair. In this rendition, Mary is definitely more saintly and not at all a prostitute.
Only a year after Hans Holbein the Younger’s Noli me Tangere, Correggio completed his masterpiece of the same title (Plate 6). These two works are, in fact, quiet similar. Christ and Mary Magdalene balance each others’ figures in the foreground and a detailed bushy landscape occupies the background. Again, Mary Magdalene takes on a much more saintly appearance. Though her hair is blonde (a symbol of sexuality), it is mostly behind her and thus not an emphasized point. Her finely made garments, while emblematic of the advances in the textile industry during the 16th century, suggest a more conservative role than the scantily placed drapery of a whore.
Perhaps a more traditionally Catholic perception of Saint Mary Magdalene is Signorelli’s 1504 Mary Magdalene (Plate 7). The detail of the brocade fabric and the draping red mantel she adorns lend to the appearance of importance. Her expressionless face and faint halo imply the quiet piety of saints. Her flowing blonde hair is overshadowed by the rich texture of her garment and nothing about her is reminiscent of Luke’s unnamed sinner. Signorelli’s Mary Magdalene is every inch a saint.
From blatant sexuality to tattered penitence to saintly poise, Mary Magdalene’s image is vastly different. Maybe it is with these wide-ranging attributes that the Magdalene has reached so many people across so many eras. Her human qualities make her a touchable saint that any person can look to for guidance. It is easy to see why so many artists have focused on Mary Magdalene, for she is an enduring figure that spans across classes and through generations. Her life may remain a mystery, but her likeness will always be carried on in the great masterpieces.
Works Cited
Dunkelman, Martha L. “Donatello’s Mary Magdalen.” Woman’s Art Journal 2 (2006): 1.
King James Version Holy Bible. Luke 7:37-38, 8:2; John 20:14-17. New York: Oxford UP, 1969.
Leloup, Jean-Yves. The Gospel of Mary Magdalene. 1st ed. Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions, 2002. xiv.