Catholic art tends to depict Mary Magdalene’s beauty, emphasizing her as the embodiment of a conversion from worldly pleasures and the pomp of life (drawing from her debated attribution as the woman caught in adultery). The Scriptures do testify (regardless of this attribution) that she had a dramatic conversion: “And the twelve were with him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out” (Luke 8:1-2). Luke states she was a disciple traveling with Jesus, and we, of course, know her as the great witness of love at the foot of the Cross and the first one to proclaim the Resurrection.

One sculpture, executed with classical precision by Antonio Canova, captures the more typical imaginative rendering of the repentant Magdalene.

Antonio Canova, “The Repentant Mary Magdalene” (1764)

Many artists have depicted her not only as an embodiment of natural beauty but also with her body exposed, as we see in this sculpture. Rather than an image of her sinful past, this exposure points more to the stripping down of her attachments and a newly found purity. She is returning to innocence and no longer fears the entrapment of bodily pleasures. The skull obviously points to penance as a preparation for death, but links her penance to Golgotha, the place of the skull.

A much earlier sculpture (c.1450), by the Renaissance pioneer, Donatello, turns the traditional narrative upside down. His wood carving (with some trace of original paint), depicts her no longer as a youthful embodiment of beauty. Rather, we see the penitent at a later stage in life and her penance at its final and complete stage (possibly as a hermitess in southern France at Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume).

We see the fruit of many years of penitence, which have wearied her face, leaving large sockets around her eyes, lost teeth, and bones clearly visible. Yet, despite this dwindling, we still see strength through her strong posture and delicate composure of her hands. Her return to innocence may be complete without any clothing remaining, simply with her hair as covering. Has she recovered something lost in the Fall?

It is thought that Donatello produced the sculpture for the baptistery of the Duomo in Florence. Magdalene, the first witness to the Resurrection, would then also become the model for the new disciple of Jesus. She models how to take on the Cross in the midst of the world, become another Christ, offering one’s body in the fullest, in order to anticipate the Resurrection. Donatello’s depiction of Mary Magdalene may startle, but it should also arouse us out of our complacency, to take up our own work of penance and prayer. It may be easy to look at Mary as an extreme–exorcised of demons and possibly a prostitute–but she represents us all: our need for conversion, grace, and to take up our Cross daily for the rest of our lives.


4 Comments

Peter · July 23, 2019 at 5:36 am

Most depictions of St. Mary Magdalene before Donatello, especially in the Middle Ages, show her not as a repentant sinner but as “Myrrh Bearer,” holding a jar of spices on her way to the empty tomb.

Robert Lee · July 24, 2019 at 4:54 pm

Saw Donatello’s Mary Magdalene statue in Florence years ago, and its haunting beauty has always stayed with me.

Rita L. Houlihan · September 10, 2019 at 11:31 am

It’s a shame Donatello & all the other Renaissance artists never used their immense talents to depict Jesus commissioning Mary Magdalene as the apostle to proclaim the good news or depicted her actually proclaiming “I have seen the Lord.” John’s chapter 20 has been reduced to many “Noli me tangere” scenes -some, such as Giotto’s in Assisi show Jesus scorning her. What inspired these misinterpretations? Why didn’t Cardinals commission art honoring her role – “Mary Magdalene Proclaims the Resurrection”? Was the fact that Jesus chose a woman as the first witness of his Resurrection too much of a “ dangerous memory” for the men of the 16th-19th c.?

Who is still debating whether or not Mary Magdalene was Luke’s “sinner from the city” (7:36-50)? Even the Roman Catholic Church ended its support for that error back in 1969 – though they barely announced it – thechznge was in a footnote to the Litutgical calendar. However, the Vatican reinforced that scripture does not portray her as the penitent prostitute in its June 3, 2016 decree that elevated her memorial to a Feast & created a Proper Preface for her mass. To me the legend has been debunked.

Donatello's Unusual Depiction of Mary Magdalene – Janbaaz · July 23, 2019 at 3:05 am

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