Mary Magdalene

Of considerable importance to the Christian religion, Mary Magdalene has been identified with various women in the Gospels. Thus, under her name were unified the stories of the sinner from the Gospel of Luke, that of the women who followed Jesus in the Gospel of John, and that of the sister of Lazarus and Martha, in the Gospel of Luke. His figure, moreover, has been widely represented century after century.

Around the 11th century, in France, Jacobus de Voragine collected the story and miraculous events of the Madeleine in his Golden Legend. De Voragine based his narration on the images of the Madeleine that were recognized in the Gospels.   

According to the Legend, Mary Magdalene was a wealthy woman who would have initially dedicated herself to prostitution, which earned her the epithet of ‘The sinner’. However, when she met Jesus, she repented and joined his group of disciples, accompanying him until the end of his life.

This painting shows one of the most spread themes in the iconography of the saint from the 16^th century: the scene of the repentant Magdalene.

In search of salvation, the Magdalene by Angelino Medoro looks up. Her long blonde hair is associated with her passed sexual work, but also with a scene from her life in which she washes Jesus’ feet, dries them with her hair, and anoints them with perfumed balm. 

The alabastron, a golden perfume bottle, is one of the most frequent iconographic attributes of the Magdalene. Its presence in the right of the saint is associated with the before mentioned episode in which she washes the feet of Jesus. It also refers to a second fact, according to which she was the first witness of the Resurrection. According to the biblical account, Mary Magdalene was preparing to anoint the body of the crucified in the tomb, but when she entered there, she found it empty.

The figure of the Magdalene in the Golden Legend was that of a woman with great material wealth. For this reason, in the repentance scene, the saint takes off all her jewelry. Bracelets, rings, and necklaces, as well as a mirror and a white comb, attributes with which she is also recognized, are seen to the right of the portrayed, arranged on a table.

The rich clothes with which she is dressed reinforce the idea of wealth and social position of this woman. She, for her part, seems to be taking off her clothes, an action that represents her rejection of vanity and all the values associated with earthly life.

With her hands, she tightly grasps metal chains, a symbol of mortification and repentance.
  These details strengthen the discourse that the Church sought to transmit to the worshippers and establishes the figure of the saint as the best example of the search for the forgiveness of sins.

The iconography of Mary Magdalene became, within the Christian tradition, a symbol of penance and repentance for the faithful. The Church, after the Council of Trent (1545-1563), resumed her figure, investing it with singular importance within the Catholic saints, thanks to which it had great diffusion in New Granada.