Mary Magdalene

In her 2003 book,The Gospel of Mary of Magdala, Karen L. King writes: "Starting in the fourth century, Christian theologians in the Latin West began to construct an alternative [view of Mary Magdalene].  The first move was to associate Mary Magdalene with the unnamed sinner who anointed Jesus' feet in Luke 7: 36-50.  Further confusion resulted by conflating the account in John 12: 1-8, in which Mary of Bethany anoints Jesus, with the unnamed woman in the Lukan account.  From this point, identifying Mary of Magdala with Mary of Bethany was but a short step.  At the end of the sixth century, Pope gregory the Great gave a sermon in which he not only identified these figures, but drew the moral conclusion that would dominate the imagination of the West for centuries to come. . . Once these initial identifications were secure, Mary Magdalene could be associated with every unnamed sinful woman in the gospels. . .Mary the apostle and teacher had become Mary the repentent whore."

In truth, Mary Magdalene was a wealthy woman from the city of Magdala, Galilee, who was a prominent Jewish follower of Jesus, a visionary, and a leading apostle. She accompanied Jesus to Golgotha, succoured Him during His suffering on the cross, and was present when His body was taken down from the cross and laid in the tomb.  After HIs Resurrection, Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene in the sepulcher and requested her to tell the other disciples about His Resurrection. Complying with His request, she said to them, “Christ is risen!”

My painting of Mary Magdalene is based on a story in which Mary Magdalene is said to have travelled to Rome to spread news of the Resurrection. While in Rome, Mary Magdalene testified to Tiberius Caesar about the Resurrection.  Doubting her testimony, Tiberius Caesar said to her: "There is as much chance of Jesus rising from the dead as an egg in the basket you are carrying turning red."  Whereupon, Mary Magdalene held up an egg and it turned red. 

In this painting, the egg is white to express Mary Magdalene's faith that it will turn red and confirm the truth of the Resurrection.  Her gaze is one of sacred power, beauty, and compassion.  Centered in the blue vertical column that pierces her corona are three vertical marks signifying entwined body, soul, and spirit, mediated in and through the mind of the heart.