An attempt to answer this question was made by Lieke Wijnia, curator of the exhibition titled “MARY MAGDALENE”, which can be seen at the Catharijneconvent Museum in Utrecht until January 9, 2022. This is her first exhibition, all the more reason to congratulate her on a very successful debut. http://www.catharijneconvent.nl
Mary Magdalene has been a controversial figure since the beginning of Christianity, arousing many emotions. Her fate is known more from oral tradition than from historical documents, so the interpretation of her place and role among the first disciples of Christ has been repeatedly modified. Her historically probable portrait became difficult to read, and this circumstance gave rise to legends and plausible hypotheses.
What do we know? Most often she is associated with a group of women who accompanied the apostles and Jesus. Her being a very important member of this community is evidenced by the fact that the sources available to us confirm her presence at the crucifixion of Jesus, and that she was the first to know about His Resurrection. However, in the popular consciousness she is perceived as a “fallen woman”, a prostitute who thanks to Jesus and his teachings rejects sin and finds the way to God.
As we learn during the tour of the exhibition, this is a very unfair and incomplete image of Mary Magdalene, a real black PR. And the story goes like this: for many centuries, our knowledge of her was gleaned from the four gospels: John, Mark, Matthew, and Luke. The trouble is that more gospels were written, but only these four were included in the New Testament. The gospels such as these of St. Philip or St. Thomas were lost for many centuries.
In 1895, the German diplomat Carl Reinhardt bought in Cairo a papyrus from the 5th century, known as the “Codex Berlin” or “Gospel of Mary”. In 1945, also in Egypt, near Nag Hammadi, more early Christian writings were found. They are believed to have been hidden after Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria (296 – 373 AD), announced a strict canon of Christian writings. This meant that the four gospels we read today were considered the only reliable source of knowledge about salvation history. All others – rejected, excluded from the Bible and banned by the Church as heretical writings. They are known as Gnostic writings. Blurred and incomplete echoes of information about Mary Magdalene contained in Gnostic gospels grew into rumours and legends that she was married to Jesus and bore their child. Remember “The da Vinci Code?”
Today, according to many modern scholars, these long-forgotten texts shed new light not only on Mary Magdalene, but on Christian teachings in general. Mary Magdalene appears as a wise, insightful woman, generously endowed with spiritual potential, a favourite disciple of Jesus, who often explained his words to the other apostles. Apostola Apostolorum – the most trusted one who loved Jesus and was closest to understanding his message.
So where did her bad reputation come from? According to the New Testament, there were several women named Mary among Jesus’ followers, some of them sinful and of questionable conduct. Their relationship with Jesus and Mary Magdalene was discussed by Church Fathers, theologians, and writers of the first centuries AD, such as St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, and St. Paul. Their contributions to Christian philosophy are unquestionable, but it must be said that they were a bunch of declared, sullen misogynists.
“Woman was merely man’s helper, a function that belongs only to her. She is not the image of God, but as far as man is concerned, he himself is the image of God,” – wrote St. Augustine, and Tertullian proclaimed that “Woman is a temple built over a sewer.” In one of his writings “De Cultu Feminarum” he stated: “And do you not know that each of you is Eve? The judgment of God of your sex lives in this age: guilt also must of necessity live. You are the gate of the devil.”
And Origen of Alexandria: “Men should not sit and listen to a woman, even though she speaks admirable things, or even holy things, it is of little consequence, because it has come out of the mouth of a woman.”
Is it enough?
With this vision of womanhood in mind, in 591 AD Pope Gregory the Great arbitrarily declared that Mary Magdalene was a “fallen woman.” With this approach, it was very easy for centuries to discredit and sideline her, or if she had something important to say, to silence her. Henceforth, the converted sinner was her official profile, to use modern terminology.
But in the era of #MeToo and the growing awareness of gender equality and women’s emancipation, it’s a very good time to revise what we know about Mary Magdalene and restore her due recognition.
In art, she is always depicted as a young, attractive woman. In early Christianity, the Gothic and early Renaissance, her most recognizable attribute is a jar of ointment, recalling that it was Mary Magdalene and other women who went to the tomb of Jesus to anoint His body and bring the news of the Resurrection.
In Baroque paintings she is usually depicted with a crucifix, a book or a skull. Or all three. These attributes relate to a life of prayer, penance and meditation. She often looks up toward heaven with eyes full of tears in sorrow for supposed sins. What has remained constant over the centuries is that she is the best dressed lady in the painting. Fashion history scholars search for depictions of Mary Magdalene to find out what the hottest fashions were like at the time the painting was made. Her luxurious clothes, jewellery, and elaborate hairstyles allude to her wealth with which she supported Jesus and the apostles, as well as her alleged sinful behaviour before her conversion. And one more thing: she is dressed in red, or at least wearing a red coat or headscarf, a feature found in both Eastern and Western Christian art. Red symbolizes the love and passion of Jesus, which she witnessed.
In the famous portrait of actress Sarah Bernhardt (1887) posing as Mary Magdalene, as well as in Pierre Puvis de Chavannes’ 1869 painting, the emphasis is on her spirituality. She wears simple white clothing, almost like a hermit. One of the last portraits of Mary Magdalene in the exhibition, painted very recently, only in 2020, by the young artist Egbert Modderman, is titled “Unaknowledged.” It depicts Mary Magdalene as we have never seen her before – strong and confident, the one who KNOWS.
The final touch to the exhibit is the voting booth. Assuming that for some people the facts revealed in the exhibit were previously unknown, visitors have the opportunity to express their changed opinion about this inspiring woman. You can leave your voting token indicating the trait that in your view, describes her most accurately. The exhibit is well researched, very interesting and thought provoking, but while it addresses religious issues, it does not overwhelm with theological details.
I highly recommend watching all four of the short films included in the exhibition, which contain short lectures on Mary Magdalene by art history and history of religion experts. All with English subtitles. A link to the first of these can be found at the beginning of this review.
The Catharijneconvent Museum in Utrecht is the national museum of Christian art and heritage in the Netherlands. It has a very impressive collection of Christian art, very much worth a separate visit. Their permanent exhibition consists of beautiful paintings, wooden and stone sculptures, liturgical costumes and religious jewellery.
The current exhibition on Mary Magdalene is an important voice in the worldwide discourse on the position of women in societies today and in the past. It contributes to changing the narrative dictated by the patriarchal social order and gives voice to those who have been relegated to the “second order” regardless of their merit and potential.
So, who is Mary Magdalene to you?
