Developing the Images: Focus On Mary Magdalene

After much consideration about which Bible Stories and people I wanted to use in my altar pieces I have chosen to start with Mary Magdalene.  I will focus on the stories she first appears in Luke 8:1 'The Twelve were with him and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out...' Mary appears in the Bible as shown here in quite a useful cheat sheet!

Mary Magdalene Cheat Sheet

This was from the blog 'Drawing on the Word' which also discusses the film about Mary Magdalene - the trailer can be seen here:

Mary Magdalene: The Untold Story

This story the director Garth Davis explains is about Mary Magdalene as she is one of the most “misunderstood spiritual figures in history.” (Drawing on the Word: 15th March 2018).

I would like to begin with the demons being drawn out and would like to study some artwork that refers to this incident however where it states demons;  'Scholars also suggest that the casting out of demons may have been illness or negative emotions.' (Biography online 2018) 

Here are a couple of examples: 

Penitent Mary Magdalene by Titian,(1565)

There are many images that use this pose looking up to heaven - a hand either on the heart or raised towards God.  The face is full of pure love and rapture. In some earlier versions f this image Mary bares her flesh however in this later image flesh is replaced with a skull as a memento mori, an open book and a vase. The memento mori is a reflection or meditation on the vanity of life on earth and mortality.  Mary stands out from what looks like a setting sun in the background, her white robes and flesh resplendent against the darker sky.  

The Penitent Magdalene by Caravaggio (1597)

'Caravaggio has managed to capture the image of a woman who has come to the end of the road, too tired to look into her future. This is the moment, he suggests, when she is ready to respond to Jesus' message of redemption. Mary Magdalene is sumptuously dressed, but the discarded jewellery and her slumped figure tell the viewer that she has reached a turning point in her life. Caravaggio portrays her as a rich courtesan, not a common prostitute. In fact, the real Mary Magdalene was neither. She was not the sinner described in Luke 7:36-50, and when Luke does describe an actual prostitute in 15:30, he uses a different word, not 'sinner'.' Bible Painting: Mary Magdalene (2012)

I will consider each of these images and which elements I would like to show in my own images and how I will portray this moment of change, not just change but utter transformation....

References

Sang R. (15/03/18) Drawing Out the Word. Was Mary Magdalene a Prostitute? [Online] Available from: https://drawingontheword.com/mary-magdalene-former-prostitute/ (Accessed 03/02/19)

Biography Online (2018) Mary Magdalene [Online] Available from: https://www.biographyonline.net/spiritual/mary-magdalene.html (Accessed 03/02/19)

Fletcher E (2012) Bible Paintings: Mary Magadele [Online] Available from: http://www.jesus-story.net/painting_magdalene.htm (Accessed 03/02/19)