Mary Magdalene: Art's Scarlet Woman

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06/04/2017

BBC Four - Mary Magdalene: Art's Scarlet Woman

Waldemar Januszczak explores the impact of Mary Magdalene's myth on art and artists.

Artists love the story of Mary Magdalene. Waldemar Januszczak explores how the image of Mary Magdalene has evolved in art.

Waldemar Januszczak explores the impact of Mary Magdalene's myth on art and artists. All saints in art are inventions, but no saint in art has been invented quite as furiously as Mary Magdalene. For a thousand years, artists have been throwing themselves at the task of describing her and telling her story, from Caravaggio to Cezanne, Rubens to Rembrandt, Titian to van Gogh.

Her identity has evolved from being the close follower of Jesus who was the first witness to his resurrection, to one of a prostitute and sinner who escaped from persecution in the Holy Land by fleeing across the Mediterranean to end up living in a cave as a hermit in the south of France, enjoying ecstatic experiences with Christ.

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