Mary Magdalene : A Visual History

£17.99

Order
Online

Click &
Collect

Free Local
Delivery

Author: Apostolos-Cappadona, Emerita Professor Diane

History of art: Byzantine & Medieval art c 500 CE to c 1400

Published on 23 February 2023 by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (T.& T.Clark Ltd) in the United Kingdom.

Hardback | 176 pages, 65 colour images
196 x 254 x 16 | 594g

From faithful apostle and seductress to feminist icon, Mary Magdalene's many complex roles in Christian history have fascinated us for 2000 years. Illustrated in full colour, this visual history reveals how images and presentations have created a Mary who is often far different from the real woman, the first witness of the Resurrection in the gospels, or even from her appearances in the works of the Church Fathers.

Beginning with the earliest sources, uncover who the real Mary was, and what she meant in her own time, before embarking on a fast-paced tour of Magdalene's depictions in great works of art, forgotten masterpieces and contemporary visual culture. Considering relics, statuary, paintings, sculpture and recent works for stage and screen, discover how Mary Magdalene has been seen across time as a witness, a sinner, a penitent, a contemplative, a preacher and a patroness.

Above all her complex roles, Mary has emerged as a powerful feminist icon, the closest person to Jesus himself, with a visual history as rich and varied as the roles she has fulfilled in numerous contexts of faith and worship for two millennia.