'...Jesus seems to have had his feet nailed to the wood as an extra punishment. It made his death more brutal, but it also made it quicker, since the additional agony sent him into shock. He lost more blood, weakening him further.'

Crucifixion of Jesus

'In the carving (of the Resurrection, by Veit  Stoss) , Jesus seems to leap nimbly from the tomb. The alteration in his bodily state is suggested by the unopened coffin lid, through which his body has passed.'

Resurrection Paintings

'When Jewish people heard that someone they loved had died, they tore the front part of their inner clothing. 
The tear was several inches long,  a symbol of grief: it represented the tearing pain in their hearts.'  

Burial Customs

'It was the women’s task to prepare a dead body for burial. The body was washed, and hair and nails were cut. Then it was gently wiped with a mixture of spices and wrapped in linen strips of various sizes and widths. While this was happening, prayers from the Scriptures were chanted.'

Burial Customs

'The great Temple of Jerusalem was still being rebuilt when Mary and Joseph presented Jesus in the Temple, but it was completed at the time of Jesus' trial and death. Mary Magdalene would have seen a magnificent building, brand new, with its white stone shining in the sun.' 

Jerusalem in Jesus' Time

Mary in the Gospels

As Mary wept, she bent over to look into the tomb, and saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying.
Read more...

Saint or Sinner?

Mary was close to Jesus during his life, and she would be close to him when he died.  She stood near to the cross, watching every action, hearing every scream.   
Read the whole story...

Hidden Meanings  in paintings of Mary Magdalene

• Mary Magdalene was always an important figure in the gospel, but she became even more so after the Counter-Reformation, when the Catholic Church encouraged devotion to the Sacraments, particularly Penance. Mary was seen as the ideal penitent because she supposedly anointed the feet of Jesus. But the woman who did this was unnamed in the gospel. 

• In fact, there is no real link between the woman who anointed Jesus, and the woman called Mary Magdalene who was exorcised of seven devils, and who was present at the Crucifixion.

• Never mind the facts, go with the myth. Mary Magdalene is often shown with a jar of ointment. Her hair is untied, long and flowing, sometimes covering her whole body. She is portrayed in two distinct ways: before her conversion she is richly attired, jewelled and gloved, a figure of Profane Love; as a penitent, she wears a simple cloak or is often naked, covered only by her long hair (a very popular theme during the Victorian period). She usually has a crucifix and a skull, and sometimes a whip and a crown of thorns. She reads or meditates or, in baroque paintings, raises her tear-filled eyes towards a vision of angels in heaven. 

• The setting may be the entrance to a cave, from the legend that later in life she lived in a grotto at Sainte-Baume in France.

• 'Noli me tangere' (do not touch me)  paintings show the scene after the Resurrection when Christ appeared to Mary Magdalene. When she recognised him she reached out to touch him but he told her to let go, and instead find the disciples and tell them he was risen from the dead. Because of this mission, the Eastern churches have named Mary Magdalene 'Apostle to the Apostles'. 

'The First Meeting of Christ and Mary Magdalene', 
Henryk Siemiradzki,1873

Mary Magdalene's sumptuous clothing and lavish jewelry contrast sharply with the simplicity and dignity of Jesus. His gaze is direct, while she tries to hide herself in the shade. Behind him stand his disciples, straining to see how he will react. Behind her, on the other hand, are a band of reprobates who jeer at this provincial preacher. On the left of the picture, the simple countryside; on the right, ornate Roman architecture. This is a picture of contrasts, essentially a dramatic tableau showing a pivotal moment in Mary's life.

Bible reference: Luke 8:1-3

'Mary Magdalene', detail of head only, Donatello, 1455

In popular legend, Mary Magdalene was portrayed as a repentant sinner who retired to a cave in the desert where she became a penitent hermit. She practised every sort of physical penance and privation, to atone for the sins she supposedly had committed before she was cured by Jesus.

There is no biblical evidence for this depiction of Mary Magdalene. It derives from popular legend and medieval tradition only.

Donatello's Mary has a thin, exhausted face and matted, filthy hair. Her emaciated body is clad in ragged animal skins. She is barefoot and bare armed. Her repentance is obviously sincere, but her self-abasement is not appealing.

The thumbnail image at right shows the full-length sculpture, currently held in the Duomo Museum, Florence. The statue had become blackened by time, but after the terrible flood in 1966 it was cleaned and restored to its present appearance.

'The Repenting Magdalene', Georges de La Tour, late 1630's 

Mary surveys the mirror, symbol of her former vanity and preoccupation with worldly things. It casts a large shadow. Her beauty remains, but she has clearly become aware of the fact that there is more to life than earthly pleasure. Now, in the stillness of night, she reflects on past events, and on her own transformation through the encounter she has had with Jesus.

The skull in Mary's lap reminds here that Death is inevitable for all creatures, and will come to her as well. It suggests that she should think about the hereafter as well as the present.
George de la Tour excelled in the use of light and shadow, and the meditative mood  that night brings to all creatures.

There is another version of this scene painted by George de la Tour (see thumbnail image at right). In this, the sexual undertone is more explicit - Mary's legs and shoulder are bared, as if she has just finished servicing a client. But the mood of introspection and regret are the same.

'Mary Magdalene in the house of Simon the Pharisee', 
Jean Beraud, 1891

The story of the woman with the alabaster jar is transported into 19th century France.

This interesting and technically accomplished painting pulls the event in Luke 7:36-50 into the modern world. Only the figure of Jesus is timeless. All the others, including the startled maid at far right, are in modern dress.  The painting was controversial when it first appeared, because people rightly suspected that Beraud was trying to make them uncomfortable by confronting them with their own failings, their own hypocrisy. Many of the well-heeled men in the painting would have had mistresses. Now they were confronted with reality, with raw human suffering, and they did not particularly like it.

Bible reference:  Luke 7:36-50

'The Magdalene Reading', Ambrosius Benson, 1525

Mary, now repentant and reformed, sits quietly reading. Her life of sin is behind her.

Another painting with the historically inaccurate book and vase. As with many other painting of Mary Magdalene, this one contains a representation of an alabaster vase, suggesting that she is the woman who anointed Jesus with expensive perfume made from nard. The red of her dress and her pouting lips encourage the viewer to think of her as no better than she should be.... ainting must have been popular, because Benson painted a v

'The Repentant  Magdalene', Antonio Canova, 1809

Mary alone in the desert, repenting her past sins. 

 In the legends that grew up after her death, Mary is supposed to have repented after meeting Christ; she then spent many years in the desert, where she lamented her past sins. In keeping with this tradition, Canova shows her dressed in the clothing of a hermit. The skull beside her is a reminder of death, which must come to all. The figure of Mary once held a cross, symbol of the Crucifixion.  She is clearly grief-stricken and helpless. There is no evidence for any of this in the New Testament.

The polished marble of the Magdalene's body and the shining surface of the skull contrast with the roughly worked rock of the base.

 ' The Dead Christ Mourned - the Three Maries', Annibale Carracci, 1603

The scene at the foot of the cross, where the women lament over Jesus' dead body. He lies across the knees of his mother Mary. Mary Magdalene, identified by her luxuriant hair and red dress, raises her arms in a piteous gesture.

The moment when Jesus is taken down from the cross is not described in any of the gospels, but it is a popular subject in art - think of Michelangelo's 'Pietá', where it reached perhaps its highest point. None of the gospels have all of this group present at the crucifixion - only John's gospel, for example, has Mary the mother of Jesus present. The other gospels do not include her in the group of women there.

For information about burial customs at the time, and how women cared for the bodies of family members who died, see Major Events in women's lives

Bible reference:  Mark 15:40, John 19:25

 'The Dead Christ ', Andrea Mantegna, 1480-90

'Consider, for a minute, what must be Mangegna's most famous image, of the dead Christ viewed in steep foreshortening, foot to head, laid out on a slab of marble with, crowded into the narrow space at the left, the mourning figures of his mother, St John (the beloved apostle) and a third figure and , to the right, a view towards the back of a barren room - probably the tomb chamber - and the dark opening of a door.
Painted in muted (and much faded) colors of tempera on canvas, the picture, which hangs in the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan, has an almost overwhelming effect. There are the feet of Christ, with their lovingly described nail wounds, projecting beyond the marble slab into the viewer's space; the hands, also marked by the nails that pierced them on the cross, gently posed on the folds of the linen sheet that covers the lower half of the corpse; the grief-stricken face of the Virgin, who raises a cloth to wipe away the tears that course down her aged cheeks.
All this cannot help but move the susceptible viewer, who finds himself at Christ's feet in the position of Mary Magdalene, who bathed those same feet with her tears. The picture is a tour de force of artistic ingenuity and accomplishment, and it is no wonder that it has had such a lasting effect on so many later artists. 
But what sets Mantegna's painting apart, I think, is the way we see, at the far edge of the marble slab on the right, a beautifully depicted ointment jar (for the preparation of Christ's body) poignantly silhouetted against the empty corner of the chamber with that bleak, dark opening. Emptiness and silence, broken only by the sobbing of the claustrophobically grouped mourning figures.
(Keith Christiansen, The New Republic)

'The Risen Christ with the Two Marys in the Garden of 
Joseph of Aramathea', William Holman Hunt', 1897

The two Marys (but which two?) in the garden where the tomb was. Jesus has thrown off the swathe of tapes that bound him in death, and stands triumphantly tall. His resurrected body is surrounded by a halo of light, signaling that his body, though still showing wounds from the crucifixion (see his left side) is transformed into an unearthly presence.

Hunt began this painting when he was a young man, but abandoned it when he decided he was not a believer in Christ. Later in life he experienced a conversion, and developed a personal belief in Jesus. This painting comes directly out of this experience. It suggests themes of illumination and conversion, and our encounter with the divine - in this case, between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. The theme of light also links it with Hunt's most famous religious painting, 'The Light of the World'.

Bible reference:  Luke 24:1-12

'Women Arriving at the Tomb', He Qi, 1999

The women who were Jesus' closest friends now gather at the tomb to anoint his body with spices and carry out the rituals required for burial of the dead. But the tomb is empty. (See information on ancient burial customs at Bible Archaeology: Tombs

He Qi is able to infuse even this somber moment with color and energy. The women's gaze focuses on the tomb, from which a white lily springs. Jesus is not there. They are perplexed - notice the different hand gestures of each one, so aptly expressing their emotions. They are modestly dressed but flamboyantly female, even in this poignant moment. Notice also the butterfly behind them - is it a symbol of the risen Jesus?

Bible reference:  Luke 24:1-12

'Christ Appearing to Mary Magdalene at the Empty Tomb', artist unknown

Mary has been bent, huddled, distraught at the disappearance of Jesus' body. Then she hears her name spoken, and turns, looking upward to Jesus standing behind her.

This poignant image captures the moment of Mary's incomprehension, as she hears her name spoken by someone she knows is dead. After all, she has been present at the crucifixion of Jesus, seen his sagging body removed from the cross, and then been the one who laid out his corpse in the tomb. She has no doubt that Jesus is dead. But now, inexplicably, she recognizes his voice. 

This image is closer to pictures of Mary in modern films - see Top Ten Bible Films

Bible reference:  John 20:17

'Noli me tangere' (Do not touch me), Duccio di Buoninsegna, 1308-11

Mary Magdalene encounters Jesus in the garden, after the resurrection. She reaches out to touch him, but he draws back, and tells her not to hold on to him.

'Noli me tangere' -  'Don't touch me'. Or is it 'Don't hang on to me'? Which of these two translations is the better? They mean such different things. The first phrase refers to the mystery of the Resurrection. Jesus in his resurrected form is not in the same human body he was before his death - it is resurrection, not resuscitation. The second version can mean something quite different, and is often the advice given to people suffering the pangs of grief. It's as if the dead person tells the one still living not to live in the past, not to keep hanging onto the way life used to be, but to move ahead with their life, into a new future.

Bible reference:  John 20:17

'St Catherine of Alexandria, St Peter and Mary Magdalene', 
Carlo Crivelli, 1475

Mary is grouped with other great saints of the medieval Church. She is dressed in flamboyant red, a color with all sort of connotations. Sexual passion and license, the allure of the sinful woman, a come-and-get-me color. There is in fact no reason at all to think that Mary had been a prostitute. She had been cured of a severe illness, and Jesus had summoned 'seven demons' from her. But many illnesses, such as epilepsy, where supposedly caused by evil spirits or demons entering the body, and 'seven' simply denoted the severity of her illness. In fact, the nature of the illness is unspecified. Only later, when celibate male scholars wrote about the story, was Mary's illness linked to her sexuality

'St Mary Magdalene', Piero di Cosimo, 1500-10

A repentant Mary reads from a book. There is no attempt at historical or gospel accuracy. Beautiful, serene, intellectual - the Renaissance ideal of womanhood, in fact. The Mary Magdalene of the gospels is nowhere to be seen, replaced by this calm red-headed woman. 

The implication of the painting is that Mary, now filled with serene love for her Savior, spends her waking hours in meditation. This begs the question: which Mary is this? Mary Magdalene, whom the medieval Church depicted as a repentant sinner? The woman with the alabaster jar, as in Luke 7:36-50? Or Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus, who loved to sit and listen to Jesus rather than help with the housework? By the 1500's, artists were representing a composite of all three women.