Mary Magdalene,
from an early Christian tradition, is three different women, which either
met or followed Christ, combined: the unnamed sinner who, during a meal
at the house of Simon the Pharisee, smears the Lord’s feet with perfume
and dries them with her hair; Mary of Bethany, sister of Martha and Lazarus,
who joined Jesus’ followers, received him in her house and persuaded him
to raise her brother from the dead; and finally Mary of the town of Mandela,
who was possessed by devils that Jesus exorcised, and who is present both
at the Crucifixion and at the Entombment, and whom Christ graces with his
first appearance as a Redeemer in the episode known as the Noli me tangere.
Mary Magdalene is the patron saint of prostitutes, hairdressers, perfumers,
and of gardeners. In fine art she is presented with long loose hair; perfume
or ointment pot, crown of thorns, mirror are sometimes also present. |
