Table Of ContentMary Magdalene from the New Testament to the New Age and Beyond
Themes in
Biblical Narrative
Jewish and Christian Traditions
Editorial Board
Jacques T.A.G.M. van Ruiten
Robert A. Kugler
Loren T. Stuckenbruck
Advisory Board
Reinhard Feldmeier
George H. van Kooten
Judith Lieu
Hindy Najman
Martti Nissinen
J. Ross Wagner
Robyn Whitaker
volume 24
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/tbn
Mary Magdalene from the
New Testament to the New Age
and Beyond
Edited by
Edmondo F. Lupieri
LEIDEN | BOSTON
Cover illustration: “The Penitent Magdalene” by Francesco Hayez, The Yorck Project (2002), distributed by
Directmedia Publishing GmbH
Brill has made all reasonable efforts to trace all rights holders to any copyrighted material used in this
work. In cases where these efforts have not been successful the publisher welcomes communications from
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Lupieri, Edmondo, editor.
Title: Mary Magdalene from The New Testament to the New Age and beyond / edited by Edmondo F. Lupieri.
Description: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2020. | Series: Themes in biblical narrative, 1388-3909 ; 24 | Includes index.
| Summary: “An international team of twenty scholars under Edmondo F. Lupieri’s direction produced
Mary Magdalene from the New Testament to the New Age and Beyond. While the historical figure of the
Magdalene may be lost forever, the construction of her literary images and their transformations and
adaptations over the centuries are a lively testimony to human creativity and faith. Different pictures of
Mary travelled through time and space, from history to legend and mythology, crossed religious
boundaries, going beyond the various Christianities, to become a “sign of contradiction” for many.
This book describes a special case of biblical reception history, that of the New Testament figure of a
woman whose presence at the side of Jesus has been disturbing for some, but proves to be inspiring for
others”—Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019025586 | ISBN 9789004410282 (hardback) | ISBN 9789004411067 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Mary Magdalene, Saint.
Classification: LCC BS2485 .M374 2020 | DDC 226/.092—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019025586
Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface.
ISSN 1388-3909
ISBN 978-90-04-41028-2 (hardback)
ISBN 978-90-04-41106-7 (e-book)
Copyright 2020 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
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Contents
Acknowledgements ix
List of Figures x
Abbreviations xiii
Notes on Contributors xix
Introduction 1
Edmondo Lupieri
Part 1
New Testament through Late Antiquity
1 The Earliest Magdalene: Varied Portrayals in Early Gospel Narratives 11
Edmondo Lupieri
2 The Apocryphal Magdalene: Expanding and Limiting Her
Importance 26
Trent A. Rogers
3 The Gnostic Magdalene: Mary as Disciple and Revealer 50
Cambry G. Pardee
4 The Vine and the Net-Caster: Mandaean and Manichaean
Transformations of Mary Magdalene 79
Emiliano Fiori
5 The Patristic Magdalene: Symbol for the Church and Witness to the
Resurrection 105
Amanda Kunder
6 A Whore from Bethany? A Note on Mary Magdalene in Early Non-
Christian Sources 128
Bas van Os
7 The Magdalene Yesterday and Today in the Gospel of Jesus’s Wife 133
David A. Creech
vi Contents
Part 2
The Middle Ages through the Modern Age
8 The Cult of Mary Magdalene in the Medieval West 151
Theresa Gross-Diaz
9 The Magdalene of Medieval Hagiography 176
Seth J.A. Alexander
10 Suspended between Sacred and Profane: the Iconography of Mary
Magdalene from Its Origins to the Fifteenth Century 189
Marcello Mignozzi
11 The Divided Magdalene: the Three Magdalenes Debate (1517–1519):
between Humanism and Enlightenment 253
Jeffrey M. Tripp
12 The Uncontainable Sexuality of a Penitent Woman: the Magdalene
between Baroque and Contemporary Art 277
Jayna Hoffacker
Part 3
Contemporary Period
13 The Magdalene of Contemporary Biblical Scholarship 297
Teresa J. Calpino
14 From Disciple to Deviant: the Magdalene in Contemporary Popular
Film 318
Erica-Lyn Saccucci
15 The Magdalene of Internet: New Age, Goddess, and Nature
Spiritualities 337
James S. Mastaler
16 Wife, Queen, Goddess: Mary Magdalene and the New Religious-Spiritual
Movements (19th–21st Centuries) 364
Carla Ricci
Contents vii
17 From Galilee to India: There Is Something about Mary
(Magdalene) 395
Pierluigi Piovanelli
18 Why the Church Needs a Prostitutes’ Saint 417
Mary Setterholm
19 The Marys in the Contemporary Liturgical Practice of the Mary
Magdalene (the) Apostle Catholic Community 449
Jane Via
20 The Legionaries of Mary Magdalene? 458
Ludovica Eugenio
Index of Premodern Sources 467
Index of Modern Authors 481
Index of Places 491
Acknowledgements
From 2011 to 2013, I organized a series of conferences, colloquia, lectures, and a
graduate course at Loyola University Chicago on the figure of Mary Magdalene
that served as the impetus for the writing of this book. Many people have
worked on its construction and completion. I particularly want to remember
here my past and present students, many of whom were my teaching or re-
search assistants, who invested their time and energy in the project. Some of
them wrote papers on the subject of Mary Magdalene, published here as chap-
ters. Trent Rogers first worked on the editing and the revising of the chapters
and found many images published in the book. He was followed by Jef Tripp,
Amanda Kunder, and later, Wesley Dingman. Then Joshua King, Scott Brevard,
Zechariah Eberhart, and Eric Zito took on the responsibilities of helping me
with the text. Joshua King deserves special thanks for his work, since he re-
vised the entire text (particularly making revisions to the chapters translated
from Italian) and painstakingly worked to finalize the lists of abbreviations, to
harmonize quotes and bibliographies, and to construct the indexes. Whoever
reads this book will understand the care with which Joshua has undertaken
his work.
The work of the translators for the chapters originally written in Italian and
the generosity of the institutions and individuals who consented to the free
reproduction of images not in the public domain are duly recognized in this
book. When we were forced to do without a reproduction of a specific work of
art, readers have been referred to easily accessible websites.
I would like to express special gratitude to not only all of my former and
present students, but particularly to the faculty, chairs, and staff of Loyola
University Chicago’s Department of Theology for their support of this venture
and to Randall Newman, who went above and beyond his professional du-
ties as Program Coordinator for the Theology Department and the Endowed
Chairs in the Humanities. I would also like to recognize the Dean of the College
of Arts and Sciences and the Office of Research Services for their financial sup-
port of this project. That support, in addition to the funding provided through
the John Cardinal Cody Chair, allowed this book to be published.
Finally, I want to express very special thanks to Tessa Schild and Dirk Bakker,
from Brill Publishing Co. They very patiently accompanied and supported me
through the maze of preparing this book, and it is not a rhetorical exaggeration
to say that it would have never seen the light without them.
Figures
7.1 The Gospel of Jesus’s Wife. Papyrus fragment. Gospel of Jesus’s Wife
© Einottaja / Wikimedia Commons / CC PD 134
8.1 Identification tag for relic of Mary Magdalene, Abbey of Chelles,
8th century. L’abbaye de Chelles (former monastery; current administration
building) 159
8.2 The sarcophagus of Mary Magdalene. Basilica of Mary Magdalene in Saint-
Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume. “Marie-Madeleine” sarcophagus at the Saint-
Maximin Basilica. © Rvalette / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA-3.0 162
10.1 Domus ecclesiae. Detached frescoes from Dura Europos. Yale University
Art Gallery, New Haven, CT. Domus ecclesiae. Dura Europos baptistry
painting at Yale University Art Gallery. © Marysas / Wikimedia Commons /
CC PD-Mark 1.0 235
10.2 The holy women at the tomb of Christ. Detached fresco from Dura Europos.
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT. “The holy women at the tomb of
Christ.” Dura Europos baptistry painting at Yale University Art Gallery.
© Marysas / Wikimedia Commons / CC PD-Mark 1.0 235
10.3 The holy women at the tomb of Christ. Detached fresco from Dura Europos;
detail. Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT. “The holy women at the
tomb of Christ.” Dura Europos baptistry painting at Yale University Art Gallery.
Copyright © Yale University Art Gallery / Public Domain 235
10.4 The holy women at the tomb of Christ. Servanne sarcophagus. Musée de
l’Arles antique, Arles 236
10.5 Crucifixion; The holy women at the tomb of Christ; First apparition of
Christ. Cod. Plut. 1.25, Laurentian Library, Florence 236
10.6 The washing of Christ’s feet. Dumfriesshire, stone cross (south face).
Ruthwell Church, Ruthwell, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Ruthwell
Cross Christ on South Side © Doug Sim / Wikimedia Commons /
CC BY-SA-3.0 237
10.7 The holy women at the tomb of Christ; First apparition of Christ. Ivory
diptych of the Passion; detail. Museum of the Cathedral, Milan 238
10.8 Crucifixion. Karanlık Kilise (Göreme n. 23). Göreme (Cappadocia),
Tokalı Kilise (church). “Crucifixion” painting at the Karanlık Kilise (Göreme).
© Überraschungsbilder / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA-3.0 239
10.9 The Washing of Christ’s feet. Church of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine, architrave
of the main portal. Tympan de l’Eglise Ste-Marie-Madeleine (Neuilly en
Donjon). © Richard03 / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA-3.0 239
10.10 The Master of St. Francis, Lamentation of Christ. Upper Basilica of
St. Francis, nave, Assisi. Lamentation over the Dead Christ fresco Master of
St. Francis © Eugene a / Wikimedia Commons / CC PD-Mark 1.0 240
