Artem et Carmen I; Magdalene
'Maria Magdalena' by Guido Cagnacci and 'Magdalene's Lament' by Linda Malnack
Mary Magdalene has been a prime element of my fascination induced by my experience at a Church of England primary school. Amidst hymns and Bible readings, I became familiar with the ‘apostle of apostles’ who was (and regrettably still is) remembered as the ‘redeemed whore’. Despite her place in the religious/theological canon - as well as the general public - as a prostitute subsequent to a late 5th century misinterpretation of scripture, Mary Magdalene was (as far as historical evidence can account for) not a prostitute, only what society and the Church deem to be a ‘sinful woman’. This ideology began to dissolve in the Reformation following the rise of Protestantism, with the narrative of Mary Magdalene - the redeemed sinner who enlightened and liberated her peers - aiding the cultural rebirth, or Renaissance.
This crown of controversy which is placed upon Mary Magdalene piqued my later, and present, interest in the figure; and also why I have chosen to make her the subject of my first edition of ‘Artem et Carmen’ - a comparative series in which I analyse a piece of visual art and literary art in an attempt to forge unity between them. The respective choices of this month are the painting ‘Maria Magdalena’ by Guido Cagnacci and the poem ‘Magdalene’s Lament’ by Linda Malnack.
I first wish to invite the reader to appreciate the painting, detached from its context, and consider the implications it withholds as an image in and of itself. We are presented with a woman; her chest exposed, head thrown back with her red hair flowing free, holding a skull to her navel which rests upon her thighs, next to which appears her hand seemingly holding a chain of some sort. Only after absorbing all of this does the eye fall to the bottom right corner, where the Crucifix is found. It is only upon the recognition of the religious iconography (the skull, cross, and ointment jar) that the revelation is granted, that this is the repentant Magdalene, Jesus‘ closest apostle.
The harsh use of chiaroscuro - that is, contrast of light and dark - between the subject and background draws consideration to whether our lady is in a place of suffering and turmoil (as the skull on her lap alludes to) or whether she is literally being brought forth from darkness by the Holy presence, as her narrative suggests. When indulging in the relaxed atmosphere of the subject’s limbs and head, she seems to be in a state of relief or perhaps even pleasure - ecstasy.
The religious ecstasy of Mary Magdalene is a common motif in art, chosen by those such as Caravaggio and Gentileschi, in the famed examples the spectator can identify the light which appears to physically touch Mary. This light touches the woman, not the viewer: it is Mary who experiences Christ first, then the viewer is told of this ineffable experience via the painter’s brush-strokes. In the philosophy of religious experiences, light is fundamental in many cases, often representing the ‘presence’ of the Holy: the most renowned case being St. Paul, ‘as he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him’. Thus concluding that Mary is being lifted forth from her sacrilegious anguish by the hand of the Holy Ghost, taking the form of all that is and was first created - light.
Inspecting Mary’s facial expression in Cagnacci’s painting (the seemingly hidden grin, eased eyes and flushed cheeks) may cause a double-take reaction, not dissimilar to that of the mass cultural response to Bernini’s ‘Ecstasy of Saint Teresa’. Many criticised the sculptor’s depiction of the saint due to her seemingly erotic nature, juxtaposing her placement in the chaste world of Christianity.
Bataille claims in his exploration of ‘Eroticism’ that “Christian religious experience and bursts of erotic impulses are seen to be part of the same movement”, suggesting an interchangeability and possible inseparability of religious ecstasy and erotic impulse/desire. God created Man with eternal love. God foresaw the depths which desire would draw His children to in Eden - immortalised by Milton’s depiction of their indulgent postlapsarian actions. Man is thus born with the innate love and desire present at the time of His mortal birth during Original Sin, something which urges him to unite with the Other - through either mortal or transcendent means; ergo either experience - numinous or erotic - is interchangeably evident in the expression of both Teresa and Mary.
I don’t wish to claim that Mary Magdalene is depicted having a strictly sensual experience rather than religious, I only wish to identify the inescapable connection between both cases of visual ecstasy. Through this relationship which artists utilise - most likely excused by mystics who claim experiences to be so ineffable no analogy can describe them aside from the peak of experience itself - it becomes clearer why Mary Magdalene is interpreted as a lustful figure, when in fact her legacy is much more macabre than euphoric.
This movement of sensuality evident in Cagnacci’s piece can carry us onwards to the discussion of Malnack’s poem, which aptly commences with a direct focus on ‘desire’.
“Desirable commodity of lip
and tongue and flame,
I would not blame
you if you turned away, or if you nipped
me with a word or mouthed good-bye. I've ripped
the fabric - seam of my unseem-
liness - gripped you in the privatest
of places, slipped while trying to envelop
you, explore.
So I implore
you, please forgive that I may live equipped
to die; I'm sorry that my fervent need
has caused your heart and hands to bleed.”‘Magdalene’s Lament’ - Linda Malnack
Whilst I earlier argue against the prostitute narrative, Linda Malnack’s poem does somewhat approach Mary Magdalene in this ‘red light’. Yet this is not to suggest that it must be rejected for its crudity, nor does the poem enforce any greater sense of eroticism than I have just now. It is hard to deny an emotional reaction upon completion of the poem, it creates a response which may be denoted as ‘fervent’ (having or displaying a passionate intensity, archaic; hot, burning, or glowing).
To intensely analyse Malnack’s singular use of ‘fervent’ results in a reflection of the earlier discussion on light which stands out in depictions of Mary Magdalene, specifically through Cagnacci’s use of contrast, due to the second definition attributing the semantic of ‘glowing’. The choice of such a word, along with the archaic etymology, furthers the passion ridden state of Mary Magdalene - which is continued by the terminal caesura marked by ‘need’, a word also associated with desire.
The most famed case of sin is of course the Original Sin, the eating of the forbidden fruit. Scholars suggest that this is instead an analogy of transgressive sexual indulgence, potentially finding its origin in Milton’s language towards the latter lines of Paradise Lost, Book 9;
“Carnal desire inflaming; he on Eve
Began to cast lascivious eyes, she him
As wantoly repaid; in lust they burn” (1013)“Much pleasure we have lost, while we abstained
From this delightful fruit” (1022)
Taking the understanding that sexual transgression is sin, we must now turn to the gnostic texts - fittingly, the Gospel of Mary. The Gospel of Mary is non-canonical for obvious reasons, most blatantly its heretic nature as a gnostic text. Yet this cannot be a case of neglect, especially when speculating the nature of Mary Magdalene herself. In what has been discovered of the Gospel, Peter asks “What is the sin of the world?” to which Mary replies “The Savior said There is no sin”. By applying this to the, somewhat, ‘promiscuous’ characterisation of Mary, she is left in a much more liberated state.
Following Jesus’ atonement on the cross - having died for sin - women can embrace sexuality freely instead of being condemned - similar to the expression in the Gospel of Mary; “What binds me has been slain, and what turns me about has been overcome, and my desire has been ended, and ignorance has died”. Malnack’s poem embodies the duality of this self/otherly forgiveness perfectly in the final couplet: “I'm sorry that my fervent need has caused your heart and hands to bleed”. Malnack has assumed the promiscuity of Mary Magdalene, and employed a lamented state of the woman feeling at fault for the actions of the Supreme Love of Jesus Christ, a great act of atonement both spiritually (‘heart’) and physically (‘hands’).
Not dissimilar to the figure of Cagnacci’s painting, the sensuality of Mary Magdalene now appears to humanity in Malnack’s poem as another instance of Christ’s forgiveness, and freedom from a world of sin. Challenging the typical narrative of Mary which is frowned upon Cagnacci and Malnack allow readers to appreciate the bodily means of liberation not so often sought by the Church - as well as allowing for a more respectable and comprehensive analysis of a fascinating historical figure who is too often associated with base acts. My main aim in utilising the image of Mary Magdalene is to emphasise the liberation of femininity which is found within the history of Christianity, which has been overlooked for centuries. This then concludes Artem et Carmen I, which contains only a brief study of the two beautiful pieces of art.