Sacred and legendary art, volume 1 (of 2) / Containing legends of the angels and archangels, the evangelists, the Apostles, the doctors of the church, and St. Mary magdalene, as represented in the fine arts.

by Mrs. Jameson

1. Jesus at supper with Simon the Pharisee.—‘And she began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with ointment.’ (Luke vii. 30.)

2. Christ is in the house of Martha and Mary.—‘And she sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his words; but Martha was cumbered with much serving.’ (Luke x. 39, 40.)

3. The Raising of Lazarus.—‘Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.’ (John xi. 32.)

4. The Crucifixion.—‘Now there stood by the cross Mary Magdalene.’ (John xix. 25; Matt. xxvii. 56.)

5. The Deposition from the Cross.—‘And Mary Magdalene, and the mother of Jesus, beheld where he was laid.’ (Mark xv. 47.)

6. The Maries at the Sepulchre.—‘And there was Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre.’ (Matt. xxvii. 61.)

7. Christ appears to Mary Magdalene in the Garden, called the Noli me tangere.—‘Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father.’ (John xx. 17.)

In the first, second, and last of these subjects, the Magdalene is one of the two principal figures, and necessary to the action; in the others she is generally introduced, but in some instances omitted; and as all belong properly to the life of Christ, I shall confine myself now to a few remarks on the characteristic treatment of the Magdalene in each.

1. The supper with Simon has been represented in every variety of style. The earliest and simplest I can call to mind is the fresco of Taddeo Gaddi in the Rinuccini Chapel at Florence. The Magdalene bends down prostrate on the feet of the Saviour; she is in a red dress, and her long yellow hair flows down her back; the seven devils by which she was possessed are seen above, flying out of the roof of the house in the shape of little black monsters. Raphael, when treating the same subject, thought only of the religious significance of the action, and how to express it with the utmost force and the utmost simplicity. There are few figures—our Saviour, the Pharisee, four apostles, and two attendants: Mary Magdalene, in front, bends over the feet of Christ, while her long hair half conceals her face and almost sweeps the ground; nothing can exceed the tenderness and humility of the attitude and the benign dignity of Christ. As an example of the most opposite treatment, let us turn to the gorgeous composition of Paul Veronese; we have a stately banquet-room, rich architecture, a crowd of about thirty figures; and the Magdalene is merely a beautiful female with loose robes, dishevelled tresses, and the bosom displayed: this gross fault of sentiment is more conspicuous in the large picture in the Durazzo Palace at Genoa than in the beautiful finished sketch in the collection of Mr. Rogers.[305] A fine sketch by the same painter, but quite different, is at Alton Towers. The composition of Rubens, of which a very fine sketch is in the Windsor collection, is exceedingly dramatic: the dignity of Christ and the veneration and humility of the Magdalene are admirably expressed; but the disdainful surprise of some of the assistants, and the open mockery of others,—the old man in spectacles peering over to convince himself of the truth,—disturb the solemnity of the feeling: and this fault is even more apparent in the composition of Philippe de Champagne, where a young man puts up his finger with no equivocal expression. In these two examples the moment chosen is not ‘Thy sins are forgiven thee,’ but the scepticism of the Pharisee becomes the leading idea: ‘This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is.’

2. Christ in the house of Martha and Mary. Of this beautiful subject I have never seen a satisfactory version; in the fresco by Taddeo Gaddi in the Rinuccini Chapel the subject becomes legendary rather than scriptural. Mary Magdalene is seated at the feet of Christ in an attitude of attention; Martha seems to expostulate; three of the disciples are behind; a little out of the principal group, St. Marcella, also with a glory round her head, is seen cooking. At Hampton Court there is a curious picture of this subject by Hans Vries, which is an elaborate study of architecture: the rich decoration of the interior has been criticised; but, according to the legend, Martha and Mary lived in great splendour; and there is no impropriety in representing their dwelling as a palace, but a very great impropriety in rendering the decorations of the palace more important than the personages of the scene. In a picture by Old Bassano, Christ is seen entering the house; Mary Magdalene goes forward to meet him; Martha points to the table where Lazarus sits composedly cutting a slice of sausage, and in the corner St. Marcella is cooking at a fire. In a picture by Rubens, the treatment is similar. The holy sisters are like two Flemish farm servants, and Christ—but I dare not proceed:—in both these instances, the colouring, the expression, the painting of the accessories—the vegetables and fruit, the materials and implements for cooking a feast—are as animated and true to nature as the conception of the whole scene is trivial, vulgar, and, to a just taste, intolerably profane.