'Mary Magdalene' by Donatello, 1455 (Religious Sculpture in Florence)

when was it sculpted?

1455

what wood was used to make it?

poplar wood

what is the story of Mary Magdalene?

• Mary Magdalene was a harlot before she met christ, she is marked by her long red hair

• When Christ is resurrected she flees to the desert for 40 years praying, she was a penitent, someone who prays for the forgiveness of their sins

• After 40 years she gets miraculously taken up to heaven, a hugely important figure, only three people are taken to heaven without dying e.g. Christ and Mary

why was she a significant figure in Florence during the renaissance?

She stands as a figure who absolves the sins of usury, a beacon of hope for the usurers, through prayer they can be forgiven, e.g. bankers. A reflection of the Florentine society at the time, she offers hope and salvation to the bankers committing the sins of usury

what is wood allusive of?

Wood alludes to femininity, humility and being organic

where is her emaciation most evident?

in her breast plate

she wears nothing but…

her hair

what suggests strength and perseverance?

the muscles in her arms

what highlights her determination?

her foot clinging to the rock at the base

her hands are…

disproportionately large emphasising her prayer and are smooth and youthful, that is the only part of her not tainted by her time in the desert, alluding to her prayer taking her up to the heavens

her hair was…

completely guilded in gold leaf

she could be considered as a spiritual…

reverie, a deep gaze, somewhere between this world and the next

Magdalene is usually depicted as…

a beautiful, youthful woman who had turned to God

the sculpture looks as though it is from the … period

gothic or medieval

who commissioned it and for where?

the cloth guild for the Florence Baptistry

Charles Avery describes her as…

“a mystical expression of faith and penitence remote from Neoplatonist speculations”