Image 14
The Elevation of the Magdalen
Peter Strub the Younger (Master of Messkirch)
Germany, active 1530-43
16th century
Tempera on panel
60 1/2 x 24 3/4 inches
The Bergmann Richards Memorial Fund and the Fiduciary Fund 82.83

• Since the Middle Ages, the Christian story of Mary Magdalene demonstrated that through repentance forgiveness was possible.
• During the Middle Ages and RENAISSANCE, the Christian saints were popular role models. As such, they frequently appeared in large altarpiece paintings.
• The IDEALIZED beauty of Mary Magdalene as well as the REALISTIC details in this TEMPERA painting are typical of northern European art during the 16th century.

Mary Magdalene, her sister, Martha, and her brother, Lazarus, were set adrift in a rudderless open boat by some people who did not share their belief in the Christian messiah, Jesus. They floated for many days and nights until the wind and waves carried them to the shores of Provence in southern France. The local people did not share the beliefs of the castaways and refused them food and shelter. The tattered group finally found refuge in a temple. There, Mary and Martha preached the word of Jesus, performed miracles, and converted thousands of the people to their faith.

Mary regretted many of the things she had done in her youth. Wishing to repent, she devoted herself to a life of solitary contemplation in the wilderness. For thirty years she lived as a hermit in a cave prepared for her by angels. Over time, her clothes rotted away and her hair grew and grew until it covered her entire body.

During the last years of Mary's life, a host of angels lifted her toward the heavens seven times a day. One day a local priest witnessed this event. Mary identified herself to the dumbstruck priest and sent him to tell the bishop to look for her on a specified day. On that day the bishop forgave Mary for the sins of her youth. Mary then died and her soul rose to heaven. After her death, Mary continued to perform miracles for those who prayed to her.

Mary Magdalene
Mary of Magdala, better known as Mary Magdalene, is referred to in Mark's gospel in the Bible's New Testament as the woman from whom Jesus cast seven devils (16:9). Mark also identifies her as one of three Marys who anoint Jesus' body after his crucifixion (16:1), and as the first person Jesus sees after his resurrection (16:9). Later traditions identified her as the unnamed prostitute described in Luke's gospel who was forgiven her sins by Jesus, after she washed his feet with her tears and dried them with her hair (7:36). During the Middle Ages, Mary Magdalene came to exemplify the faithful and repentant sinner. She stood as a message to Catholic believers that no one, except the devil, is beyond forgiveness and redemption. By 1500, during the age of the Counter Reformation, pictures of Mary Magdalene came to represent the Roman Catholic Church itself, whose excesses could also be forgiven through Christ's love.

Saints
The story of Mary Magdalene's work, exile, and death was recounted in a popular 13th-century collection of stories called The Golden Legend by Jacobus de Voragine (ja-KOH-bus duh ve-RAJ-i-nee). The Golden Legend was essentially a layperson's version of the lectionaries, or lives of the saints, which were read on each saint's feast day during the year. As an archbishop of Genoa, Voragine was familiar with these texts known chiefly to church clerks.

The saints - the heroes of the Middle Ages and Renaissance - were role models of perfection, possessing divine wisdom, super strength, and unwavering devotion. These exemplars of Christian virtues frequently appeared in altarpiece paintings, inspiring worshipers to emulate their behavior.

The Elevation Elevation of the Magdalen
Peter Strub's (stroob) painting The Elevation Elevation of the Magdalen shows Mary, covered with hair, being lifted up by 14 angels. A golden halo surrounds her idealistically youthful face, which shows no signs of her 30-year stay in the wilderness. Her abundantly flowing red hair is a common ATTRIBUTE, referring to her humble drying of Jesus' feet. Far less typical is the animal-like fur that covers much of her idealized body. Mary folds her hands over her chest, which is not covered by fur. Her knees are also exposed, all hair evidently worn away from kneeling in constant prayer. The angels discreetly cover her lower abdomen with a crisply draped cloth. From the mountainous landscape below, a priest looks up at the miraculous vision.

Style
Peter Strüb's tempera painting The Elevation of the Magdalen is for the most part typical of German Renaissance art. The flat gold BACKGROUND, a characteristic feature of medieval art, remained a popular tradition in religious painting well into the Renaissance. The gold suggests that the subject is holy and bathed in heavenly light. By contrast, the detailed landscape below Mary is very much a part of the earthly realm. Typical of German painters of his era who rendered their native landscape in great detail, Strub painted Mary Magdalene in a mountainous German landscape, rather than in southern France. Fine realistic details abound, from the leafy trees and craggy rocks to the individual hairs of Mary's fur suit and the soft feathers of the angels' wings. This attention to detail is one of the most characteristic traits of German Renaissance art.

Look 1. Tell the story of Mary Magdalene. What parts of the story do you see in this painting? (A priest witnesses a host of angels lifting Mary up to heaven.) How can you tell it's a priest? (Ecclesiastic clothing.) How can you tell they are angels? (Wings.) How many angels are there? (Fourteen.)

2. Attention to details is one of the most characteristic traits of German RENAISSANCE art. What details has this artist carefully described? (Mary's hair, the folds of angels' costumes, angels' wings, leaves and rocks in landscape.)

3. Below Mary is a detailed NATURALISTIC landscape. Does the sky behind her look similarly naturalistic? (No. BACKGROUND is covered with GOLD LEAF.) Why might an artist use gold on a background? Explain the popularity of using gold as a background in religious painting to indicate a sacred subject and to reflect light.

4. Strüb and his contemporaries during the German RENAISSANCE sought to IDEALIZE their subjects. They believed that artists should strive to represent perfection even if that perfection was absent in real nature. For example, the story of Mary Magdalene tells us that hair grew over her entire body, but Strüb did not paint hair on Mary's knees and breasts. Lack of hair on Mary's knees suggests her kneeling in prayer, while lack of hair on Mary's breasts signifies her ideal feminine beauty. How else has Strüb idealized his subject? Clue: The story of Mary Magdalene tells us she lived in a cave for 30 years before angels daily lifted her toward heaven! Does Mary look as if she lived in a cave for 30 years in this painting? Why not?

2. Which other works of art have you seen in this image set that represent a story in which the character was forgiven? (Herakles on the hydria, image 7.) Why did Herakles need forgiveness? (He murdered his family.) What did Herakles have to do to be forgiven? (He performed the 12 Labors, including slaying the Nemean Lion and the Wild Boar of Erymanthus.)

3. Strüb painted Mary in a German landscape rather than the landscape of southern France, where she actually lived. Why might he have done this? (Although we don't know for sure, Strüb may not have known the landscape of southern France. He also may have wanted to associate his homeland with a holy event.)

4. During the Middle Ages, many people looked to the saints as behavioral role models. Who are your role models? Do pictures of your role models exist? Where?

5. The artist who CAST the bronze Oceanus (image 8) also used precious metals in his work, but for a different purpose. Explain the different reasons for using precious metals in the two works of art. The bronze Oceanus included silver and copper highlights in order to increase the value of the sculpture. Strüb used GOLD LEAF on the BACKGROUND of his painting not only to increase the value of the painting, but also to symbolize the value of the subject matter, Mary Magdalene.