The Catholic Church's Role Model : An Iconographic Analysis of Mary Magdalene

The study aims to describe and analyze the image of Mary Magdalene as expressed in the French artwork from 1400 and 1600s that this study deals with. The study also examines the historical context in order to find explanations for why the images of Mary Magdalene have changed. In the study Erwin Panofsky’s iconographic method is used to analyze the artworks and finding their underlying meaning. Delimitations are made that only works of art made by French artists from the 1400 and 1600s are analyzed and delimitations are also made that Mary Magdalene will act on her own in the works of art. The study relies on David Morgan's theory of how religious pictures function. Morgan emphasizes that images can be used as leverage to reach out with various messages. With Morgan’s assertions in mind, the study examines how the Catholic Church's position of power is changing in accordance with the Council of Trent from 1545 to 1563. The Council of Trent result that the Catholic Church changed its view on how people should choose the Catholic Church in the new Protestant faith orientation. This implies that the image of the saintly Mary Magdalene changed to better fit into the Catholic Church's new position. The study has concluded that the works of art depicting Mary Magdalene in 1400 and the 1600s move from manifesting a physical penance to a more inward and spiritual redemption through Panofsky’s method