Mother, Model and Muse: Mary Magdalene and Prostitute Reform in Renaissance Italy
Introduction
Mary Magdalene and Prosititution - Why?
Mary Magdalene plays a clear role in the Christian Bible. Most notably in the Easter story where she observes Christ’s crucifixion, discovers his empty tomb and singularly witnesses his resurrection. Yet by the 16th century, Western thought associated her with two other biblical women who are both described as repentant sinners, Mary of Bethany and an unnamed female in Luke chapter 7. Magdalene's false assimilation with such figures led to her varied Renaissance identity: prostitute, missionary and hermit. Her conflated reputation as former prostitute was popular in Renaissance art.
Mother, Model and Muse: Mary Magdalene and Prostitute Reform in Renaissance Italy
Driven by the Counter-Reformation focus on morality, 16th century Italian cities tried to reduce prostitution through the tactic of moral ‘conversion’. Moral reform measures were largely female-led and a network of prostitution habilitation houses were run by women from the late 1400s. These institutions often commissioned artwork to encourage their moralising mission.
As a companion to the National Gallery show, Mary Magdalene: Mother, Model and Muse to Renaissance women, this exhibition explores the use of Mary Magdalene’s image to encourage the spiritual and moral conversion of prostitutes. It charts the development of this artistic phenomenon from the first convent-based rehabilitation communities to the secular ‘Casas del Soccorso’ of the early 17th century.
The majority of the surviving artworks of Renaissance reform houses are immovable and cannot be brought together in one physical space. This online showcase provides a unique opportunity to bring together works, which otherwise could not be, to demonstrate how Magdalene's image was appropriated by female reform institutions.
The exhibition begins by exploring possibly the earliest example of this artistic type, Donatello’s Penitent Magdalene. It then looks at three further examples from the Italian cities of Florence, Rome and Venice.