Mary Magdalene

With Leonardo, improbable speculations are never-ending, The Da Vinci Code enthusiasts see the figure of St John (on the right in this detail of ‘The Last Supper’) as Mary Magdalene, hiding in plain sight

The codes and codswallop surrounding Leonardo da Vinci

14 April 2018 9:00 am

Leonardo da Vinci has suffered more than most artists from fake history and misinterpretation. But it doesn’t make him any less fascinating, says Martin Gayford

Shouldering a hoe, Christ appears to Mary Magdalene in Fra Angelico’s ‘Noli Me Tangere’ (c.1438–50)

The loveliest episode of Holy Week – Christ rises from the potting shed

31 March 2018 9:00 am

Only the subtlest artists choose to paint the Noli Me Tangere scene, a still, small episode of calm after the horrors of the Passion, says Laura Freeman

A belt would have worked wonders: Rooney Mara as Mary Magdalene

The Bishop of Wherever won't have a fit – assuming he stays awake: Mary Magdalene reviewed

17 March 2018 9:00 am

This biopic of Mary Magdalene is a feminist retelling that may well be deserved but it’s so dreary and unremarkable…

Painted more shades of grey than a Farrow & Ball catalogue: The Judas Passion reviewed

7 October 2017 9:00 am

‘Can the ultimate betrayal ever be forgiven?’ screams the publicity for The Judas Passion, transforming a Biblical drama into a…

Caption: Who is Mary Magdalene exactly?

The GP charged around to my side of the table and roved her hand all over my pubic area

28 November 2015 9:00 am

On Friday morning I was peeing razor blades so I rang up the doctor and was given an appointment after…

‘La Ghirlandata’ by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

The dangerous red-headed league

29 August 2015 9:00 am

‘Gentlemen prefer blondes,’ Anita Loos pronounced, ‘but gentlemen marry brunettes.’ Quite what they do with redheads she never revealed (and…

The erotic Mary, left, by Gregor Erhart (c.1515–20) and the penitent Mary, right, by El Greco (c.1577)

No one in the Bible has been as elaborately misrepresented as Mary Magdalene

22 November 2014 9:00 am

A bogus history book and a new oratorio turn Mary Magdalene into the wife of Jesus and a human rights activist. Damian Thompson feels sorry for the poor woman

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‘They always have to muck around with Macbeth, don’t they?’
‘They always have to muck around with Macbeth, don’t they?’
‘She just wants to chill and have greatness thrust upon her.’
‘She just wants to chill and have greatness thrust upon her.’
‘No one’s noticed that he’s resigned over Brexit.’
‘No one’s noticed that he’s resigned over Brexit.’
‘I have the usual middle-class attitude to drugs.’
‘I have the usual middle-class attitude to drugs.’
‘On second thoughts, I’d give the bins a miss.’
‘On second thoughts, I’d give the bins a miss.’
‘They have a very short shelf life.’
‘They have a very short shelf life.’
‘I remember quiet days like that.’
‘I remember quiet days like that.’
‘The tension’s unbearable — I can’t bear to watch.’
‘The tension’s unbearable — I can’t bear to watch.’
‘...and agree on Brexit as long as you both shall live.’
‘...and agree on Brexit as long as you both shall live.’
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