This is a film about a woman who probably never existed but whose story changed history. It’s a story that’s soaked into our culture … sweaty, sensuous and naughty. It’s the story of Mary Magdalene. Waldemar Januszczak, Mary Magdalene: Art’s Scarlet Woman, BBC 2018
Artists through the ages have loved the idea that Mary Magdalene was a temptress. ibid.
How little we know about her and how much we’ve imagined. ibid.
Darkness and punishment were now creeping into the story. ibid.
See, for instance, Titian’s Magdalene: big-haired and beautiful in a plump Venetian way. ibid.
Saint or sinner? To some Mary Magdalene is a repentant prostitute but to others she is Jesus’ closest disciple. Riddles of the Bible s1e12: The Real Mary Magdalene, National Geographic 2011
Her biography is only twenty words long. ibid.
The real puzzle about Mary is why she was following Jesus in the first place. ibid.
The Gospel of Philip claimed that Mary Magdalene had a special even intimate relationship with Jesus. ibid.