[audiobook] Medieval and Renaissance Famagusta: Studies in Architecture; Art and History by From Routledge in Arts-Photography

Description

Examining innovations in Mary Magdalene imagery in northern art 1430 to 1550; Penny Jolly explores how the saintrsquo;s widespread popularity drew upon her ability to embody oppositions and embrace a range of paradoxical roles: sinner-prostitute and saint; erotic seductress and holy prophet. Analyzing paintings by Rogier van der Weyden; Quentin Massys; and others; Jolly investigates artistsrsquo; and audiencesrsquo; responses to increasing religious tensions; expanding art markets; and changing roles for women. Using cultural ideas concerning the gendered and pregnant body; Jolly reveals how dress confirms the Magdalenersquo;s multivalent nature. In some paintings; her gownrsquo;s opening laces betray her wantonness yet simultaneously mark her as Christrsquo;s spiritually pregnant Bride; elsewhere rsquo;undressrsquo; reconfirms her erotic nature while paradoxically marking her penitence; in still other works; exotic finery expresses her sanctity while celebrating Antwerprsquo;s textile industry. New image types arise; as when the saint appears as a lovesick musician playing a lute or as a melancholic contemplative; longing for Christ. Some depictions emphasize her intercessory role through innovative pictorial strategies that invite performative viewing or relate her to the mythological Pandora and Italian Renaissance Neoplatonism. Throughout; the Magdalenersquo;s ambiguities destabilize readings of her imagery while engaging audiences across a broad social and religious spectrum.