1506
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
The Ecstasy of Saint Mary Magdalene is a 1506 by Lucas Cranach the Elder, a Renaissance work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
This painting shows Saint Mary Magdalene floating in a dark sky, her arms stretched out. She’s dressed in rich red and gold, glowing like a dream. Her face looks peaceful, not scared, even though she’s rising up. Cranach painted her with a smooth, almost perfect body. That was new in 1506. He mixed old legends with fresh ideas about beauty. Look up Lucas Cranach (German, 1472–1553) to see more like this.
According to medieval legend, Mary Magdalene was a fallen woman until she devoted herself to Christ. During her ascetic life in the wilderness, angels raised her aloft seven times a day to hear the music of the heavenly host while her visions of paradise enhanced her radiance. Interested in reviving classical ideals, Renaissance artists such as Lucas Cranach the Elder gave Mary Magdalene a Venus-like body to personify her divine beauty.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Lucas Cranach the Elder was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving.
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