Was Mary Magdalene a Sinner or a Saint? Artists Weigh In

Mary Magdalene’s image is being put under the microscope in a new exhibition at Frankfurt’s Städel Museum, “Mary Magdalene: Sin. Pray. Love.,” running through Jan. 17. Opened last week, the show—made with the nearby Liebieghaus Sculpture Collection—uses more than 100 paintings, sculptures and works on paper from around 60 institutions to track how the biblical figure shifted in art over centuries. Curators say the change began with late 16th-century Counter-Reformation teachings, influenced by Pope Gregory the Great’s sermon around A.D. 591 that linked Magdalene to other women described as sinners in the Gospels.