Mary Magdalene is a larger figure than any text, larger than the Bible or the Church; she has taken on a life of her own. She has been portrayed as a penitent whore, a wealthy woman, Christ's wife, an adulteress, a symbol of the frailty of women and an object of veneration. And, to this day, she remains a potent and mysterious figure. In the manner of a quest, this book follows Mary Magdalene through the centuries, explores how she has been reinterpreted for every age, and examines what she herself reveals about man and the divine. It will follow her from the Gnostic gospels, where she is extolled as the chief disciple of Christ, through the early Church's reimagining of her as a fallen woman, to the Renaissance artists for whom she became a symbol of compassion and humanity, and into the present day, when once again, we are seeing Mary Magdalene as a symbol of a new and powerful femininity.

Author Biography

Michael Haag has written widely on the Egyptian, Classical and Medieval worlds. He is author of a dozen books, notably Alexandria: City of Memory, a definitive study of Cavafy, Forster and Lawrence Durrell in the city, and of The Templars: History and Myth. Originally from New York City, he lives in London.