Customer Reviews

Searching for Mary Magdalene: A Journey Through Art and Literature

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Weaving Biblical and Gnostic texts, myths and legends, surrounding the Magdalene, together with the finest artistic interpretations of them, Lahr searches through world art and literature to the present for this enigmatic woman and the Feminine Principle she embodies. Indeed, her comprehensive journey extends to such diverse manifestations as the Black Madonna,Mary as Wife and the Grail itself, and reincarnate testimonial. A fan since LOVE BOOK days, I find this Lahr's best work to date, due in large measure to the scholarly yet easily readable and fascinating commentary with which she clarifies the text and art where needed and enriching.

Well-written and visually marvelous. Because of the book's scope, you get a real sense of this woman as imagined by generations of artists and writers, made particular by their composite fascination, which is in itself fascinating. Even the size of the book serves its subject, by being big enough to be beautiful, but small enough to read in bed, unlike all those pretentiously big art books. Loved it.

I found this book mesmerizing. The art is beautiful and somehow, for so many centuries, every single piece seems somehow heightened, weirder, because the subject is Mary Magdalene. Lahr's not afraid to be passionate about her subject and her commentary made me want more. The further I went into these images and this material, the more I felt a kind of delicious awe.

A beautifully illustrated work of original scholarship, Searching For Mary Magdalene: A Journey Through Art And Literature by author and editor Jane Lahr is an in-depth and comprehensive detailing of the modern and historical history of the enigmatic Mary Magdalene as reflected through the literature and art of the last two millennia. Introducing readers to a collective survey study drawn from historical writers, philosophers, artists, and scholars, Searching For Mary Magdalene accessibly presents a concise and intricate descriptive analysis of Magdalene based upon the many known resources. Searching For Mary Magdalene is very highly recommended to non-specialist general readers with an interest in a life and history of Mary Magdalene.

In accepting Jane Lahr's invitation to time travel through centuries of artists and writers whose attention to Mary Magdalene illuminates profound truths, this is a transforming read, a moment in which to reflect on beauty and truth and really what it is that we do need to know in life. Exquisitely rendered by Lahr's finely tuned sensibility and scholarship, this book is a blessing and a great gift.

A beautifully illustrated work of original scholarship, Searching For Mary Magdalene: A Journey Through Art And Literature by author and editor Jane Lahr is an in-depth and comprehensive detailing of the modern and historical history of the enigmatic Mary Magdalene as reflected through the literature and art of the last two millennia. Introducing readers to a collective survey study drawn from historical writers, philosophers, artists, and scholars, Searching For Mary Magdalene accessibly presents a concise and intricate descriptive analysis of Magdalene based upon the many known resources. Searching For Mary Magdalene is very highly recommended to non-specialist general readers with an interest in a life and history of Mary Magdalene.

Lahr's book is a real treat. Not only are there dozens of full page reproductions of some of the most famous art works containing images of Mary Magdalene, the text itself is well written and, for the most part, historically correct. Then there are the occasional gems - an 11th century mosaic portraying Mary and the angel more like aliens. Moreover, Lahr offers large selections of text from just about every major document dealing with Mary Magdalene, from the 1st century through the 20th century.

One criticism of this extremely valuable book is that a lot of the artistic analysis seems to be based on Lahr's own impressions, rather than giving us the painter's perspective. While Lahr's opinion is obviously of interest, I'd also like to know what the artists' intentions were.

Another shortcoming is that there are many paintings of Magdalene that are not covered (I'm thinking, for example, of Rosetti's 1877 stunning portrait of the curly haired woman, or Da Vinci's sketches, or his very sexual Mary with breasts exposed). Instead, she has many paintings that do not include Mary, but focus instead on Jesus or the disciples. While this makes for a well rounded book, the title suggests that we'll focus on Mary.

Another problem is that Lahr sometimes gives us a painting with no explanation, and often it's difficult to understand what's going on and to distinguish Mary Magdalene from the other characters. This problem happens, for example, in Ruben's "Resurrection of Lazarus."

None of these minor criticisms should stop any serious student of Mary Magdalene from buying this book. It is a one-of-a-kind and very well done.

Mary Magdalene rules! I had no idea she is told in so many different stories-not only in the canonical gospels, the apocrypha, but also in poetry, stories, and songs. You don't need to look to the traditional bible to find her-she is everywhere. And these writers and poets knew this; all these years, all these centuries, they all knew. Her story is told everywhere. The church tried to suppress her and keep her hidden-in your dreams, jerks! The Magdalene was never quiet, nor will she ever keep quiet. Long may the Magdalene reign!