Mary Magdalene: The Image of a Woman through the Centuries Maisch, Ingrid

No other female image has been so strongly influenced by the culture and history of past European centuries as Mary Magdalene. From ancient times to the present, Mary Magdalene has been a summary image of the feminine in each era. Despised as a sinner, revered as a saint, admired as a model disciple, Mary Magdalene became the symbol of all women whose fate she shared throughout history: honored, defamed, pushed to the margins, elevated to unreality, and degraded.