How do you understand the iconic images of the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene, and do they still hold relevance to our world today?
Icon of the Virgin Mary, 16th century. St. Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai.
Mary Magdalene. By Anthony Frederick Augustus Sandys. Ca. 1860 
I have a degree in Art, so images of the Virgin, and to a lesser extent Mary Magdalene, are familiar to me, but outside of aesthetics, they hold little meaning among those I know and grew up with. I live in Texas, and so see lots of Virgins scattered around, maybe it means something to those who have them, but I suspect not for at least half of them.
ReplyDeleteSo relevance in today's world? No, not much. Jesus holds more, but only in terms of calling on his Name. I think there's a huge disconnect, at least with American worshipers, between The Word and the images. Perhaps this is an effect of literacy?
Hi Dave, thanks for your comment. I think that for women the images hold a lot of weight (esp. if you were raised Roman Catholic!). I find it interesting that there are virgin images all over Texas but I do wonder about the connection you bring up between the images and literacy.
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