St. Mary Magdalene as Myrrhbearer (detail; M 070) Ceramic Tree Decoration

Her back turned to the viewer, St. Mary Magdalene kneels at the foot of the throne upon which sits the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus. She holds up a gold unguent container, her principal attribute and a visual reminder of her role in the Easter story. At Easter, St. Mary Magdalene was the first person to see the Risen Christ, carried the good news to Jesus’s remaining followers, and convinced them that the Resurrection was real. For this reason, she is known as the “Apostle to the Apostles.” Her representation here is an homage to Rogier van der Weyden’s Entombment (or Lamentation of Christ) [q.v., Product ID: 2239859574622620474] dating from c. 1460–1463 and now in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy. + Feast: July 22 + Image Credit (M 070): Detail of Virgo inter Virgines [in Latin; La Vierge parmi les vierges in French; The Virgin among Virgins in English], by The Master of the Legend of St. Lucy (fl. c. 1435-1506/1509), oil on oak panel, 67.3"x42.5" (171 cm x 108 cm), c. 1488, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels, inv. 2576. From Wikimedia Commons {PD-Art|PD-Old-100}. The image file has been identified as being free of known restrictions under copyright law, including all related and neighbouring rights.