Gerolamo Pesce
Glory of St. Mary Magdalene (?)
1739
Fresco
Ceiling
of sacristy, La Maddalena, Rome
Literature at the church identifies this as Pesce's Glory of St. Mary Magdalene. But
the female figure has the attributes of the "woman clothed with the
sun" of Revelation 12: on her head a crown of 12 stars, at her feet a crescent moon and the
serpent of Eden that exegesis relates to Revelation's red dragon.
Traditional exegesis of Revelation takes this woman to be either the
Virgin Mary and/or the Church, but not St. Mary Magdalene. I have
not yet seen any other images of the
Magdalene in which she is approximated to the woman clothed with
the sun.
The figures "below" the woman (see
detail) are St. Camillo de Lellis (on the left, with red crosses
on his stole) and St. Philip Neri.
Also see a closer view of the
central figure.
More of St. Mary Magdalene
Photographed at the
site by Richard Stracke