The Three Marys (detail) by Michael Wolgemut (c. 1500)
The earliest images of the Resurrection portrayed the event of Christ’s victory over death with a surprising absence – the figure of the resurrected Christ himself. Instead, artists depicted the angel (often seated on the empty tomb) and three women carrying ointment jars with which to anoint Christ’s body. The women traditionally known as myrrhophores (from the Greek word meaning anointers of Christ or ointment bearers) recall Mark and Luke’s descriptions of how these female companions of Christ visited the empty tomb. This depiction of The Three Marys appears to have originally been part of a larger work, almost certainly a painting of the Resurrection. The artist, Michael Wolgemut, the teacher of Albrecht Dürer, invests the scene with a sense of emotional realism. He does so through the women’s red-rimmed eyes as well as the care with which each figure is individualised. Note how each woman’s costume and pose contain clues that help the viewer to differentiate her status in late medieval society. The figure at the left, almost certainly to be identified as Mary Magdalen, wears an expensive fur-trimmed dress. Moreover, her unbound golden hair further confirms her identity. The woman next to her wears the wimple and veil associated with widows. The final figure in this group of myrrhophores wears the fashionable head - dress typical of the wives of successful burghers. Each of these women would have reminded devout late medieval viewers that compassion and fidelity remain at the heart of the Christian life.
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