Sunday, February 13, 2011

Magdalene

   I spent the afternoon in the church of Santa Trinita pretending to be a middle-aged English woman with a guilty secret lodged in her breast. Would all those sacred images have thawed her brittle crust and inspired in her a longing to let out the truth? The wooden Magdalene might have shaken her. The idea of Magdalene with the vessel of consecrated oil is fascinating: it's a metaphor perhaps of the female's power to heal, an emblem of her sexuality and its powers of replenishment and protection, though the Church would not see it quite that way. And despite her wizened corroded appearance the Magdalene in Santa Trinita still has her healing balm.

6 comments:

  1. The beauty of perception is that it lies in the eye of the beholder, the interpretation of text we read or objects we look at is down to the individual, even if others might disagree.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is really interesting Glenn. :)

    The way we perceive things is only up to us as individuals.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What an interesting post and a wonderful introduction to your blog! Thanks so much for the follow, and I look forward to reading more from you.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for coming into my blog and following.

    You write beautifully. I look forward to reading more!
    Ann Best, Author @ Long Journey Home

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Glenn - I have enjoyed visiting your blog. Your writing is lovely and quite thought provoking. Thanks for visiting my blog and following...I'm following you right back!

    ReplyDelete