Dance of St. Mary Magdalene 1519

Curator: Here we have Lucas van Leyden's engraving, "Dance of St. Mary Magdalene," created in 1519. Editor: It's got such an odd feeling, doesn't it? The composition feels like a stage play, all these different characters frozen mid-scene. Almost a bit… unsettling. Curator: That's partly van Leyden’s genius, I think. He’s taking a religious subject, Mary Magdalene's repentance, and placing it within a contemporary Northern Renaissance setting. It blends the sacred and the secular, in a way that’s very much of its time. Editor: The level of detail is incredible, isn't it? The costumes, the foliage... you could get lost just looking at the background. But Magdalene herself, that figure with the halo, she's the quiet eye of the storm. Curator: The choice of engraving as a medium also makes it interesting. Prints democratized art to some extent; they were more accessible to a wider audience than paintings were. So van Leyden wasn't just making an image, he was also participating in a new form of artistic dissemination. Editor: Do you think the dance itself has some metaphorical significance? Is it a dance of sorrow? A dance of liberation? Or just simply illustrative? I mean I feel the artist gives the eye a lot to see here but then withholds what is most significant about what one is looking at! Curator: It's debated whether this even depicts a dance, despite the title. Some interpret it more as Mary Magdalene leading figures from her former, sinful life towards repentance and contemplation. It is likely that van Leyden understood these biblical events, like many artists of the period, to have been dropped into a modern or contemporary context. Editor: That's interesting. I was stuck on the musical instruments too, in that regard, the juxtaposition of sinfulness and ritual that I saw hinted at, becomes much more pointed! It is wild! I suppose these details of everyday life must have helped the people connect with it differently then. Curator: Precisely. Van Leyden uses this familiar landscape, these contemporary figures, to create a powerful and moving scene, whether dance or not. He gives form to a key religious event but allows people access through a format, as you point out, closer to them. Editor: Makes you think about how we consume images and stories now, doesn’t it? Five centuries later... The method might have changed, but maybe our emotional need for a certain style or message hasn't all that much! Curator: Indeed! Looking closely at the Dance of St. Mary Magdalene reminds us that art can be a reflection of our times, and, maybe of all times.