Who is St Mary Magdalen?
A rattling good yarn Thanks to the success of The Da Vinci Code, and its recent film version, Mary Magdalen is currently one of the most talked about people in Christian history. She is also one of the most remarkable, and what we know about her from the New Testament is as surprising as anything which has been speculated since. The Da Vinci Code is, of course, a story, and doesn’t claim to be a history book. The feminine looking figure, in Leonardo’s painting of the Last Supper, which the book claims to be Mary is in fact St John, the beloved disciple, who is frequently presented with the youthful looks and flowing blond locks of a Renaissance man (visitors to Cambridge will notice a similar statue over the entrance to St John’s College). There is no evidence whatsoever that Mary Magdalen had any relationship with Jesus beyond that of follower and friend, and we know nothing of her tomb or mortal remains. Still, all these details make up a rattling good yarn, which is no bad thing. An
