# The Ecstasy of Saint Mary Magdalene

- By: Lucas Cranach (German, 1472–1553)
- Date: 1506
- Medium: woodcut
- Classification: Print
- Culture: Germany
- Credit line: Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/1922.110)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1922.110/1922.110_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

According to medieval legend, Mary Magdalene was a fallen woman until she devoted herself to Christ. During her ascetic life in the wilderness, angels raised her aloft seven times a day to hear the music of the heavenly host while her visions of paradise enhanced her radiance. Interested in reviving classical ideals, Renaissance artists such as Lucas Cranach the Elder gave Mary Magdalene a Venus-like body to personify her divine beauty.