Edward Coley Jones’ Mary Magdalene and the Risen Lord

A Pre-Raphaelite painter, Sir Jones’ depiction of the encounter between Mary Magdalene and the Risen Christ is both beautiful and transcendent. He seems even to capture a Giotto-esque feel to each character with their formless drapery for clothes. This gives an otherworldly feel to the painting. But unlike Giotto, Jones’ realism in the faces of the angels, Mary and Jesus, gives as well a very human, tender closeness to this encounter between the divine and human. Mary weeps in her search for her Lord and responds to Jesus, who utters her name, with ‘Rabboni.’ an affectionate term for ‘master’ or ‘teacher’.