Picturing the 'Pregnant' Magdalene in Northern Art, 1430-1550

Published in 2016 as part of the Routledge Research in Art History series, this scholarly text expands upon Penny Howell Jolly’s long-standing research into the visual language of the late Middle Ages and the early Renaissance. The work investigates a specific iconographic trend in Northern European art where Mary Magdalene is depicted with a rounded abdomen, challenging the traditional art historical interpretations that often dismissed these physical details as mere lack of technical anatomical skill.

Jolly argues that these depictions were a deliberate, sophisticated visual strategy intended to humanize the Magdalene and emphasize her role as a transformative figure. By analyzing visual cues alongside contemporary theological and social texts, she provides a revisionist look at how female sanctity was constructed and communicated through physical embodiment, offering a nuanced perspective on the reception of bodily imagery by medieval and Renaissance audiences.