Something About Mary January 14, 2010

Fourteen contemporary artists have created works about Mary Magdalene for Gallery Met, inspired by the company's new production of Puccini's 'Tosca.' Conceived and organized by Gallery Met Director Dodie Kazanjian, the exhibition takes its cue from a plot point in the opera. In the first scene of 'Tosca,' the painter Mario Cavaradossi is returning to work on a portrait of Mary Magdalene when his lover, the singer Tosca, enters and realizes he's chosen another woman as his model; his Magdalene's eyes are blue and Tosca's are brown. With this in mind, Ms. Kazanjian asked the artists to come up with their own visions of one of the Bible's most famous figures.