Mary Magdalene: one of Petrarch's muses?

Abstract

Duperray's interpretation of Mary Magdalene's role in Petrarch's Latin works is not plausible. Duperray followed the position of earlier scholars, such as Cochin, who had seen St. Mary Magdalene as a model for the conversion of Gherardo, Petrarch's brother, and his subsequent entry into the Carthusian order in 1342. The aim of this short article is to readdress the role of St. Mary Magdalene as a model not for Gherardo the monk, but for Petrarch the secular poet of God.