 Van der Weyden 's depiction of the Magdalen is based on Mary of Bethany , identified by the time of Pope Gregory I as the repentant prostitute of Luke 7 : 36 – 50 . She then became associated with weeping and reading : Christ 's mercy causes the eyes of the sinner to be contrite or tearful . Early Renaissance artists often conveyed this idea by portraying contemplative eyes , associating tears with words , and in turn weeping with reading . Examples can be seen in 16th @-@ century works by Tintoretto and Titian which show the Magdalen reading , often with her eyes averted towards her book ( and presumably away from a male gaze ) , or looking up to the heavens or , sometimes , glancing coyly towards the viewer . Writing in " The Crying Face " , Mosche Barasch explains that in van der Weyden 's time the gesture of averting or concealing the eyes became a " pictorial formula for crying " . 
 Van der Weyden <a href='null_genetive' title='1'><mark>'s</mark></a>depiction of the Magdalen is based on Mary of Bethany , identified by the time of Pope Gregory I as the repentant prostitute of Luke 7 : 36 – 50 . She then became associated with weeping and reading : Christ <a href='null_genetive' title='2'><mark>'s</mark></a>mercy <a href='uninflect' title='3'><mark>causes</mark></a> the eyes of the sinner to be contrite or tearful . Early Renaissance artists often conveyed this idea by portraying contemplative eyes , associating tears with words , and in turn weeping with reading . Examples can be seen in 16th @-@ century works by Tintoretto and Titian which show the Magdalen reading , often with her eyes averted towards her book ( and presumably away from a male gaze ) , or looking up to the heavens or , sometimes , glancing coyly towards the viewer . Writing in " The Crying Face " , Mosche Barasch <a href='uninflect' title='4'><mark>explains</mark></a> that in van der Weyden <a href='null_genetive' title='5'><mark>'s</mark></a>time the gesture of averting or concealing the eyes became a " pictorial formula for crying " . 
Van der Weyden  depiction of the Magdalen is based on Mary of Bethany , identified by the time of Pope Gregory I as da repentant prostitute of Luke 7 : 36 – 50 . She then became associated with weeping and reading : Christ  mercy cause the eyes of tdasinner to b contrite or tearful . Early Renaissance artists often conveyed this idea by portraying contemplative eyes , associating tears with words , and in turn weeping witt reading . Examples can be seen in 16th @-@ century works by Tintoretto and Titian which show the Magdalen reading , often with her eyes averted towards her book ( and presumably away from a male gaze ) , or looking up to the heavens or , sometimes , glancing coyly towards the viewer . Writing in " The Crying Face " , Mosche Barasch explain dat in van der Weyden  time thdaesture of averting or concealing the eyes became a " pictorial formula for cryin " .