# Was it right for Dan Brown to call her "Magdalene"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 14, 2006, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-right-for-dan-brown-to-call-her-magdalene/356698 "2006-05-14T01:48:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gotterfunken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@Gotterfunken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gotterfunken)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2006, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-right-for-dan-brown-to-call-her-magdalene/356698/21 "2006-05-14T21:04:47Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] I have just returned from an art museum, where I saw a Da Vinci. Except it wasn’t a Leonardo, it was Jerry, Derek or Bud or something (actually, some classical Italian name but I can’t remember what). [/QUOTE] Maybe [Pierino da Vinci](http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/pierino_da_vinci.html)? He’s probably the most famous “da Vinci” other than that Leonardo guy. As for “Magdalene,” I’ve only seen it used either in conjunction with her first name–“Mary Magdalene”–or with the definite article, “The Magdalene.” Same thing in French, too, wherein she’s commonly referred to as “_La_ Madeleine.” In Italian, she’s always “_La_ Maddalena.” I suspect it’s the same in most European languages, and I’d guess that the English version is derived from the French. The Oxford English Dictionary traces back the Modern English “Magdalene” to Middle English versions like “Magdalein,” “Magdaleyne,” “Magdeleyne,” all of which included either “Maria” or a definite article (the OED cites Chaucer as a 14th-century example: “Iudas grucched agayns **the** Magdeleyne” from the Parson’s Tale–my bolding). And that usage has remained consistent throughout the history of Modern English. It’s true that we don’t usually say “The Christ,” even though “Christ” is as much a title as “Magdalene.” That’s only because we don’t traditionally say it that way, whereas we _have_ traditionally said “_The_ Magdalene” in English (and French, and Italian, etc) over the course of several centuries. That’s convention for you–it’s rarely determined by logic. This usage could very well change in the future. But I don’t think Dan Brown is so much anticipating a shift in language conventions as he is, yet again, displaying his cultural and scholarly ignorance. Silly boy. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2006, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-right-for-dan-brown-to-call-her-magdalene/356698/22 "2006-05-14T21:20:20Z")
The test for a novel is whether the characters in the book, as described, should be using that form of the name. A novelist should keep his characters consistent to the sort of people he claims they are. If they are art historians (or some similar sort of scholars), they would say “Leonardo da Vinci” or just “Leonardo”. If they’re not scholars, it’s not too surprising if they say “Da Vinci”. On the other hand, I don’t know of anyone who says “Magdalene”. Everyone, to my knowledge, would say “Mary Magdalene”. Seldom would they just say “Mary”, since that could be confused with Mary, the mother of Jesus. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2006, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-right-for-dan-brown-to-call-her-magdalene/356698/23 "2006-05-14T21:25:23Z")
[QUOTE=Götterfunken] Maybe [Pierino da Vinci](http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/pierino_da_vinci.html)? He’s probably the most famous “da Vinci” other than that Leonardo guy. [/quote] Yes! That was him. Your link reminds me that it was indeed a (superb) bas relief I saw, not a painting. However, I see he was in fact Leonardo’s nephew, so my point is rendered totally inconclusive. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-right-for-dan-brown-to-call-her-magdalene/356698.md?page=1)