Why is Mary Magdalene pictured in caves?
In the French legends of Mary Magdalene, she was said to have retired to a grotto in the St. Baume mountain range for thirty years, where she lived a life of solitary contemplation. Here she was visited by angels who carried her into the air and fed her spiritual sustenance to keep her alive. The French legends were well accepted for several hundred years and many paintings of Mary Magdalene are set in her grotto.
