For centuries artists have portrayed Mary Magdalene with her sacred vessel, which has been depicted as a variety of receptacles.  For example: in 1317 the medieval Italian painter Simone Martini depicted it as a spice pot (above left); in 1525 the Italian Renaissance artist Bernardino Luini depicted it as a perfume jar (center); and in 1859 the English Pre-Raphaelite painter Frederick Sandys depicted it as an ointment cup (right).

During the Middle Ages a tradition existed that Mary Magdalene collected some of Christ's

blood from his pierced hands before he was laid

 in the tomb, as depicted in this illustration from

 a medieval prayer book.

Is this a depiction of Saint John?  Or is it

 really an image of Mary Magdalene?

In the medieval Grail tradition it was said to be Jesus' follower Joseph of Arimathea who used the Grail - the cup of the Last Supper - to collected a few drops of Christ's blood after the Crucifixion.   However, during the Middle Ages a separate tradition also existed which held that Mary Magdalene had done the same.  She too had used a sacred vessel to collect Jesus' blood; not the cup of the Last Supper, but an oil or ointment container.  The Gospels describe how a woman, usually identified as Mary Magdalene, prepared Jesus for his martyrdom by anointing him with spikenard, an aromatic oil or balm, and it was the vessel that once contained this unguent which she is said to have used to collect Christ's blood.  From the early Middle Ages, Mary's sacred vessel has been depicted by artists as a variety of receptacles, such as spice pots, perfume jars, and ointment cups.  The word used in the English translation of the Bible for Mary's unguent vessel is "box", although the earlier Latin Bible uses the word alabastrum, the Roman name for a container for perfumes or scented oils, so called because they were usually made from alabaster.  Such receptacles were fashioned in a variety of shapes and sizes; not only boxes, but also flasks, pots, and jars.  An alabaster scent jar!  This is exactly what the cup found at Hawkstone Park appeared to be.

The sacred vessel of Mary Magdalene was not known as the Holy Grail.  Rather, it has been referred to as the Marian Chalice (the word Marian means "of Mary"), the Chalice of Magdalene, or simply the Alabaster Jar.  Nevertheless, the relic that Thomas Wright and his ancestors regarded as the Grail - if indeed this was the cup found in the eagle statue – seems to have been thought to be this sacred vessel of Mary Magdalene.   It was not only the cup itself which suggests this, but also the Saint John figure in the Hodnet stained-glass window.   The figure does not appear to be John at all.

Look closer and we can see that the figure seems to be a woman.  The other gospel writers are all depicted with beards, whereas the John figure is both clean shaven and has decidedly feminine features.  What's more, the figure seems to be wearing a woman's gown which looks to be covering breasts.  Could this figure holding the chalice, the final clue to the cup's whereabouts, actually be a thinly disguised Mary Magdalene?  One compelling piece of evidence to suggest just this was brought to Graham's attention by a researcher from the  USA.

Piero della Francesca's Mary Magdalene in Arezzo Cathedral (left), and the Saint John figure from the stained-glass window in Hodnet church. 

Debbie Langdon from Florida emailed Graham, suggesting that he compare the Saint John figure in the Hodnet window with a fresco of Mary Magdalene painted in 1460 by Piero della Francesca in Italy's Arezzo Cathedral.  When Graham compared the two images side by side, he agreed that they were indeed remarkably similar.   Both figures are portrayed in a similar stance with their right foot forward, both wear green gowns and red cloaks, and both hold a vessel similarly in their left hands.  Although there is no way of knowing for sure, it seems very possible that Thomas Wright used Francesca's Mary Magdalene as a model for his "Saint John".   If so, then there is an obvious implication.  The vessel held by Mary in Francesca's painting is her famed unguent vessel, here depicted as a crystal flask.  Wright's window shows the figure holding a chalice which, although not like the cup found at the end of his trail of clues, was an identifiable representation of the Holy Grail – a golden chalice.  The implication is, therefore, that Wright believed that the Mary's alabastrum and the Holy Grail were one and the same.