According to the Gospels Saint Mary Magdalene, a repentant courtesan, was called by Christ whose Crucifixion she witnessed. Later her life-story was elaborated in medieval French legend, which recounted how she passed thirty years in penance, without food or clothing, in a solitary mountain retreat near Sainte-Baume. Seven times a day angels came down and lifted her up to heaven where she saw a vision of the celestial bliss prepared for the repentant sinner. She is traditionally depicted, naked but for her long hair, floating to heaven in a devotional posture with a crown symbolizing her victory over sin and death.