Category:Pilate's wife (subject)
According to Christian tradition, Pilate's Wife (Procula, or Claudia) tried to save Jesus of Nazareth at his trial.
Overview
Pilate's wife is known only by one verse in the Gospel of Matthew.
Later Christian tradition (Acts of Pilate) would give her a name, Procula, speculating on her relation with Jesus and her conversion to Christianity. The chronicle of Pseudo-Dexter (1619) is the first place known where she is referred to as Claudia.
Theologians were divided whether her dream came from God (so that she would convert) or by the Devil (to prevent Jesus from fulfilling his mission).
Pilate's wife, in ancient sources
Gospel of Matthew
Mt 27:19 -- While Pilate was sitting in the judgment hall, his wife sent him a message: "Have nothing to do with that innocent man, because in a dream last night, I suffered much on account of him."
Pilate's wife, in the arts
The wife of Pilate was the major character in one of the York Mystery Plays, where the Devil is said to be at the origin of her dream, but otherwise her figure is virtually absent in ancient Christian iconography.
The interest in the character arose only in the 19th century, notably, in literature, since Charlotte Brontë wrote the poem "Pilate's Wife's Dream" in 1846.
Pilate's wife is also present in some Jesus Movies, sometimes offering the opportunity of a cameo to famous actresses. In the 1952 Studio One episode "Pontius Pilate" depicted Procula as half-Jewish (and she would be brought before Pilate as a Christian rebel herself, fifteen years after Jesus' death). In the 1961 King of Kings she is identified as the daughter of the Emperor Tiberius. In The Passion of the Christ (2004 Gibson), film, she actively lobbied her husband to save Jesus and showed kindness toward Mary of Nazareth and Mary Magdalene.
More creatively, some novelists, such as Hilda Doolittle, Esther Kellner, and Antoinette May, have made Pilate's wife the protagonist of elaborated narratives, others have used her as a valid counterpart in narratives about Pilate.
For more details about fictional works where Pilate's wife has a role of protagonist, see Category:Pilate's wife--fiction (subject).
Related categories
External links
Pages in category "Pilate's wife (subject)"
The following 13 pages are in this category, out of 13 total.
1
- Pilate’s Wife (1924 Doolittle), novel
- The Wife of Pontius Pilate (1928 Turnbull), novel
- Die Frau des Pilatus (1955 Le Fort), novel
- The Wife of Pilate (1957 Le Fort / Buehrle), novel (English ed.)
- The Bride of Pilate (1959 Kellner), novel
- Pilate’s Wife (1976 Bloom), novel
- Claudia of Pompeii (1990 Lindquist), novel