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+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #69581 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69581)
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-The Project Gutenberg eBook of Sacred and Legendary Art, Volume I (of
-2), by Mrs. Jameson
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
-most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
-of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you
-will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before
-using this eBook.
-
-Title: Sacred and Legendary Art, Volume I (of 2)
-       Containing legends of the angels and archangels, the evangelists,
-       the Apostles, the doctors of the church, and St. Mary magdalene,
-       as represented in the fine arts.
-
-Author: Mrs. Jameson
-
-Release Date: December 19, 2022 [eBook #69581]
-
-Language: English
-
-Produced by: Jane Robins, Les Galloway and the Online Distributed
-             Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
-             produced from images generously made available by The
-             Internet Archive)
-
-*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SACRED AND LEGENDARY ART,
-VOLUME I (OF 2) ***
-
-
-                          Transcriber’s Notes
-
-Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations
-in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other
-spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.
-
-The woodcut number 48, The Symbol of St. Matthew. _Mosaic._, does
-not exist.
-
-On page 191, in the section on St. Peter and St.Paul, ĪC̄. X̄C̄. is an
-near approximation of the actual symbol.
-
-Italics are represented thus _italic_, bold thus =bold= and
-superscripts thus y^{en}.
-
-
-
-
-                                Sacred
-
-                                  AND
-
-                            Legendary Art.
-
-                                VOL. I.
-
-
-
-
-  THE LATEST EDITIONS OF MRS. JAMESON’S WORKS ON SACRED AND LEGENDARY
-                            CHRISTIAN ART.
-
-
-  The Fifth Edition, in 2 vols. square crown 8vo. with 19 Etchings on
-              Copper and 187 Woodcuts, price 31_s._ 6_d._
-
-LEGENDS of the SAINTS and MARTYRS as represented in the Fine Arts,
-forming the FIRST SERIES of ‘Sacred and Legendary Art.’ By Mrs. JAMESON.
-
-II. LEGENDS of the MONASTIC ORDERS. Third Edition, with 11 Etchings and
-88 Woodcuts. 1 vol. 21_s._
-
-III. LEGENDS of the MADONNA. Third Edition, with 27 Etchings and 165
-Woodcuts. 1 vol. 21_s._
-
-IV. HISTORY of OUR LORD as exemplified in Works of Art. By Mrs. JAMESON
-and Lady EASTLAKE. Second Edition, with 31 Etchings and 281 Woodcuts. 2
-vols. 42_s._
-
-⁂ Of these 312 Illustrations, all prepared specially for the ‘History
-of Our Lord,’ nearly one-third of the whole number have now been
-engraved for the first time.
-
- ‘We have in these volumes, penned in a truth-seeking spirit and
- illustrated with a copious generosity which at once elucidates and
- adorns each section of the subject, contributions to the literature of
- CHRISTIAN ART, for which every artist and every student of theology
- will confess debt of private gratitude. To thoughtful inquirers,
- richest mines are here opened for meditation. To minds prepared for
- deeper draughts to quench the thirst for knowledge, wells are dug and
- fountains are made to flow even in the desert tracks of time where
- pilgrim’s foot seldom attempts to tread. We think that Lady EASTLAKE
- has done special service in bringing into popular view recondite
- stores which have hitherto been sealed for public use. She has, by
- appeal to the early heads of Christ in the Catacombs, by reference to
- Christian sarcophagi of the fourth century, to ivories as old as the
- sixth century, and Greek MSS. and Byzantine miniatures of the ninth
- century, enabled the art-student to tract the history of types and
- antetypes, and to analyse the rudimentary germs which, from age to
- age accumulating strength and growing in comeliness, at length issued
- forth in perfected pictorial form. _It is to this, the infancy of art,
- that at the present moment peculiar interest attaches._’
-                                                  BLACKWOOD’S MAGAZINE.
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration: _The Assumption of the Magdalena_.]
-
-
-
-
-                                Sacred
-
-                                  AND
-
-                            Legendary Art.
-
-                           BY MRS. JAMESON.
-
-
-                               VOLUME I.
-
-                              CONTAINING
-
-        LEGENDS OF THE ANGELS AND ARCHANGELS, THE EVANGELISTS,
-               THE APOSTLES, THE DOCTORS OF THE CHURCH,
-                        AND ST. MARY MAGDALENE,
-
-                   AS REPRESENTED IN THE FINE ARTS.
-
-
-                           _SIXTH EDITION._
-
-
-                                LONDON:
-                       LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
-                                 1870.
-
-
-
-
-                          LONDON: PRINTED BY
-                SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE
-                         AND PARLIAMENT STREET
-
-
-
-
-                                PREFACE
-
-                                  TO
-
-                          THE THIRD EDITION.
-
-
-The Author ventures to hope that, on comparing this Third Edition of
-‘Sacred and Legendary Art’ with the two preceding, it will be found
-greatly improved, and rendered more worthy of the kind approbation and
-sympathy with which it has been received. The whole has been carefully
-revised; the references to the pictures and other works of Art
-corrected from the latest authorities, and many new examples have been
-added. All the Illustrations, which were formerly etched on copper,
-have been newly etched on steel; two have been omitted, and three
-others, as more interesting and appropriate, have been substituted; and
-twelve new woodcuts have been introduced. In a work so multifarious in
-its nature, and comprising so many hundred subjects and references,
-there may remain some errors and omissions, but they have not occurred
-from want of care; and I must not omit to express due thanks for the
-observations and corrections which have been forwarded to me from time
-to time, and which have been in this Edition carefully attended to.
-
-                                                                  A. J.
-
- _January 1857._
-
-
-
-
-                                PREFACE
-
-                                  TO
-
-                          THE FIRST EDITION.
-
-                                (1848.)
-
-
-This book was begun six years ago, in 1842. It has since been often
-laid aside, and again resumed. In this long interval, many useful and
-delightful works have been written on the same subject, but still
-the particular ground I had chosen remained unoccupied; and, amid
-many difficulties, and the consciousness of many deficiencies, I was
-encouraged to proceed, partly by the pleasure I took in a task so
-congenial—partly by the conviction that such a work has long been
-wanted by those who are not contented with a mere manual of reference,
-or a mere catalogue of names. This book is intended not only to be
-consulted, but to be read—if it be found worth reading. It has been
-written for those who are, like myself, unlearned; yet less, certainly,
-with the idea of instructing, than from a wish to share with others
-those pleasurable associations, those ever new and ever various aspects
-of character and sentiment, as exhibited in Art, which have been a
-source of such vivid enjoyment to myself.
-
-This is the utmost limit of my ambition; and, knowing that I cannot
-escape criticism, I am at least anxious that there should be no mistake
-as to purpose and intention. I hope it will be clearly understood that
-I have taken throughout the æsthetic and not the religious view of
-those productions of Art which, in as far as they are informed with a
-true and earnest feeling, and steeped in that beauty which emanates
-from genius inspired by faith, may cease to be Religion, but cannot
-cease to be Poetry; and as poetry only I have considered them.
-
-The difficulty of selection and compression has been the greatest of
-all my difficulties; there is not a chapter in this book which might
-not have been more easily extended to a volume than compressed into a
-few pages. Every reader, however, who is interested in the subject,
-may supply the omissions, follow out the suggestions, and enjoy the
-pleasure of discovering new exceptions, new analogies, for himself.
-With regard to the arrangement, I am afraid it will be found liable
-to objections; but it is the best that, after long consideration and
-many changes, I could fix upon. It is not formal, nor technical, like
-that of a catalogue or a calendar, but intended to lead the fancy
-naturally from subject to subject as one opened upon another, with
-just sufficient order to keep the mind unperplexed and the attention
-unfatigued amid a great diversity of objects, scenes, stories, and
-characters.
-
-The authorities for the legends have been the _Legenda Aurea_ of
-Voragine, in the old French and English translations; the _Flos
-Sanctorum_ of Ribadeneira, in the old French translation; the _Perfetto
-Legendario_, editions of Rome and Venice; the _Legende delle Sante
-Vergini_, Florence and Venice; the large work of Baillet, _Les Vies
-des Saints_, in thirty-two volumes, most useful for the historical
-authorities; and Alban Butler’s _Lives of the Saints_. All these have
-been consulted for such particulars of circumstance and character as
-might illustrate the various representations, and then compressed into
-a narrative as clear as I could render it. Where one authority only has
-been followed, it is usually placed in the margin.
-
-The First Part contains the legends of the scriptural personages and
-the primitive fathers.
-
-The Second Part contains those sainted personages who lived, or are
-supposed to have lived, in the first ages of Christianity, and whose
-real history, founded on fact or tradition, has been so disguised by
-poetical embroidery, that they have in some sort the air of ideal
-beings. As I could not undertake to go through the whole calendar,
-nor yet to make my book a catalogue of pictures and statues, I have
-confined myself to the saints most interesting and important, and (with
-very few exceptions) to those works of Art of which I could speak from
-my own knowledge.
-
-The legends of the monastic orders, and the history of the Franciscans
-and Dominicans, considered merely in their connexion with the revival
-and development of the Fine Arts in the thirteenth and fourteenth
-centuries, open so wide a range of speculation,—the characteristics of
-these religious enthusiasts of both sexes are so full of interest and
-beauty as artistic conceptions, and as psychological and philosophical
-studies so extraordinary, that I could not, in conscience, compress
-them into a few pages: they form a volume complete in itself, entitled
-‘Legends of the Monastic Orders.’
-
-The little sketches and woodcuts are trifling as illustrations, and
-can only assist the memory and the fancy of the reader but I regret
-this the less, inasmuch as those who take an interest in the subject
-can easily illustrate the book for themselves. To collect a portfolio
-of prints, including those works of art which are cited under each
-head as examples, with a selection from the hundreds of others which
-are not cited, and arrange them in the same order—with reference, not
-to schools, or styles, or dates, but to subject merely—would be an
-amusing, and I think not a profitless, occupation. It could not be
-done in the right spirit without leading the mind far beyond the mere
-pleasure of comparison and criticism, to ‘thoughts more elevate and
-reasonings high’ of things celestial and terrestrial, as shadowed forth
-in form by the wit and the hand of man.
-
-[Illustration: An Angel]
-
-
-
-
-                               CONTENTS
-
-                                  OF
-
-                           THE FIRST VOLUME.
-
-
-                                                                   PAGE
-  PREFACE                                                             v
-
-  INTRODUCTION:
-
-  I. Of the Origin and general Significance of the Legends represented
-  in Art                                                               1
-
-  II. Of the Distinction to be drawn between Devotional and Historical
-  Subjects                                                            11
-
-  III. Of the Patron Saints of particular Countries, Cities, and
-  Localities                                                          18
-
-  IV. Of certain Emblems and Attributes of general Application        23
-
-  V. Of the Significance of Colours. Conclusion                       35
-
-
-                       OF ANGELS AND ARCHANGELS.
-
-  OF ANGELS. Antiquity of the Belief in Angels. Early Notions respecting
-  them. How represented in the Old Testament. In the New Testament.
-  Angelic Hierarchies. The Nine Choirs. Seraphim, Cherubim. General
-  Characteristics in Painting. Infant Angels. Wings. Angels of Dante.
-  Angels as Messengers, Choristers, Guardians. As Ministers of Wrath.
-  As Agents in the Creation. Manner in which the principal Painters have
-  set forth the Angelic Forms and Attributes                          41
-
-  THE ARCHANGELS. The Seven Archangels. The Four Archangels. The Three
-  Archangels                                                          87
-
-  ST. MICHAEL                                                         94
-
-  ST. GABRIEL                                                        118
-
-  ST. RAPHAEL                                                        126
-
-  Additional Notes on Angels                                         131
-
-
-                         THE FOUR EVANGELISTS.
-
-  The earliest Types: as Four Books; as Four Rivers; as the Four
-  Mysterious Animals; the Human and Animal Forms combined; with Wings;
-  as Men                                                             132
-
-  ST. MATTHEW. His Legend. His Attributes. Pictures from his Life not
-  common                                                             143
-
-  ST. MARK. His Legend. Devotional Pictures: as Evangelist; as the
-  Disciple of Peter; as the Patron Saint of Venice. The Legend of the
-  Fisherman. The Legend of the Christian Slave. The Translation of the
-  Body of St. Mark                                                   147
-
-  ST. LUKE. His Legend. Devotional Figures. Attributes: as Evangelist
-  and Painter. St. Luke painting the Virgin                          154
-
-  ST. JOHN. His Legend. Devotional Pictures: as Evangelist; as Apostle;
-  as Prophet. Subjects from his Life; Legend of St. John and the Robber;
-  of the two Young Men; of Drusiana; of the Huntsman and the Partridge.
-  The Martyrdom of St. John. Legend of the Death of St. John. Legend of
-  Galla Placidia. Of King Edward the Confessor                       157
-
-  The Six Writers of the Canonical Epistles, as a series             172
-
-
-                         THE TWELVE APOSTLES.
-
-  Ancient Types: as Twelve Sheep; as Twelve Doves; as Twelve Men. How
-  grouped in Ecclesiastical Decoration. In the Old Mosaics; their proper
-  place. Examples from various Painters. Historical Subjects relating to
-  the Twelve Apostles: the Pentecost; the Separation of the Twelve
-  Apostles to preach the Gospel; the Twelve Baptisms; the Twelve
-  Martyrdoms                                                         173
-
-  ST. PETER and ST. PAUL. The Ancient Greek Types. Examples of the early
-  Treatment of these two Apostles: in the old Mosaics; in early
-  Sculpture; in Pictures                                             185
-
-  ST. PETER. His peculiar Attributes: as Apostle and Patron Saint; as
-  the Head and Founder of the Roman Church; St. Peter as Pope. Subjects
-  from the Scriptural Life of St. Peter. Legendary Stories connected
-  with St. Peter. The Legend of Simon Magus; of the ‘_Domine, quo
-  vadis?_’ of Processus and Martinian. The Martyrdom of St. Peter.
-  St. Peter as Keeper of the Gates of Paradise. The Legend of St.
-  Petronilla. The Life of St. Peter in a Series of Subjects          193
-
-  ST. PAUL. Earliest Type. Attributes of St. Paul: the Sword. Subjects
-  from his Life. Stoning of Stephen. Conversion of St. Paul. The Vision
-  of St. Paul. Miracles of St. Paul. His Martyrdom. The Legend of
-  Plautilla. The Life of St. Paul in a Series of Subjects            212
-
-  ST. ANDREW. The Legend. Attributes. Historical Subjects from the Life
-  of St. Andrew. Flagellation. Adoration of the Cross. Martyrdom as
-  represented by Guido, Domenichino, and Murillo                     226
-
-  ST. JAMES MAJOR. Story and Character as represented in Scripture. St.
-  James as Patron of Spain. The Legend of Santiago. The Battle of
-  Clavijo. The Pilgrims of Compostella. The Devotional Figures and
-  Attributes of St. James the Apostle. As Tutelar Saint of Spain.
-  Pictures from his Legend                                           230
-
-  ST. PHILIP. The Legend of the Idol and the Serpent. Devotional
-  Pictures and Attributes. Subjects from his Legend. Distinction between
-  St. Philip the Apostle and St. Philip the Deacon                   241
-
-  ST. BARTHOLOMEW. The Legend. The Attributes. Martyrdom             244
-
-  ST. THOMAS. Origin of his peculiar Attribute. The Legend of King
-  Gondoforus. The Incredulity of St. Thomas. The Legend of the ‘_Madonna
-  della Cintola_.’ Martyrdom of St. Thomas                           245
-
-  ST. JAMES MINOR. First Bishop of Jerusalem. Attributes. Resemblance to
-  Christ. Subjects from his Life. Martyrdom. Frescoes at Padua       250
-
-  ST. SIMON AND ST. JUDE. Legend and Attributes. Represented as
-  Children                                                           252
-
-  ST. MATTHIAS. Attributes                                           254
-
-  JUDAS ISCARIOT. Scriptural Character. Legends relating to him; how
-  represented in various Subjects                                    255
-
-  THE LAST SUPPER. Its importance as a Sacred Subject. Devotional when
-  it represents the Institution of the Eucharist. Historical when it
-  represents the Detection of Judas. Various Examples. Giotto. Duccio of
-  Siena. Angelico da Fiesole. Luca Signorelli. Ghirlandajo. Albert
-  Dürer. Leonardo da Vinci. Raphael. Andrea del Sarto. Titian.
-  Poussin.                                                            261
-
-  Faults and Mistakes committed by Painters in representing the Last
-  Supper                                                             273
-
-  ST. BARNABAS. His Legend. Popular at Venice as Kinsman of St. Mark.
-  Represented with the Gospel of St. Matthew                         278
-
-
-                      THE DOCTORS OF THE CHURCH.
-
-  THE FOUR LATIN FATHERS. Their Particular Attributes. Their proper
-  place in Ecclesiastical Decoration. Subjects in which they are
-  introduced together                                                280
-
-  ST. JEROME. History and Character. Influence over the Roman Women.
-  Origin of his Attributes. Legend of the Wounded Lion. Devotional
-  Figures of St. Jerome: as Patron Saint; as Translator of the
-  Scriptures; as Penitent. Subjects from the Life of St. Jerome. The
-  Communion of St. Jerome                                            285
-
-  ST. AMBROSE. Story and Character of St. Ambrose. The Emperor
-  Theodosius. The Discovery of the Martyrs St. Protasius and St.
-  Gervasius. Legends relating to St. Ambrose. The Prefect Macedonius.
-  The Nobleman of Tuscany. Devotional Figures of St. Ambrose. His
-  peculiar Attributes. His Church at Milan; his Life as represented on
-  the Altar. Statue of St. Ambrose                                   300
-
-  ST. AUGUSTINE. Character of St. Augustine. His Shrine at Pavia, and
-  Bassorelievos representing his Life. Devotional Figures of St.
-  Augustine. Represented with his Mother, Monica. Various Subjects from
-  his Life. The Vision of St. Augustine                              308
-
-  ST. GREGORY. His Story and Character. His Popularity. Legends
-  connected with his Life. Origin of his Attribute, the Dove. The Supper
-  of St. Gregory. The Mass of St. Gregory. The Miracle of the Brandeum.
-  St. Gregory releases the Soul of the Emperor Trajan. The Legend as
-  represented in Pictures. The Legend of the Monk. St. Gregory’s
-  Doctrine of Purgatory. How represented                             315
-
-  THE FOUR GREEK FATHERS. How represented in the Greek Pictures, and by
-  the Latin Artists                                                  324
-
-  ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. Singular Legends with regard to him. The Penance
-  of St. Chrysostom. As represented in the German Prints. By Lucas
-  Cranach. By Beham. By Albert Dürer                                 325
-
-  ST. BASIL THE GREAT. His Character. How represented. Story of the
-  Emperor Valens. Legends which refer to St. Basil                   335
-
-  ST. ATHANASIUS. How represented. Unpopular as a Subject of Art     339
-
-  ST. GREGORY NAZIANZEN. His History and Character. His celebrity as a
-  Poet. Beautiful Miniatures relative to his Life                    340
-
-  ST. CYRIL. How represented                                         342
-
-
-  ST. MARY MAGDALENE, ST. MARTHA, ST. LAZARUS, ST. MAXIMIN,
-      ST. MARCELLA, ST. MARY OF EGYPT, AND THE BEATIFIED
-      PENITENTS.
-
-  Character of Mary Magdalene. Disputes concerning her Identity. The
-  Popular and Scriptural Legend. The old Provençal Legend. The
-  Devotional Representations: as Patron Saint; as Penitent. Sacred
-  Subjects in which she is introduced. Legendary Subjects. La Danse de
-  la Madeleine. The Assumption of the Magdalene. The Legend of the
-  Mother and Child. Her Life in a Series of Subjects. Legends of Mary
-  Magdalene and St. John the Evangelist                              343
-
-  ST. MARTHA. Her Character. Legends of St. Martha. How represented.
-  Where introduced                                                   381
-
-  ST. LAZARUS                                                        383
-
-  ST. MARY OF EGYPT. The Legend. Distinction between St. Mary of Egypt
-  and Mary Magdalene. Proper Attributes of Mary of Egypt. Stories and
-  Pictures from her Life                                             385
-
-  MARY THE PENITENT, not to be confounded with Mary of Egypt. Her Story.
-  Landscapes of Philippe de Champagne                                390
-
-  ST. THAIS. ST. PELAGIA                                             393
-
-
-
-
-                         LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
-
-                                  IN
-
-                           THE FIRST VOLUME.
-
-
-                               Woodcuts.
-
-  1. Laus Deo. _Liberale di Verona._
-  2. Angel. _Gaudenzio Ferrari._
-  3. Angels singing ‘Gloria in Excelsis Deo.’ _Perugino._
-  4. Seraph. _Greek Emblem, 9th Century._
-  5. Cherubim. _Italian, 14th Century._
-  6. Cherubim. _Pinturicchio._
-  7. Cherubim. _Liberale di Verona._
-  8. Part of a Glory of Angels. _Ambrogio Borgognone._
-  9. Winged Genius. _Egyptian._
-  10. Winged Figure. _Nineveh Marbles._
-  11. Seraph. _Ancient Greek Mosaic._
-  12. Angels. _Orcagna._
-  13. Fiery Cherub. _Raphael._
-  14. Angel, hymning the Virgin. _Francia._
-  15. Piping Angel. _Gian Bellini._
-  16. Greek Angel bearing the Moon.
-  17. Angels on Horseback. _Cathedral of Auxerre._
-  18. Angels expelling Adam and Eve. _N. Pisano._
-  19. Angels who visit Abraham. _Raphael._
-  20. Plan of the Riccardi Chapel. _Florence._
-  21. Lamenting Angel. _Campo Santo._
-  22. The Angel wrestles with Jacob. _Greek Miniature._
-  23. Greek Angel. _Miniature._
-  24. Greek Angels. _Mosaic._
-  25. Angels. _F. Granacci._
-  26. Angel in a Crucifixion. _Albert Dürer._
-  27. Angels of the 17th Century.
-  28. Angel. _Poussin._
-  29. Angels rejoicing. _W. Blake._
-  30. Two Archangels. _Cimabue._
-  31. The Archangels Michael and Raphael. _Campo Santo._
-  32. Angels bearing the Instruments of the Passion. _Campo Santo._
-  33. The Three Archangels bear the Infant Christ.
-  34. St. Michael as Patron Saint. _Angelico da Fiesole._
-  35. Early Symbol of St. Michael and the Dragon. _Bas-relief._
-  36. St. Michael overcomes the Demon. _Martin Schoen._
-  37. The same subject. _Raphael._
-  38. St. Michael as Patron Saint. _Mabuse._
-  39. St. Michael as Angel of Judgment and Lord of Souls. _Justus of
-      Ghent._
-  40. St. Michael as Lord of Souls. _Luca Signorelli._
-  41. Egyptian Symbol.
-  42. St. Gabriel. _Lorenzo of Monaco._
-  43. St. Gabriel. _Wilhelm of Cologne._
-  44. Angel announcing the Death of the Virgin. _Filippo Lippi._
-  45. St. Gabriel. _Van Eyck._
-  46. St. Raphael. _Murillo._
-  47. St. Raphael. _Rembrandt._
-  48. The Symbol of St. Matthew. _Mosaic._
-  49. The Tetramorph. _Greek._
-  50. Symbol of St. Luke. _Mosaic._
-  51. Symbol of St. Luke. _Mosaic._
-  52. Symbol of St. John. _Mosaic._
-  53. Symbol of St. Mark. _Mosaic._
-  54. Symbol of St. John. _Miniature._
-  55. Symbol of St. Mark. _Sculpture._
-  56. Mystical Figures of the Four Evangelists. _Angelico da Fiesole._
-  57. Figure from Nineveh. _British Museum._
-  58. Winged St. Mark. _Hans Beham._
-  59. St. Matthew. _Raphael._
-  60. St. John. _Hans Hemling._
-  61. St. John with the Eagle. _Raphael._
-  62. St. John as Prophet. _Raphael._
-  63. St. John in the Island of Patmos. _Lucas van Leyden._
-  64. The Twelve Apostles, as Sheep. _Mosaic._
-  65. St. Philip. _Orcagna._
-  66. St. Peter and St. Paul. _Carlo Crivelli._
-  67. St. Peter. _Greek Type._
-  68. St. Peter with one Key. _Taddeo Gaddi._
-  69. St. Paul. _Greek Type._
-  70. St. Peter as Pope. _Cola dell’ Amatrice._
-  71. Repentance of Peter. _Bas-relief, 3rd Century._
-  72. Crucifixion of Peter. _Giotto._
-  73. St. Peter, as Keeper of the Gates of Paradise. _Simone Memmi._
-  74. St. Andrew. _Peter Vischer._
-  75. St. James Major. _Giovanni Santi._
-  76. Santiago slaying the Moors. _Carreño de Miranda._
-  77. St. James Major as Patron. _Andrea del Sarto._
-  78. The Miracle of the Fowls. _Lo Spagna._
-  79. St. Philip. _Albert Dürer._
-  80. St. Bartholomew. _Giotto._
-  81. St. Thomas. _Raphael._
-  82. St. James Minor. _L. van Leyden._
-  83. St. Matthias. _Raphael._
-  84. Angel swinging the Censer. _Albert Dürer._
-  85. St. Jerome doing Penance. _Titian._
-  86. St. Jerome. _Raphael._
-  87. St. Jerome healing the Lion. _Coll’ Antonio da Fiore._
-  88. Venetian St. Jerome.
-  89. The Vision of St. Augustine. _Murillo._
-  90. ‘La Pénitence de St. Jean Chrysostome.’ _Albert Dürer._
-  91. St. Mary Magdalene. Statue. _Donatello._
-  92. St. Mary Magdalene. _L. van Leyden._
-  93. St. Mary Magdalene. _Timoteo della Vite._
-  94. St. Mary Magdalene. _Murillo._
-  95. St. Mary Magdalene. _Annibale Caracci._
-  96. The Assumption of the Magdalene. _Albert Dürer._
-  97. St. Mary of Egypt dying. _Pietro da Cortona._
-  98. Angel. _Raphael._
-
-
-
-
-                               Etchings.
-
-                                                                    PAGE
-
-  I. The Assumption of the Magdalene. _After Giulio Romano._ The
-  Original Fresco, which is in our National Gallery, was cut from the
-  wall of the Church of the Trinità de’ Monti, at Rome            _Title_
-
-  II. A Venetian Votive Picture in commemoration of a Pestilence
-  (probably the pestilence of 1512, in which Giorgione perished).
-  St. Mark, enthroned as the Patron Saint of Venice, holds his Gospel;
-  on the right St. Sebastian and St. Roch, Protectors against the Plague;
-  on the left, St. Cosmo and St. Damian, Patron Saints of the Healing
-  Art. _Sketch after Titian._ The Original Picture, remarkable for
-  beauty of expression, and splendour and harmony of colour, in the
-  Church of S. Maria della  Salute, at Venice                         22
-
-  III. Angels of the Planets. _Raphael. From the fine set of Engravings
-  by L. Gruner, after the Frescoes in the Cappella Chigiana at Rome_  80
-
-  IV. 1. St. Luke painting the Virgin. _After the Picture in the Academy
-  of St. Luke attributed to Raphael._ 2. St. Mark attended by St.
-  Gregory. _After Correggio_                                         156
-
-  V. The Madonna della Cintola. The Virgin, as she ascends to heaven,
-  presents her girdle to St. Thomas; who kneels by the tomb, which is
-  full of roses. On the other side, the Archangel Michael, in reference
-  to the Legend. _From a Picture by Francesco Granacci in the Florence
-  Gallery_                                                           248
-
-  VI. The Last Supper. 1. _After Giotto._ 2. _After Leonardo da Vinci._
-  3. _After Raphael._ (For this etching I am indebted to Mr. George
-  Scharf.)                                                           261
-
-  VII. The Four Latin Fathers. _From a Picture by Antonio Vivarini, in
-  the Academy at Venice_                                             280
-
-  VIII. The Five Greek Fathers. _Drawing from an Ancient Greek Picture
-  in the Vatican_                                                    324
-
-  IX. Martha conducts her Sister Mary Magdalene to the Presence of our
-  Lord. _From the Engraving by Marc’ Antonio, after Raphael_         381
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration: 1  Laus Deo!]
-
-
-
-
-                             Introduction.
-
-I. OF THE ORIGIN AND GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE LEGENDS REPRESENTED IN
-                                 ART.
-
-
-We cannot look round a picture gallery—we cannot turn over a portfolio
-of prints after the old masters, nor even the modern engravings which
-pour upon us daily, from Paris, Munich, or Berlin—without perceiving
-how many of the most celebrated productions of Art, more particularly
-those which have descended to us from the early Italian and German
-schools, represent incidents and characters taken from the once popular
-legends of the Catholic Church. This form of ‘_Hero-Worship_’ has
-become, since the Reformation, strange to us—as far removed from our
-sympathies and associations as if it were antecedent to the fall of
-Babylon and related to the religion of Zoroaster, instead of being
-left but two or three centuries behind us and closely connected with
-the faith of our forefathers and the history of civilisation and
-Christianity. Of late years, with a growing passion for the works
-of Art of the Middle Ages, there has arisen among us a desire to
-comprehend the state of feeling which produced them, and the legends
-and traditions on which they are founded;—a desire to understand, and
-to bring to some surer critical test, representations which have become
-familiar without being intelligible. To enable us to do this, we must
-pause for a moment at the outset; and, before we plunge into the midst
-of things, ascend to higher ground, and command a far wider range of
-illustration than has yet been attempted, in order to take cognizance
-of principles and results which, if not new, must be contemplated in a
-new relation to each other.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The Legendary Art of the Middle Ages sprang out of the legendary
-literature of the preceding ages. For three centuries at least, this
-literature, the only literature which existed at the time, formed
-the sole mental and moral nourishment of the _people_ of Europe. The
-romances of Chivalry, which long afterwards succeeded, were confined to
-particular classes, and left no impress on Art, beyond the miniature
-illuminations of a few manuscripts. This legendary literature, on
-the contrary, which had worked itself into the life of the people,
-became, like the antique mythology, as a living soul diffused through
-the loveliest forms of Art, still vivid and vivifying, even when the
-old faith in its mystical significance was lost or forgotten. And it
-is a mistake to suppose that these legends had their sole origin in
-the brains of dreaming monks. The wildest of them had some basis of
-truth to rest on, and the forms which they gradually assumed were but
-the necessary result of the age which produced them. They became the
-intense expression of that inner life, which revolted against the
-desolation and emptiness of the outward existence; of those crushed and
-outraged sympathies which cried aloud for rest, and refuge, and solace,
-and could nowhere find them. It will be said, ‘In the purer doctrine of
-the GOSPEL.’ But where was that to be found? The Gospel was not then
-the heritage of the poor: Christ, as a comforter, walked not among men.
-His own blessed teaching was inaccessible except to the learned: it was
-shut up in rare manuscripts; it was perverted and sophisticated by the
-passions and the blindness of those few to whom it _was_ accessible.
-The bitter disputes in the early Church relative to the nature of the
-Godhead, the subtle distinctions and incomprehensible arguments of
-the theologians, the dread entertained by the predominant church of
-any heterodox opinions concerning the divinity of the Redeemer, had
-all conspired to remove _Him_, in his personal character of Teacher
-and Saviour, far away from the hearts of the benighted and miserable
-people—far, far away into regions speculative, mysterious, spiritual,
-whither they could not, dared not follow Him. In this state of things,
-as it has been remarked by a distinguished writer, ‘Christ became the
-object of a remoter, a more awful adoration. The mind began, therefore,
-to seek out, or eagerly to seize, some other more material beings in
-closer alliance with human sympathies.’ And the same author, after
-tracing in vivid and beautiful language the dangerous but natural
-consequences of this feeling, thus sums up the result: ‘During the
-perilous and gloomy days of persecution, the reverence for those who
-endured martyrdom for the religion of Christ had grown up out of the
-best feelings of man’s improved nature. Reverence gradually grew into
-veneration, worship, adoration: and although the more rigid theology
-maintained a marked distinction between the honour shown to the
-martyrs, and that addressed to the Redeemer and the Supreme Being,
-the line was too fine and invisible not to be transgressed by excited
-popular feeling.’[1]
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-‘We live,’ says the poet, ‘through admiration, hope, and love.’ Out
-of these vital aspirations—not indeed always ‘well or wisely placed,’
-but never, as in the heathen mythology, degraded to vicious and
-contemptible objects—arose and spread the universal passion for the
-traditional histories of the saints and martyrs,—personages endeared
-and sanctified in all hearts, partly as examples of the loftiest
-virtue, partly as benign intercessors between suffering humanity and
-that Deity who, in every other light than as a God of Vengeance, had
-been veiled from their eyes by the perversities of schoolmen and
-fanatics, till He had receded beyond their reach, almost beyond their
-comprehension. Of the prevalence and of the incalculable influence
-of this legendary literature from the seventh to the tenth century,
-that is, just about the period when Modern Art was struggling into
-existence, we have a most striking picture in Guizot’s ‘Histoire de la
-Civilisation.’ ‘As after the siege of Troy (says this philosophical
-and eloquent writer) there were found, in every city of Greece, men who
-collected the traditions and adventures of heroes, and sung them for
-the recreation of the people, till these recitals became a national
-passion, a national poetry, so, at the time of which we speak, the
-traditions of what may be called the heroic ages of Christianity had
-the same interest for the nations of Europe. There were men who made it
-their business to collect them, to transcribe them, to read or recite
-them aloud, for the edification and delight of the people. And this was
-the only literature, properly so called, of that time.‘
-
-Now, if we go back to the _authentic_ histories of the sufferings and
-heroism of the early martyrs, we shall find enough there, both of the
-wonderful and the affecting, to justify the credulity and enthusiasm of
-the unlettered people, who saw no reason why they should not believe
-in one miracle as well as in another. In these universally diffused
-legends, we may recognise the means, at least one of the means, by
-which a merciful Providence, working through its own immutable laws,
-had provided against the utter depravation, almost extinction, of
-society. Of the ‘Dark Ages,’ emphatically so called, the period to
-which I allude was perhaps the darkest; it was ‘of Night’s black arch
-the key-stone.’ At a time when men were given over to the direst evils
-that can afflict humanity,—ignorance, idleness, wickedness, misery;
-at a time when the every-day incidents of life were a violation of
-all the moral instincts of mankind; at a time when all things seemed
-abandoned to a blind chance, or the brutal law of force; when there was
-no repose, no refuge, no safety anywhere; when the powerful inflicted,
-and the weak endured, whatever we can conceive of most revolting and
-intolerable; when slavery was recognised by law throughout Europe;
-when men fled to cloisters, to shut themselves from oppression, and
-women to shield themselves from outrage; when the manners were harsh,
-the language gross; when all the softer social sentiments, as pity,
-reverence, tenderness, found no resting-place in the actual relations
-of life; when for the higher ranks there was only the fierce excitement
-of war, and on the humbler classes lay the weary, dreary monotony of
-a stagnant existence, poor in pleasures of every kind, without aim,
-without hope; _then_—wondrous reaction of the ineffaceable instincts
-of good implanted within us!—arose a literature which reversed the
-outward order of things, which asserted and kept alive in the hearts
-of men those pure principles of Christianity which were outraged in
-their daily actions; a literature in which peace was represented as
-better than war, and sufferance more dignified than resistance; which
-exhibited poverty and toil as honourable, and charity as the first
-of virtues; which held up to imitation and emulation, self-sacrifice
-in the cause of good and contempt of death for conscience’ sake: a
-literature, in which the tenderness, the chastity, the heroism of
-woman, played a conspicuous part; which distinctly protested against
-slavery, against violence, against impurity in word and deed; which
-refreshed the fevered and darkened spirit with images of moral beauty
-and truth; revealed bright glimpses of a better land, where ‘the wicked
-cease from troubling,’ and brought down the angels of God with shining
-wings and bearing crowns of glory, to do battle with the demons of
-darkness, to catch the fleeting soul of the triumphant martyr, and
-carry it at once into a paradise of eternal blessedness and peace!
-
-Now the Legendary Art of the three centuries which comprise the revival
-of learning, was, as I have said, the reflection of this literature, of
-this teaching. Considered in this point of view, can we easily overrate
-its interest and importance?
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-When, after the long period of darkness which followed upon the decline
-of the Roman Empire, the Fine Arts began to revive, the first, and for
-several ages the only, impress they received was that of the religious
-spirit of the time. Painting, Sculpture, Music, and Architecture, as
-they emerged one after another from the ‘formless void,’ were pressed
-into the service of the Church. But it is a mistake to suppose that
-in adroitly adapting the reviving Arts to her purposes, in that
-magnificent spirit of calculation which at all times characterised her,
-the Church from the beginning selected the subjects, or dictated the
-use that was to be made of them. We find, on the contrary, edicts and
-councils _repressing_ the popular extravagances in this respect, and
-denouncing those apocryphal versions of sacred events and traditions
-which had become the delight of the people. But vain were councils and
-edicts; the tide was too strong to be so checked. The Church found
-herself obliged to accept and mould to her own objects the exotic
-elements she could not eradicate. She _absorbed_, so to speak, the
-evils and errors she could not expel. There seems to have been at this
-time a sort of compromise between the popular legends, with all their
-wild mixture of northern and classical superstitions, and the Church
-legends properly so called. The first great object to which reviving
-Art was destined, was to render the Christian places of worship a
-theatre of instruction and improvement for the people, to attract and
-to interest them by representations of scenes, events, and personages,
-already so familiar as to require no explanation, appealing; at once
-to their intelligence and their sympathies; embodying in beautiful
-shapes (beautiful at least in their eyes) associations and feelings and
-memories deep-rooted in their very hearts, and which had influenced,
-in no slight degree, the progress of civilisation, the development of
-mind. Upon these creations of ancient Art we cannot look as _those_ did
-for whom they were created; we cannot annihilate the centuries which
-lie between us and them; we cannot, in simplicity of heart, forget the
-artist in the image he has placed before us, nor supply what may be
-deficient in his work, through a reverentially excited fancy. We are
-critical, not credulous. We no longer accept this polytheistic form of
-Christianity; and there is little danger, I suppose, of our falling
-again into the strange excesses of superstition to which it led. But
-if we have not much sympathy with modern imitations of Mediæval Art,
-still less should we sympathise with that narrow puritanical jealousy
-which holds the monuments of a real and earnest faith in contempt. All
-that God has permitted once to exist in the past should be considered
-as the possession of the present; sacred for example or warning, and
-held as the foundation on which to build up what is better and purer.
-It should seem an established fact, that all revolutions in religion,
-in government, and in art, which begin in the spirit of scorn, and
-in a sweeping destruction of the antecedent condition, only tend
-to a reaction. Our puritanical ancestors chopped off the heads of
-Madonnas and Saints, and paid vagabonds to smash the storied windows
-of our cathedrals;—_now_, are these rejected and outraged shapes of
-beauty coming back to us, or are we not rather going back to them? As
-a Protestant, I might fear lest in doing so we confound the eternal
-spirit of Christianity with the mutable forms in which it has deigned
-to speak to the hearts of men, forms which must of necessity vary
-with the degree of social civilisation, and bear the impress of the
-feelings and fashions of the age which produced them; but I must also
-feel that we ought to comprehend, and to hold in due reverence, that
-which has once been consecrated to holiest aims, which has shown us
-what a magnificent use has been made of Art, and how it may still be
-adapted to good and glorious purposes, if, while we respect these
-time-consecrated images and types, we do not allow them to fetter us,
-but trust in the progressive spirit of Christianity to furnish us with
-new impersonations of the good—new combinations of the beautiful. I
-hate the destructive as I revere the progressive spirit. We must laugh
-if any one were to try and persuade us that the sun was guided along
-his blazing path by a ‘fair-haired god who touched a golden lyre;’ but
-shall we therefore cease to adore in the Apollo Belvedere the majestic
-symbol of light, the most divine impersonation of intellectual power
-and beauty? So of the corresponding Christian symbols:—may that time
-never come, when we shall look up to the effigy of the winged and
-radiant angel trampling down the brute-fiend, without a glow of faith
-in the perpetual supremacy and final triumph of good over evil!
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-It is about a hundred years since the passion, or the fashion, for
-collecting works of Art, began to be generally diffused among the
-rich and the noble of this land; and it is amusing to look back
-and to consider the perversions and affectations of the would-be
-connoisseurship during this period;—the very small stock of ideas
-on which people set up a pretension to taste—the false notions, the
-mixture of pedantry and ignorance, which everywhere prevailed. The
-publication of Richardson’s book, and Sir Joshua Reynolds’s Discourses,
-had this advantage,—that they, to a certain degree, diffused a more
-elevated idea of Art as _Art_, and that they placed connoisseurship
-on a better and truer basis. In those days we had Inquiries into the
-Principles of Taste, Treatises on the Sublime and Beautiful, Anecdotes
-of Painting; and we abounded in Antiquarian Essays on disputed Pictures
-and mutilated Statues: but then, and up to a late period, any inquiry
-into the true spirit and significance of works of Art, as connected
-with the history of Religion and Civilisation, would have appeared
-ridiculous—or perhaps dangerous:—we should have had another cry of
-‘No Popery,’ and acts of parliament forbidding the importation of
-Saints and Madonnas. It was fortunate, perhaps, that connoisseurs
-meddled not with such high matters. They talked volubly and harmlessly
-of ‘hands,’ and ‘masters,’ and ‘schools,’—of ‘draperies,’ of ‘tints,’
-of ‘handling,’—of ‘fine heads,’ ‘fine compositions;’ of ‘the grace of
-Raphael,’ and of the ‘Correggiosity of Correggio.’ The very manner in
-which the names of the painters were pedantically used instead of the
-name of the subject, is indicative of this factitious feeling; the only
-question at issue was, whether such a picture was a genuine ‘Raphael?’
-such another a genuine ‘Titian?’ The spirit of the work—whether _that_
-was genuine; how far it was influenced by the faith and the condition
-of the age which produced it; whether the conception was properly
-characteristic, and of _what_ it was characteristic—of the subject? or
-of the school? or of the time?—whether the treatment corresponded to
-the idea within our own souls, or was modified by the individuality
-of the artist, or by received conventionalisms of all kinds?—these
-were questions which had not then occurred to any one; and I am not
-sure that we are much wiser even now: yet, setting aside all higher
-considerations, how can we do common justice to the artist, unless
-we can bring his work to the test of truth? and how can we do this,
-unless we know what to look for, what was _intended_ as to incident,
-expression, character? One result of our ignorance has been the
-admiration wasted on the flimsy mannerists of the later ages of Art;
-men who apparently had no definite _intention_ in anything they did,
-except a dashing outline, or a delicate finish, or a striking and
-attractive management of colour.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-It is curious, this general ignorance with regard to the subjects of
-Mediæval Art, more particularly now that it has become a reigning
-fashion among us. We find no such ignorance with regard to the subjects
-of Classical Art, because the associations connected with them form a
-part of every liberal education. Do we hear any one say, in looking at
-Annibal Caracci’s picture in the National Gallery, ‘Which is Silenus,
-and which is Apollo?’ Who ever confounds a Venus with a Minerva, or
-a Vestal with an Amazon; or would endure an undraped Juno, or a
-beardless Jupiter? Even the gardener in Zeluco knew Neptune by his
-‘fork,’ and Vulcan by his ‘lame leg.’ We are indeed so accustomed, in
-visiting the churches and the galleries abroad, and the collections at
-home, to the predominance of sacred subjects, that it has become a mere
-matter of course, and excites no particular interest and attention.
-We have heard it all accounted for by the fact that the Church and
-churchmen were the first, and for a long time the only, patrons of Art.
-In every sacred edifice, and in every public or private collection
-enriched from the plunder of sacred edifices, we look for the usual
-proportion of melancholy martyrdoms and fictitious miracles,—for
-the predominance of Madonnas and Magdalenes, St. Catherines and St.
-Jeromes: but why these should predominate, why certain events and
-characters from the Old and the New Testament should be continually
-repeated, and others comparatively neglected; whence the predilection
-for certain legendary personages, who seemed to be multiplied to
-infinity, and the rarity of others; of this we know nothing.
-
-We have learned, perhaps, after running through half the galleries
-and churches in Europe, to distinguish a few of the attributes and
-characteristic figures which meet us at every turn, yet without any
-clear idea of their meaning, derivation, or relative propriety. The
-palm of victory, we know, designates the martyr triumphant in death.
-We so far emulate the critical sagacity of the gardener in Zeluco
-that we have learned to distinguish St. Laurence by his gridiron,
-and St. Catherine by her wheel. We are not at a loss to recognise
-the Magdalene’s ‘loose hair and lifted eye,’ even when without her
-skull and her vase of ointment. We learn to know St. Francis by his
-brown habit and shaven crown and wasted ardent features; but do we
-distinguish him from St. Anthony, or St. Dominick? As for St. George
-and the dragon—from the St. George of the Louvre,—Raphael’s,—who sits
-his horse with the elegant tranquillity of one assured of celestial
-aid, down to him ‘who swings on a sign post at mine hostess’s door,’—he
-is our familiar acquaintance. But who is that lovely being in the first
-blush of youth, who, bearing aloft the symbolic cross, stands with one
-foot on the vanquished dragon? ‘That is a copy after Raphael.’ And who
-is that majestic creature holding her palm branch, while the unicorn
-crouches at her feet? ‘That is the famous Moretto at Vienna.’ Are we
-satisfied?—not in the least! but we try to look wiser, and pass on.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-In the old times the painters of these legendary scenes and subjects
-could always reckon securely on certain associations and certain
-sympathies in the minds of the spectators. We have outgrown these
-associations, we repudiate these sympathies. We have taken these
-works from their consecrated localities, in which they once held each
-their dedicated place, and we have hung them in our drawing-rooms
-and our dressing-rooms, over our pianos and our side-boards—and now
-what do they say to us? That Magdalene, weeping amid her hair, who
-once spoke comfort to the soul of the fallen sinner—that Sebastian,
-arrow-pierced, whose upward ardent glance spoke of courage and hope
-to the tyrant-ridden serf,—that poor tortured slave, to whose aid St.
-Mark comes sweeping down from above,—can they speak to _us_ of nothing
-save flowing lines and correct drawing and gorgeous colour? must we be
-told that one is a Titian, the other a Guido, the third a Tintoret,
-before we dare to melt in compassion or admiration?—or the moment we
-refer to their ancient religious signification and influence, must
-it be with disdain or with pity? This, as it appears to me, is to
-take not a rational, but rather a most irrational as well as a most
-irreverent, view of the question; it is to confine the pleasure and
-improvement to be derived from works of Art within very narrow bounds;
-it is to seal up a fountain of the richest poetry, and to shut out a
-thousand ennobling and inspiring thoughts. Happily there is a growing
-appreciation of these larger principles of criticism as applied to
-the study of Art. People look at the pictures which hang round their
-walls, and have an awakening suspicion that there is more in them than
-meets the eye—more than mere connoisseurship can interpret; and that
-they have another, a deeper, significance than has been dreamed of by
-picture dealers and picture collectors, or even picture critics.
-
-
-   II. OF THE DISTINCTION TO BE DRAWN BETWEEN THE DEVOTIONAL AND THE
-                         HISTORICAL SUBJECTS.
-
-At first, when entering on a subject so boundless and so diversified,
-we are at a loss for some leading classification which shall be
-distinct and intelligible, without being mechanical. It appears to me,
-that all sacred representations, in as far as they appeal to sentiment
-and imagination, resolve themselves into two great classes, which I
-shall call the DEVOTIONAL and the HISTORICAL.
-
-Devotional pictures are those which portray the objects of our
-veneration with reference only to their sacred character, whether
-standing singly or in company with others. They place before us
-no action or event, real or supposed. They are neither portrait
-nor history. A group of sacred personages where no action is
-represented, is called in Italian a ‘_sacra conversazione_:’ the word
-_conversazione_, which signifies a society in which there is communion,
-being here, as it appears to me, used with peculiar propriety. All
-subjects, then, which exhibit to us sacred personages, alone or in
-groups, simply in the character of superior beings, must be considered
-as _devotionally_ treated.
-
-But a sacred subject, without losing wholly its religious import,
-becomes historical the moment it represents any story, incident, or
-action, real or imagined. All pictures which exhibit the events of
-Scripture story, all those which express the actions, miracles, and
-martyrdoms of saints, come under this class; and to this distinction I
-must call the attention of the reader, requesting that it may be borne
-in mind throughout this work.
-
-We must also recollect that a story, action, or fact may be so
-represented as to become a symbol expressive of an abstract idea:
-and some scriptural and some legendary subjects may be devotional,
-or historical, according to the sentiment conveyed: for example, the
-Crucifixion and the Last Supper may be so represented as either to
-exhibit an event, or to express a symbol of our Redemption. The raising
-of Lazarus exhibits, in the catacombs, a mystical emblem of the general
-resurrection; in the grand picture by Sebastian del Piombo, in our
-National Gallery, it is a scene from the life of our Saviour. Among
-the legendary subjects, the penance of the Magdalene, and St. Martin
-dividing his cloak, may be merely incidents, or they may be symbolical,
-the first of penitence, the latter of charity, in the general sense.
-And, again, there are some subjects which, though expressing a scene or
-an action, are _wholly_ mystical and devotional in their import; as the
-vision of St. Augustine, and the marriage of St. Catherine.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Among the grandest of the devotional subjects, we may reckon those
-compositions which represent the whole celestial hierarchy; the divine
-personages of the Trinity, the angels and archangels, and the beatified
-spirits of the just. Such is the subject called the ‘Paradiso,’ so
-often met with in pictures and ecclesiastical decoration, where Christ
-is enthroned in glory: such is also the Coronation of the Virgin, that
-ancient and popular symbol of the triumph of Religion or the Church;
-the Adoration of the Lamb; and the Last Judgment, from the Apocalypse.
-The order of precedence in these sacred assemblages was early settled
-by ecclesiastical authority, and was almost as absolute as that of
-a modern code of honour. First after the Trinity, the Virgin Mary,
-as _Regina Angelorum_, and St. John the Baptist: then, in order, the
-Evangelists; the Patriarchs; the Prophets; the Apostles; the Fathers;
-the Bishops; the Martyrs; the Hermits; the Virgins; the Monks, Nuns,
-and Confessors.
-
-As examples, I may cite the Paradiso of Angelico, in the Florence
-Academy; the Coronation of the Virgin by Hans Memling, in the
-Wallerstein collection, which contains not less than fifty-two figures,
-all individualised with their proper attributes; and which, if it
-were possible, should be considered in contrast with the Coronation
-by Angelico. The Flemish painter seems to have carried his intense
-impression of earthly and individual life into the regions of heaven;
-the Italian, through a purer inspiration, seems to have brought all
-Paradise down before us upon earth. In the Adoration of the Lamb by
-Van Eyck, there are not fewer than two hundred figures. For the Last
-Judgment, the grand compositions of Orcagna in the Campo Santo,—of Luca
-Signorelli and Angelico at Orvieto,—and the fresco of Michael Angelo in
-the Sistine Chapel, may be consulted.
-
-Where the usual order is varied, there is generally some reason for
-it; for instance, in the exaltation of a favourite saint, as we
-sometimes find St. Dominick and St. Francis by the side of St. Peter
-and St. Paul: and among the miniatures of that extraordinary MS., the
-Hortus Deliciarum, now at Strasbourg, painted for a virgin abbess,
-there is a ‘Paradiso’ in which the painter, either by her command or in
-compliment to her, has placed the virgins immediately after the angels.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The representation of the Virgin and Child with saints grouped around
-them, is a devotional subject familiar to us from its constant
-recurrence. It also frequently happens that the tutelary saint of the
-locality, or the patron saint of the votary, is represented as seated
-on a raised throne in the centre; and other saints, though under every
-other circumstance taking a superior rank, become here accessories,
-and are placed on each side or lower down in the picture: for example,
-where St. Augustine is enthroned, and St. Peter and St. Paul stand on
-each side, as in a picture by B. Vivarini,[2] or where St. Barbara is
-enthroned, and Mary Magdalene and St. Catherine stand on each side, as
-in a picture by Matteo di Siena.[3]
-
-In such pictures, the votary or donor is often introduced kneeling at
-the feet of his patron, either alone or accompanied by his wife and
-other members of his family: and to express the excess of his humility,
-he is sometimes so diminutive in proportion to the colossal object
-of his veneration, as to be almost lost to sight; we have frequent
-examples of this _naïveté_ of sentiment in the old mosaics and votive
-altar-pieces; for instance, in a beautiful old fresco at Assisi,
-where the Magdalene, a majestic figure about six feet high, holds out
-her hand in benediction to a little Franciscan friar about a foot in
-height: but it was abandoned as barbarous in the later schools of Art,
-and the votary, when retained, appears of the natural size; as in the
-_Madonna del Donatore_ of Raphael[4], where Sigismond Conti is almost
-the finest and most striking part of that inestimable picture: and in
-the _Madonna_ of the Meyer family by Holbein.[5]
-
-When a bishop is introduced into a group of saints kneeling, while all
-the others are standing, he may be supposed to be the _Donatore_ or
-_Divoto_, the person who presents the picture. When he is standing, he
-is one of the bishop-patrons or bishop-martyrs, of whom there are some
-hundreds, and who are more difficult to discriminate than any other
-pictured saints.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-And this leads me to the subject of the so-called _anachronisms_ in
-devotional subjects, where personages who lived at different and
-distant periods of time are found grouped together. It is curious
-to find the critics of the last century treating with pity and
-ridicule, as the result of ignorance or a barbarous unformed taste,
-the noblest and most spiritual conceptions of poetic art. Even Sir
-Joshua Reynolds had so little idea of the true object and feeling of
-such representations, that he thinks it necessary to apologise for the
-error of the painter, or the mistaken piety of his employer. We must
-remember that the personages here brought together in their sacred
-character belong no more to our earth, but to heaven and eternity: for
-them there is no longer time or place; they are here assembled together
-in the perpetual ‘communion of saints,’—immortal contemporaries in that
-kingdom where the Angel of the Apocalypse proclaimed ‘that there should
-be time no longer.’
-
-Such groups are sometimes arranged with an artless solemnity, all the
-personages standing and looking straight out of the picture at the
-worshipper. Sometimes there is a touch of dramatic sentiment, which,
-without interfering with the solemn devotional feeling, lights up the
-whole with the charm of a purpose: as in the Correggio at Parma, where
-St. Jerome presents his translation of the Scriptures to the infant
-Christ, while an angel turns the leaves, and Mary Magdalene, symbol of
-redemption and reconciliation, bends to kiss the feet of the Saviour.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Our ancestors of the middle ages were not particular in drawing
-that strong line of demarcation between the classical, Jewish and
-Christian periods of history, that we do. They saw only Christendom
-every where; they regarded the past only in relation to Christianity.
-Hence we find in the early ecclesiastical monuments and edifices such
-a strange assemblage of pagan, scriptural, and Christian worthies;
-as, Hector of Troy, Alexander the Great, King David, Judas Maccabeus,
-King Arthur, St. George, Godfrey of Boulogne, Lucretia, Virginia,
-Judith, St. Elizabeth, St. Bridget (as in the Cross of Nuremburg).
-In the curious Manual of Greek Art, published by Didron, we find the
-Greek philosophers and poets entering into a scheme of ecclesiastical
-decoration, as in the carved stalls in the Cathedral of Ulm, where
-Solon, Apollonius, Plutarch, Plato, Sophocles, are represented, holding
-each a scroll, on which is inscribed a passage from their works,
-interpreted into an allusion to the coming of Christ: and I have seen
-a picture of the Nativity in which the sibyls are dancing hand-in-hand
-around the cradle of the new-born Saviour. This may appear profane to
-some, but the comprehension of the whole universe within the pale of
-Christianity strikes me as being in the most catholic, as well as in
-the most poetical, spirit.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-It is in devotional subjects that we commonly find those
-anthropomorphic representations of the Divinity which shock devout
-people; and which no excuse or argument can render endurable to those
-who see in them only ignorant irreverence, or intentional profaneness.
-It might be pleaded that the profaneness is not intentional; that
-emblems and forms are, in the imitative arts, what figures of speech
-are in language; that only through a figure of speech can any attempt
-be made to place the idea of Almighty Power before us. Familiar
-expressions, consecrated by Scripture usage, represent the Deity as
-reposing, waking, stretching forth his hand, sitting on a throne;
-as pleased, angry, vengeful, repentant; and the ancient painters,
-speaking the language proper to their art, appear to have turned these
-emblematical words into emblematical pictures. I forbear to say more on
-this point, because I have taken throughout the poetical and not the
-religious view of Art, and this is an objection which must be left,
-as a matter of feeling, to the amount of candour and knowledge in the
-critical reader.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-In the sacred subjects, properly called HISTORICAL, we must be careful
-to distinguish between those which are _Scriptural_, representing
-scenes from the Old or New Testament; and those which are _Legendary_.
-
-Of the first, for the present; I do not speak, as they will be fully
-treated hereafter.
-
-The historical subjects from the lives of the saints consist
-principally of _Miracles_ and _Martyrdoms_.
-
-In the first, it is worth remarking that we have no pictured miracle
-which is not imitated from the Old or the New Testament (unless it be
-an obvious emblem, as where the saint carries his own head). There is
-no act of supernatural power related of any saint which is not recorded
-of some great scriptural personage. The object was to represent the
-favourite patron as a copy of the great universal type of beneficence,
-CHRIST OUR REDEEMER. And they were not satisfied that the resemblance
-should lie in character only; but should emulate the power of Christ
-in his visible actions. We must remember that the common people of
-the middle ages did not, and could not, distinguish between miracles
-accredited by the testimony of Scripture, and those which were
-fabrications, or at least exaggerations. All miracles related as divine
-interposition were to them equally possible, equally credible. If a
-more extended knowledge of the natural laws renders us in these days
-less credulous, it also shows us that many things were possible, under
-particular conditions, which were long deemed supernatural.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-We find in the legendary pictures, that the birth of several saints
-is announced by an angel, or in a dream, as in the stories of St.
-Catherine, St. Roch, &c. They exhibit precocious piety and wisdom, as
-in the story of St. Nicholas, who also calms a tempest, and guides
-the storm-tossed vessel safe to land. They walk on the water, as in
-the stories of St. Raymond and St. Hyacinth; or a river divides,
-to let them pass, as in the story of St. Alban. Saints are fed and
-comforted miraculously, or delivered from prison by angels; or resist
-fire, like the ‘Three Children.’ The multiplication of bread, and the
-transformation of water into wine, are standing miracles. But those
-which most frequently occur in pictures, are the healing of the sick,
-the lame, the blind; the casting out of demons, the restoration of the
-dead, or some other manifestation of compassionate and beneficent power.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Some of the pictured legends are partly scriptural, partly historical,
-as the story of St. Peter; others are clearly religious apologues
-founded on fact or tradition, as those of St. Mary of Egypt and St.
-Christopher; others are obviously and purely allegorical, as the
-Greek story of St. Sophia (i. e. Heavenly Wisdom, ΣΟΦΙΑ) and her
-celestial progeny, St. Faith, St. Hope, and St. Charity, all martyred
-by the blind and cruel Pagans. The names sound as if borrowed from the
-‘Pilgrim’s Progress;’ and it is curious to find Bunyan’s allegorical
-legend, the favourite picture-book of the people, appearing just at
-the time when the legends and pictures of the saints became objects
-of puritanical horror, and supplying their place in the popular
-imagination.
-
-Martyrdoms are only too common: they present to us Christianity under
-its most mystical aspect—the deification of suffering; but to render
-these representations effective, they should be pathetic without being
-terrible, they should speak to us
-
-    Of melancholy fear subdued by faith,
-    Of blessed consolations in distress;
-
-but not of the horrid cruelty of man towards man. It has been well
-remarked by my friend M. Rio, (to whose charming and eloquent
-exposition of Christian Art I refer with ever-new delight,) that the
-early painters of Western Christendom avoided these subjects, and that
-their prevalence in ecclesiastical decoration marked the decline of
-religious feeling, and the degeneracy of Art. But this remark does
-not apply to Byzantine Art; for we find from the exact description of
-a picture of the martyrdom of St. Euphemia (both the picture and the
-description dating from the third century), that such representations
-were then common, and were appealed to in the same manner as now, to
-excite the feelings of the people.
-
-The martyrdoms generally met with are those of St. Peter and St.
-Paul, St. Stephen Protomartyr, St. Laurence, St. Catherine, and St.
-Sebastian. These we find everywhere, in all countries and localities.
-Where the patron of the church or chapel is a martyr, his martyrdom
-holds a conspicuous place, often over the high altar, and accompanied
-by all the moving circumstances which can excite the pity, or horror,
-or enthusiasm of the pious votaries; but in the best examples we find
-the saint preparing for his death, not suffering the torments actually
-inflicted; so that the mind is elevated by the sentiment of his
-courage, not disturbed and disgusted by the spectacle of his agonies.
-
-
-                    III. OF CERTAIN PATRON SAINTS,
-
-  WHO ARE COMMONLY GROUPED TOGETHER IN WORKS OF ART, OR WHO BELONG TO
-             PARTICULAR COUNTRIES, CITIES, OR LOCALITIES.
-
-While such assemblages of holy persons as are found grouped together
-in devotional pictures are to be considered as quite independent
-of chronology, we shall find that the selection has been neither
-capricious nor arbitrary, and, with a little consideration, we shall
-discover the leading idea in the mind of the artist that, at least,
-which was intended to be conveyed to the mind of the spectator, and
-which was much more intelligible in former times than it is now.
-
-Sometimes we find certain saints placed in companionship, because they
-are the joint patrons and protectors of the city or locality for which
-the picture was painted. Thus in the Bologna pictures we constantly
-find the bishop St. Petronius, St. Eloy, St. Dominick, and the warrior
-St. Proculus; while in the Venetian pictures we have perpetual St.
-Marks, St. Georges, and St. Catherines.
-
-Or, secondly, they are connected by kindred powers and attributes. Thus
-we find St. Sebastian, the patron against pestilence, in company with
-St. Roch, who ministered to the sick of the plague. Thus St. Catherine
-and St. Jerome, the two patrons of school theology, are often found in
-companionship. Where St. Catherine and St. Barbara are found together,
-the first figures as patroness of the ecclesiastical, and the second of
-the military, power—or they represent respectively the contemplative
-and the active life.
-
-Or, thirdly, they are combined in the fancy by some inevitable
-association; as St. Augustine and St. Stephen are often in the same
-picture, because St. Augustine dedicated some of his most eloquent
-works to the glory of the martyr.
-
-Or they were friends on earth, for which reason St. Cyprian and St.
-Cornelius are placed together.
-
-Or their relics repose in the same spot; whence St. Stephen and St.
-Laurence have become almost inseparable. When St. Vincent and St.
-Laurence are placed together, (as in a lovely composition of Parmigiana
-where they sit reading out of the same book,) it is because of the
-similarity of their fate, and that the popular tradition supposed them
-to be brothers.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-A point of more general importance, and capable of more definite
-explanation, is the predominance of certain sacred personages in
-particular schools of Art. St. Cosmo and St. Damian, for instance,
-are perpetually recurring in the Florentine pictures as the patron
-saints of the Medici family. In the Lombard pictures St. Ambrose is
-often found without his compeers—not as doctor of the Church, but as
-bishop of Milan. In the Siena pictures, we may look for the nun St.
-Catherine of Siena, and St. Ansano, the apostle of the Sienese, holding
-his banner and palm. And in the Augustine chapels and churches, St.
-Augustine figures, not as doctor of the Church, but as patriarch of the
-Order.
-
-A bishop-martyr, holding his palm, and not otherwise designated either
-by name or attribute, would be—in one if Perugino’s pictures, St.
-Ercolano or St. Costanzo; in a Florentine picture, St. Donato or St.
-Romulo; if the picture were painted in the March of Ancona, it would
-probably be St. Apollinaris of Ravenna; at Naples it would be St.
-Januarius; at Paris, or in a picture painted for a French church, of
-which there are many in Italy, it would be St. Denis; and in German
-prints, St. Boniface or St. Lambert. I need not further multiply
-examples.
-
-If the locality from which the picture came will sometimes determine
-the names of the personages, so the personages represented will often
-explain the purpose and intended situation of the picture. There is
-in Lord Ashburton’s gallery a noble group representing together St.
-Peter, St. Leonard, St. Martha, and Mary Magdalene. Such a combination
-points it out at once as intended for a charitable institution, and, on
-enquiry, we find that it was painted for the chapel of a brotherhood
-associated to redeem prisoners, to ransom slaves, to work for the
-poor, and to convert the sinner to repentance. Many such interesting
-and instructive analogies will be pointed out in the course of the
-following pages, and the observer of works of Art will discover others
-for himself.
-
-I add here, in alphabetical order, those countries and localities of
-which the patron saints are distinguished in works of Art.[6]
-
- ANCONA: St. Cyriacus, _Bishop_; and his mother Anna, _Martyr_.
-
- AREZZO: St. Donato, _Bishop_.
-
- ASTI, NOVARA, and all through the cities of PIEDMONT and the north
- of Italy, we find the _Warrior_, St. Maurice, and his companions St.
- Secundus, St. Alexander, and the other Martyrs of the Theban Legion.
-
- AUGSBURG: St. Ulrich, _Bishop_; St. Afra, _Martyr_.
-
- AUSTRIA: St. Leopold, St. Stephen, St. Maximilian, St. Coloman.
-
- BAMBERG: St. Henry and St. Cunegunda, _Emperor_ and _Empress_.
-
- BARCELONA: St. Eulalia, _Martyr_. (In Spanish pictures only.)
-
- BAVARIA: St. George, _Martyr_.
-
- BERGAMO: St. Alexander, _Warrior_; St. Grata, _Widow_.
-
- BOHEMIA: St. John Nepomuck, _Priest_; St. Wenceslaus, _King_; St.
- Ludmilla, _Queen_; St. Vitus, _young Martyr_; St. Procopius, _Hermit_.
-
- BOLOGNA: St. Petronius, _Bishop_; St. Dominick, _Friar_; St. Proculus,
- _Warrior Martyr_; St. Eloy (Eligio), _Bishop_ and _Smith_.
-
- BRESCIA: St. Faustinus and Jovita; St. Julia, St. Afra, _Martyrs_.
-
- BRUGES: St. John the Baptist.
-
- BURGUNDY: St. Andrew, _Apostle_.
-
- COLOGNE: The Three Kings; St. Ursula, _Virgin Martyr_; St. Gereon,
- _Warrior Martyr_.
-
- COMO: St. Abbondio, _Bishop_.
-
- CORTONA: St. Margaret, _Nun_ and _Penitent_.
-
- CREMONA: St. Omobuono, _Secular Habit_.
-
- FERRARA: St. Geminiano, _Bishop_; St. George, _Martyr_; St. Barbara,
- _Martyr_.
-
- FIESOLE: St. Romolo, _Bishop_.
-
- FLORENCE: St. John the Baptist; St. Zenobio, St. Antonino, _Bishops_;
- St. Reparata, _Virgin Martyr_; St. Cosmo and Damian (the Apothecary
- Saints, especial patrons of the Medici family); St. Verdiana, _Nun_;
- St. Miniato, _Warrior_.
-
- FRANCE: St. Michael, _Angel_; St. Dionysius (Denis), _Bishop_; St.
- Geneviève, _Virgin_; St. Martin, _Bishop_.
-
- GENOA: St. George, St. Laurence, _Martyrs_.
-
- GHENT: St. Bavon, _Prince_ and _Hermit_.
-
-
- GRENOBLE: St. Hugh the Carthusian.
-
- IRELAND: St. Patrick, _Bishop_; St. Bridget, _Abbess_.
-
- LUCCA: St. Martin, _Bishop_; St. Frediano, _Priest_; St. Zita,
- _Virgin_.
-
- LIEGE: St. Hubert, _Bishop_ and _Huntsman_; St. Lambert, _Bishop_.
-
- MADRID: St. Isidore, _Labourer_; St. Dominick, _Friar_; (Patron of the
- Escurial, St. Laurence).
-
- MANTUA: St. Andrew; St. Barbara; St. George and St. Longinus, _Warrior
- Saints_.
-
- MARSEILLES and all PROVENCE: St. Lazarus; St. Mary Magdalen; St.
- Martha; St. Marcella.
-
- MESSINA: St. Agatha, _Martyr_.
-
- MILAN: St. Ambrose, _Bishop_ and _Doctor_; St. Gervasius and St.
- Protasius, _Martyrs_; St. Maurice, St. Victor, _Warriors_.
-
- MODENA: St. Geminiano, _Bishop_. (In Pictures of the Correggio School.)
-
- NAPLES: St. Januarius, _Martyr_.
-
- NOVARA: St. Gaudenzio, _Bishop_.
-
- NUREMBURG: St. Laurence, _Martyr_; St. Sebald, _Pilgrim_ and _Hermit_.
- (The latter an important person in pictures and prints of the Albert
- Dürer school.)
-
- PADUA: St. Anthony of Padua, _Friar_.
-
- PARIS: St. Geneviève, _Virgin_; St. Germain, _Bishop_; St. Hippolitus,
- _Martyr_.
-
- PARMA: St. John, B.; St. Thomas the Apostle; St. Bernard, _Monk_; St.
- Hilary (Ilario), _Bishop_.
-
- PERUGIA: St. Ercolano and St. Costanzo, _Bishops_.
-
- PIACENZA: St. Justina, _Martyr_; St. Antoninus, _Warrior_ (Theban
- Legion).
-
- PIEDMONT and SAVOY: St. John, B.; St. Maurice and St. George,
- _Warriors_; St. Amadeus, _King_.
-
- PISA: St. Ranieri, _Hermit_; St. Torpé, _Warrior_; St. Ephesus and St.
- Potita, _Warriors_. (These only in the ancient Pisan school.)
-
- RAVENNA: St. Appolinaris, _Bishop_.
-
- RIMINI: St. Juliana, _Martyr_. (A young saint, popular all through the
- north and down the east coast of Italy.)
-
- SEVILLE: St. Leander, _Bishop_; St. Justina, St. Rufina, _Sisters_ and
- _Martyrs_. (These are only found in Spanish pictures.)
-
- SICILY: St. Vitus, _Martyr_; St. Rosalia, _Recluse_ (Palermo); St.
- Agatha (Messina), St. Lucia (Syracuse), _Martyrs_.
-
- SIENA: St. Ansano, _Martyr_; St. Catherine of Siena, _Nun_; St.
- Bernardino, _Friar_.
-
- THURINGIA and all that part of SAXONY: St. Elizabeth of Hungary; St.
- Boniface, _Bishop_.
-
- TOLEDO: St. Ildefonso, _Bishop_; and St. Leocadia, _Martyr_. (Only in
- Spanish pictures.)
-
- TREVISO: St. Liberale, _Warrior_.
-
- TURIN: St. John the Baptist; St. Maurice, _Warrior_.
-
- UMBRIA: All through this region and the eastern coast of Italy, very
- important in respect to Art, the favourite saints are—St. Nicholas,
- _Bishop_; St. Francis of Assisi, _Friar_; St. Clara, _Nun_; St.
- Julian, _Martyr_; and St. Catherine, _Virgin Martyr_.
-
- VALENCIA: St. Vincent, _Martyr_.
-
- VENICE: St. Mark, _Apostle_; St. George, St. Theodore, _Warriors_; St.
- Nicholas, _Bishop_; St. Catherine, St. Christina, _Virgin Martyrs_.
-
- VERCELLI: St. Eusebius, _Bishop_; St. Thronestus, _Warrior_ (Theban
- Legion).
-
- VERONA: St. Zeno, _Bishop_; St. Fermo, _Martyr_; St. Euphemia,
- _Martyr_.
-
-VOTIVE PICTURES are those which have been dedicated in certain
-religious edifices, in fulfilment of vows; either as the expression of
-thanksgiving for blessings which have been vouchsafed, or propitiative
-against calamities to be averted. The far greater number of these
-pictures commemorate an escape from danger, sickness, death; and more
-especially, some visitation of the plague, that terrible and frequent
-scourge of the middle ages. The significance of such pictures is
-generally indicated by the presence of St. Sebastian or St. Roch, the
-patrons against the plague; or St. Cosmo and St. Damian, the healing
-and medical saints; accompanied by the patron saints of the country
-or locality, if it be a public act of devotion; or, if dedicated by
-private or individual piety, the donor kneels, presented by his own
-patron saint. In general, though not always, this expressive group is
-arranged in attendance on the enthroned Madonna and her divine Son, as
-the universal protectors from all evil. Such pictures are among the
-most interesting and remarkable of the works of sacred Art which remain
-to us, and have often a pathetic and poetical beauty, and an historical
-significance, which it is a chief purpose of these volumes to interpret
-and illustrate.
-
-[Illustration:
-  _S^t. Damian._      _S^t. Mark._      _S^t. Roch._       _A. J. fecit_
-  _S^t. Cosmo._                           _S^t. Sebastian._
-
-          _A Venetian votive picture against the plague._]
-
-
-                IV. OF CERTAIN EMBLEMS AND ATTRIBUTES.
-
-To know something of the attributes and emblems of general application,
-as well as those proper to each saint, is absolutely necessary; but it
-will also greatly assist the fancy and the memory to _understand_ their
-origin and significance. For this reason I will add a few words of
-explanation.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The GLORY, NIMBUS, or AUREOLE—the Christian attribute of sanctity, and
-used generally to distinguish all holy personages—is of pagan origin.
-It expressed the luminous nebula (Homer, _Il._ xxiii. 205), supposed to
-emanate from, and surround, the Divine Essence, which stood, ‘a shade
-in midst of its own brightness.’ Images of the gods were decorated
-with a crown of rays, or with stars; and when the Roman emperors
-assumed the honours due to divinity, they appeared in public crowned
-with golden radii. The colossal statue of Nero wore a circle of rays,
-imitating the glory of the sun. This ornament became customary; and
-not only the first Cæsars, but the Christian emperors, adopted the
-same divine insignia; and it became at length so common that we find
-it on some medals, round the heads of the consuls of the later empire.
-Considered in the East as _the attribute of power only_, whether good
-or evil, we find, wherever early Art has been developed under Byzantine
-influences, the nimbus thus applied. Satan, in many Greek, Saxon, and
-French miniatures, from the ninth to the thirteenth century, wears a
-glory. In a psalter of the twelfth century, the Beast of the Apocalypse
-with seven heads has six heads surrounded by the nimbus; the seventh,
-wounded and drooping, is without the sign of power.
-
-But in Western Art the associations with this attribute were not
-merely those of dignity, but of something divine and consecrated. It
-was for a long time avoided in the Christian representations as being
-appropriated by false gods or heathen pride; and when first adopted
-does not seem clear.[7] The earliest example cited is a gem of St.
-Martin of the early part of the sixth century, in which the glory
-round his head seems to represent his apotheosis: and in all instances
-it is evidently intended to represent divine glory and beatitude.
-
-The glory round the head is properly the nimbus or aureole. The oblong
-glory surrounding the whole person, called in Latin the _vesica
-piscis_, and in Italian the _mandorla_ (almond), from its form, is
-confined to figures of Christ and the Virgin, or saints who are in
-the act of ascending into heaven. When used to distinguish one of
-the three divine persons of the Trinity the glory is often cruciform
-or triangular. The square nimbus designates a person living at the
-time the work was executed. In the frescoes of Giotto at Assisi, the
-allegorical personages are in some instances distinguished by the
-hexagonal nimbus. In other instances it is circular. From the fifth to
-the twelfth century the nimbus had the form of a disc or plate over
-the head.[8] From the twelfth to the fifteenth century, it was a broad
-golden band, round, or rather behind, the head, composed of circle
-within circle, often adorned with precious stones, and sometimes having
-the name of the saint inscribed within it. From the fifteenth century
-it was a bright fillet over the head, and in the seventeenth century
-it disappeared altogether. In pictures the glory is always golden, the
-colour of light; in miniatures and stained glass I have seen glories of
-various colours, red, blue, or green.[9]
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The FISH was the earliest, the most universal, of the Christian
-emblems, partly as the symbol of water and the rite of baptism, and
-also because the five Greek letters which express the word Fish form
-the anagram of the name of Jesus Christ. In this sense we find the
-fish as a general symbol of the Christian faith upon the sarcophagi of
-the early Christians; on the tombs of the martyrs in the catacombs; on
-rings, coins, lamps, and other utensils; and as an ornament in early
-Christian architecture. It is usually a dolphin, which among the Pagans
-had also a sacred significance.
-
-The passage in the Gospel, ‘Follow me, and I will make ye fishers of
-men,’ is supposed to have originated the use of this symbol; and I
-may observe here, that the fish placed in the hands of St. Peter has
-probably a double or treble signification, alluding to his former
-occupation as a fisherman, his conversion to Christianity, and his
-vocation as a Christian apostle, i. e. a fisher of men, in the sense
-used by Christ; and in the same sense we find it given as an attribute
-to bishops who were famous for converting and baptising, as St. Zeno of
-Verona, and Gregory of Tours.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The CROSS.—About the tenth century the Fish disappeared, and the
-Cross—symbol of our redemption, from the apostolic times—became the
-sole and universal emblem of the Christian faith. The cross placed in
-the hand of a saint is usually the Latin cross (1), the form ascribed
-to the cross on which our Saviour suffered. Other crosses are used as
-emblems or ornaments, but still having the same signification; as the
-Greek cross (2), in which the arms are all of the same length; the
-transverse cross, on which St. Andrew is supposed to have suffered,
-in this form (3); the Egyptian cross, sometimes placed in the hands
-of St. Philip the apostle, and it was also the form of the crutch of
-St. Anthony, and embroidered on his cope or robe—hence it is called
-St. Anthony’s cross (4). There is also the Maltese cross, and various
-ornamental crosses. The double cross on the top of a staff, instead of
-the crosier, is borne by the Pope only; the staff with a single cross,
-by the Greek bishops.
-
-[Illustration:
-  (1)      (2)      (3)      (4)]
-
-At first the cross was a sign only. When formed of gold or silver, the
-five wounds of Christ were signified by a ruby or carbuncle at each
-extremity, and one in the centre. It was not till the sixth century
-that the cross became a CRUCIFIX, no longer an emblem but an _image_.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The LAMB, in Christian Art, is the peculiar symbol of the Redeemer
-as the sacrifice without blemish: in this sense it is given as an
-attribute to John the Baptist. The lamb is also the general emblem of
-innocence, meekness, modesty; in this sense it is given to St. Agnes,
-of whom Massillon said so beautifully, ‘peu de pudeur, où il n’y a pas
-de religion; peu de religion, où il n’y a pas de pudeur.’
-
-The PELICAN, tearing open her breast to feed her young with her own
-blood, was an early symbol of our redemption through Christ.
-
-One or both of these emblems are frequently found in ancient crosses
-and crucifixes; the lamb at the foot, the pelican at the top, of the
-cross.
-
-The DRAGON is the emblem of sin in general, and of the sin of idolatry
-in particular; and the dragon slain or vanquished by the power of the
-cross, is the perpetually recurring myth, which, varied in a thousand
-ways, we find running through all the old Christian legends: not
-subject to misapprehension in the earliest times; but, as the cloud of
-ignorance darkened and deepened, the symbol was translated into a fact.
-It has been suggested that the dragon, which is to us a phantasm and an
-allegory, which in the middle ages was the visible shape of the demon
-adversary of all truth and goodness, might have been, as regards form,
-originally _a fact_: for wherever we have dragon legends, whether the
-scene be laid in Asia, Africa, or Europe, the imputed circumstances and
-the form are little varied. The dragons introduced into early painting
-and sculpture so invariably represent a gigantic winged crocodile, that
-it is presumed there must have been some common origin for the type
-chosen as if by common consent; and that this common type may have
-been some fossil remains of the Saurian species, or even some far-off
-dim tradition of one of these tremendous reptiles surviving in Heaven
-knows what vast desolate morass or inland lake, and spreading horror
-and devastation along its shores. At Aix, a huge fossilised head of
-one of the Sauri was for a long time preserved as the head of the
-identical dragon subdued by St. Martha; and St. Jerome relates that
-he had himself beheld at Tyre the bones of the sea monster to which
-Andromeda had been exposed—probably some fossil remains which in the
-popular imagination were thus accounted for. Professor Owen told me
-that the head of a dragon in one of the legendary pictures he had seen
-in Italy closely resembled in form that of the Deinotherium Giganteum.
-These observations have reference only to the type adopted when the old
-Scripture allegory took form and shape. The dragon of Holy Writ is the
-same as the serpent, i. e., personified sin, the spiritual enemy of
-mankind.
-
-The scriptural phrase of the ‘jaws of hell’ is literally rendered
-in the ancient works of Art by the huge jaws of a dragon, wide open
-and emitting flames, into which the souls of sinners are tumbled
-headlong. In pictures, sin is also typified by a serpent or snake; in
-this form it is placed under the feet of the Madonna, sometimes with
-an apple in its mouth; sometimes, but only in late pictures of the
-seventeenth century, winding its green scaly length round and round a
-globe, significant of the subjugation of the whole earth to the power
-of sin till delivered by the Redeemer. On this subject I shall have
-much more to say when treating of the pictures of the Fall of Man, and
-the subjects taken from the Apocalypse: for the present we need only
-bear in mind the various significations of the popular Dragon myth,
-which may shadow forth the conquest over sin, as in the legends of St.
-Michael and St. Margaret; or over paganism, as in the legends of St.
-Sylvester and St. George; or sometimes a destroying flood, as in the
-legend of St. Martha, where the inundation of the Rhone is figured
-by a dragon emerging from the waters and spreading around death and
-pestilence,—like the Python of the Grecian myth.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The LION, as an ancient Christian symbol, is of frequent recurrence,
-more particularly in architectural decoration. Antiquaries are not
-agreed as to the exact meaning attached to the mystical lions placed in
-the porches of so many old Lombard churches; sometimes with an animal,
-sometimes with a man, in their paws. But we find that the lion was an
-ancient symbol of the Redeemer, ‘the Lion of the tribe of Judah:’
-also of the resurrection of the Redeemer; because, according to an
-oriental fable, the lion’s cub was born dead, and in three days its
-sire licked it into life. In this sense it occurs in the windows of the
-cathedral at Bourges. In either sense it may probably have been adopted
-as a frequent ornament in the church utensils, and in ecclesiastical
-decoration, supporting the pillars in front, or the carved thrones, &c.
-
-The lion also typifies solitude—the wilderness; and, in this sense, is
-placed near St. Jerome and other saints who did penance, or lived as
-hermits in the desert; as in the legends of St. Paul the hermit, St.
-Mary of Egypt, St. Onofrio. Further, the lion as an attribute denoted
-death in the amphitheatre, and with this signification is placed near
-certain martyrs, as St. Ignatius and St. Euphemia. The lion, as the
-type of fortitude and resolution, was placed at the feet of those
-martyrs who had suffered with singular courage, as St. Adrian and St.
-Natalia.[10]
-
-When other wild beasts, as wolves and bears, are placed at the feet
-of a saint attired as abbot or bishop, it signifies that he cleared
-waste land, out down forests, and substituted Christian culture and
-civilisation for paganism and the lawless hunter’s life: such is the
-significance in pictures of St. Magnus, St. Florentius and St. Germain
-of Auxerre.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The HART or HIND was also an emblem of double signification. It was a
-type of solitude and of purity of life, and was also a type of piety
-and religious aspiration, adopted from the forty-second Psalm, ‘Like as
-the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul for thee, O
-God!’
-
-When the original meaning of the lion, the hart, and other emblems,
-was no longer present to the popular mind, legends were invented to
-account for them; and that which had been a symbol, became an incident,
-or an historical attribute,—as in the stories of the lion healed by St.
-Jerome, or digging the grave of St. Paul; the miraculous stag which
-appeared to St. Eustace and St. Hubert; the wounded doe in the legend
-of St. Giles; and the hind which spoke to St. Julian.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The PEACOCK, the bird of Juno, was an ancient pagan symbol, signifying
-the apotheosis of an empress, as we find from many of the old
-Roman coins and medals. The early Christians, accustomed to this
-interpretation, adopted it as a general emblem of the mortal exchanged
-for the immortal existence; and, with this signification, we find the
-peacock with outspread train on the walls and ceilings of catacombs,
-the tombs of the martyrs, and many of the sarcophagi, down to the
-fourth and fifth centuries. It is only in modern times that the peacock
-has become the emblem of worldly pride.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The CROWN, as introduced in Christian Art, is either an emblem or an
-attribute. It has been the emblem from all antiquity of victory, and
-of recompense due to superior power or virtue. In this sense the word
-and the image are used in Scripture in many passages: for example,
-‘Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of glory.’ And in this
-sense, as the recompense of those who had fought the good fight to the
-end, and conquered, the crown became the especial symbol of the glory
-of martyrdom. In very ancient pictures, a hand is seen coming out of
-heaven holding a wreath or circlet; afterwards it is an angel who
-descends with a crown, which is sometimes a coronet of gold and jewels,
-sometimes a wreath of palm or myrtle. In general only the female
-martyrs wear the symbolical crown of glory; martyrs of the other sex
-hold the crown in their hands, or it is borne by an angel. Hence we may
-presume that the crown, which among the Jews was the especial ornament
-of a bride, signified the bride or spouse of Christ—one dedicated to
-virginity for his sake; and in this sense, down to the present time,
-the crown is placed on the head of a nun at the moment of consecration.
-Therefore in the old pictures of female martyrs we may interpret the
-crown in this double sense, as signifying at once the bride and the
-martyr.
-
-But it is necessary also to distinguish between the _symbol_ and the
-_attribute_: thus, where St. Cecilia and St. Barbara wear the crown, it
-is the symbol of their glorious martyrdom; when St. Catherine and St.
-Ursula wear the crown, it is at once as the symbol of martyrdom and the
-attribute of their royal rank as princesses.
-
-The crown is also the symbol of sovereignty. When it is placed on the
-head of the Virgin, it is as Queen of Heaven, and also as the ‘Spouse’
-of Scripture allegory.
-
-But the crown is also an attribute, and frequently, when worn by
-a saint or placed at his feet, signifies that he was royal or of
-princely birth: as in the pictures of Louis of France, St. William, St.
-Elizabeth, St. Helena, and many others.
-
-[Illustration: Four Crowns]
-
-The crowns in the Italian pictures are generally a wreath, or a simple
-circle of gold and jewels, or a coronet radiated with a few points.
-But in the old German pictures the crown is often of most magnificent
-workmanship, blazing with jewels.
-
-I have seen a real silver crown placed on the figures of certain
-popular saints, but as a votive tribute, not an emblem.
-
-
-The SWORD is also either a symbol or an attribute. As a symbol it
-signifies generally martyrdom by any violent death, and, in this sense,
-is given to many saints who did not die by the sword. As an attribute
-it signifies the particular death suffered, and that the martyr in
-whose hand or at whose feet it is placed was beheaded: in this sense it
-is given to St. Paul, St. Catherine, and many others. It is given also
-to the warrior-martyrs, as the attribute of their military profession.
-Other symbols of martyrdom are the AXE, the LANCE, and the CLUB.
-
-
-ARROWS, which are attributes, St. Ursula, St. Christina, and St.
-Sebastian.
-
-
-The PONIARD, given to St. Lucia.
-
-
-The CAULDRON, given to St. John the Evangelist and St. Cecilia.
-
-
-The PINCERS and SHEARS, St. Apollonia and St. Agatha.
-
-
-The WHEELS, St. Catherine.
-
-
-FIRE and FLAMES are sometimes an emblem of martyrdom and punishment,
-and sometimes of religious fervour.
-
-
-A BELL was supposed to have power to exorcise demons, and for this
-reason is given to the haunted St. Anthony.
-
-
-The SHELL signifies pilgrimage.
-
-
-The SKULL, penance.
-
-
-The ANVIL, as an attribute of martyrdom, belongs to St. Adrian only.
-
-
-The PALM, the ancient classical symbol of victory and triumph, was
-early assumed by the Christians as the universal symbol of martyrdom,
-and for this adaptation of a pagan ornament they found warrant in
-Scripture: Rev. vii. 9, ‘And after this I beheld, and, lo, a great
-multitude stood before the throne clothed with white robes and with
-palms in their hands.‘... ‘And he said to me, These are they which
-came out of great tribulation.’ Hence in pictures of martyrdoms an
-angel descends with the palm; hence it is figured on the tombs of early
-martyrs, and placed in the hands of those who suffered in the cause of
-truth, as expressing their final victory over the powers of sin and
-death.
-
-    The sensual think with reverence of the palm
-    Which the chaste votary wields.
-
-[Illustration: Four palm fronds]
-
-The palm varies in form from a small leaf to the size of a palm branch,
-almost a tree. It is very small in the early Italian pictures, very
-large in the Spanish pictures. In the Siena pictures it has a bunch of
-dates depending from it. It is only in late pictures that the palm,
-with a total disregard to the sacredness of its original signification,
-is placed on the ground, or under the feet of the saint.
-
-
-The STANDARD, or banner, is also the symbol of victory, the spiritual
-victory over sin, death, and idolatry. It is borne by our Saviour
-after his resurrection, and is placed in the hands of St. George, St.
-Maurice, and other military saints; in the hands of some victorious
-martyrs, as St. Julian, St. Ansano, and of those who preached the
-Gospel among infidels; also in the hands of St. Ursula and St.
-Reparata, the only female saints, I believe, who bear this attribute.
-
-
-The OLIVE, as the well-known emblem of peace and reconciliation, is
-figured on the tombs of the early martyrs; sometimes with, sometimes
-without, the dove. The olive is borne as the attribute of peace by the
-angel Gabriel, by St. Agnes, and by St. Pantaleon; sometimes also by
-the angels in a Nativity, who announce ‘peace on earth.’
-
-
-The DOVE in Christian Art is the emblem of the Holy Ghost; and, besides
-its introduction into various subjects from the New Testament, as the
-Annunciation, the Baptism, the Pentecost, it is placed near certain
-saints who are supposed to have been particularly inspired, as St.
-Gregory, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Hilarius, and others.
-
-The dove is also a symbol of simplicity and purity of heart, and as
-such it is introduced into pictures of female saints, and especially of
-the Madonna and Child.
-
-It is also the emblem of the soul; in this sense it is seen issuing
-from the lips of dying martyrs, and is found in pictures of St. Eulalia
-of Merida, and St. Scholastica the sister of St. Benedict.
-
-
-The LILY is another symbol of purity, of very general application.
-We find it in pictures of the Virgin, and particularly in pictures
-of the Annunciation. It is placed significantly in the hand of St.
-Joseph, the husband of the Virgin Mary, his staff, according to the
-legend, having put forth lilies; it is given, as an emblem merely, to
-St. Francis, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Dominick, and St. Catherine of
-Siena, to express the particular purity of their lives.
-
-
-The UNICORN is another ancient symbol of purity, in allusion to the
-fable that it could never be captured except by a virgin stainless in
-mind and life; it has become in consequence the emblem peculiarly of
-_female_ chastity, but in Christian Art is appropriate only to the
-Virgin Mary and St. Justina.
-
-
-The FLAMING HEART expresses fervent piety and love: in early pictures
-it is given to St. Augustine, merely in allusion to a famous passage
-in his ‘Confessions;’ but in the later schools of Art it has become a
-general and rather vulgar emblem of spiritual love: in this sense it is
-given to St. Theresa; St. Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi, a Florentine nun;
-and some of the Jesuit saints.
-
-
-The BOOK in the hands of the Evangelists and the Apostles is an
-attribute, and represents the Gospel. In the hand of St. Stephen it is
-the Old Testament; in the hand of any other saint it may be the Gospel,
-but it may also be an emblem only, signifying that the saint was famous
-for his learning or his writings; it has this sense in pictures of
-St. Catherine, the Doctors of the Church, St. Thomas Aquinas, and St.
-Bonaventura.
-
-
-A CHURCH placed in the hands of a saint signifies that he was the
-founder of some particular church: in this sense St. Henry bears the
-cathedral of Bamberg; or, that he was the protector and first bishop
-of the church, as St. Petronius bears the cathedral of Bologna. I must
-except the single instance of St. Jerome; the church in his hands
-signifies no particular edifice, but, in a general sense, the Catholic
-Church, of which he was the great support and one of the primitive
-fathers; to render the symbol more expressive, rays of light are seen
-proceeding from the portal.
-
-
-The SCOURGE in the hand of a saint, or at his feet, signifies the
-penances he inflicted upon himself; but in the hand of St. Ambrose, it
-signifies the penance he inflicted upon others.
-
-
-The CHALICE, or Sacramental Cup, with the Host, signifies Faith; it is
-given to St. Barbara. The Cup, with the Serpent, is the attribute of
-St. John.
-
-
-The SHIP.—The Ark of Noah, floating safe amid the Deluge, in which all
-things else were overwhelmed, was an obvious symbol of the Church of
-Christ. Subsequently the _Ark_ became a ship. St. Ambrose likens the
-Church of God to a ship, and the Cross to the mast set in the midst
-of it. ‘_Arbor quædam in nari est crux in ecclesia._’ The Bark of St.
-Peter tossed in the storm, and by the Redeemer guided safe to land,
-was also considered as symbolical. These mingled associations combined
-to give to the emblem of the ship a sacred significance. Every one who
-has been at Rome will remember the famous mosaic of the ship tossed by
-the storms, and assailed by demons, called THE NAVICELLA, which was
-executed by Giotto for the old Basilica of St. Peter’s, and is now
-under the Portico, opposite to the principal door. I believe that in
-the pictures of St. Nicholas and St. Ursula the ship had originally
-a sacred and symbolical significance, and that the legends were
-afterwards invented or modified to explain the emblem, as in so many
-other instances.
-
-
-The ANCHOR is the Christian symbol of immovable firmness, hope,
-and patience; and in this sense we find it very frequently in the
-catacombs, and on the ancient Christian gems. It was given to several
-of the early saints as a symbol. Subsequently a legend was invented to
-account for the symbol, turning it into an attribute, as was the case
-with the lion and the stag. For example: to St. Clement the anchor
-was first given as the symbol of his constancy in Christian hope, and
-thence we find, subsequently invented, the story of his being thrown
-into the sea with the anchor round his neck. On the vane of the Church
-of St. Clement in the Strand, the anchor, the parish device, was
-anciently placed; and as in the English fancy no anchor can be well
-separated from a ship, they have lately placed a ship on the other
-side,—the original signification of the anchor, as applied to St.
-Clement the martyr, being unknown or forgotten.
-
-
-The LAMP, LANTERN, or TAPER, is the old emblem of piety: ‘Let your
-light so shine before men:’—and it also signifies wisdom. In the first
-sense we find this attribute in the hand of St. Gudula, St. Geneviève
-of Paris, and St. Bridget; while the lamp in the hand of St. Lucia
-signifies celestial light or wisdom.
-
-
-FLOWERS and FRUITS, often so beautifully introduced into ecclesiastical
-works of Art, may be merely ornamental; Crivelli, and some of the
-Venetian and Lombard painters, were fond of rich festoons of fruit, and
-backgrounds of foliage and roses. But in some instances they have a
-definite significance. Roses are symbolical in pictures of the Madonna,
-who is the ‘_Rose of Sharon_.’[11] The wreath of roses on the brow of
-St. Cecilia, the roses and fruits borne by St. Dorothea, are explained
-by the legends.
-
-The apple was the received emblem of the Fall of Man and original sin.
-Placed in pictures of the Madonna and Child, either in the hand of the
-Infant Christ, or presented by an angel, it signified Redemption from
-the consequences of the Fall. The pomegranate, bursting open, and the
-seeds visible, was an emblem of the future—of hope in immortality.
-When an apple, a pear, or a pomegranate is placed in the hand of St.
-Catherine as the mystical _Sposa_ of Christ, which continually occurs,
-particularly in the German pictures, the allusion is to be taken in the
-scriptural sense: ‘The _fruit_ of the Spirit is love, joy, peace.’
-
-
-                  V. OF THE SIGNIFICANCE OF COLOURS.
-
-In very early Art we find colours used in a symbolical or mystic
-sense, and, until the ancient principles and traditions were wholly
-worn out of memory or set aside by the later painters, certain colours
-were appropriate to certain subjects and personages, and could not
-arbitrarily be applied or misapplied. In the old specimens of stained
-glass we find these significations scrupulously attended to. Thus:—
-
-
-WHITE, represented by the diamond or silver, was the emblem of light,
-religious purity, innocence, virginity, faith, joy, and life. Our
-Saviour wears white after his resurrection. In the judge it indicated
-integrity; in the rich man humility; in the woman chastity. It was
-the colour consecrated to the Virgin, who, however, never wears white
-except in pictures of the Assumption.
-
-
-RED, the ruby, signified fire, divine love, the Holy Spirit, heat, or
-the creative power, and royalty. White and red roses expressed love and
-innocence, or love and wisdom, as in the garland with which the angel
-crowns St. Cecilia. In a bad sense, red signified blood, war, hatred,
-and punishment. Red and black combined were the colours of purgatory
-and the Devil.
-
-
-BLUE, or the sapphire, expressed heaven, the firmament, truth,
-constancy, fidelity. Christ and the Virgin wear the red tunic and
-the blue mantle, as signifying heavenly love and heavenly truth.[12]
-The same colours were given to St. John the evangelist, with this
-difference,—that he wore the blue tunic and the red mantle; in later
-pictures the colours are sometimes red and green.
-
-
-YELLOW, or gold, was the symbol of the sun; of the goodness of God;
-initiation, or marriage; faith, or fruitfulness. St. Joseph, the
-husband of the Virgin, wears yellow. In pictures of the apostles, St.
-Peter wears a yellow mantle over a blue tunic. In a bad sense, yellow
-signifies inconstancy, jealousy, deceit; in this sense it is given to
-the traitor Judas, who is generally habited in dirty yellow.
-
-
-GREEN, the emerald, is the colour of spring; of hope, particularly
-hope in immortality; and of victory, as the colour of the palm and the
-laurel.
-
-
-VIOLET, the amethyst, signified love and truth: or, passion and
-suffering. Hence it is the colour often worn by the martyrs. In some
-instances our Saviour, after his resurrection, is habited in a violet
-instead of a blue mantle. The Virgin also wears violet after the
-crucifixion. Mary Magdalene, who as patron saint wears the red robe, as
-penitent wears violet and blue, the colours of sorrow and of constancy.
-In the devotional representation of her by Timoteo della Vite,[13] she
-wears red and green, the colours of love and hope.
-
-
-GREY, the colour of ashes, signified mourning, humility, and innocence
-accused; hence adopted as the dress of the Franciscans (the Grey
-Friars); but it has since been changed for a dark rusty brown.
-
-
-BLACK expressed the earth, darkness, mourning, wickedness, negation,
-death; and was appropriate to the Prince of Darkness. In some old
-illuminated MSS., Jesus, in the Temptation, wears a black robe.
-White and black together signified purity of life, and mourning or
-humiliation; hence adopted by the Dominicans and the Carmelites.
-
-The mystical application of attributes and colours was more
-particularly attended to in that class of subjects I have distinguished
-as _devotional_. In the sacred historical pictures we find that the
-attributes are usually omitted as superfluous, and characteristic
-propriety of colour often sacrificed to the general effect.
-
-
-These introductory observations and explanations will be found
-illustrated in a variety of forms as we proceed; and readers will be
-led to make comparisons and discover analogies and exceptions for
-themselves. I must stop here;—yet one word more.
-
-All the productions of Art, from the time it has been directed and
-developed by Christian influences, may be regarded under three
-different aspects. 1. The purely religious aspect, which belongs to
-one mode of faith; 2. The poetical aspect, which belongs to all; 3.
-The artistic, which is the individual point of view, and has reference
-only to the action of the intellect on the means and material employed.
-There is pleasure, intense pleasure, merely in the consideration of
-Art as _Art_; in the faculties of comparison and nice discrimination,
-brought to bear on objects of beauty; in the exercise of a cultivated
-and refined taste on the productions of mind in any form whatever. But
-a three-fold, or rather a thousand-fold, pleasure is theirs who to a
-sense of the poetical unite a sympathy with the spiritual in Art, and
-who combine with delicacy of perception, and technical knowledge, more
-elevated sources of pleasure, more variety of association, habits of
-more excursive thought. Let none imagine, however, that, in placing
-before the uninitiated these unpretending volumes, I assume any such
-superiority as is here implied. Like a child that has sprung on a
-little way before its playmates, and caught a glimpse through an
-opening portal of some varied Eden within, all gay with flowers, and
-musical with birds, and haunted by divine shapes which beckon onward;
-and, after one rapturous survey, runs back and catches its companions
-by the hand and hurries them forwards to share the new-found pleasure,
-the yet unexplored region of delight; even so it is with me:—I am on
-the outside, not the inside, of the door I open.
-
-[Illustration: 2 After Gaudenzio Ferrari, at Saronno]
-
-
-
-
-                                PART I.
-
-    Ye too must fly before a chasing hand,
-    Angels and saints in every hamlet mourned!
-    Ah! if the old idolatry be spurn’d,
-    Let not your radiant shapes desert the land!
-    Her adoration was not your demand,—
-    The fond heart proffer’d it,—the servile heart,
-    And therefore are ye summon’d to depart;
-    Michael, and thou St. George, whose flaming brand
-    The Dragon quell’d; and valiant Margaret,
-    Whose rival sword a like opponent slew;
-    And rapt Cecilia, seraph-haunted queen
-    Of harmony; and weeping Magdalene,
-    Who in the penitential desert met
-    Gales sweet as those that over Eden blew! WORDSWORTH.
-
- ‘I can just remember,’ says a theologian of the last century, ‘when
- the women first taught me to say my prayers, I used to have an idea
- of a venerable old man, of a composed, benign countenance, with his
- own hair, clad in a morning gown of a grave-coloured flowered damask,
- sitting in an elbow-chair.’ And he proceeds to say that, in looking
- back to these beginnings, he is in no way disturbed at the grossness
- of his infant theology. The image thus shaped by the imagination of
- the child was, in truth, merely one example of the various forms
- and conceptions fitted to divers states and seasons, and orders
- and degrees, of the religious mind, whether infant or adult, which
- represent the several approximations such minds at such seasons can
- respectively make to the completeness of faith. These imperfect ideas
- should be held to be reconciled and comprehended in that completeness,
- not rejected by it; and the nearest approximation which the greatest
- of human minds can accomplish is surely to be regarded as much nearer
- to the imperfection of an infantine notion than to the fulness of
- truth. The gown of flowered damask and the elbow-chair may disappear;
- the anthropomorphism of childhood may give place to the divine
- incarnation of the Second Person in after-years; and we may come
- to conceive of the Deity as Milton did when his epithets were most
- abstract:—
-
-                    ‘So spake the SOVRAN PRESENCE.’
-
- But after all, these are but different grades of imperfection in the
- forms of doctrinal faith; and if there be a devouter love on the part
- of the child for what is pictured in his imagination as a venerable
- old man, than in the philosophic poet for the ‘Sovran Presence,’
- the child’s faith has more of the efficacy of religious truth in it
- than the poet’s and philosopher’s. (_Vide_ ‘Notes on Life,’ by HENRY
- TAYLOR, p. 136.)
-
-
-[Illustration: 3 Gloria in excelsis Deo!]
-
-
-
-
-                       Of Angels and Archangels.
-
-
-                            I. THE ANGELS.
-
-There is something so very attractive and poetical, as well as soothing
-to our helpless finite nature, in all the superstitions connected with
-the popular notion of Angels, that we cannot wonder at their prevalence
-in the early ages of the world. Those nations who acknowledged one
-Almighty Creator, and repudiated with horror the idea of a plurality
-of Gods, were the most willing to accept, the most enthusiastic in
-accepting, these objects of an intermediate homage; and gladly placed
-between their humanity and the awful supremacy of an unseen God, the
-ministering spirits who were the agents of his will, the witnesses of
-his glory, the partakers of his bliss, and who in their preternatural
-attributes of love and knowledge filled up that vast space in the
-created universe which intervened between mortal man and the infinite,
-omnipotent LORD OF ALL.
-
-The belief in these superior beings, dating from immemorial antiquity,
-interwoven as it should seem with our very nature, and authorised by a
-variety of passages in Scripture, has descended to our time. Although
-the bodily forms assigned to them are allowed to be impossible, and
-merely allegorical, although their supposed functions as rulers of
-the stars and elements have long been set aside by a knowledge of the
-natural laws, still the coexistence of many orders of beings superior
-in nature to ourselves, benignly interested in our welfare, and
-contending for us against the powers of evil, remains an article of
-faith. Perhaps the belief itself, and the feeling it excites in the
-tender and contemplative mind, were never more beautifully expressed
-than by our own Spenser:—
-
-    And is there care in heaven? And is there love
-    In heavenly spirits to these creatures base,
-    That may compassion of their evils move?
-    There is!—else much more wretched were the case
-    Of men than beasts! But O th’ exceeding grace
-    Of highest God that loves his creatures so,
-    And all his works with mercy doth embrace,
-    That blessed angels he sends to and fro
-    To serve to wicked man, to serve his wicked foe
-
-    How oft do they their silver bowers leave,
-    And come to succour us that succour want?
-    How oft do they with golden pinions cleave
-    The flitting skies, like flying pursuivant,
-    Against foul fiends, to aid us militant?
-    They for its fight, they watch, and duly ward,
-    And their bright squadrons round about us plant,
-    And all for love, and nothing for reward!
-    Oh why should heavenly God to men have such regard!
-
-It is this feeling, expressed or unexpressed, lurking at the very core
-of all hearts, which renders the usual representations of angels, spite
-of all incongruities of form, so pleasing to the fancy: we overlook
-the anatomical solecisms, and become mindful only of that emblematical
-significance which through its humanity connects it with us, and
-through its supernatural appendages connects _us_ with heaven.
-
-But it is necessary to give a brief summary of the scriptural and
-theological authorities, relative to the nature and functions of
-angels, before we can judge of the manner in which these ideas have
-been attended to and carried out in the artistic similitudes. Thus
-angels are represented in the Old Testament—
-
-1. As beings of a higher nature than men, and gifted with superior
-intelligence and righteousness.[14]
-
-2. As a host of attendants surrounding the throne of God, and as a kind
-of celestial court or council.[15]
-
-3. As messengers of his will conveyed from heaven to earth: or as sent
-to guide, to correct, to instruct, to reprove, to console.
-
-4. As protecting the pious.
-
-5. As punishing by command of the Most High the wicked and
-disobedient.[16]
-
-6. As having the form of men; as eating and drinking.
-
-7. As wielding a sword.
-
-8. As having power to slay.[17]
-
-I do not recollect any instance in which angels are represented in
-Scripture as instigated by human passions; they are merely the agents
-of the mercy or the wrath of the Almighty.
-
-After the period of the Captivity, the Jewish ideas concerning angels
-were considerably extended and modified by an admixture of the
-Chaldaic belief, and of the doctrines taught by Zoroaster.[18] It
-is then that we first hear of good and bad angels, and of a fallen
-angel or impersonation of evil, busy in working mischief on earth and
-counteracting good; also of archangels, who are alluded to by name;
-and of guardian angels assigned to nations and individuals; and these
-foreign ideas concerning the spiritual world, accepted and promulgated
-by the Jewish doctors, pervade the whole of the New Testament, in which
-angels are far more familiar to us as agents, more frequently alluded
-to, and more distinctly brought before us, than in the Old Testament.
-For example: they are represented—
-
-1. As countless.
-
-2. As superior to all human wants and weaknesses.
-
-3. As the deputed messengers of God.
-
-4. They rejoice over the repentant sinner. They take deep interest in
-the mission of Christ.
-
-5. They are present with those who pray; they bear the souls of the
-just to heaven.
-
-6. They minister to Christ on earth, and will be present at his second
-coming.[19]
-
-In the Gospel of St. John, which is usually regarded as the fullest and
-most correct exposition of the doctrines of Christ, angels are only
-three times mentioned, and in none of these instances does the word
-angel fall from the lips of Christ. On the other hand, the writings of
-St. Paul, who was deeply versed in all the learning and philosophy of
-the Jews, abound in allusions to angels, and, according to the usual
-interpretation of certain passages, he shows them divided into several
-classes.[20] St. Luke, who was the friend and disciple of St. Paul,
-some say his convert, is more direct and explicit on the subject of
-angels than any of the other Evangelists, and his allusions to them
-much more frequent.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The worship of angels, which the Jews brought from Chaldea, was early
-introduced into the Christian Church. In the fourth century the council
-of Laodicea published a decree against places of worship dedicated to
-angels under names which the Church did not recognise. But neither
-warning nor council seems to have had power to modify the popular
-creed, countenanced as it was by high authority. All the Fathers are
-unanimous as to the existence of angels good and evil. They hold that
-it is evermore the allotted task of good angels to defend us against
-evil angels, and to carry on a daily and hourly combat against our
-spiritual foes: they teach that the good angels are worthy of all
-reverence as the ministers of God and as the protectors of the human
-race; that their intercession is to be invoked, and their perpetual,
-invisible presence to be regarded as an incitement to good and a
-preventive to evil.
-
-This, however, was not enough. Taking for their foundation a few
-Scripture texts, and in particular the classification of St. Paul,
-the imaginative theologians of the middle ages ran into all kinds
-of extravagant subtleties regarding the being, the nature, and the
-functions of the different orders of angels. Except as far as they have
-been taken as authorities in Art, I shall set aside these fanciful
-disquisitions, of which a mere abstract would fill volumes. For our
-present purpose it is sufficient to bear in mind that the great
-theologians divide the angelic host into three hierarchies, and these
-again into nine choirs, three in each hierarchy: according to Dionysius
-the Areopagite, in the following order: 1. Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones.
-2. Dominations, Virtues, Powers. 3. Princedoms, Archangels, Angels.
-The order of these denominations is not the same in all authorities:
-according to the Greek formula, St. Bernard, and the Legenda Aurea,
-the Cherubim precede the Seraphim, and in the hymn of St. Ambrose they
-have also the precedence—_To Thee, Cherubim and Seraphim continually do
-cry_, &c.; but the authority of St. Dionysius seems to be admitted as
-paramount, for according to the legend he was the convert and intimate
-friend of St. Paul, and St. Paul, who had been transported to the
-seventh heaven, had made him acquainted with all he had there beheld.
-
-                               Desire
-    In Dionysius so intensely wrought
-    That he, as I have done, ranged them, and named
-    Their orders, marshall’d in his thought;
-                      ... For he had learn’d
-    Both this and much beside of these our orbs
-    From an eye-witness to Heaven’s mysteries. DANTE, _Par._ 28.
-
-The first three choirs receive their glory immediately from God, and
-transmit it to the second; the second illuminate the third; the third
-are placed in relation to the created universe and man. The first
-Hierarchy are as councillors; the second as governors; the third as
-ministers. The Seraphim are absorbed in perpetual love and adoration
-immediately round the throne of God. The Cherubim know and worship.
-The Thrones sustain the seat of the Most High. The Dominations,
-Virtues, Powers, are the Regents of stars and elements. The three last
-orders, Princedoms, Archangels, and Angels, are the protectors of
-the great Monarchies on earth, and the executors of the will of God
-throughout the universe.
-
-The term angels is properly applied to all these celestial beings; but
-it belongs especially to the two last orders, who are brought into
-immediate communication with the human race. The word angel, Greek in
-its origin, signifies a messenger, or more literally _a bringer of
-tidings_.
-
-In this sense the Greeks entitle Christ ‘The great Angel of the will of
-God;’ and I have seen Greek representations of Christ with wings to his
-shoulders. John the Baptist is also an angel in this sense; likewise
-the Evangelists; all of whom, as I shall show hereafter, bear, as
-celestial messengers, the angel-wings.
-
-[Illustration: 4 Greek Seraph; wings of gold
-               and crimson (Ninth century)]
-
-In ancient pictures and illuminations which exhibit the glorification
-of the Trinity, Christ, or the Virgin, the hierarchies of angels are
-represented in circles around them, orb within orb. This is called a
-glory of angels. In pictures it is seldom complete: instead of nine
-circles, the painters content themselves with one or two circles only.
-The innermost circles, the Seraphim and the Cherubim, are in general
-represented as _heads_ merely, with two or four or six wings, and of
-a bright-red or blue colour; sometimes with variegated wings, green,
-yellow, violet, &c. This emblem—intended to shadow forth to human
-comprehension a pure spirit glowing with love and intelligence, in
-which all that is bodily is put away, and only the head, the seat of
-soul, and wings, the attribute of spirit and swiftness, retained—is of
-Greek origin. When first adopted I do not know, but I have met with
-it in Greek MSS. of the ninth century. Down to the eleventh century
-the faces were human, but not childish; the infant head was afterwards
-adopted to express innocence in addition to love and intelligence.
-
-[Illustration: 5      Cherubim, Italian (Fourteenth century)]
-
-Such was the expressive and poetical symbol which degenerated in the
-later periods of Art into those little fat baby heads, with curly hair
-and small wings under the chin, which the more they resemble nature in
-colour, feature, and detail, the more absurd they become, the original
-meaning being wholly lost or perverted.
-
-[Illustration: 6       Cherub Heads]
-
-In painting, where a glory of angels is placed round the Divine Being
-or the glorified Virgin, those forming the innermost circles are or
-ought to be of a glowing red, the colour of fire, that is, of love; the
-next circle is painted blue, the colour of the firmament, or light,
-that is, of knowledge. Now as the word seraph is derived from a Hebrew
-root signifying love, and the word cherub from a Hebrew root signifying
-to know, should not this distinction fix the proper place and name of
-the first two orders? It is admitted that the spirits which _love_ are
-nearer to God than those which _know_, since we cannot know that which
-we do not first love: that Love and Knowledge, ‘the two halves of a
-divided world,’ constitute in their union the perfection of the angelic
-nature; but the Seraphim, according to the derivation of their name,
-should _love_ most; their whole being is fused, as it were, in a glow
-of adoration; therefore they should take the precedence, and their
-proper colour is red. The Cherubim, ‘the lords of those that know,’
-come next, and are to be painted blue.
-
-Thus it should seem that, in considering the religious pictures of the
-early ages of Art, we have to get rid of certain associations as to
-colour and form, derived from the phraseology of later poets and the
-representations of later painters. ‘Blue-eyed Seraphim,’ and the ‘blue
-depth of Seraph’s eyes,’ are not to be thought of any more than smiling
-Cherubim.’ The Seraphim, where distinguished by colour, are red; the
-Cherubim blue: the proper character, where character is attended to,
-is, in the Seraph, adoration; in the Cherub, contemplation. So Milton—
-
-               With thee bring
-    Him who soars on golden wing,
-    The Cherub, Contemplation.
-
-I remember a little Triptyca, a genuine work of Fiesole, in which one
-of the lateral compartments represents his favourite subject, the
-souls of the blessed received into Paradise. They are moving from the
-lower part of the picture towards the top, along an ascent paved with
-flowers, all in white garments and crowned with roses. At one side,
-low down, stands a blue Cherub robed in drapery spangled with golden
-stars, who seems to encourage the blessed group. Above are the gates of
-heaven. Christ welcomes to his kingdom the beatified spirits, and on
-each side stands a Seraph, all of a glowing red, in spangled drapery.
-The figures are not here merely heads and wings, but full length,
-having all that soft peculiar grace which belongs to the painter.[21]
-
-In a Coronation of the Virgin,[22] a glory of Seraphim over-arches the
-principal group. Here the angelic beings are wholly of a bright red
-colour: they are human to the waist, with hands clasped in devotion:
-the bodies and arms covered with plumage, but the forms terminating
-in wings; all uniformly red. In the same collection is a small Greek
-picture of Christ receiving the soul of the Virgin; over his head
-hovers a large, fiery-red, six-winged Seraph; and on each side a Seraph
-with hair and face and limbs of glowing red, and with white draperies.
-Vasari mentions an Adoration of the Magi by Liberale of Verona, in
-which a group of angels, all of a red colour, stand as a celestial
-guard round the Virgin and her divine Infant.[23]
-
-The distinction of hue in the red and blue angels we find wholly
-omitted towards the end of the fifteenth century. Cherubim with blue,
-red, green, and variegated wings we find in the pictures of Perugino
-and other masters in the beginning of the sixteenth century, also
-in early pictures of Raphael. Liberale di Verona has given us, in a
-Madonna picture, Cherub heads without wings, and of a blue colour,
-emerging from golden clouds. And in Raphael’s Madonna di San Sisto
-the whole background is formed of Cherubim and Seraphim of a uniform
-delicate bluish tinge, as if composed of air, and melting away into an
-abyss of golden glory, the principal figures standing relieved against
-this flood of living love and light—beautiful! So are the Cherubim
-with many-coloured wings which float in the firmament in Perugino’s
-Coronation of the Virgin; but none of these can be regarded as so
-theologically correct as the fiery-red and bright-blue Seraphim and
-Cherubim, of which are formed the hierarchies and glories which figure
-in the early pictures, the stained glass, the painted sculpture, and
-the illuminated MSS. from the tenth to the sixteenth century.
-
-[Illustration: 7 Cherubim (Liberale di Verona)]
-
-The next five choirs of angels, the Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms,
-Virtues, Powers, though classed and described with great exactitude by
-the theologians, have not been very accurately discriminated in Art.
-In some examples the Thrones have green wings, a fiery aureole, and
-bear a throne in their hands. The Dominations, Virtues, and Powers
-sometimes bear a globe and a long sceptre surmounted by a cross. The
-Principalities, according to the Greek formula, should bear a branch
-of lily. The Archangels are figured as warriors, and carry a sword
-with the point upwards. The angels are robed as deacons, and carry a
-wand. In one of the ancient frescoes in the Cathedral at Orvieto, there
-is a complete hierarchy of angels, so arranged as to symbolise the
-Trinity, each of the nine choirs being composed of three angels, but
-the Seraphim only are distinguished by their red colour and priority
-of place. In the south porch of the Cathedral of Chartres, each of
-the nine orders is represented by two angels: in other instances, one
-angel only represents the order to which he belongs, and nine angels
-represent the whole hierarchy.[24] Where, however, we meet with groups
-or rows of angels, as in the Greek mosaics and the earliest frescoes
-all alike, all with the tiara, the long sceptre-like wands, and the orb
-of sovereignty, I believe these to represent the Powers and Princedoms
-of Heaven. The Archangels alone, as we shall see presently, have
-distinct individual names and attributes assigned to them.
-
-[Illustration: 8 Part of a Glory of Angels surrounding the figure of
-Christ in a picture by Ambrogio Borgognone]
-
-The angels, generally, have the human form; are winged; and are endowed
-with immutable happiness and perpetual youth, because they are ever
-in the presence of Him with whom there is no change and no time. They
-are direct emanations of the beauty of the Eternal mind, therefore
-beautiful; created, therefore not eternal, but created perfect, and
-immortal in their perfection: they are always supposed to be masculine;
-perhaps for the reason so beautifully assigned by Madame de Staël,
-‘because the union of power with purity (_la force avec la pureté_)
-constitutes all that we mortals can imagine of perfection.’ There
-is no such thing as an old angel, and therefore there ought to be
-no such thing as an infant angel. The introduction of infant angels
-seems to have arisen from the custom of representing the regenerate
-souls of men as new-born infants, and perhaps also from the words of
-our Saviour, when speaking of children: ‘I say unto you, their angels
-do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.’ Such
-representations, when religiously and poetically treated as spirits of
-love, intelligence, and innocence, are of exquisite beauty, and have a
-significance which charms and elevates the fancy; but from this, the
-true and religious conception, the Italian _putti_ and _puttini_, and
-the rosy chubby babies of the Flemish school, are equally remote.
-
-[Illustration: 9 Egyptian winged genius (Louvre)]
-
-In early Art, the angels in the bloom of adolescence are always amply
-draped: at first, in the classical tunic and pallium; afterwards in
-long linen vestments with the alba and stole, as levites or deacons; or
-as princes, with embroidered robes and sandals, and jewelled crowns or
-fillets. Such figures are common in the Byzantine mosaics and pictures.
-The expression, in these early representations, is usually calm and
-impassive. Angels partially draped in loose, fluttering, meretricious
-attire, poised in attitudes upon clouds, or with features animated by
-human passion, or limbs strained by human effort, are the innovations
-of more modern Art. White is, or ought to be, the prevailing colour
-in angelic draperies, but red and blue of various shades are more
-frequent: green often occurs; and in the Venetian pictures, yellow, or
-rather saffron-coloured, robes are not unfrequent. In the best examples
-of Italian Art the tints, though varied, are tender and delicate: all
-dark heavy colours and violent contrasts of colour are avoided. On
-the contrary, in the early German school, the angels have rich heavy
-voluminous draperies of the most intense and vivid colours, often
-jewelled and embroidered with gold. Flight, in such garments, seems as
-difficult as it would be to swim in coronation robes.
-
-[Illustration: 10 Winged figure from Nineveh]
-
-But, whatever be the treatment as to character, lineaments, or dress,
-wings are almost invariably the attribute of the angelic form. As
-emblematical appendages, these are not merely significant of the
-character of celestial messengers, for, from time immemorial, wings
-have been the Oriental and Egyptian symbol of power, as well as of
-swiftness; of the spiritual and aerial, in contradistinction to the
-human and the earthly. Thus, with the Egyptians, the winged globe
-signified power and eternity, that is, the Godhead; a bird, with a
-human head, signified the soul; and nondescript creatures, with wings,
-abound not only in the Egyptian paintings and hieroglyphics, but also
-in the Chaldaic and Babylonian remains, in the Lycian and Nineveh
-marbles, and on the gems and other relics of the Gnostics. I have
-seen on the Gnostic gems figures with four wings, two springing from
-the shoulders and two from the loins. This portentous figure, from the
-ruins of Nineveh, is similarly constructed. (10.)
-
-In Etruscan Art all their divinities are winged; and where Venus
-is represented with wings, as in many of the antique gems (and by
-Correggio in imitation of them),[25] these brilliant wings are not, as
-some have supposed, emblematical of the _transitoriness_, but of the
-might, the majesty, and the essential divinity of beauty. In Scripture,
-the first mention of Cherubim with wings is immediately after the
-departure of the Israelites from Egypt (Exod. xxxi. 2). Bezaleel, the
-first artist whose name is recorded in the world’s history, and who
-appears to have been, like the greatest artists of modern times, at
-once architect, sculptor, and painter, probably derived his figures
-of Cherubim with outstretched wings, guarding the mercy-seat, from
-those Egyptian works of Art with which the Israelites must have been
-familiarised. Clement of Alexandria is so aware of the relative
-similitude, that he supposes the Egyptians to have borrowed from the
-Israelites, which is obviously the reverse of the truth. How far the
-Cherubim, which figure in the Biblical pictures of the present day,
-resemble the carved Cherubim of Bezaleel we cannot tell, but probably
-the idea and the leading forms are the same: for the ark, we know, was
-carried into Palestine; these original Cherubim were the pattern of
-those which adorned the temple of Solomon, and these, again, were the
-prototype after which the imagery of the second temple was fashioned.
-Although in Scripture the shape under which the celestial ministers
-appeared to man is nowhere described, except in the visions of the
-prophets (Dan. x. 5), and there with a sort of dreamy incoherent
-splendour, rendering it most perilous to clothe the image placed before
-the fancy in definite forms, still the idea of wings, as the angelic
-appendages, is conveyed in many places distinctly, and occasionally
-with a picturesque vividness which inspires and assists the artist.
-For instance, in Daniel, ch. vii., ‘they had wings like a fowl.’ In
-Ezekiel, ch.i., ‘their wings were stretched upward when they flew;
-when they stood, they let down their wings:’ ‘I heard the noise of
-their wings as the noise of great waters:’ and in Zechariah, ch. v., ‘I
-looked, and behold there came out two women, and the wind was in their
-wings, for they had wings like the wings of a stork.’ And Isaiah, ch.
-vi., in the description of the Seraphim, ‘Each one had six wings; with
-twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with
-twain he did fly.’ By the early artists this description was followed
-out in a manner more conscientious and reverential than poetical.
-
-[Illustration: 11 Seraph
-(Greek mosaic, Cathedral of Monreale)]
-
-They were content with a symbol. But mark how Milton, more daring,
-could paint from the same original:—
-
-    A seraph wing’d; six wings he wore to shade
-    His lineaments divine: the pair that clad
-    Each shoulder broad, came mantling o’er his breast
-    With regal ornament; the middle pair
-    Girt like a starry zone his waist, and round
-    Skirted his loins and thighs with downy gold
-    And colours dipp’d in heaven; the third his feet
-    Shadow’d from either heel with feather’d mail,
-    Sky-tinctured grain.
-
-I have sometimes thought that Milton, in his descriptions of angels,
-was not indebted merely to the notions of the old theological writers,
-interpreted and embellished by his own fancy: may he not, in his
-wanderings through Italy, have beheld with kindling sympathy some of
-those glorious creations of Italian Art, which, when I saw them, made
-me break out into his own divine language as the only fit utterance to
-express those forms in words?—But, to return—Is it not a mistake to
-make the wings, the feathered appendages of the angelic form, as like
-as possible to real wings—the wings of storks, or the wings of swans,
-or herons, borrowed for the occasion? Some modern painters, anxious to
-make wings look ‘natural,’ have done this; Delaroche, for instance,
-in his St. Cecilia. Infinitely more beautiful and consistent are the
-nondescript wings which the early painters gave their angels:—large—so
-large, that when the glorious creature is represented as at rest, they
-droop from the shoulders to the ground; with long slender feathers,
-eyed sometimes like the peacock’s train, bedropped with gold like the
-pheasant’s breast, tinted with azure and violet and crimson, ‘colours
-dipp’d in heaven,’—they are really angel-wings, not bird-wings.
-
-[Illustration: 12 Angels (Orcagna)]
-
-[Illustration: 13 Fiery Cherub (Raphael)]
-
-Orcagna’s angels in the Campo Santo are, in this respect, peculiarly
-poetical. Their extremities are wings instead of limbs; and in a few
-of the old Italian and German painters of the fifteenth century we
-find angels whose extremities are formed of light waving folds of pale
-rose-coloured or azure drapery, or of a sort of vapoury cloud, or, in
-some instances, of flames. The cherubim and seraphim which surround the
-similitude of Jehovah when He appears to Moses in the burning bush,[26]
-are an example of the sublime and poetical significance which may be
-given to this kind of treatment. They have heads and human features
-marvellous for intelligence and beauty; their hair, their wings, their
-limbs, end in lambent fires; they are ‘celestial Ardours bright,’ which
-seem to have being without shape.
-
-Dante’s angels have less of dramatic reality, less of the aggrandised
-and idealised human presence, than Milton’s. They are wondrous
-creatures. Some of them have the quaint fantastic picturesqueness
-of old Italian Art and the Albert Dürer school; for instance, those
-in the Purgatorio, with their wings of a bright green, and their
-green draperies, ‘verde come fogliette,’ kept in a perpetual state of
-undulation by the breeze created by the fanning of their wings, with
-features too dazzling to be distinguished:
-
-    Ben discerneva in lor la testa bionda,
-    Ma nelle facce l’ occhio si smarria
-    Come virtù ch’ a troppo si confonda.[27]
-
-And the Shape, glowing red as in a furnace, with an air from the
-fanning of its wings, ‘fresh as the first breath of wind in a May
-morning, and fragrant as all its flowers.’ That these and other
-passages scattered through the Purgatorio and the Paradiso assisted the
-fancy of the earlier painters, in portraying their angelic Glories and
-winged Beatitudes, I have little doubt; but, on the other hand, the
-sublime angel in the Inferno—he who comes speeding over the waters with
-vast pinions like sails, sweeping the evil spirits in heaps before him,
-‘like frogs before a serpent,’ and with a touch of his wand making the
-gates of the city of Dis fly open; then, with a countenance solemn and
-majestic, and quite unmindful of his worshipper, as one occupied by
-higher matters, turning and soaring away—this is quite in the sentiment
-of the grand old Greek and Italian mosaics, which preceded Dante by
-some centuries.[28]
-
-But besides being the winged messengers of God to man, the deputed
-regents of the stars, the rulers of the elements, and the dispensers
-of the fate of nations, angels have another function in which we love
-to contemplate them. They are the choristers of heaven. Theirs is
-the privilege to sound that hymn of praise which goes up from this
-boundless and harmonious universe of suns and stars and worlds and
-rejoicing creatures, towards the God who created them: theirs is the
-music of the spheres—
-
-  They sing, and singing in their glory move;
-
-they tune divine instruments, named after those of earth’s harmonies—
-
-            The harp, the solemn pipe
-    And dulcimer, all organs of sweet stop,
-    All sounds on fret by string or golden wire,
-                  ... And with songs
-    And choral symphonies, day without night,
-    Circle his throne rejoicing.
-
-There is nothing more beautiful, more attractive, in Art than the
-representations of angels in this character. Sometimes they form
-a chorus round the glorified Saviour, when, after his sorrow and
-sacrifice on earth, he takes his throne in heaven; or, when the crown
-is placed on the head of the Maternal Virgin in glory, pour forth their
-triumphant song, and sound their silver clarions on high: sometimes
-they stand or kneel before the Madonna and Child, or sit upon the steps
-of her throne, singing,—with such sweet earnest faces! or playing on
-their golden lutes, or piping celestial symphonies; or they bend in
-a choir from the opening heavens above, and welcome, with triumphant
-songs, the liberated soul of the saint or martyr; or join in St.
-Cecilia’s hymn of praise: but whatever the scene, in these and similar
-representations, they appear in their natural place and vocation, and
-harmonise enchantingly with all our feelings and fancies relative to
-these angelic beings, made up of love and music.
-
-[Illustration: 14 Angel (Francia)]
-
-[Illustration: 15 Piping Angel (Gian Bellini)]
-
-Most beautiful examples of this treatment occur both in early painting
-and sculpture; and no one who has wandered through churches and
-galleries, with feeling and observation awake, can fail to remember
-such. It struck me as characteristic of the Venetian school, that the
-love of music seemed to combine with the sense of harmony in colour;
-nowhere have I seen musical angels so frequently and so beautifully
-introduced: and whereas the angelic choirs of Fiesole, Ghirlandajo,
-and Raphael, seem to be playing as an act of homage for the delight of
-the Divine Personages, those of Vivarini and Bellini and Palma appear
-as if enchanted by their own music; and both together are united in
-the grand and beautiful angels of Melozzo da Forli, particularly in
-one who is bending over a lute, and another who with a triumphant and
-ecstatic expression strikes the cymbals.[29] Compare the cherubic
-host who are pouring forth their hymns of triumph, blowing their
-uplifted trumpets, and touching immortal harps and viols in Angelico’s
-‘Coronation,’[30] or in Signorelli’s ‘Paradiso,’[31] with those lovely
-Venetian choristers, the piping boys, myrtle-crowned, who are hymning
-Bellini’s Madonna,[32] or those who are touching the lute to the praise
-and glory of St. Ambrose in Vivarini’s most beautiful picture; you will
-feel immediately the distinction in point of sentiment.
-
-The procession of chanting angels which once surmounted the organ in
-the Duomo of Florence is a perfect example of musical angels applied to
-the purpose of decoration. Perhaps it was well to remove this exquisite
-work of art to a place of safety, where it can be admired and studied
-as a work of art; but the removal has taken from it the appropriate
-expression. How they sing!—when the tones of the organ burst forth, we
-might have fancied we heard their divine voices through the stream of
-sound! The exquisite little bronze choristers round the high altar of
-St. Antonio in Padua are another example; Florentine in elegance of
-form, Venetian in sentiment, intent upon their own sweet song!
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-There is a third function ascribed to these angelic natures, which
-brings them even nearer to our sympathies; they are the deputed
-guardians of the just and innocent. St. Raphael, whose story I shall
-presently relate, is the prince of the guardian angels. The Jews held
-that the angels deputed to Lot were his guardian angels.[33] The
-fathers of the Christian Church taught that every human being, from
-the hour of his birth to that of his death, is accompanied by an
-angel appointed to watch over him. The Mahometans give to each of us
-a good and an evil angel; but the early Christians supposed us to be
-attended each by a good angel only, who undertakes that office, not
-merely from duty to God, and out of obedience and great humility, but
-as inspired by exceeding charity and love towards his human charge. It
-would require the tongues of angels themselves to recite all that we
-owe to these benign and vigilant guardians. They watch by the cradle of
-the new-born babe, and spread their celestial wings round the tottering
-steps of infancy. If the path of life be difficult and thorny, and evil
-spirits work its shame and woe, they sustain us; they bear the voice of
-our complaining, of our supplication, of our repentance, up to the foot
-of God’s throne, and bring us back in return a pitying benediction, to
-strengthen and to cheer. When passion and temptation strive for the
-mastery, they encourage us to resist; when we conquer, they crown us;
-when we falter and fail, they compassionate and grieve over us; when
-we are obstinate in polluting our own souls, and perverted not only
-in act but in will, they leave us—and woe to them that are so left!
-But the good angel does not quit his charge until his protection is
-despised, rejected, and utterly repudiated. Wonderful the fervour of
-their love—wonderful their meekness and patience— who endure from day
-to day the spectacle of the unveiled human heart with all its miserable
-weaknesses and vanities, its inordinate desires and selfish purposes!
-Constant to us in death, they contend against the powers of darkness
-for the emancipated spirit: they even visit the suffering sinner in
-purgatory; they keep alive in the tormented spirit faith and hope, and
-remind him that the term of expiation will end at last. So Dante[34]
-represents the souls in purgatory as comforted in their misery; and
-(which has always seemed to me a touch of sublime truth and tenderness)
-as rejoicing over those who were on earth conspicuous for the very
-virtues wherein themselves were deficient. When at length the repentant
-soul is sufficiently purified, the guardian angel bears it to the bosom
-of the Saviour.
-
-The earlier painters and sculptors did not, apparently, make the same
-use of guardian angels that we so often meet with in works of Modern
-Art. Poetical allegories of angels guiding the steps of childhood,
-extending a shield over innocence, watching by a sick bed, do not, I
-think, occur before the seventeenth century; at least I have not met
-with such. The ancient masters, who really believed in the personal
-agency of our angelic guardians, beheld them with awe and reverence,
-and reserved their presence for great and solemn occasions. The
-angel who presents the pious votary to Christ or the Virgin, who
-crowns St. Cecilia and St. Valerian after their conquest over human
-weakness; the angel who cleaves the air with flight precipitant’ to
-break the implements of torture, or to extend the palm to the dying
-martyr, victorious over pain; the angels who assist and carry in their
-arms the souls of the just; are, in these and all similar examples,
-representations of guardian angels.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Such, then, are the three great functions of the angelic host: they are
-Messengers, Choristers, and Guardians. But angels, without reference to
-their individuality or their ministry—with regard only to their species
-and their form, as the most beautiful and the most elevated of created
-essences, as intermediate between heaven and earth—are introduced into
-all works of art which have a sacred purpose or character, and must
-be considered not merely as decorative accessories, but as a kind of
-presence, as attendant witnesses; and, like the chorus in the Greek
-tragedies, looking on where they are not actors. In architectural
-decoration, the cherubim with which Solomon adorned his temple have
-been the authority and example.[35] ‘Within the oracle he made two
-cherubims, each ten cubits high, and with wings five cubits in length’
-(the angels in the old Christian churches on each side of the altar
-correspond with these cherubim), ‘and he overlaid the cherubims with
-gold, and carved all the walls of the house with carved figures of
-cherubims, and he made doors of olive tree, and he carved on them
-figures of cherubims.’ So, in Christian art and architecture, angels,
-with their beautiful cinctured heads and outstretched wings and flowing
-draperies, fill up every space. The instances are so numerous that they
-will occur to every one who has given a thought to the subject. I may
-mention the frieze of angels in Henry the Seventh’s Chapel, merely as
-an example at hand, and which can be referred to at any moment; also
-the angels round the choir of Lincoln Cathedral, of which there are
-fine casts in the Crystal Palace at Sydenham; and in some of the old
-churches in Saxony which clearly exhibit the influence of Byzantine
-Art—for instance, at Freyberg, Merseburg, Naumburg—angels with
-outspread wings fill up the spandrils of the arches along the nave.
-
-But, in the best ages of Art, angels were not merely employed as
-decorative accessories; they had their appropriate place and a solemn
-significance as a part of that theological system which the edifice, as
-a whole, represented.
-
-As a celestial host, surrounding the throne of the Trinity; or of
-Christ, as redeemer or as a judge; or of the Virgin in glory; or the
-throned Madonna and Child; their place is immediately next to the
-Divine Personages, and before the Evangelists.
-
-In what is called a Liturgy of Angels, they figure in procession On
-each side of the choir, so as to have the appearance of approaching the
-altar: they wear the stole and alba as deacons, and bear the implements
-of the mass. In the Cathedral of Rheims there is a range of colossal
-angels as a grand procession along the vaults of the nave, who appear
-as approaching the altar: these bear not only the gospel, the missal,
-the sacramental cup, the ewer, the taper, the cross, &c., but also the
-attributes of sovereignty, celestial and terrestrial: one carries the
-sun, another the moon, a third the kingly sceptre, a fourth the globe,
-a fifth the sword; and all these, as they approach the sanctuary, they
-seem about to place at the feet of Christ, who stands there as priest
-and king in glory. Statues of angels in an attitude of worship on each
-side of the altar, as if adoring the sacrifice—or bearing in triumph
-the instruments of Christ’s passion, the cross, the nails, the spear,
-the crown of thorns—or carrying tapers—are more common, and must be
-regarded not merely as decoration, but as a _presence_ in the high
-solemnity.
-
-[Illustration: 16 Angel bearing the Moon
-                  (Greek, 12th century)]
-
-In the Cathedral of Auxerre may be seen angels attending on the
-triumphant coming of Christ; and, which is most singular, they, as well
-as Christ, are on horseback (17).
-
-[Illustration: 17 Two angels on horseback]
-
-When, in subjects from Scripture history, angels figure not merely as
-attendants and spectators, but as personages necessary to the action,
-they are either ministers of the divine wrath, or of the divine mercy;
-agents of destruction, or agents of help and good counsel. As all
-these instances belong to the historical scenes of the Old or the New
-Testament, they will be considered separately, and I shall confine
-myself here to a few remarks on the introduction and treatment of
-angels in some subjects of peculiar interest.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-[Illustration: 18 Adam and Eve expelled (N. Pisano)]
-
-In relating ‘the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise,’ it is not
-said that an angel was the immediate agent of the divine wrath, but it
-is so represented in works of Art. In the most ancient treatment I have
-met with,[36] a majestic armed angel drives forth the delinquents, and
-a cherub with six wings stands as guard before the gate. I found the
-same _motif_ in the sculptures on the façade of the Duomo at Orvieto,
-by Niccolò Pisano. In another instance, an ancient Saxon miniature, the
-angel is represented not as driving them forth, but closing the door
-against them. But these are exceptions to the usual mode of treatment,
-which seldom varies; the angel is not represented in wrath, but calm,
-and stretches forth a sword which is often (literally rendering the
-text) a waving lambent flame. I remember an instance in which the
-preternatural sword, ‘turning every way,’ as the form of a wheel of
-flames.
-
-An angel is expressly introduced as a minister of wrath in the story
-of Balaam, in which I have seen no deviation from the obvious prosaic
-treatment, rendering the text literally, ‘and the ass saw the angel of
-the Lord standing in the way and his sword drawn in his hand.’
-
-‘The destroying angel, leaning from heaven, presents to David three
-arrows, from which to choose—war, pestilence, or famine.’ I have found
-this subject beautifully executed in several MSS., for instance, in the
-‘Heures d’Anne de Bretagne;’ also in pictures and in prints.
-
-‘The destroying angel sent to chastise the arrogance of David, is
-beheld standing between heaven and earth with his sword stretched over
-Jerusalem to destroy it.’ Of this sublime vision I have never seen
-any but the meanest representations; none of the great masters have
-treated it; perhaps Rembrandt might have given us the terrible and
-glorious angel standing like a shadow in the midst of his own intense
-irradiation. David fallen on his face, and the sons of Ornan hiding
-themselves by their rude threshing-floor, with that wild mixture of the
-familiar and the unearthly in which he alone has succeeded.
-
-‘The Chastisement of Heliodorus’ has given occasion to the sublimest
-composition in which human genius ever attempted to embody the
-conception of the supernatural—Raphael’s fresco in the Vatican. St.
-Michael, the protecting angel of the Hebrew nation, is supposed to
-have been the minister of divine wrath on this occasion; but Raphael,
-in omitting the wings, and all exaggeration or alteration of the
-human figure, has shown how unnecessary it was for _him_ to have
-recourse to the prodigious and impossible in form, in order to give
-the supernatural in sentiment. The unearthly warrior and his unearthly
-steed—the weapon in his hand, which is not a sword to pierce, nor a
-club to strike, but a sort of mace, of which, as it seems, a touch
-would annihilate; the two attendant spirits, who come gliding above the
-marble floor, with their hair streaming back with the rapidity of their
-aërial motion—are in the very spirit of Dante, and, as conceptions of
-superhuman power, superior to anything in pictured form which Art has
-bequeathed to us.
-
-In calling to mind the various representations of the angels of the
-Apocalypse let loose for destruction, one is tempted to exclaim, ‘O
-for a warning voice!’ When the Muse of Milton quailed, and fell ten
-thousand fathom deep into Bathos, what could be expected from human
-invention? In general, where this subject is attempted in pictures, we
-find the angels animated, like those of Milton in the war of heaven,
-with ‘fierce desire of battle,’ breathing vengeance, wrath, and fury.
-So Albert Dürer, in those wonderful scenes of his ‘Apocalypse,’ has
-exhibited them; but some of the early Italians show them merely
-impassive, conquering almost without effort, punishing without anger.
-The immediate instruments of the wrath of God in the day of judgment
-are not angels, but devils or demons, generally represented by the
-old painters with every possible exaggeration of hideousness, and as
-taking a horrible and grotesque delight in their task. The demons are
-fallen angels, their deformity a consequence of their fall. Thus, in
-some very ancient representations of the expulsion of Lucifer and his
-rebel host, the degradation of the form increases with their distance
-from heaven.[37] Those who are uppermost are still angels; they bear
-the aureole, the wings, and the tunic; they have not yet lost all their
-original brightness: those below them begin to assume the bestial
-form: the fingers become talons, the heads become horned; and at last,
-as they touch the confines of the gulf of hell, the transformation
-is seen complete, from the luminous angel into the abominable and
-monstrous devil, with serpent tail, claws, bristles, and tusks. This
-gradual transformation, as they descend into the gulf of sin, has a
-striking allegorical significance which cannot escape the reader.
-In a Greek MS. of the ninth century,[38] bearing singular traces of
-antique classical art in the conception and attributes of the figures,
-I found both angels and demons treated in a style quite peculiar and
-poetical. The angels are here gigantic, majestic, Jove-like figures,
-with great wings. The demons are also majestic graceful winged figures,
-but painted of a dusky grey colour (it may originally have been black).
-In one scene, where Julian the Apostate goes to seek the heathen
-divinities, they are thus represented, that is, as _black angels_;
-showing that the painter had here assumed the devils or demons to be
-the discrowned and fallen gods of the antique world.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-These are a few of the most striking instances of angels employed as
-ministers of wrath. Angels, as ministers of divine grace and mercy,
-
-    Of all those arts which Deity supreme
-    Doth ease its heart of love in.
-
-occur much more frequently.
-
-The ancient heresy that God made use of the agency of angels in the
-creation of the world, and of mankind, I must notice here, because
-it has found its way into Art; for example, in an old miniature
-which represents an angel having before him a lump of clay, a kind
-of _ébauche_ of humanity, which he appears to be moulding with his
-hands, while the Almighty stands by directing the work.[39] This idea,
-absurd as it may appear, is not perhaps more absurd than the notion of
-those who would represent the Great First Cause as always busied in
-fashioning or altering the forms in his visible creation, like a potter
-or any other mechanic. But as we are occupied at present with the
-scriptural, not the legendary subjects, I return to the Old Testament.
-The first time that we read of an angel sent as a messenger of mercy,
-it is for the comfort of poor Hagar; when he found her weeping by the
-spring of water in the wilderness, because her mistress had afflicted
-her: and again, when she was cast forth and her boy fainted for thirst.
-In the representation of these subjects, I do not know a single
-instance in which the usual angelic form has not been adhered to. In
-the sacrifice of Isaac, ‘the angel of the Lord calls to Abraham out of
-heaven.’ This subject, as the received type of the sacrifice of the
-Son of God, was one of the earliest in Christian Art. We find it on
-the sarcophagi of the third and fourth centuries; but in one of the
-latest only have I seen a personage introduced as staying the hand of
-Abraham, and this personage is without wings. In painting, the angel
-is sometimes in the act of taking the sword out of Abraham’s hand,
-which expresses the nature of his message: or he lays one hand on his
-arm, and with the other points to the ram which was to replace the
-sacrifice, or brings the ram in his arms to the altar; but, whatever
-the action, the form of the angelic messenger has never varied from the
-sixth century.
-
-[Illustration: 19 The Angels who visit Abraham (Raphael)]
-
-In the visit of the angels to Abraham, there has been a variety
-caused by the wording of the text. It is not said that three _angels_
-visited Abraham, yet in most of the ancient representations the three
-celestial guests are, winged angels. I need hardly observe that these
-three angels are assumed to be a figure of the Trinity, and in some
-old illuminations the interpretation is not left doubtful, the angels
-being characterised as the three persons of the Trinity, wearing each
-the cruciform nimbus: two of them, young and beardless, stand behind;
-the third, representing the Father, has a beard, and, before _Him_,
-Abraham is prostrated. Beautiful for grace and simplicity is the winged
-group by Ghiberti, in which the three seem to step and move together
-as one. More modern artists have given us the celestial visitants
-merely as men. Pre-eminent in this style of conception are the pictures
-of Raphael and Murillo. Raphael here, as elsewhere, a true poet,
-has succeeded in conveying, with exquisite felicity, the sentiment
-of power, of a heavenly presence, and of a mysterious significance.
-The three youths, who stand linked together hand in hand before the
-Patriarch, with such an air of benign and superior grace, want no wings
-to show us that they belong to the courts of heaven, and have but just
-descended to earth—
-
-                         So lively shines
-    In them divine resemblance, and such grace
-    The hand that form’d them on their shape hath pour’d.
-
-Murillo, on the contrary, gives us merely three young men, travellers,
-and has set aside wholly both the angelic and the mystic character of
-the visitants.[40]
-
-The angels who descend and ascend the ladder in Jacob’s dream are
-in almost every instance represented in the usual form; sometimes
-a few[41]—sometimes in multitudes[42]—sometimes as one only, who
-turns to bless the sleeper before he ascends;[43] and the ladder is
-sometimes a flight, or a series of flights, of steps ascending from
-earth to the empyrean. But here it is Rembrandt who has shown himself
-the poet; the ladder is a slanting stream of light; the angels are
-mysterious bird-like luminous forms, which emerge one after another
-from a dazzling fount of glory, and go floating up and down,—so like a
-dream made visible!—In Middle-Age Art this vision of Jacob occurs very
-rarely. I shall have to return to it when treating of the subjects from
-the Old Testament.
-
-In the New Testament angels are much more frequently alluded to than
-in the Old; more as a reality, less as a vision; in fact, there is no
-important event throughout the Gospels and Acts in which angels do not
-appear, either as immediate agents, or as visible and present; and
-in scenes where they are not distinctly said to be visibly present,
-they are assumed to be so invisibly, St. Paul having said expressly
-that ‘their ministry is continual.’ It is therefore with undeniable
-propriety that, in works of Art representing the incidents of the
-Gospels, angels should figure as a perpetual presence, made visible
-under such forms as custom and tradition have consecrated.
-
-I pass over, for the present, the grandest, the most important mission
-of an angel, the announcement brought by Gabriel to the blessed
-Virgin. I shall have to treat it fully hereafter.[44] The angel who
-appears to Joseph in a dream, and the angel who commands him to flee
-into Egypt, was in both cases probably the same angel who hailed Mary
-as blessed above all women; but we are not told so; and according to
-some commentators it was the guardian angel of Joseph who appeared to
-him. In these and other scenes of the New Testament, in which angels
-are described as direct agents, or merely as a chorus of ministering
-attendants, they have the usual form, enhanced by as much beauty, and
-benignity, and aërial grace as the fancy of the artist could bestow on
-them. In the Nativity they are seen hovering on high, pouring forth
-their song of triumph; they hold a scroll in their hands on which their
-song is written: in general there are three angels; the first sings,
-_Gloria in excelsis Deo!_ the second, _Et in terra pax!_ the third,
-_Hominibus bonæ voluntatis!_ but in some pictures the three angels are
-replaced by a numerous choir, who raise the song of triumph in the
-skies, while others are seen kneeling round and adoring the Divine
-Infant.
-
-The happiest, the most beautiful, instance I can remember of this
-particular treatment is the little chapel in the Riccardi Palace at
-Florence. This chapel is in the form of a Greek cross, and the frescoes
-are thus disposed:—
-
-[Illustration: 20
-                                 Altar
-                               ┌────────┐
-                               │ 4    5 │
-                               │        │
-                         ┌─────┘        └─────┐
-                         │    3          1    │
-                         │3                  1│
-                         │    3          1    │
-                         └─────┐        ┌─────┘
-                               │        │
-                               │2      2│
-                               └────────┘
-                                  Door
-]
-
-The walls 1, 2, and 3, are painted with the journey of the Wise
-Men, who, with a long train of attendants mounted on horseback and
-gorgeously apparelled, are seen travelling over hill and dale led by
-the guiding star. Over the altar was the Nativity (now removed); on
-each side (4, 5) is seen a choir of angels, perhaps fifty in number,
-rejoicing over the birth of the Redeemer: some kneel in adoration, with
-arms folded over the bosom, others offer flowers; some come dancing
-forward with flowers in their hands or in the lap of their robe; others
-sing and make celestial music: they have glories round their heads,
-all inscribed alike, ‘Gloria in excelsis Deo!’ The naïve grace, the
-beautiful devout expression, the airy movements of these lovely beings,
-melt the soul to harmony and joy. The chapel having been long shut up,
-and its existence scarcely remembered, these paintings are in excellent
-preservation; and I saw nothing in Italy that more impressed me with
-admiration of the genuine feeling and piety of the old masters. The
-choral angels of Angelico da Fiesole already described are not more
-pure in sentiment, and are far less animated, than these.[45]
-
-But how different from both is the ministry of the angels in some of
-the pictures of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, both German
-and Italian! The Virgin Mary is washing her Divine Infant; angels dry
-the clothes, or pour out water: Joseph is planing a board, and angels
-assist the Infant Saviour in sweeping up the chips. In a beautiful
-little Madonna and Child, in Prince Wallerstein’s collection, an angel
-is playing with the Divine Infant, is literally his _play-fellow_; a
-very graceful idea, of which I have seen but this one instance.
-
-In the Flight into Egypt, an angel often leads the ass. In the Riposo,
-a subject rare before the fifteenth century, angels offer fruit and
-flowers, or bend down the branches of the date tree, that Joseph may
-gather the fruit; or weave the choral dance, hand in hand, for the
-delight of the Infant Christ, while others make celestial music—as in
-Vandyck’s beautiful picture in Lord Ashburton’s collection. After the
-Temptation, they minister to the Saviour in the wilderness, and spread
-for him a table of refreshment—
-
-                  ... celestial food divine,
-    Ambrosial fruit, fetch’d from the tree of life,
-    And from the fount of life ambrosial drink.
-
-It is not said that angels were visibly present at the baptism
-of Christ; but it appears to me that they ought not therefore to
-be supposed absent, and that there is a propriety in making them
-attendants on this solemn occasion. They are not introduced in the
-very earliest examples, those in the catacombs and sarcophagi; nor yet
-in the mosaics of Ravenna; because angels were then rarely figured,
-and instead of the winged angel we have the sedge-crowned river god,
-representing the Jordan. In the Greek formula, they are required
-to be present ‘in an attitude of respect:’ no mention is made of
-their holding the garments of our Saviour; but it is certain that
-in Byzantine Art, and generally from the twelfth century, this has
-been the usual mode of representing them. According to the Fathers,
-our Saviour had no guardian angel; because he did not require one:
-notwithstanding the sense usually given to the text, ‘He shall give
-his angels charge concerning thee, lest at any time thou dash thy foot
-against a stone,’ the angels, they affirm, were not the guardians,
-but the servants, of Christ; and hence, I presume, the custom of
-representing them, not merely as present, but as ministering to him
-during his baptism. The gates of San Paolo (tenth century) afford
-the most ancient example I have met with of an angel holding the
-raiment of the Saviour: there is only one angel. Giotto introduces two
-graceful angels kneeling on the bank of the river, and looking on with
-attention. The angel in Raphael’s composition bows his head, as if
-awe-struck by the divine recognition of the majesty of the Redeemer;
-and the reverent manner in which he holds the vestment is very
-beautiful. Other examples will here suggest themselves to the reader,
-and I shall resume the subject when treating of the life of our Saviour.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-In one account of our Saviour’s agony in the garden of Gethsemane,
-it is expressly said that an angel ‘appeared unto him out of heaven,
-strengthening him;’ therefore, where this awful and pathetic subject
-has been attempted in Art, there is propriety in introducing a visible
-angel. Notwithstanding the latitude thus allowed to the imagination,
-or perhaps for that very reason, the greatest and the most intelligent
-painters have here fallen into strange errors, both in conception and
-in taste. For instance, is it not a manifest impropriety to take the
-Scripture phrase in a literal sense, and place a cup in the hand of the
-angel? Is not the word _cup_ here, as elsewhere, used as a metaphor,
-signifying the destiny awarded by Divine will, as Christ had said
-before, ‘Ye shall drink of my cup,’ and as we say, ‘his cup overfloweth
-with blessings’? The angel, therefore, who does not bend from heaven to
-announce to him the decree he knew full well, nor to present the cup
-of bitterness, but to strengthen and comfort him, should not bear the
-cup;—still less the cross, the scourge, the crown of thorns, as in many
-pictures.
-
-Where our Saviour appears bowed to the earth, prostrate, half swooning
-with the anguish of that dread moment, and an angel is seen sustaining
-him, there is a true feeling of the real meaning of Scripture; but even
-in such examples the effect is often spoiled by an attempt to render
-the scene at once more mystical and more palpable. Thus a painter
-equally remarkable for the purity of his taste and deep religious
-feeling, Niccolò Poussin, has represented Christ, in his agony,
-supported in the arms of an angel, while a crowd of child-angels,
-very much like Cupids, appear before him with the instruments of the
-Passion; ten or twelve bear a huge cross; others hold the scourge,
-the crown of thorns, the nails, the sponge, the spear, and exhibit
-them before him, as if these were the images, these the terrors, which
-could overwhelm with fear and anguish even the _human_ nature of such a
-Being![46] It seems to me also a mistake, when the angel is introduced,
-to make him merely an accessory (as Raphael has done in one of his
-early pictures), a little figure in the air to help the meaning: since
-the occasion was worthy of angelic intervention, in a visible shape,
-bringing divine solace, divine sympathy, it should be represented under
-a form the most mighty and the most benign that Art could compass;—but
-has it been so? I can recollect no instance in which the failure has
-not been complete. If it be said that to render the angelic comforter
-so superior to the sorrowing and prostrate Redeemer would be to detract
-from _His_ dignity as the principal personage of the scene, and thus
-violate one of the first rules of Art, I think differently—I think it
-could do so only in unskilful hands. Represented as it ought to be, and
-might be, it would infinitely enhance the idea of that unimaginable
-anguish which, as we are told, was compounded of the iniquities and
-sorrows of all humanity laid upon _Him_. It was not the pang of the
-Mortal, but the Immortal, which required the presence of a ministering
-spirit sent down from heaven to sustain him.
-
-[Illustration: 21 Lamenting Angel in a Crucifixion (Campo Santo)]
-
-In the Crucifixion, angels are seen lamenting, wringing their hands,
-averting or hiding their faces. In the old Greek crucifixions, one
-angel bears the sun, another the moon, on each side of the cross:—
-
-        ... dim sadness did not spare,
-    That time, celestial visages.
-
-Michael Angelo gives us two unwinged colossal-looking angel heads,
-which peer out of heaven in the background of his Crucifixion in a
-manner truly supernatural, as if they sympathised in the consummation,
-but in awe rather than in grief.
-
-Angels also receive in golden cups the blood which flows from the
-wounds of our Saviour. This is a representation which has the authority
-of some of the most distinguished and most spiritual among the old
-painters, but it is to my taste particularly unpleasing and unpoetical.
-Raphael, in an early picture, the only crucifixion he ever painted,
-thus introduces the angels; and this form of the angelic ministry is
-a mystical version of the sacrifice of the Redeemer not uncommon in
-Italian and German pictures of the sixteenth century.
-
-As the scriptural and legendary scenes in which angels form the
-poetical machinery will be discussed hereafter in detail as separate
-subjects, I shall conclude these general and preliminary remarks
-with a few words on the characteristic style in which the principal
-painters have set forth the angelic forms and attributes.
-
-It appears that, previous to the end of the fourth century, there were
-religious scruples which forbade the representation of angels, arising
-perhaps from the scandal caused in the early Church by the worship
-paid to these supernatural beings, and so strongly opposed by the
-primitive teachers. We do not find on any of the Christian relics of
-the first three centuries, neither in the catacombs, nor on the vases
-or the sarcophagi, any figure which could be supposed to represent
-what we call an angel. On one of the latest sarcophagi we find little
-winged figures, but evidently the classical winged genii, used in the
-classical manner as ornament only.[47] In the second council of Nice,
-John of Thessalonica maintained that angels have the human form, and
-may be so represented; and the Jewish doctors had previously decided
-that God consulted his angels when He said, ‘Let us make man after
-_our_ image,’ and that consequently we may suppose the angels to be
-like men, or, in the words of the prophet, ‘like unto the similitude of
-the sons of men.’[48] (Dan. x. 16.)
-
-But it is evident that, in the first attempt at angelic effigy, it
-was deemed necessary, in giving the human shape, to render it as
-superhuman, as imposing, as possible: colossal proportions, mighty
-overshadowing wings, kingly attributes, these we find in the earliest
-figures of angels which I believe exist—the mosaics in the church of
-Santa Agata at Ravenna (A.D. 400). Christ is seated on a throne (as in
-the early sarcophagi): he holds the Gospel in one hand, and with the
-left gives the benediction. An angel stands on each side: they have
-large wings, and bear a silver wand, the long sceptre of the Grecian
-kings; they are robed in classical drapery, but wear the short pallium
-(the ‘garb succinct for flight’); their feet are sandaled, as prepared
-for a journey, and their hair bound by a fillet. Except in the wings
-and short pallium, they resemble the figures of Grecian kings and
-priests in the ancient bas-reliefs.
-
-This was the truly majestic idea of an angelic presence (in
-contradistinction to the angelic _emblem_), which, well or ill
-executed, prevailed during the first ten centuries. In the MS.[49]
-already referred to as containing such magnificent examples of this
-God-like form and bearing, I selected one group less ruined than
-most of the others; Jacob wrestling with the angel. The drawing
-is wonderful for the period, that of Charlemagne; and see how the
-mighty Being grasps the puny mortal, who was permitted for a while to
-resist him!—‘He touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh, and it was out
-of joint’—the action is as significant as possible. In the original,
-the drapery of the angel is white; the fillet binding the hair, the
-sandals, and the wings, of purple and gold.
-
-[Illustration: 22 Angel (Greek MSS., ninth century)]
-
-[Illustration: 23 A.D. 1000.]
-
-This lank, formal angel is from the Greco-Italian school of the
-eleventh century. From the eleventh to the thirteenth century the forms
-of the angels became, like all things in the then degraded state of
-Byzantine Art, merely conventional. They are attired either in the
-imperial or the sacerdotal vestments, as already described, and are
-richly ornamented, tasteless and stiff, large without grandeur, and in
-general ill drawn: as in these figures from Monreale (24).
-
-[Illustration: 24 Greek Angels (Cathedral of Monreale. Eleventh
-century)]
-
-On the revival of Art, we find the Byzantine idea of angels everywhere
-prevailing. The angels in Cimabue’s famous ‘Virgin and Child enthroned’
-are grand creatures, rather stern; but this arose, I think, from his
-inability to express beauty. The colossal angels at Assisi (A.D.
-1270), solemn sceptred kingly forms, all alike in action and attitude,
-appeared to me magnificent (30).
-
-In the angels of Giotto (A.D. 1310) we see the commencement of a softer
-grace and a purer taste, further developed by some of his scholars.
-Benozzo Gozzoli and Orcagna have left in the Campo Santo examples of
-the most graceful and fanciful treatment. Of Benozzo’s angels in the
-Riccardi palace I have spoken at length. His master Angelico (worthy
-the name!) never reached the same power of expressing the rapturous
-rejoicing of celestial beings, but his conception of the angelic nature
-remains unapproached, unapproachable (A.D. 1430); it is only his, for
-it was the gentle, passionless, refined nature of the recluse which
-stamped itself there. Angelico’s angels are unearthly, not so much in
-form as in sentiment; and superhuman, not in power but in purity. In
-other hands, any imitation of his soft ethereal grace would become
-feeble and insipid. With their long robes falling round their feet, and
-drooping many-coloured wings, they seem not to fly or to walk, but to
-float along, ‘smooth sliding without step.’ Blessed, blessed creatures!
-love us, only love us—for we dare not task your soft serene Beatitude
-by asking you to _help_ us!
-
-There is more sympathy with humanity in Francia’s angels: they look as
-if they could weep, as well as love and sing.
-
-[Illustration: 25 Angels (F. Granacci)]
-
-Most beautiful are the groups of adoring angels by Francesco
-Granacci,[50] so serenely tender, yet with a touch of grave earnestness
-which gives them a character apart: they have the air of guardian
-angels, who have discharged their trust, and to whom the Supreme
-utterance has voiced forth, ‘Servant of God, well done!’
-
-The angels of Botticelli are often stiff, and those of Ghirlandajo
-sometimes fantastic; but in both I have met with angelic countenances
-and forms which, for intense and happy expression, can never be
-forgotten. One has the feeling, however, that they used human
-models—the _portrait_ face looks through the _angel_ face. This is
-still more apparent in Mantegna and Filippo Lippi. As we might have
-expected from the character of Fra Filippo, his angels want refinement:
-they have a boyish look, with their crisp curled hair, and their bold
-beauty; yet some of them are magnificent for that sort of angel-beings
-supposed to have a volition of their own. Andrea del Sarto’s angels
-have the same fault in a less degree: they have, if not a bold, yet a
-self-willed boyish expression.
-
-Perugino’s angels convey the idea of an unalterable sweetness: those
-of his earlier time have much natural grace, those of his later time
-are mannered. In early Venetian Art the angels are charming: they are
-happy affectionate beings, with a touch of that voluptuous sentiment,
-afterwards the characteristic of the Venetian school.
-
-In the contemporary German school, angels are treated in a very
-extraordinary and original style (26). one cannot say that they are
-earthly, or commonplace, still less are they beautiful or divine; but
-they have great simplicity, earnestness, and energy of action. They
-appear to me conceived in the Old Testament spirit, with their grand
-stiff massive draperies, their jewelled and golden glories, their
-wings ‘eyed like the peacock, speckled like the pard,’ their intense
-expression, and the sort of personal and passionate interest they throw
-into their ministry. This is the character of Albert Dürer’s angels
-especially; those of Martin Schoen and Lucus v. Leyden are of a gentler
-spirit.
-
-Leonardo da Vinci’s angels do not quite please me, elegant, refined,
-and lovely as they are:—‘methinks they smile too much.’ By his scholar
-Luini there are some angels in the gallery of the Brera, swinging
-censers and playing on musical instruments, which, with the peculiar
-character of the Milanese school, combine all the grace of a purer,
-loftier nature.
-
-Correggio’s angels are grand and lovely, but they are like children
-enlarged and sublimated, not like spirits taking the form of children:
-where they smile it is truly, as Annibal Caracci expresses it, ‘_con
-una naturalezza e semplicità che innamora e sforza a ridere con
-loro_;’ but the smile in many of Correggio’s angel heads has something
-sublime and spiritual, as well as _simple_ and _natural_.
-
-[Illustration: 26 Angel. German School. (Albert Dürer)]
-
-And Titian’s angels impress me in a similar manner—I mean those in the
-glorious Assumption at Venice—with their childish forms and features,
-but with an expression caught from beholding the face of ‘our Father
-that is in heaven:’ it is glorified infancy. I remember standing before
-this picture, contemplating those lovely spirits one after another,
-until a thrill came over me like that which I felt when Mendelssohn
-played the organ, and I became music while I listened. The face of one
-of those angels is to the face of a child just what that of the Virgin
-in the same picture is compared with the fairest of the daughters of
-earth: it is not here superiority of beauty, but mind and music and
-love, _kneaded_, as it were, into form and colour.
-
-I have thought it singular and somewhat unaccountable, that among the
-earliest examples of undraped boy-angels are those of Fra Bartolomeo—he
-who on one occasion, at the command of Savonarola, made a bonfire of
-all the undressed figures he could lay his hands on.
-
-But Raphael, excelling in all things, is here excellent above all:
-his angels combine, in a higher degree than any other, the various
-faculties and attributes in which the fancy loves to clothe these
-pure, immortal, beatified creatures. The angels of Giotto, of
-Benozzo, of Fiesole, are, if not female, feminine; those of Lippi,
-and of A. Mantegna, masculine; but you cannot say of those of Raphael
-that they are masculine or feminine. The idea of sex is wholly lost
-in the blending of power, intelligence, and grace. In his earlier
-pictures grace is the predominant characteristic, as in the dancing
-and singing angels in his Coronation of the Virgin.[51] In his later
-pictures the sentiment in his ministering angels is more spiritual,
-more dignified. As a perfect example of grand and poetical feeling,
-I may cite the angels as ‘Regents of the Planets,’ in the Capella
-Chigiana.[52] The cupola represents in a circle the creation of the
-solar system, according to the theological and astronomical (or rather
-_astrological_) notions which then prevailed—a hundred years before
-‘the starry Galileo and his woes.’ In the centre is the Creator;
-around, in eight compartments, we have, first, the angel of the
-celestial sphere, who seems to be listening to the divine mandate,
-‘Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven;’ then follow, in
-their order, the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and
-Saturn. The name of each planet is expressed by its mythological
-representative; the Sun by Apollo, the Moon by Diana: and over each
-presides a grand colossal winged spirit seated or reclining on a
-portion of the zodiac as on a throne. I have selected two angels to
-give an idea of this peculiar and poetical treatment. The union of the
-theological and the mythological attributes is in the classical taste
-of the time, and quite Miltonic.[53] In Raphael’s child-angels, the
-expression of power and intelligence, as well as innocence, is quite
-wonderful; for instance, look at the two angel-boys in the Dresden
-Madonna di San Sisto, and the angels, or celestial genii, who bear
-along the Almighty when He appears to Noah.[54] No one has expressed
-like Raphael the action of flight, except perhaps Rembrandt. The angel
-who descends to crown Santa Felicità cleaves the air with the action
-of a swallow;[55] and the angel in Rembrandt’s Tobit soars like a lark
-with upward motion, spurning the earth.
-
-[Illustration: _Angels of the Planets from the Capella Chigi._]
-
-Michael Angelo rarely gave wings to his angels; I scarcely recollect
-an instance, except the angel in the Annunciation: and his exaggerated
-human forms, his colossal creatures, in which the idea of power is
-conveyed through attitude and muscular action, are, to my taste,
-worse than unpleasing. My admiration for this wonderful man is so
-profound that I can afford to say this. His angels are superhuman,
-but hardly angelic: and while in Raphael’s angels we do not feel the
-want of wings, we feel while looking at those of Michael Angelo that
-not even the ‘sail-broad vans’ with which Satan laboured through the
-surging abyss of chaos could suffice to lift those Titanic forms from
-earth, and sustain them in mid-air. The group of angels over the Last
-Judgment, flinging their mighty limbs about, and those that surround
-the descending figure of Christ in the Conversion of St. Paul, may be
-referred to here as characteristic examples. The angels, blowing their
-trumpets, puff and strain like so many troopers. Surely this is not
-angelic: there may be _power_, great imaginative and artistic power,
-exhibited in the conception of form, but in the beings themselves there
-is more of effort than of power: serenity, tranquillity, beatitude,
-ethereal purity, spiritual grace, are out of the question.
-
-The later followers of his school, in their angelic as in their human
-forms, caricatured their great master, and became, to an offensive
-degree, forced, extravagant, and sensual.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-When we come to the revival of a better taste under the influence of
-the Caracci, we find the angels of that school as far removed from the
-early Christian types as were their apostles and martyrs. They have
-often great beauty, consummate elegance, but bear the same relation
-to the religious and ethereal types of the early painters that the
-angels of Tasso bear to those of Dante. Turn, for instance, to the
-commencement of the _Gerusalemme Liberata_, where the angel is deputed
-to carry to Godfrey the behest of the Supreme Being. The picture of
-the angel is distinctly and poetically brought before us; he takes to
-himself a form between boyhood and youth; his waving curls are crowned
-with beams of light; he puts on a pair of wings of silver tipped with
-gold, with which he cleaves the air, the clouds, the skies; he alights
-on Mount Lebanon, and poises himself on his balanced wings—
-
-  E si librò su l’ adeguate penne.
-
-This is exactly the angel which figures in the best pictures of the
-Caracci and Guido: he is supremely elegant, and nothing more.
-
-I must not here venture on minute criticism, as regards distinctive
-character in the crowds of painters which sprung out of the eclectic
-school. It would carry us too far; but one or two general remarks
-will lead the reader’s fancy along the path I would wish him to
-pursue. I would say, therefore, that the angels of Ludovico have
-more of sentiment, those of Annibal more of power, those of Guido
-more of grace: and of Guido it may be said that he excels them all
-in the expression of adoration and humility; see, for instance, the
-adoring seraphs in Lord Ellesmere’s ‘Immaculate Conception.’ The
-angels of Domenichino, Guercino, and Albano, are to me less pleasing.
-Domenichino’s angels are merely human. I never saw an angel in one of
-Guercino’s pictures that had not, with the merely human character, a
-touch of vulgarity. As for Albano, how are we to discriminate between
-his angels and his nymphs, Apollos, and Cupids? But for the occasion
-and the appellation, it would be quite impossible to distinguish the
-Loves that sport round Venus and Adonis, from the Cherubim, so called,
-that hover above a Nativity or a Riposo; and the little angels, in his
-Crucifixion, cry so like naughty little boys, that one longs to put
-them in a corner. This merely heathen grace and merely human sentiment
-is the general tendency of the whole school; and no beauty of form
-or colour can, to the feeling and religious mind, redeem such gross
-violations of propriety. As for Poussin, of whom I think with due
-reverence, his angels are often exquisitely beautiful and refined: they
-have a chastity and a moral grace which pleases at first view; but here
-again the scriptural type is neglected and heathenised in obedience to
-the fashion of the time. If we compare the Cupids in his Rinaldo and
-Armida, with the angels which minister to the Virgin and Child; or the
-Cherubim weeping in a Deposition, with the Amorini who are lamenting
-over Adonis; in what respect do they differ? They are evidently painted
-from the same models, the beautiful children of Titian and Fiamingo.
-
-[Illustration: 27 Angels in a Nativity (Seventeenth century)]
-
-[Illustration: 28 Angel: in a picture of Christ healing the Sick (N.
-Poussin)]
-
-Rubens gives us strong well-built youths, with redundant yellow hair;
-and chubby naked babies, as like flesh and blood, and as natural, as
-the life: and those of Vandyck are more elegant, without being more
-angelic. Murillo’s child-angels are divine, through absolute beauty;
-the expression of innocence and beatitude was never more perfectly
-given; but in grandeur and power they are inferior to Correggio, and
-in all that should characterise a divine nature, immeasurably below
-Raphael.
-
-Strange to say, the most poetical painter of angels in the seventeenth
-century is that inspired Dutchman, Rembrandt; not that his angels
-are scriptural; still less classical; and beautiful they are not,
-certainly—often the reverse; but if they have not the Miltonic dignity
-and grace, they are at least as unearthly and as poetical as any
-of the angelic phantasms in Dante,—unhuman, unembodied creatures,
-compounded of light and darkness, ‘the somewhat between a _thought_ and
-a _thing_,’ haunting the memory like apparitions. For instance, look at
-his Jacob’s Dream, at Dulwich; or his etching of the Angels appearing
-to the Shepherds,—breaking through the night, scattering the gloom,
-making our eyes ache with excess of glory,—the _Gloria in excelsis_
-ringing through the fancy while we gaze!
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-I have before observed that angels are supposed to be masculine, with
-the feminine attributes of beauty and purity; but in the seventeenth
-century the Florentine painter, Giovanni di S. Giovanni, scandalised
-his contemporaries by introducing into a glory round the Virgin, female
-angels (_angelesse_). Rubens has more than once committed the same
-fault against ecclesiastical canons and decorum; for instance, in his
-Madonna ‘aux Anges’ in the Louvre. Such aberrations of fancy are mere
-caprices of the painter, improprieties inadmissible in high art.
-
-Of the sprawling, fluttering, half-naked angels of the Pietro
-da Cortona and Bernini school, and the feeble mannerists of the
-seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, what shall be said? that they
-are worthy to illustrate Moore’s Loves of the Angels? ‘_non ragioniam
-di lor_;’ no, nor even _look_ at them! I have seen angels of the later
-Italian and Spanish painters more like opera dancers, with artificial
-wings and gauze draperies, dressed to figure in a ballet, than anything
-else I could compare them to.
-
-The most original, and, in truth, the only new and original version of
-the Scripture idea of angels which I have met with, is that of William
-Blake, a poet painter, somewhat mad as we are told, if indeed his
-madness were not rather ‘the telescope of truth,’ a sort of poetical
-_clairvoyance_, bringing the unearthly nearer to him than to others.
-His adoring angels float rather than fly, and, with their half-liquid
-draperies, seem about to dissolve into light and love: and his
-rejoicing angels—behold them—sending up their voices with the morning
-stars, that ‘singing, in their glory move!’
-
-[Illustration: 29 ‘All the sons of God shouted for joy!’]
-
-As regards the treatment of angels in the more recent productions of
-art, the painters and sculptors have generally adhered to received and
-known types in form and in sentiment. The angels of the old Italians,
-Giotto and Frate Angelico, have been very well imitated by Steinle
-and others of the German school: the Raffaelesque feeling has been in
-general aimed at by the French and English painters. Tenerani had the
-old mosaics in his mind when he conceived that magnificent colossal
-Angel of the Resurrection seated on a tomb, and waiting for the signal
-to sound his trumpet, which I saw in his atelier, prepared I believe
-for the monument of the Duchess Lanti.[56]
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-I pause here, for I have dwelt upon these celestial Hierarchies,
-winged Splendours, Princedoms, Virtues, Powers, till my fancy is
-becoming somewhat mazed and dazzled by the contemplation. I must leave
-the reader to go into a picture-gallery, or look over a portfolio of
-engravings, and so pursue the theme, whithersoever it may lead him, and
-it _may_ lead him, in Hamlet’s words, ‘to thoughts beyond the reaches
-of his soul!’[57]
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration: 30 Archangels (Cimabue. In San Francesco d’Assisi)]
-
-
-
-
-                          II. The Archangels.
-
-                         The Seven
-    Who in God’s presence, nearest to his throne,
-    Stand ready at command.—MILTON.
-
-
-Having treated of the celestial Hierarchy in general, we have now to
-consider those angels who in artistic representations have assumed an
-individual form and character. These belong to the order of Archangels,
-placed by Dionysius in the third Hierarchy: they take rank between the
-Princedoms and the Angels, and partake of the nature of both, being,
-like the Princedoms, Powers; and, like the Angels, Ministers and
-Messengers.
-
-Frequent allusion is made in Scripture to the seven Angels who stand
-in the presence of God. (Rev. viii. 2, xv. 1, xvi. 1, &c.; Tobit xxii.
-15.) This was in accordance with the popular creed of the Jews, who
-not only acknowledged the supremacy of the Seven Spirits, but assigned
-to them distinct vocations and distinct appellations, each terminating
-with the syllable _El_, which signifies God. Thus we have—
-
-I. MICHAEL (i.e. who is like unto God), captain-general of the host of
-heaven, and protector of the Hebrew nation.
-
-II. GABRIEL (i.e. God is my strength), guardian of the celestial
-treasury, and preceptor of the patriarch Joseph.
-
-III. RAPHAEL (i.e. the Medicine of God), the conductor of Tobit; thence
-the chief guardian angel.
-
-IV. URIEL (i.e. the Light of God), who taught Esdras. He was also
-regent of the sun.
-
-V. CHAMUEL (i.e. one who sees God?), who wrestled with Jacob, and who
-appeared to Christ at Gethsemane. (But, according to other authorities,
-this was the angel Gabriel.)
-
-VI. JOPHIEL (i.e. the Beauty of God), who was the preceptor of the sons
-of Noah, and is the protector of all those who, with an humble heart,
-seek after truth, and the enemy of those who pursue vain knowledge.
-Thus Jophiel was naturally considered as the guardian of the tree of
-knowledge and the same who drove Adam and Eve from Paradise.
-
-VII. ZADKIEL (i.e. the Righteousness of God), who stayed the hand of
-Abraham when about to sacrifice his son. (But, according to other
-authorities, this was the archangel Michael.)
-
-The Christian Church does not acknowledge these Seven Angels by name;
-neither in the East, where the worship of angels took deep root,
-nor yet in the West, where it has been tacitly accepted. Nor have I
-met with them as a series, _by name_, in any ecclesiastical work of
-art, though I have seen a set of old anonymous prints in which they
-appear with distinct names and attributes: Michael bears the sword
-and scales; Gabriel, the lily; Raphael, the pilgrim’s staff and gourd
-full of water, as a traveller. Uriel has a roll and a book: he is the
-interpreter of judgments and prophecies, and for this purpose was sent
-to Esdras:—‘The angel that was sent unto me, whose name was Uriel,
-gave me an answer.’ (Esdras, ii. 4.) And in Milton—
-
-    Uriel, for thou of those Seven Spirits that stand
-    In sight of God’s high throne, gloriously bright,
-    The first art wont his great authentic will
-    Interpreter through highest heaven to bring.
-
-[Illustration: 31 The Archangels Michael and Raphael (Campo Santo)]
-
-According to an early Christian tradition, it was this angel, and not
-Christ in person, who accompanied the two disciples to Emmaus. Chamuel
-is represented with a cup and a staff; Jophiel with a flaming sword.
-Zadkiel bears the sacrificial knife which he took from the hand of
-Abraham.
-
-But the Seven Angels, without being distinguished by name, are
-occasionally introduced into works of art. For example, over the arch
-of the choir in San Michele, at Ravenna (A.D. 545), on each side of
-the throned Saviour are the Seven Angels blowing trumpets like cow’s
-horns:—‘And I saw the Seven Angels which stand before God, and to them
-were given seven trumpets.’ (Rev. viii. 2, 6.) In representations of
-the Crucifixion and in the Pietà, the Seven Angels are often seen in
-attendance, bearing the instruments of the Passion. Michael bears the
-cross, for he is ‘the Bannerer of heaven;’ but I do not feel certain of
-the particular avocations of the others.
-
-In the Last Judgment of Orcagna, in the Campo Santo at Pisa (31),
-the Seven Angels are active and important personages. The angel who
-stands in the centre of the picture, below the throne of Christ,
-extends a scroll in each hand; on that in the right hand is inscribed
-‘Come, ye blessed of my Father,’ and on that in the left hand, ‘Depart
-from me, ye accursed:’ him I suppose to be Michael, the angel of
-judgment. At his feet crouches an angel who seems to shrink from
-the tremendous spectacle, and hides his face: him I suppose to be
-Raphael, the guardian angel of humanity. The attitude has always
-been admired—cowering with horror, yet sublime. Beneath are other
-five angels, who are engaged in separating the just from the wicked,
-encouraging and sustaining the former, and driving the latter towards
-the demons who are ready to snatch them into flames. These Seven Angels
-have the garb of princes and warriors, with breastplates of gold,
-jewelled sword-belts and tiaras, rich mantles; while the other angels
-who figure in the same scene are plumed, and bird-like, and hover above
-bearing the instruments of the Passion (32).
-
-Again we may see the Seven Angels in quite another character, attending
-on St. Thomas Aquinas, in a picture by Taddeo Gaddi.[58] Here, instead
-of the instruments of the Passion, they bear the allegorical attributes
-of those virtues for which that famous saint and doctor is to be
-reverenced: one bears an olive-branch, i.e. Peace; the second, a book,
-i.e. Knowledge; the third, a crown and sceptre, i.e. Power; the fourth,
-a church, i.e. Religion; the fifth, a cross and shield, i.e. Faith;
-the sixth, flames of fire in each hand, i.e. Piety and Charity; the
-seventh, a lily, i.e. Purity.
-
-[Illustration: 32]
-
-In general it may be presumed when seven angels figure together, or
-are distinguished from among a host of angels by dress, stature, or
-other attributes, that these represent the ‘Seven Holy Angels who
-stand in the presence of God.’ Four only of these Seven Angels are
-individualised by name, Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel. According
-to the Jewish tradition, these four sustain the throne of the Almighty:
-they have the Greek epithet _arch_, or chief, assigned to them, from
-the two texts of Scripture in which that title is used (1 Thess. iv.
-16; Jude ix.); but only the three first, who in Scripture have a
-distinct personality, are reverenced in the Catholic Church as saints;
-and their gracious beauty, and their divine prowess, and their high
-behests to mortal man, have furnished some of the most important and
-most poetical subjects which appear in Christian Art.
-
-The earliest instance I have met of the Archangels introduced by name
-into a work of art is in the old church of San Michele at Ravenna (A.D.
-545). The mosaic in the apse exhibits Christ in the centre, bearing in
-one hand the cross as a trophy or sceptre, and in the other an open
-book on which are the words ‘_Qui videt me videt et Patrem meum_.’ On
-each side stand Michael and Gabriel, with vast wings and long sceptres;
-their names are inscribed above, but without the _Sanctus_ and without
-the Glory. It appears, therefore, that at this time, the middle of the
-sixth century, the title of _Saint_, though in use, had not been given
-to the Archangels.
-
-When, in the ancient churches, the figure of Christ or of the Lamb
-appears in a circle of glory in the centre of the roof; and around, or
-at the four corners, four angels who sustain the circle with outspread
-arms, or stand as watchers, with sceptres or lances in their hands,
-these I presume to be the four Archangels who sustain the throne of
-God. Examples may be seen in San Vitale at Ravenna; in the chapel of
-San Zeno, in Santa Prassede at Rome; and on the roof of the choir of
-San Francesco d’Assisi.
-
-So the four Archangels, stately colossal figures, winged and armed
-and sceptred, stand over the arch of the choir in the Cathedral of
-Monreale, at Palermo.[59]
-
-So the four angels stand at the four corners of the earth and hold the
-winds, heads with puffed cheeks and dishevelled hair.[60] (Rev. vii. 1.)
-
-But I have never seen Uriel represented by name, or alone, in any
-sacred edifice. In the picture of Uriel painted by Allston,[61] he
-is the ‘Regent of the Sun,’ as described by Milton; not a sacred or
-scriptural personage. On a shrine of carved ivory[62] I have seen the
-four Archangels as keeping guard, two at each end; the three first are
-named, as usual, St. Michael, St. Gabriel, St. Raphael; the fourth is
-styled _St. Chérubin_; and I have seen the same name inscribed over
-the head of the angel who expels Adam and Eve from Paradise. There is
-no authority for such an appellation applied individually; but I find,
-in a famous legend of the middle ages, ‘La Pénitence d’Adam;’ that the
-angel who guards the gates of Paradise is thus designated:—‘Lorsque
-l’Ange Chérubin vit arriver Seth aux portes de Paradis,’ &c. The four
-Archangels, however, seldom occur together, except in architectural
-decoration. On the other hand, devotional pictures of the three
-Archangels named in the canonical Scriptures are of frequent
-occurrence. They are often grouped together as patron saints or
-protecting spirits; or they stand round the throne of Christ, or below
-the glorified [Illustration: 33 The Three Archangels (from an ancient
-Greek picture)]
-
-Virgin and Child, in an attitude of adoration. According to the Greek
-formula, the three in combination represent the triple power, military,
-civil, and religious, of the celestial hierarchy: St. Michael being
-habited as a warrior, Gabriel as a prince, and Raphael as a priest.
-In a Greek picture, of which I give an outline, the three Archangels
-sustain in a kind of throne the figure of the youthful Christ, here
-winged, as being Himself _the_ supreme Angel (ἂγγελος), and with both
-hands blessing the universe. The Archangel Raphael has here the place
-of dignity as representing the Priesthood; but in Western Art Michael
-takes precedence of the two others, and is usually placed in the centre
-as Prince or Chief: with him, then, as considered individually, we
-begin.
-
-
-                             ST. MICHAEL.
-
-   _Lat._ Sanctus Michael Angelus. _Ital._ San Michele, Sammichele.
-              _Fr._ Monseigneur Saint Michel. (Sept. 29.)
-
-   ‘Michael, the Great Prince that standeth for the children of thy
-                        people.’—_Dan._ xii. 1.
-
- It is difficult to clothe in adequate language the divine attributes
- with which painting and poetry have invested this illustrious
- archangel. Jews and Christians are agreed in giving him the
- pre-eminence over all created spirits. All the might, the majesty,
- the radiance, of Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms, Virtues, Powers,
- are centred in him. In him God put forth his strength when He exalted
- him chief over the celestial host, when angels warred with angels
- in heaven; and in him God showed forth his glory when He made him
- conqueror over the power of sin, and ‘over the great dragon that
- deceived the world.’
-
-To the origin of the worship paid to this great archangel I dare not do
-more than allude, lest I stray wide from my subject, and lose myself,
-and my readers too, in labyrinths of Orientalism. But, in considering
-the artistic representations, it is interesting to call to mind that
-the glorification of St. Michael may be traced back to that primitive
-Eastern dogma, the perpetual antagonism between the Spirit of Good and
-the Spirit of Evil, mixed up with the Chaldaic belief in angels and
-their influence over the destinies of man. It was subsequent to the
-Captivity that the active Spirit of Good, under the name of Michael,
-came to be regarded as the especial protector of the Hebrew nation: the
-veneration paid to him by the Jews was adopted, or rather retained,
-by the Oriental Christians, and, though suppressed for a time, was
-revived and spread over the West, where we find it popular and almost
-universal from the eighth century.
-
-The legends which have grown out of a few mystical texts of Scripture,
-amplified by the fanciful disquisitions of the theological writers,
-place St. Michael before us in three great characters:—1. As captain of
-the heavenly host, and conqueror of the powers of hell. 2. As lord of
-souls, conductor and guardian of the spirits of the dead. 3. As patron
-saint and prince of the Church Militant.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-When Lucifer, possessed by the spirit of pride and ingratitude, refused
-to fall down and worship the Son of man, Michael was deputed to punish
-his insolence, and to cast him out from heaven. Then Michael chained
-the revolted angels in middle air, where they are to remain till the
-day of judgment, being in the mean time perpetually tortured by hate,
-envy, and despair: for they behold man, whom they had disdained,
-exalted as their superior; above them they see the heaven they have
-forfeited; and beneath them the redeemed souls continually rising from
-earth, and ascending to the presence of God, whence they are shut out
-for ever.
-
-‘Now,’ says the old Legend,[63] ‘if it be asked wherefore the books of
-Moses, in revealing the disobedience and the fall of man, are silent
-as to the revolt and the fall of the angels, the reason is plain; and
-in this God acted according to his wisdom. For, let us suppose that a
-certain powerful lord hath two vassals, both guilty of the crime of
-treason, and one of these is a nobleman of pure and lofty lineage,
-and the other a base-born churl:—what doth this lord? He hangs up the
-churl in the market-place as a warning and example to others;—but, for
-the nobleman, fearing the scandal that may arise among the people, and
-perhaps also some insult to the officers of the law, the judge causes
-him to be tried secretly, and shuts him up in a dungeon; and when
-judgment is pronounced against him, he sends to his prison, and puts
-him privily to death; and when one asketh after him, the answer is only
-“He is dead:”—and nothing more. Thus did God in respect to the rebel
-angels of old; and their fate was not revealed until the redemption of
-man was accomplished.’
-
-This passage from the old Italian legend is so curiously characteristic
-of the feudal spirit of Christianity in the middle ages, that I have
-ventured to insert it verbatim. If religion did, in some degree, modify
-the institutions of chivalry, in a much greater degree did the ruling
-prejudices of a barbarian age modify the popular ideas of religion.
-Here, notwithstanding the primary doctrine of Christ—the equality of
-all men before God, we have the distinction between noble and churl
-carried into the very councils of Heaven.
-
-But, to return to St. Michael: on whom, as the leader of his triumphant
-hosts, God bestowed many and great privileges. To him it was given
-
-  to bid sound th’ archangel trumpet,
-
-and exalt the banner of the Cross in the day of judgment; and to him
-likewise was assigned the reception of the immortal spirits when
-released by death. It was his task to weigh them in a balance (Dan. v.
-27; Ps. lxii. 9): those whose good works exceeded their demerits, he
-presented before the throne of God; but those who were found wanting
-he gave up to be tortured in purgatory, until their souls, from being
-‘as crimson, should become as white as snow.’ Therefore, in the hour
-of death, he is to be invoked by the faithful, saying, ‘_O Michael,
-militiæ cœlestis signifer, in adjutorium nostrum veni, princeps et
-propugnator!_’
-
-Lastly, when it pleased the Almighty to select from among the nations
-of the earth one people to become peculiarly his own, He appointed St.
-Michael to be president and leader over that chosen people.[64] ‘At
-that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for
-the children of thy people’ (Dan. x. 13, xii. 1): and when the power of
-the Synagogue was supposed to cease, and to be replaced by the power
-of the Church, so that the Christians became the people of God, then
-Michael, who had been the great prince of the Hebrew people, became
-the prince and leader of the Church militant in Christendom, and the
-guardian of redeemed souls, against his old adversary the Prince of
-Hell. (Rev. xii. 6, 7.)
-
-The worship paid to St. Michael, and which originated in the far
-East, is supposed to have been adopted by the Oriental Christians
-in consequence of a famous apparition of the Archangel at Colossæ,
-in Phrygia, which caused him to be held in especial honour by the
-people of that city, and perhaps occasioned the particular warning
-of St. Paul addressed to the Colossians. But although the worship of
-angels was considered among the heresies of the early Church, we find
-Constantine no sooner master of the empire, and a baptized Christian,
-than he dedicates a church to the Archangel Michael (by his Greek
-name Michaëlion), and this church, one of the most magnificent in
-Constantinople, became renowned for its miracles, and the parent and
-model of hundreds more throughout the East.
-
-In the West, the honours paid to St. Michael are of later date: that
-a church dedicated to him must have existed in Rome long before the
-year 500 seems clear, because at that time it is mentioned as having
-fallen into ruin. But the West had its angelic apparitions as well as
-the East, and St. Michael owes his wide-spread popularity in the middle
-ages to three famous visions which are thus recorded.
-
-In the fifth century, in the city of Siponte, in Apulia (now
-Manfredonia), dwelt a man named Galgano or Garganus, very rich in
-cattle, sheep, and beasts; and as they pastured on the sides of the
-mountain, it happened that a bull strayed and came not home: then the
-rich man took a multitude of servants and sought the bull, and found
-him at the entrance of a cave on the very summit of the mountain,
-and, being wroth with the bull, the master ordered him to be slain;
-but when the arrow was sent from the bow it returned to the bosom of
-him who sent it, and he fell dead on the ground: then the master and
-his servants were troubled, and they sent to inquire of the bishop
-what should be done. The bishop, having fasted and prayed three days,
-beheld in a vision the glorious Archangel Michael, who descended on
-the mountain, and told him that the servant had been slain because he
-had violated a spot peculiarly sacred to him, and he commanded that a
-church should be erected and sanctified there to his honour. And when
-they entered the cavern they found there three altars already erected,
-one of them covered with a rich embroidered altar-cloth of crimson
-and gold, and a stream of limpid water springing from the rock, which
-healed all diseases. So the church was built, and the fame of the
-vision of Monte Galgano, though for some time confined to the south of
-Italy, spread throughout Europe, and many pilgrimages were made to the
-spot on which the angelic footsteps had alighted.
-
-The second vision is much more imposing. When Rome was nearly
-depopulated by a pestilence in the sixth century, St. Gregory,
-afterwards pope, advised that a procession should be made through
-the streets of the city, singing the service since called the Great
-Litanies. He placed himself at the head of the faithful, and during
-three days they perambulated the city; and on the third day, when
-they had arrived opposite to the mole of Hadrian, Gregory beheld the
-Archangel Michael alight on the summit of that monument, and sheathe
-his sword bedropped with blood. Then Gregory knew that the plague
-was stayed, and a church was there dedicated to the honour of the
-Archangel: and the Tomb of Hadrian has since been called the Castle of
-Sant’ Angelo to this day.
-
-This, of all the recorded apparitions of St. Michael, is the only one
-which can be called poetical; it is evidently borrowed from the vision
-of the destroying angel in Scripture. As early as the ninth century, a
-church or chapel dedicated to St. Michael was erected on the summit of
-the huge monument, which at that time must have preserved much of its
-antique magnificence. The church was entitled _Ecclesia Sancti Angeli
-usque ad Cœlos_. The bronze statue, which in memory of this miracle now
-surmounts the Castle of St. Angelo, was placed there in recent times
-by Benedict XIV., and is the work of a Flemish sculptor, Verschaffelt.
-I suppose no one ever looked at this statue critically—at least, for
-myself, I never could: nor can I remember now, whether, as a work of
-art, it is above or below criticism; perhaps both. With its vast wings,
-poised in air, as seen against the deep blue skies of Rome, or lighted
-up by the golden sunset, to me it was ever like what it was intended to
-represent—like a vision.
-
-A third apparition was that accorded to Aubert, bishop of Avranches
-(A.D. 706). This holy man seems to have been desirous to attract to his
-own diocese a portion of that sanctity (and perhaps other advantages)
-which Monte Galgano derived from the worship of St. Michael. In
-the Gulf of Avranches, in Normandy, stands a lofty isolated rock
-inaccessible from the land at high water, and for ages past celebrated
-as one of the strongest fortresses and state prisons in France. In
-the reign of Childebert II., St. Aubert, bishop of Avranches, had a
-vision, in which the Archangel Michael commanded him to repair to
-this rock, then the terror of mariners, and erect a church to his
-honour on the highest point, where a bull would be found concealed,
-and it was to cover as much space as the bull had trampled with his
-hoofs: he also discovered to the bishop a well-spring of pure water,
-which had before been unknown. As the bishop treated this command as
-a dream, the Archangel appeared to him a second and a third time; and
-at length, to impress it on his waking memory, he touched his head
-with his thumb, and made a mark or hole in his skull, which he carried
-to the grave. This time the bishop obeyed, and a small church was
-built on the spot indicated; afterwards replaced by the magnificent
-Abbey Church, which was begun by Richard duke of Normandy, in 966, and
-finished by William the Conqueror. The poverty of invention shown in
-this legend, which is little more than a repetition of that of Monte
-Galgano, is very disappointing to the fancy, considering the celebrity
-of Mont-Saint-Michel as a place of pilgrimage, and as one of the most
-picturesque objects in European scenery, with its massive towers, which
-have braved the tempests of a thousand years, rising from the summit
-of the peak, and the sea weltering round its base. It failed not,
-however, in the effect anticipated. The worship of St. Michael became
-popular in France from the ninth century; the Archangel was selected
-as patron saint of France, and of the military order instituted in his
-honour by Louis XI. in 1469. The worship paid to St. Michael as patron
-saint of Normandy naturally extended itself to England after the Norman
-conquest, and churches dedicated to this archangel abound in all the
-towns and cities along the southern and eastern shores of our island;
-we also have a Mount St. Michael on the coast of Cornwall, in situation
-and in name resembling that on the coast of France. At this day there
-are few cities in Christendom which do not contain a church or churches
-dedicated to St. Michael, some of them of great antiquity.
-
-I must not omit that St. Michael is considered as the angel of good
-counsel:—that ‘Le vrai office de Monseigneur Saint Michel est de faire
-grandes revelations aux hommes en bas, en leur donnant moult saints
-conseils,’ and in particular, ‘sur le bon nourissement que le père
-et la mère donnent à leurs enfans.’[65] It is to be regretted that
-‘Monseigneur Saint Michel’ should be found rather remiss in this part
-of his angelic functions.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-We shall now see how far these various traditions and popular notions
-concerning St. Michael have been carried out in Art.
-
-In all representations of St. Michael, the leading idea, well or ill
-expressed, is the same. He is young and beautiful, but ‘severe in
-youthful beauty,’ as one who carries on a perpetual contest with the
-powers of evil. In the earlier works of art he is robed in white, with
-ample many-coloured wings, and bears merely the sceptre or the lance
-surmounted by a cross, as one who conquered by spiritual might alone.
-But in the later representations, those coloured by the spirit of
-chivalry, he is the angelic Paladin, armed in a dazzling coat of mail,
-with sword, and spear, and shield. He has a lofty open brow, long fair
-hair floating on his shoulders, sometimes bound by a jewelled tiara;
-sometimes, but not often, shaded by a helmet. From his shoulders spring
-two resplendent wings. Thus we see him standing by the throne of the
-Madonna, or worshipping at the feet of the Divine Infant; an exquisite
-allegory of spiritual and intellectual power protecting purity and
-adoring innocence.
-
-There is a most beautiful little figure by Angelico, of St. Michael
-standing in his character of archangel and patron of the Church
-Militant, ‘as the winged saint;’ no demon, no attribute except the
-lance and shield. The attitude, so tranquilly elegant, may be seen in
-this sketch (34). In the original the armour is of a dark crimson and
-gold, the wings are of rainbow tints, vivid and delicate; a flame of
-lambent fire rests on the brow.
-
-But the single devotional figures of St. Michael usually represent
-him as combining the two great characters of captain of the heavenly
-host, and conqueror of the powers of hell. He stands armed, setting
-his foot on Lucifer, either in the half-human or the dragon form, and
-is about to transfix him with his lance, or to chain him down in the
-infernal abyss. Such, however varied in the attitude, expression, and
-accessories, is the most frequent and popular representation of St.
-Michael, when placed before us, as the universally received emblem of
-the final victory of good over evil.
-
-[Illustration: 34 St. Michael. (Angelico, Fl. Acad.)]
-
-In those churches of Christendom which have not been defaced by a
-blind destructive zeal, this image meets us at every turn: it salutes
-us in the porch as we enter, or it shines upon us in gorgeous colours
-from the window, or it is wreathed into the capitals of columns, or it
-stands in its holy heroic beauty over the altar. It is so common and
-so in harmony with our inmost being, that we rather feel its presence
-than observe it. It is the visible, palpable reflection of that great
-truth stamped into our very souls, and shadowed forth in every form
-of ancient belief,—the final triumph of the spiritual over the animal
-and earthly part of our nature. This is the secret of its perpetual
-repetition, and this the secret of the untired complacency with which
-we regard it; for even in the most inefficient attempts at expression,
-we have always the leading _motif_ distinct and true, the winged virtue
-is always victorious above, and the bestial vice is always prostrate
-below: and if to this primal moral significance be added all the charm
-of poetry, grace, animated movement, which human genius has lavished
-on this ever blessed, ever welcome symbol, then, as we look up at
-it, we are ‘not only touched, but wakened and inspired,’ and the
-whole delighted imagination glows with faith and hope, and grateful
-triumphant sympathy,—so at least I have felt, and I must believe that
-others have felt it too.
-
-In the earliest representations of this subject, we see the simplest
-form of the allegory, literally rendering the words of Scripture,
-‘The dragon shalt thou trample under foot’ (Ps. xci. 13). Here there
-is no risk of a divided interest or a misdirected sympathy. The
-demon, grovelling under the feet of the victorious spirit, is not the
-star-bright apostate who drew after him the third part of heaven; it
-is the bestial malignant reptile:—not the emblem of resistance, but
-the emblem of sin; not of the sin that aspires, which, in fact, is a
-contradiction in terms;—no sin aspires;—but of the sin which degrades
-and brutifies, as all sin does. In the later representations, where the
-demon takes the half-human shape, however hideous and deformed, the
-allegory may so be brought nearer to us, and rendered more terrible
-even by a horrid sympathy with that human face, grinning in despite and
-agony; but much of the beauty of the scriptural metaphor is lost.[66]
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The representations of St. Michael and the dragon are so multifarious
-that I can only select a few among them as examples of the different
-styles of treatment.
-
-The symbol, as such, is supposed to have originated with the Gnostics
-and Arians, and the earliest examples are to be found in the ancient
-churches on the western coast of Italy, and the old Lombard churches.
-I have never seen it in the old mosaics of the sixth century, but in
-the contemporary sculpture frequently. It would be difficult to point
-to the most ancient example, such is the confusion of dates as regards
-dedications, restorations, alterations; but I remember a carving in
-white marble on the porch of the Cathedral of Cortona (about the
-seventh century), which may be regarded as an example of this primitive
-style of treatment: the illustration, from a slight sketch made on the
-spot, will be better than any description (35).
-
-Another instance will be remembered by the traveller in Italy, the
-strange antique bas-relief on the façade of that extraordinary old
-church the San Michele at Pavia; not the figure in the porch, which
-is modern, but that which is above. In the Menologium Grecum is a St.
-Michael standing with a long sceptre, a majestic colossal figure, while
-kneeling angels adore him, and the demons crouch under his feet.[67]
-
-[Illustration: 35]
-
-By Martin Schoen: St. Michael, attired in a long loose robe and
-floating mantle, tramples on the demon; he has thrown down the shield,
-and with his lance in both hands, but without effort, and even with a
-calm angelic dignity, prepares to transfix his adversary. The figure is
-singularly elegant. The demon has not here the usual form of a dragon,
-but is a horrible nondescript reptile, with multitudinous flexile
-claws, like those of a crab, stretched out to seize and entangle the
-unwary;—for an emblematical figure, very significant (36). In an old
-fresco by Guariente di Padova[68] the angel is draped as in Martin
-Schoen’s figure, but the attitude is far less elegant.
-
-Sometimes the dragon has a small head at the end of his tail, instead
-of the forked sting. I recollect an instance of St. Michael transfixing
-the large head, while a smaller angel, also armed, transfixes the other
-head.[69] This is an attempt to render literally the description in the
-Apocalypse: ‘For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails:
-for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them
-they do hurt.’ (Rev. ix. 19.) In a most elegant figure of St. Michael,
-from the choir of the San Giovanni, at Malta, I found the demon thus
-characterised, with a tail ending in the serpent head.
-
-In an old Siena picture[70] St. Michael is seated on a throne: in one
-hand a sword, in the other the orb of sovereignty; under his feet lies
-the dragon mangled and bleeding: a bad picture, but curious for the
-singular treatment.
-
-[Illustration: 36 St. Michael (Martin Schoen)]
-
-In the sixteenth century these figures of St. Michael become less
-ideal and angelic, and more and more chivalrous and picturesque. In
-a beautiful altar-piece by Andrea del Sarto, now in the Florence
-Academy, there is a fine martial figure of the Archangel, which,
-but for the wings, might be mistaken for a St. George; and in the
-predella underneath, on a small scale, he is conqueror of the demon.
-The peculiarity here is, that the demon, though vanquished, makes a
-vain struggle, and has seized hold of the belt of the angel, who, with
-uplifted sword, and an action of infinite grace and dignity, looks
-superior down, as one assured of victory.
-
-Raphael has given us three figures of St. Michael, all different, and
-one of them taking rank with his masterpieces.
-
-The first is an early production, painted when he was a youth of
-nineteen or twenty, and now in the Louvre. St. Michael, armed with a
-shield on which is a red cross, his sword raised to strike, stands with
-one foot on a monster; other horrible little monsters, like figures in
-a dream, are around him: in the background are seen the hypocrites and
-thieves as described by Dante; the first, in melancholy procession,
-weighed down with leaden cowls; the others, tormented by snakes: and,
-in the distance, the flaming dolorous city. St. Michael is here the
-vanquisher of the Vices. It is a curious and fantastic, rather than
-poetical, little picture.
-
-The second picture, also in the Louvre, was painted by Raphael, in the
-maturity of his talent, for Francis I.: the king had left to him the
-choice of the subject, and he selected St. Michael, the military patron
-of France, and of that knightly Order of which the king was grand
-master.
-
-St. Michael—not standing, but hovering on his poised wings, and
-grasping his lance in both hands—sets one foot lightly on the shoulder
-of the demon, who, prostrate, writhes up, as it were, and tries to lift
-his head and turn it on his conqueror with one last gaze of malignant
-rage and despair. The archangel looks down upon him with a brow calm
-and serious; in his beautiful face is neither vengeance nor disdain—in
-his attitude no effort; his form, a model of youthful grace and
-majesty, is clothed in a brilliant panoply of gold and silver; an azure
-scarf floats on his shoulders; his wide-spread wings are of purple,
-blue, and gold; his light hair is raised, and floats outward on each
-side of his head, as if from the swiftness of his downward motion. The
-earth emits flames, and seems opening to swallow up the adversary. The
-form of the demon is human, but vulgar in its proportions, and of a
-swarthy red, as if fire-scathed; he has the horns and the serpent-tail;
-but, from the attitude into which he is thrown, the monstrous form is
-so fore-shortened that it does not disgust, and the majestic figure of
-the archangel fills up nearly the whole space—fills the eye—fills the
-soul—with its victorious beauty.
-
-[Illustration: 37 The St. Michael painted by Raphael for Francis I.]
-
-That Milton had seen this picture, and that when his sight was quenched
-the ‘winged saint’ revisited him in his darkness, who can doubt?—
-
-               Over his lucid arms
-    A military vest of purple flowed
-    Livelier than Melibœan, or the grain
-    Of Sarra worn by kings and heroes old
-    In time of truce.
-                        By his side,
-    As in a glittering zodiac, hung the sword,
-    Satan’s dire dread, and in his hand the spear.
-
-A third St. Michael, designed by Raphael, exists only as an
-engraving.[71] The angel here wears a helmet, and is classically
-draped; he stands in an attitude of repose, his foot on the neck of the
-demon; one hand rests on the pummel of his sword, the other holds the
-lance.
-
-It seems agreed that, as a work of art, there is only the St. Michael
-of Guido (in the Capuccini at Rome) which can be compared with that of
-Raphael; the moment chosen is the same; the treatment nearly the same;
-the sentiment quite different.
-
-Here the angel, standing, yet scarcely touching the ground, poised on
-his outspread wings, sets his left foot on the head of his adversary;
-in one hand he brandishes a sword, in the other he holds the end
-of a chain, with which he is about to bind down the demon in the
-bottomless pit. The attitude has been criticised, and justly; the
-grace is somewhat mannered, verging on the theatrical; but Forsyth is
-too severe when he talks of the ‘air of a dancing-master:’ one thing,
-however, is certain, we do not think about attitude when we look at
-Raphael’s St. Michael; in Guido’s, it is the first thing that strikes
-us; but when we look farther, the head redeems all; it is singularly
-beautiful, and in the blending of the masculine and feminine graces, in
-the serene purity of the brow, and the flow of the golden hair, there
-is something divine: a slight, very slight expression of scorn is in
-the air of the head. The fiend is the worst part of the picture; it
-is not a fiend, but a degraded prosaic human ruffian; we laugh with
-incredulous contempt at the idea of an angel called down from heaven
-to overcome such a wretch. In Raphael the fiend is human, but the head
-has the god-like ugliness and malignity of a satyr; Guido’s fiend is
-only stupid and base. It appears to me that there is just the same
-difference—the same _kind_ of difference—between the angel of Raphael
-and the angel of Guido, as between the description in Tasso and the
-description in Milton; let any one compare them. In Tasso we are struck
-by the picturesque elegance of the description as a piece of art, the
-melody of the verse, the admirable choice of the expressions, as in
-Guido by the finished but somewhat artificial and studied grace. In
-Raphael and Milton we see only the vision of a ‘shape divine.’
-
-One of the most beautiful figures of St. Michael I ever saw, occurs in
-a coronation of the Virgin by Moretto, and is touched by his peculiar
-sentiment of serious tenderness.[72]
-
-In devotional pictures such figures of St. Michael are sometimes
-grouped poetically with other personages, as in a most beautiful
-picture by Innocenza da Imola,[73] where the archangel tramples on the
-demon; St. Paul standing on one side, and St. Benedict on the other,
-both of whom had striven with the fiend and had overcome him: the
-Madonna and Child are seen in a glory above.
-
-And again in a picture by Mabuse,[74] where St. Michael, as patron,
-sets his foot on the black grinning fiend, and looks down on a kneeling
-votary, while the votary, with his head turned away, appears to be
-worshipping, not the protecting angel, but the Madonna, to whom St.
-Michael presents him (38). Such votive pictures are not uncommon, and
-have a peculiar grace and significance. Here the archangel bears the
-victorious banner of the cross;—he has conquered. In some instances he
-holds in his hand the head of the Dragon, and in _all_ instances it is,
-or ought to be, the head of the Dragon which is transfixed:—‘Thou shalt
-bruise his head.’
-
-[Illustration: 38 St. Michael (Mabuse, 1510)]
-
-Those representations in which St. Michael is not conqueror, but
-combatant, in which the moment is one of transition, are less frequent;
-it is then an _action_, not an _emblem_, and the composition is
-historical rather than symbolical. It is the strife with Lucifer;
-‘when Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon
-fought and his angels, and the great dragon was cast out.’ (Rev. xii.
-7.) In churches and chapels dedicated to St. Michael, or to ‘the Holy
-Angels,’ this appropriate subject often occurs; as in a famous fresco
-by Spinello d’Arezzo, at Arezzo.[75] In the middle of the composition,
-Michael, armed with sword and shield, is seen combating the dragon
-with seven heads, as described in the Apocalypse. Above and around are
-many angels also armed. At the top of the picture is seen an empty
-throne, the throne which Lucifer had ‘set in the north;’ below is seen
-Lucifer, falling with his angels over the parapet of heaven. (Isaiah
-xiv. 13.) The painter tasked his skill to render the transformation
-of the spirits of light into spirits of darkness as fearful and as
-hideous as possible; and, being a man of a nervous temperament, the
-continual dwelling on these horrors began at length to trouble his
-brain. He fancied that Lucifer appeared to him in a dream, demanding by
-what authority he had portrayed him under an aspect so revolting?—the
-painter awoke in horror, was seized with delirious fever, and so died.
-
-In his combat with the dragon, Michael is sometimes represented alone,
-and sometimes as assisted by the two other archangels, Gabriel and
-Raphael: as in the fresco by Signorelli, at Orvieto, where one of the
-angels, whom we may suppose to be Raphael, looks down on the falling
-demons with an air of melancholy, almost of pity.
-
-In a picture by Marco Oggione,[76] Michael has precipitated the demon
-into the gulf, and hovers above, while Raphael and Gabriel stand below
-on each side, looking on; all are clothed in voluminous loose white
-draperies, more like priests than warriors; but it is a fine picture.
-
-In the large Rubens-room at Munich, there are two pictures of Michael
-subduing the revolted angels. The large one, in which Michael is the
-principal figure, is not agreeable. Rubens could not lift himself
-sufficiently above the earth to conceive and embody the spiritual, and
-heroic, and beautiful in one divine form; his St. Michael is vulgar.
-The smaller composition, where the fallen, or rather falling, angels
-fill the whole space, is a most wonderful effort of artistic invention.
-At the summit of the picture stands St. Michael, the shield in one
-hand, in the other the forked lightnings of divine wrath; and from
-above the rebel host tumble headlong ‘in hideous ruin and combustion
-hurled,’ and with such affright and amazement in every face, such a
-downward movement in every limb, that we recoil in dizzy horror while
-we look upon it. It is curious that Rubens should have introduced
-female reprobate spirits: if he intended his picture as an allegory,
-merely the conquest of the spiritual over the sensual, he is excusable;
-but if he meant to figure the vision in the Apocalypse, it is a
-deviation from the proper scriptural treatment, which is inexcusable.
-This picture remains, however, as a whole, a perfect miracle of art:
-the fault is, that we feel inclined to applaud as we do at some
-astonishing _tour de force_; such at least was my own feeling, and
-this is not the feeling appropriate to the subject. Though this famous
-picture is entitled the Fall of the Angels, I have some doubts as to
-whether this was the intention of the painter; whether he did not mean
-to express the fall of sinners, flung by the Angel of judgment into the
-abyss of wrath and perdition?
-
-[Illustration: 39 St. Michael as Angel of Judgment and Lord of Souls
-(Justus of Ghent)]
-
-In those devotional pictures which exhibit St. Michael as Lord of
-souls, he is winged and unarmed, and holds the balance. In each scale
-sits a little naked figure, representing a human soul; one of these
-is usually represented with hands joined as in thankfulness—he is the
-_beato_, the elected; the other is in an attitude of horror—he is the
-rejected, the reprobate; and often, but not necessarily, the idea
-is completed by the introduction of a demon, who is grasping at the
-descending scale, either with his talons, or with the long two-pronged
-hook, such as is given to Pluto in the antique sculpture.
-
-Sometimes St. Michael is thus represented singly; sometimes very
-beautifully in Madonna pictures, as in a picture by Leonardo da Vinci
-(A.D. 1498), where St. Michael, a graceful angelic figure, with light
-flowing hair, kneels before the Madonna, and presents the balance to
-the Infant, who seems to welcome the pious little soul who sits in the
-uppermost scale.
-
-[Illustration: 40 St. Michael (Signorelli, 1500. In the San Gregorio,
-Rome)]
-
-I have seen this idea varied. St. Michael stands majestic with the
-balance poised in his hands: instead of a human figure in either
-scale, there are weights; on one side is seen a company of five or six
-little naked shivering souls, as if waiting for their doom; on the
-other several demons, one of whom with his hook is pulling down the
-ascending scale.[77] With or without the balance, St. Michael figures
-as Lord of souls when introduced into pictures of the Assumption or
-the Glorification of the Virgin. To understand the whole beauty and
-propriety of such representations, we must remember, that according to
-one of the legends of the death of the Virgin her spirit was consigned
-to the care of St. Michael until it was permitted to reanimate the
-spotless form, and with it ascend to heaven.
-
-In one or two instances only, I have seen St. Michael without wings.
-In general, an armed figure, unwinged and standing on a dragon, we may
-presume to be a St. George; but where the balance is introduced, it
-leaves no doubt of the personality—it is a St. Michael. Occasionally
-the two characters—the protecting Angel of light and the Angel of
-judgment—are united, and we see St. Michael, with the dragon under his
-feet and the balance in his hand. This was a favourite and appropriate
-subject on tombs and chapels dedicated to the dead; such is the
-beautiful bas-relief on the tomb of Henry VII. in Westminster Abbey.
-
-In some representations of the last judgment, St. Michael, instead
-of the banner and cross, bears the scales; as in the very curious
-bas-relief on the façade of the church of St. Trophime at Arles. St.
-Michael here has a balance so large that it is almost as high as
-himself; it is not a mere emblem, but a fact; a soul sits in each
-scale, and a third is rising up; the angel holds out one hand to
-assist him. In another part of the same bas-relief St. Michael is
-seen carrying a human soul (represented as a little naked figure) and
-bringing it to St. Peter and St. Paul. In a celebrated Last Judgment,
-attributed by some authors to John Van Eyck, by others to Justus of
-Ghent, St. Michael is grandly introduced.[78] High up, in the centre,
-sits the Saviour, with the severe expression of the judge. Above him
-hover four angels with the instruments of the Passion, and below him
-three others sounding trumpets (_v._ p. 54),—I suppose the seven
-pre-eminent angels: the Virgin and St. John the Baptist on each side,
-and then the Apostles ranged in the usual manner. ‘In the lower half of
-the picture stands St. Michael, clad in golden armour, so bright as to
-reflect in the most complete manner all the surrounding objects. His
-figure is slender and elegant, but colossal as compared to the rest. He
-seems to be bending earnestly forward, a splendid purple mantle falls
-from his shoulders to the ground, and his large wings are composed of
-glittering peacock’s feathers. He holds the balance; the scale with the
-good rests on earth, but that with the souls which are found wanting
-mounts into air. A demon stands ready to receive them, and towards
-this scale St. Michael points with the end of a black staff which he
-holds in his right hand.’ This picture, which is a chef-d’œuvre of the
-early German school, is now in the church of St. Mary at Dantzig.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The historical subjects in which St. Michael is introduced exhibit
-him as prince of the Hebrew nation, and belong properly to the Old
-Testament.[79] ‘After the confusion of tongues, and the scattering of
-the people, which occurred on the building of the Tower of Babel, every
-separate nation had an angel to direct it. To Michael was given in
-charge the people of the Lord. The Hebrews being carried away captive
-into the land of Assyria, Daniel prayed that they might be permitted
-to return when the seventy years of captivity were over: but the Angel
-of Persia opposed himself on this occasion to the angels Michael and
-Gabriel. He wished to retain the Jews in captivity, because he was
-glad to have, within the bounds of his jurisdiction, a people who
-served the true God, and because he hoped that in time the captive Jews
-would convert to the truth the Assyrians and Persians committed to his
-care.’ This curious passage from one of the early Christian fathers,
-representing the good angels as opposed to each other, and one of them
-as disputing the commands of God, is an instance of the confused ideas
-on the subject of angels which prevailed in the ancient Church, and
-which prevail, I imagine, in the minds of many even at this day.
-
-In the story of Hagar in the wilderness, it is Michael who descends to
-her aid. In the sacrifice of Isaac, it is Michael who stays the arm
-of Abraham. It is Michael who brings the plagues on Egypt, and he it
-is who leads the Israelites through the wilderness. It was the belief
-of the Jews, and of some of the early Christian fathers, that through
-his angel (not in person) God spoke to Moses from the burning bush,
-and delivered to him the law on Mount Sinai; and that the angel so
-delegated was Michael.
-
-It is Michael who combats with Lucifer for the body of Moses. (Jude
-v. 9.) According to one interpretation of this curious passage of
-Scripture, the demon wished to enter and to possess the form of Moses,
-in order to deceive the Jews by personating their leader; but others
-say, that Michael contended for the body, that he might bury it in an
-unknown place, lest the Jews should fall into the sin of paying divine
-honours to their legislator. This is a fine picturesque subject; the
-rocky desert, the body of Moses dead on the earth, the contest of the
-good and evil angel confronting each other,—these are grand materials!
-It must have been rarely treated, for I remember but one instance—the
-fresco by L. Signorelli, in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican.
-
-It is Michael who intercepts Balaam[80] when on his way to curse the
-people of Israel, and puts blessings into his mouth instead of curses:
-a subject often treated, but as a fact rather than a vision.
-
-It is Michael who stands before Joshua in the plain by Jericho:—‘And
-Joshua said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he
-said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And
-Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto
-him, What saith my Lord unto his servant? And the captain of the Lord’s
-host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place
-whereon thou standest is holy.’ (Joshua v. 13-15.) This subject is very
-uncommon. In the Greek MS. already alluded to, I met with a magnificent
-example—magnificent in point of sentiment, though half ruined and
-effaced; the God-like bearing of the armed angel, looking down on the
-prostrate Joshua, is here as fine as possible.
-
-It is Michael who appears to Gideon.[81] It is Michael who chastises
-David.[82] It is Michael who exterminates the army of Sennacherib; a
-subject magnificently painted by Rubens. (Some suppose that on this
-occasion God made use of the ministry of an evil angel.[83])
-
-It is Michael who descends to deliver the Three Children from the
-burning fiery furnace. The Three Children in the furnace is a subject
-which appears very early in the catacombs and on the sarcophagi
-as a symbol of the Redemption;—so early, that it is described by
-Tertullian;[84] but in almost all the examples given there are
-three figures only: where there is a fourth, it is, of course, the
-protecting angel, but he is without wings.[85]
-
-Michael seizes the prophet Habakkuk by the hair of the head, and
-carries him to Babylon, to the den of lions, that he may feed
-Daniel.[86] This apocryphal subject occurs on several sarcophagi.[87] I
-have seen it also in illuminated MSS., but cannot at this moment refer
-to it. It occurs in a series of late Flemish prints after Hemskirk,—of
-which there are good impressions in the British Museum.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The Archangel Michael is not named in the Gospels; but in the legends
-of the Madonna, as we shall see hereafter, he plays a very important
-part, being deputed by Christ to announce to his mother her approaching
-end, and to receive her soul. For the present I will only remark,
-that when, in accordance with this very ancient legend, an angel is
-represented kneeling before the Madonna, and holding in his hand a palm
-surmounted by stars, or a lighted taper, this angel is not Gabriel,
-announcing the conception of Christ, as is usually supposed, but
-Michael, as the angel of death.[88]
-
-The legend of Monte Galgano I saw in a large fresco, in the Santa Croce
-at Florence, by a painter of the Giotto school; but in so bad a state,
-that I could only make out a bull on the top of a mountain, and a man
-shooting with a bow and arrow. On the opposite wall is the combat of
-Michael with the dragon—very spirited, and in much better preservation.
-To distinguish the apparition of St. Michael on Monte Galgano from
-the apparition on Mont St. Michel, in both of which a bull and a
-bishop are principal figures, it is necessary to observe, that, in the
-last-named subject, the sea is always introduced at the base of the
-picture, and that the former is most common in Italian, and the latter
-in French, works of art. In the French stained glass of the thirteenth
-and fourteenth centuries, St. Michael is a very popular subject, either
-with the dragon, or the scales, or both.
-
-Lately, in removing the whitewash from the east wall of the nave of
-Preston Church, near Brighton, was discovered the outline of a group of
-figures representing St. Michael, fully draped, and with large wings,
-bearing the balance; in each scale a human soul. The scale containing
-the _beato_ is assisted by a figure fully draped, but so ruined that
-it is not possible to say whether it represents the Virgin, or the
-guardian saint of the person who caused the fresco to be painted. I
-am told that in the old churches of Cornwall, and of the towns on the
-south coast, which had frequent intercourse with France, effigies of
-St. Michael occur frequently, both in painting and sculpture. On the
-old English coin, thence called an _angel_, we have the figure of St.
-Michael, who was one of the patron saints of our Norman kings.
-
-I must now trust to the reader to contemplate the figures of St.
-Michael, so frequent and so varied in Art, with reference to these
-suggestions; and leaving for the present this radiant Spirit, this
-bright similitude of a primal and universal faith, we turn to his
-angelic companions.
-
-[Illustration: 41 Egyptian hieroglyphic of the Genius of Good
-overcoming Evil (_v._ p. 108)]
-
-ST. GABRIEL.
-
- _Lat._ Sanctus Gabriel. _Ital._ San Gabriello, San Gabriele, L’Angelo
- Annunziatore. _Fr._ St. Gabriel.
-
- ‘I am GABRIEL, that stand in the presence of God.’—_Luke_ i. 19.
-
-In those passages of Scripture where the Angel Gabriel is mentioned by
-name, he is brought before us in the character of a Messenger only,
-and always on important occasions. In the Old Testament he is sent
-to Daniel to announce the return of the Jews from captivity, and to
-explain the vision which prefigures the destinies of mighty empires.
-His contest with the Angel of the kingdom of Persia, when St. Michael
-comes to his assistance, would be a splendid subject in fit hands;
-I do not know that it has ever been painted. In the New Testament
-the mission of Gabriel is yet more sublime: he first appears to the
-high priest Zacharias, and foretells the birth of John the Baptist,—a
-subject which belongs especially to the life of that saint. Six months
-later, Gabriel is sent to announce the appearance of the Redeemer of
-mankind.[89]
-
-In the Jewish tradition, Gabriel is the guardian of the celestial
-treasury. Hence, I presume, Milton has made him chief guardian of
-Paradise:—
-
-    Betwixt these rocky pillars Gabriel sat,
-    Chief of the angelic guards, awaiting night.
-
-As the Angel who announced the birth of Christ, he has been venerated
-as the Angel who presides over childbirth. He foretells the birth of
-Samson, and, in the apocryphal legends, he foretells to Joachim the
-birth of the Virgin. In the East, he is of great importance. Mahomet
-selected him as his immediate teacher and inspirer, and he became
-the great protecting angel of Islamism: hence between Michael, the
-protector of the Jews and Christians, and Gabriel, the protector of
-the Moslem, there is supposed to exist no friendly feeling—rather the
-reverse.
-
-In the New Testament, Gabriel is a much more important personage than
-Michael; yet I have never met with any picture in which he figures
-singly as an object of worship. In devotional pictures he figures as
-the second of the three Archangels—‘Secondo fra i primi,’ as Tasso
-styles him; or in his peculiar character as the divine messenger of
-grace, ‘_l’Angelo annunziatore_.’ He then usually bears in one hand a
-lily or a sceptre; in the other a scroll on which is inscribed, ‘AVE
-MARIA, GRATIA PLENA!’[90]
-
-The subject called the ANNUNCIATION is one of the most frequent and
-most important, as it is one of the most beautiful, in the whole range
-of Christian Art. It belongs, however, to the history of the Virgin,
-where I shall have occasion to treat it at length; yet as the Angel
-Gabriel here assumes, by direct scriptural testimony, a distinct name
-and personality, and as the dignity and significance proper to a
-subject so often unworthily and perversely treated depend very much on
-the character and deportment given to the celestial messenger, I shall
-make a few observations in this place with respect to the treatment of
-the angel, only reserving the theme in its general bearing for future
-consideration.
-
-In the early representations of the Annunciation it is treated as
-a religious mystery, and with a solemn simplicity and purity of
-feeling, which is very striking and graceful in itself, as well as
-in harmony with the peculiar manner of the divine revelation. The
-scene is generally a porch or portico of a temple-like building; the
-Virgin stands (she is very seldom seated, and then on a kind of raised
-throne); the angel stands before her, at some distance: very often,
-she is within the portico; he is without. Gabriel is a majestic being,
-generally robed in white, wearing the tunic and pallium _à l’antique_,
-his flowing hair bound by a jewelled tiara, with large many-coloured
-wings, and bearing the sceptre of sovereignty in the left hand, while
-the right is extended in the act of benediction as well as salutation:
-‘Hail! thou that art highly favoured! Blessed art thou among women!’ He
-is the principal figure: the attitude of the Virgin, with her drapery
-drawn over her head, her eyes drooping, and her hands folded on her
-bosom, is always expressive of the utmost submission and humility. So
-Dante introduces the image of the lowly Virgin receiving the angel as
-an illustration of the virtue of Humility:—
-
-  Ed avea in atto impressa esta favella
-    ‘Ecce ancilla Dei!’—
-
-and Flaxman has admirably embodied this idea, both in the lofty angel
-with outspread arms, and the kneeling Virgin. Sometimes the angel
-floats in, with his arms crossed over his bosom, but still with the air
-of a superior being, as in this beautiful figure after Lorenzo Monaco,
-from a picture in the Florence Gallery.
-
-[Illustration: 42]
-
-The two figures are not always in the same picture; it was a very
-general custom to place the Virgin and the Angel, the ‘Annunziata’
-and the ‘Angelo annunziatore,’ one on each side of the altar, the
-place of the Virgin being usually to the right of the spectator;
-sometimes the figures are half-length: sometimes, when placed in the
-same picture, they are in two separate compartments, a pillar, or some
-other ornament, running up the picture between them; as in many old
-altar-pieces, where the two figures are placed above or on each side of
-the Nativity, or the Baptism, or the Marriage at Cana, or some other
-scene from the life and miracles of our Saviour. This subject does not
-appear on the sarcophagi; the earliest instance I have met with is in
-the mosaic series over the arch in front of the choir in the church
-of Santa Maria Maggiore, at Rome, executed in the fifth century. Here
-we have two successive moments represented together. In the first the
-angel is sent on his mission, and appears flying down from heaven;
-the earliest instance I have seen of an angel in the act of flight.
-In the second group the Virgin appears seated on a throne; two angels
-stand behind her, supposed to represent her guardian angels, and the
-angel Gabriel stands in front with one hand extended. The dresses are
-classical, and there is not a trace of the mediæval feeling, or style,
-in the whole composition.
-
-In the Greek pictures, the Angel and the Virgin both stand; and in the
-Annunciation of Cimabue the Greek formula is strictly adhered to. I
-have seen pictures of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, in which
-Gabriel enters as a princely ambassador, with three little angels
-bearing up his mantle behind: in a picture in the collection of Prince
-Wallerstein, one meek and beautiful angel bears up the rich robes of
-the majestic archangel, like a page in the train of a sovereign prince.
-But from the beginning of the fourteenth century we perceive a change
-of feeling, as well as a change of style: the veneration paid to the
-Virgin demanded another treatment. She becomes not merely the principal
-person, but the superior being; she is the ‘Regina angelorum,’ and the
-angel bows to her, or kneels before her as to a queen.[91] Thus in the
-famous altar-piece at Cologne, the angel kneels; he bears a sceptre,
-and also a sealed roll, as if he were a celestial ambassador delivering
-his credentials: about the same period we sometimes see the angel
-merely with his hands folded over his breast, and his head inclined,
-delivering his message as if to a superior being.
-
-[Illustration: 43 The Angel Gabriel (Wilhelm of Cologne. 1440)]
-
-I cannot decide at what period the lily first replaced the sceptre in
-the hand of the angel, not merely as the emblem of purity, but as the
-symbol of the Virgin from the verse in the Canticles usually applied
-to her: ‘I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valley.’ A lily
-is often placed in a vase near the Virgin, or in the foreground of the
-picture: of all the attributes placed in the hand of the angel, the
-lily is the most usual and the most expressive.
-
-The painters of Siena, who often displayed a new and original sentiment
-in the treatment of a subject, have represented the angel Gabriel as
-the announcer of ‘peace on earth;’ he kneels before the Virgin, crowned
-with olive, and bearing a branch of olive in his hand, as in a picture
-by Taddeo Bartoli. There is also a beautiful St. Gabriel by Martin
-Schoen, standing, and crowned with olive. So Dante—
-
-    L’ angel che venne in terra col decreto
-    Della molt’ anni lagrimata pace.
-
-Another passage in Dante which the painters seem to have had before
-them shows us the Madonna as queen, and the angel as adoring:—
-
-    ‘Qual è quel angel che con tanto giuoco
-    Guarda negli occhi la nostra regina
-    Innamorato sì che par di fuoco?’
-    Ed egli a me,—‘Baldezza e leggiadria
-    Quanta esser puote in angelo ed in alma
-    Tutta è in lui, e si volem che sia!’
-
-It is in seeking this _baldezza e leggiadria_ in a mistaken sense that
-the later painters have forgotten all the spiritual dignity of the
-Angel Messenger.
-
-Where the angel bears a lighted taper, which the Virgin extends her
-hand to take from him; or, kneeling, bears in his hand a palm-branch,
-surmounted by seven or twelve stars (44), the subject represented is
-not the announcement of the birth of the Saviour, but the death of
-the Virgin, a part of her legendary history which is rarely treated
-and easily mistaken; then the announcing angel is not Gabriel, but
-Michael.[92]
-
-[Illustration: 44 Angel announcing the death of the Virgin (F. Filippo
-Lippi)]
-
-In old German Art, the angel in the Annunciation is habited in priestly
-garments richly embroidered (42). The scene is often the bedroom of
-the Virgin; and while the announcing angel enters and kneels at the
-threshold of the door, the Holy Ghost enters at the window. I have
-seen examples in which Gabriel, entering at a door behind the Virgin,
-unfolds his official ‘Ave Maria.’ He has no lily, or sceptre, and she
-is apparently conscious of his presence without seeing him.[93]
-
-But in the representations of the sixteenth century we find neither
-the solemnity of the early Italian nor the naïveté of the early German
-school; and this divine subject becomes more and more materialised
-and familiarised, until, losing its spiritual character, it strikes
-us as shockingly prosaic. One cannot say that the angel is invariably
-deficient in dignity, or the Virgin in grace. In the Venetian
-school and the Bologna school we find occasionally very beautiful
-Annunciations; but in general the half-draped fluttering angels and the
-girlish-looking Virgins are nothing less than offensive; and in the
-attempt to vary the sentiment, the _naturalisti_ have here run the
-risk of being much _too_ natural.
-
-[Illustration: 45 The Archangel Gabriel (Van Eyck)]
-
-In the Cathedral at Orvieto, the Annunciation is represented in front
-of the choir by two colossal statues by Francesco Mochi: to the right
-is the angel Gabriel, poised on a marble cloud, in an attitude so
-fantastic that he looks as if he were going to dance; on the other side
-stands the Virgin, conceived in a spirit how different!—yet not less
-mistaken; she has started from her throne; with one hand she grasps
-it, with the other she seems to guard her person against the intruder:
-majesty at once, and fear, a look of insulted dignity, are in the
-air and attitude,—‘_par che minacci e tema nel tempo istesso_’—but I
-thought of Mrs. Siddons while I looked, not of the Virgin Mary.
-
-This fault of sentiment I saw reversed, but equally in the extreme, in
-another example—a beautiful miniature.[94] The Virgin, seated on the
-side of her bed, sinks back alarmed, almost fainting; the angel in a
-robe of crimson, with a white tunic, stands before her, half turning
-away and grasping his sceptre in his hand, with a proud commanding air,
-like a magnificent surly god—a Jupiter who had received a repulse.
-
-I pass over other instances conceived in a taste even more
-blamable—Gabriels like smirking, winged lord chamberlains; and Virgins,
-half prim, half voluptuous—the sanctity and high solemnity of the event
-utterly lost. Let this suffice for the present: I may now leave the
-reader to his own feeling and discrimination.
-
-
-                             ST. RAPHAEL.
-
-  _Lat._ Sanctus Raphael. _Ital._ San Raffaello. _Fr._ Saint Raphael.
-                      _Ger._ Der Heilige Rafael.
-
- ‘I am RAPHAEL, one of the Seven Holy Angels which present the prayers
-  of the Saints, and which go in and out before the glory of the HOLY
-                        ONE.’—_Tobit_ xii. 15.
-
-I have already alluded to the established belief, that every individual
-man, nay, every created being, hath a guardian angel deputed to watch
-over him:—‘Woe unto us, if, by our negligence or our self-will, we
-offend him on whose vigilance we depend for help and salvation! But
-the prince of guardian spirits, the guardian angel of all humanity, is
-Raphael; and in this character, according to the early Christians, he
-appeared to the shepherds by night ‘with good tidings of great joy,
-which shall be for all people.’ It is, however, from the beautiful
-Hebrew romance of Tobit that his attributes are gathered: he is the
-protector of the young and innocent, and he watches over the pilgrim
-and the wayfarer. The character imputed to him in the Jewish traditions
-has been retained and amplified by Milton: Raphael is the angel sent by
-God to warn Adam:—
-
-     . . . . . The affable archangel
-    Raphael; the sociable spirit that deign’d
-    To travel with Tobias, and secured
-    His marriage with the seven times wedded maid.
-
-And the character of the angel is preserved throughout: his sympathy
-with the human race, his benignity, his eloquence, his mild and social
-converse. So when Adam blesses him:—
-
-              . . . . Since to part,
-    Go, heavenly guest, ethereal messenger,
-    Sent from whose sovereign goodness I adore!
-    Gentle to me and affable hath been
-    Thy condescension, and shall be honour’d ever
-    With grateful memory. Thou to mankind
-    Be good and friendly still, and oft return!
-
-This character of benignity is stamped on all the best representations
-of Raphael, which, however, are not common: they occur principally in
-the chapels dedicated to the holy guardian angels; but there are also
-churches and chapels dedicated to him singly.
-
-The devotional figures of Raphael exhibit him in the dress of a pilgrim
-or traveller, ‘his habit fit for speed succinct,’ sandals on his feet,
-his hair bound with a fillet or diadem, the staff in his hand, and
-sometimes a bottle of water or a wallet (_panetière_) slung to his
-belt. In this figure by Murillo (46), from one of the most beautiful
-pictures in the Leuchtenberg Gallery, Raphael is the guardian and guide
-of the votary who appears below—a bishop who probably bore the same
-name.[95]
-
-Sometimes, as guardian spirit, he has a sword: the most beautiful
-example I could cite of this treatment is the figure in the Breviary of
-Anne of Bretagne (A.D. 1500); he wears a pale-green tunic bordered with
-gold, and wings of a deep rose-colour; he has a casket or wallet slung
-over his shoulder by a golden belt; in one hand he holds a sword, and
-the other is raised with a warning gesture; his countenance, beautiful
-and benign as possible, yet says, ‘Take heed.’ More commonly, however,
-he carries a small casket, box, or vase, supposed to contain the ‘fishy
-charm’ against the evil spirits. (Tobit vi. 6, 7.)
-
-Raphael, in his character of guardian angel, is generally represented
-as leading the youthful Tobias. When, in order to mark the difference
-between the celestial and the mortal being, Tobit is figured so small
-as to look like a child, and when the angel wears his spirit-wings,
-and is not disguised, the whole subject becomes idealised: it is no
-longer an historical action, but a devotional allegory; and Tobias with
-his fish represents the Christian, the believer, guarded and guided
-through his life-pilgrimage by the angelic monitor and minister of
-divine mercy.
-
-[Illustration: 46 St. Raphael (Murillo. Leuchtenberg Gallery)]
-
-There is a small side chapel in the church of Saint Euphemia, at
-Verona, dedicated to St. Raphael. The walls are painted with frescoes
-from the story of Tobit; and over the altar is that masterpiece
-of Carotto, representing the three archangels as three graceful
-spirit-like figures without wings. The altar being dedicated to
-Raphael, he is here the principal figure; he alone has the glory
-encircling his head, and takes precedence of the others; he stands
-in the centre leading Tobias, and looking down on him with an air of
-such saintly and benign protection, that one feels inclined to say
-or sing, in the words of the litany, ‘Sancte Raphaël, adolescentium
-pudicitiæ defensor, ora pro nobis!’ Even more divine is the St. Michael
-who stands on the right, with one hand gathering up the folds of his
-crimson robe, the other leaning on his great two-handed sword; but such
-a head, such a countenance looking out upon us—so earnest, powerful,
-and serious!—we recognise the Lord of Souls, the Angel of Judgment. To
-the left of Raphael stands Gabriel, the Angel of Redemption; he holds
-the lily, and looks up to heaven adoring: this is the least expressive
-of the three heads, but still beautiful; and, on the whole, the picture
-left a stronger impression on my mind than any I had seen at Venice,
-the glorious Assumption excepted. The colouring in its glowing depth
-is like that of Giorgione. Vasari tells us, that this picture, painted
-when Carotto was young (about A.D. 1495), was criticised because the
-limbs of the angels were too slender; to which Carotto, famous for
-his repartees, replied, ‘Then they will fly the better!’ The drawing,
-however, it must be conceded, is not the best part of the picture.
-
-The earliest picture of Titian which remains to us is a St. Raphael
-leading Tobias;[96] beautiful, but not equal, certainly, to that of
-Carotto. Raphael, as we might naturally suppose, painted his guardian
-angel and patron saint _con amore_:[97] we have by him two St.
-Raphaels; the first, a little figure executed when he was a boy in the
-studio of his master Perugino, is now on one side of an altar-piece in
-the Certosa at Pavia. Later in life, and in one of his finest works,
-he has introduced his patron saint with infinite beauty of feeling:
-in the Madonna della Pesce,[98] the Virgin sits upon her throne, with
-the Infant Christ in her arms; the angel Raphael presents Tobias, who
-is not here a youth but a child; while the Infant Christ turns away
-from the wise bearded old doctor, who is intently studying his great
-book, to welcome the angel and his charge. The head of the angel,
-looking up in the face of the Madonna, is in truth sublime: it would be
-impossible to determine whether it belongs to a masculine or a feminine
-being; but none could doubt that it is a _divine_ being, filled with
-fervent, enthusiastic, adoring love. The fish in the hand of Tobias has
-given its name to the picture; and I may as well observe that in the
-devotional pictures, where the fish is merely an attribute, expressing
-Christian baptism, it is usually very small: in the story it is a sort
-of monster, which sprang out of the river and would have devoured him.
-
-All the subjects in which the Archangel Raphael is an actor belong
-to the history of Tobit. The scenes of this beautiful scriptural
-_legend_—I must call it so—have been popular subjects of Art,
-particularly in the later schools, and have been admirably treated by
-some of the best Dutch and Flemish painters: the combination of the
-picturesque and poetical with the homely and domestic recommended it
-particularly to Rembrandt and his school. Tobias dragging the fish
-ashore, while the angel stands by, is a fine picturesque landscape
-subject which has been often repeated. The spirited little sketch by
-Salvator,[99] in which the figure of the guardian angel is admirable
-for power and animated grace; the twilight effect by Rembrandt;[100]
-another by Domenichino; three by Claude; may be cited as examples.
-
-[Illustration: 47 Archangel (Rembrandt)]
-
-In such pictures, as it has been rightly observed, the angel ought not
-to have wings: he is disguised as the friendly traveller. The dog,
-which ought to be omitted in the devotional pictures, is here a part of
-the story, and figures with great propriety.
-
-Rembrandt painted the parting of Tobias and his parents four times;
-Tobias led by the angel, four times; Tobias healing his father, once;
-the departure of the angel, twice. Of this last subject, the picture in
-the Louvre may be pronounced one of his finest;—miraculous for true and
-spirited expression, and for the action of the soaring angel, who parts
-the clouds and strikes through the air like a strong swimmer through
-the waves of the sea (47).
-
-The story of Tobit, as a series of subjects, has been very frequently
-represented, always in the _genre_ and picturesque style of the later
-schools. I shall have to return to it hereafter; here I have merely
-alluded to the devotional treatment, in order to direct attention to
-the proper character of the Archangel Raphael.
-
-And thus we have shown
-
-              ... how Holy Church
-    Doth represent with human countenance
-    Gabriel and Michaël, and him who made
-    Tobias whole.—DANTE, _Par._ c. iv.
-
-
-                      ADDITIONAL NOTES ON ANGELS.
-
- 1. In a picture by Gentile da Fabriano (_Berlin Gallery_, 1130), the
- Virgin and Child are enthroned, and on each side of the throne is a
- tree, on the branches of which are little red Seraphim winged and
- perched like birds, singing and making music. I remember also a little
- Dutch print of a Riposo (_v._ ‘Legends of the Madonna,’ p. 256), in
- which five little angels are perched on the trees above, singing and
- playing for the solace of the divine Infant. Thus we have Dante’s idea
- of the _Uccelli di Dio_, reproduced in a more familiar form.
-
- 2. In the Convent of Sant-Angelo at Bologna, Camillo Procaccino
- painted the ‘Acts of the Holy Angels’ in the following order:—1. The
- Fall of the Dragon. 2. The Angels drive Adam and Eve from Paradise. 3.
- The three Angels visit Abraham. 4. The Angel stays the arm of Abraham.
- 5. The Angel wrestles with Jacob. 6. The Angels visit Jacob in a
- Dream. 7. The Angel delivers the three Children in the burning fiery
- Furnace. 8. The Angel slays the Host of Sennacherib. 9. The Angel
- protects Tobit. 10. The Punishment of Heliodorus. 11. The Annunciation
- to Mary. It will be remarked that all these subjects are strictly
- scriptural.
-
-
-
-
-                     The Four Evangelists.
-
- ‘Matthew wrote for the Hebrews; Mark, for the Italians; Luke, for the
-     Greeks; for ALL, the great herald John.’—_Gregory Nazianzen._
-
-
-Since on the Four Evangelists, as the witnesses and interpreters of a
-revealed religion, the whole Christian Church may be said to rest as
-upon four majestic pillars, we cannot be surprised that representations
-of them should abound, and that their effigies should have been
-introduced into Christian places of worship, from very early times.
-Generally, we find them represented together, grouped, or in a series;
-sometimes in their collective character, as the _Four Witnesses_;
-sometimes in their individual character, each as an inspired teacher,
-or beneficent patron. As no authentic resemblances of these sacred
-personages have ever been known or even supposed to exist, such
-representations have always been either _symbolical_ or _ideal_. In
-the symbol, the aim was to embody, under some emblematical image, the
-spiritual mission; in the ideal portrait, the artist, left to his own
-conception, borrowed from Scripture some leading trait (when Scripture
-afforded any authority for such), and adding, with what success his
-skill could attain, all that his imagination could conceive, as
-expressive of dignity and persuasive eloquence—the look ‘commercing
-with the skies,’ the commanding form, the reverend face, the ample
-draperies—he put the book or the pen into his hand, and thus the writer
-and the teacher of the truth was placed before us.
-
-The earliest type under which the Four Evangelists are figured is
-an emblem of the simplest kind: four scrolls placed in the four
-angles of a Greek cross, or four books (the Gospels), represented
-allegorically those who wrote or promulgated them. The second type
-chosen was more poetical—the four rivers which had their source in
-Paradise: representations of this kind, in which the Saviour, figured
-as a lamb holding the cross, or in his human form, with a lamb near
-him, stands on an eminence, from which gush four rivers or fountains,
-are to be met with in the catacombs, on ancient sarcophagi preserved
-among the Christian relics in the Vatican, and in several old churches
-constructed between the second and the fifth century.
-
-At what period the four mysterious creatures in the vision of Ezekiel
-(ch. i. 5) were first adopted as significant symbols of the Four
-Evangelists, does not seem clear. The Jewish doctors interpreted them
-as figuring the four Archangels,—Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, Uriel; and
-afterwards applied them as emblems of the Four Great Prophets,—Isaiah,
-Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. By the early Oriental Christians, who
-typified the whole of the Old Testament, the transfer of the emblem to
-the Four Evangelists seems obvious and easy; we find it alluded to as
-early as the second century. The four ‘Beasts’ of corresponding form in
-the Revelation (chap. iv. 7), which stood round the throne of the Lamb,
-were likewise thus interpreted; but it was not till the fifth century
-that we find these symbols assuming a visible form, and introduced into
-works of art. In the seventh century they had become almost universal,
-as distinctive attributes.
-
-[Illustration: 48 St. Matthew (Mosaic, fifth century)]
-
-The general application of the Four Creatures to the Four Evangelists
-is of much earlier date than the separate and individual application of
-each symbol, which has varied at different times; that propounded by
-St. Jerome, in his commentary on Ezekiel, has since his time prevailed
-universally. Thus, then, 1. To St. Matthew was given the CHERUB, or
-human semblance, because he begins his gospel with the human generation
-of Christ; or, according to others, because in his gospel the human
-nature of the Saviour is more insisted on than the divine. In the most
-ancient mosaics, the type is human, not angelic, for the head is that
-of a man with a beard. 2. St. Mark has the LION, because he has set
-forth the royal dignity of Christ; or, according to others, because he
-begins with the mission of the Baptist—‘_the voice of one crying in
-the wilderness_’—which is figured by the lion: or, according to a third
-interpretation, the lion was allotted to St. Mark, because there was,
-in the middle ages, a popular belief that the young of the lion was
-born dead, and after three days was awakened to vitality by the breath
-of its sire; some authors, however, represent the lion as vivifying
-his young not by his breath, but by his roar. In either case the
-application is the same; the revival of the young lion was considered
-as symbolical of the resurrection, and Mark was commonly called the
-‘Historian of the Resurrection.’ Another commentator observes that
-Mark begins his gospel with ‘roaring’—‘the voice of one crying in the
-wilderness;’ and ends it fearfully with a curse—‘He that believeth not
-shall be damned;’ and that, therefore, his appropriate attribute is the
-most terrible of beasts, the lion.[101] 3. Luke has the OX, because he
-has dwelt on the priesthood of Christ, the _ox_ being the emblem of
-sacrifice. 4. John has the EAGLE, which is the symbol of the highest
-inspiration, because he soared upwards to the contemplation of the
-divine nature of the Saviour.
-
-But the order in which, in theological Art, these symbols are placed,
-is not the same as the order of the Gospels according to the canon.
-Rupertus considers the Four Beasts as typical of the Incarnation, the
-Passion, the Resurrection, and the Ascension; an idea previously dwelt
-upon by Durandus, who adds, that the man and the lion are placed on
-the right, because the incarnation and the resurrection are the joy
-of the whole earth; whilst the ox is on the left, because Christ’s
-sacrifice was a trouble to the apostles; and the eagle is above the ox,
-as suggestive of our Lord’s upward flight into heaven: according to
-others, the proper order in the ascending scale is thus—at the lowest
-point on the left, the ox; to the right, the lion; above the ox, the
-eagle; and above all, the angel. So in Raphael’s Vision of Ezekiel, the
-angel gazes into the face of the Holy One, the others form his throne.
-
-I have dwelt on these fanciful interpretations and disquisitions,
-because the symbols of the Evangelists meet us at every turn; in the
-mosaics of the old Italian churches, in the decorative sculpture
-of our old cathedrals, in the Gothic stained glass, in the ancient
-pictures and miniatures, on the carved and chased covers of old
-books; everywhere, in short, where enters the idea of their divine
-mission—and where is it not? The profound thought, as well as the
-vivid imagination, exercised in some of these early works of art, is
-beginning to be appreciated; and we should lose the half of what is
-poetical, and significant, and venerable in these apparently arbitrary
-and fanciful symbols, if we merely seized the general intention, and
-not the relative and appropriate meaning of each.
-
-I will only add (for I have restricted myself to the consideration
-of the mysteries of faith only so far as they are carried into the
-forms of Art) that these symbols of the Four Evangelists were in their
-combination held to be symbolical of the Redeemer, in the fourfold
-character then universally assigned to him, as man, as king, as
-high-priest, and as God; according to this Latin verse:
-
-    Quatuor hæc Dominum signant animalia Christum:
-    Est _Homo_ nascendo, _vitulus_ que sacer moriendo,
-    Et _Leo_ surgendo, cœlos _aquila_ que petendo;
-    Nec minus hos scribas animalia et ipsa figurant.
-
-This would again alter the received order of the symbols, and place the
-angelic or human semblance lower than the rest: but I have never seen
-them so placed, at least I can recollect no instance.
-
-A Greek mosaic, existing in the Convent of Vatopedi, on Mount Athos,
-exhibits an attempt to reduce to form the wild and sublime imagery
-of the prophet Ezekiel: the Evangelists, or rather the Gospels, are
-represented as the tetramorph, or four-faced creature, with wings full
-of eyes, and borne on wheels of living flame (49).
-
-The Tetramorph, i.e. the union of the four attributes of the
-Evangelists, in one figure, is in Greek Art always angelic or winged—a
-mysterious thing. The Tetramorph in Western Art has in some instances
-become monstrous, instead of mystic and poetical. In a miniature of the
-_Hortus Deliciarum_, we find the new Law, or Christianity, represented
-as a woman crowned and seated on an animal which, with the body of a
-horse, has the four heads of the mystic creatures; and of the four
-feet, one is human; one hoofed, for the ox; one clawed like an eagle’s;
-and one like a lion’s: underneath is inscribed _Animal Ecclesiæ_.
-In some other examples, the Church, or the new Law, is seated in a
-triumphal car drawn by the eagle, the lion, and the ox, while the angel
-holds the reins and drives as charioteer.
-
-[Illustration: 49 Tetramorph]
-
-The early images of the Evangelical symbol are uniformly represented
-with wings, for the same reason that wings were given to the
-angels,—they were angels, i.e. bringers of good tidings: for instance,
-in the earliest example to which I can refer, a rude fragment of a
-bas-relief in terracotta, found in the catacombs, which represents
-a lamb with a glory holding a cross; on the right, an angel in a
-sacerdotal garment (St. Matthew), on the left the winged ox (St. Luke),
-each holding a book.
-
-[Illustration: 50 St. Luke (Mosaic, A.D. 750)]
-
-[Illustration: 51 St. Luke (Mosaic, fifth century)]
-
-In the most ancient Christian churches we find these symbols
-perpetually recurring, generally in or over the recess at the east end
-(the apsis, or tribune), where stands the altar. And as the image of
-Christ, as the Redeemer, either under the semblance of the lamb, or in
-his human likeness, as a grand, calm, solemn figure enthroned, and in
-the act of benediction, forms invariably the principal object; almost
-as invariably the Evangelists are either at the four corners, or
-ranged in a line above or below, or they are over the arch in front of
-the tribune. Sometimes they are the heads only of the mystic creatures,
-on an azure ground, studded with stars, floating as in a firmament,
-thus (50): or the half figure ends in a leafy scroll, like the genii
-in an arabesque, as thus (51): or the creature is given at full length
-and entire, with four wings, holding the book, and looking much like a
-figure in heraldry (52, 53).
-
-[Illustration: 52 St. John (Mosaic, eleventh century)]
-
-[Illustration: 53 St. Mark (Mosaic)]
-
-The next step was the combination of the emblem with the human form,
-i.e. the head of the lion, ox, or eagle, set upon the figure of a
-man. Here is a figure of St. John standing with the head of an eagle,
-holding the gospel (54). There is another rudely engraved in Münter’s
-work, with the eagle’s head, wings upon the shoulders, and a scroll. I
-remember another of St. John seated, writing, with the head and clawed
-feet of an eagle, and the body and hands of a man. Such figures as a
-series I have seen in ornaments, and frequently in illuminated MSS.,
-but seldom in churches, and never of a large size. A very striking
-and comparatively modern example of this peculiar treatment occurs
-in a bas-relief on the door of the College of St. Stephen and St.
-Lawrence, at Castiglione, in which the Four Evangelists are represented
-as half-length human figures, amply draped and holding the gospels,
-each with the emblematic head and large outspread wings (55). The
-bronze bas-reliefs of the Evangelists on each side of the choir of
-St. Antonio, at Padua, are similar in form, and very fine, both in
-conception and workmanship.
-
-[Illustration: 54 St. John]
-
-This series of full-length figures is from the first compartment of
-the Life of Christ by Angelico da Fiesole.[102] In the original the
-figures stand round a mystic circle, alternately with the prophets
-(56). We must remember, that however monstrous and grotesque such
-figures may appear to the eye, they are not more unnatural than the
-angelic representations with which we are so familiar that we see in
-them beauty only—not considering that men with the wings of birds are
-as merely emblematical and impossible as men with animal heads. It is
-interesting, and leads the mind to many speculations, to remark that
-the Babylonish captivity must have familiarised the Israelites with
-the combination of the human and animal attributes in the same figure.
-The gigantic bas-reliefs from Nineveh show us winged bulls with human
-heads, and the human form with the eagle’s head and wings. This figure,
-for example, (57) is not unlike some early figures of St. John, if we
-substitute the book and the pen for the basket and the pine-cone.
-
-[Illustration: 55 St. Mark]
-
-[Illustration: 56]
-
-[Illustration: 57 From Nineveh]
-
-In a few later examples the only symbolical attribute retained is
-a pair of wings. The next figure (58) is from a curious set of
-Evangelists, of a minute size, and exquisitely engraved by Hans Beham:
-they are habited in the old German fashion; each has his book, his
-emblem, and in addition the expressive wings.
-
-[Illustration: 58]
-
-These animal symbols, whether alone or in combination with the human
-forms, were perfectly intelligible to the people, sanctified in their
-eyes by tradition, by custom, and by the most solemn associations.
-All direct imitation of nature was, by the best painters, carefully
-avoided. In this respect how fine is Raphael’s Vision of Ezekiel! how
-sublime and how true in feeling and conception! where the Messiah comes
-floating along, upborne by the Four Creatures—mysterious, spiritual,
-wonderful beings, animals in form, but in all else unearthly, and
-the winged ox not less divine than the winged angel![103] Whereas in
-the later times, when the artist piqued himself upon the imitation
-of nature, the mystic and venerable significance was wholly lost. As
-a striking instance of this mistaken style of treatment, we may turn
-to the famous group of the Four Evangelists by Rubens,[104] grand,
-colossal, standing or rather moving figures, each with his emblem,
-if emblems they can be called which are almost as full of reality as
-nature itself:—the ox so like life, we expect him to bellow at us; the
-magnificent lion flourishing his tail, and looking at St. Mark as if
-about to roar at him!—and herein lies the mistake of the great painter,
-that, for the religious and mysterious emblem, he has substituted the
-creatures themselves: this being one of the instances, not unfrequent
-in Art, in which the literal truth becomes a manifest falsehood.
-
-In ecclesiastical decoration the Four Evangelists are sometimes grouped
-significantly with the Four Greater Prophets; thus representing the
-connexion between the new and the old Law. I met with a curious
-instance in the Cathedral of Chartres. The five great windows over
-the south door may be said to contain a succinct system of theology,
-according to the belief of the thirteenth century: here the Virgin,
-i.e. the Church or Religion, occupies the central window; on one side
-is Jeremiah, carrying on his shoulders St. Luke, and Isaiah carrying
-St. Matthew; on the other side, Ezekiel bears St. John, and Daniel St.
-Mark; thus representing the New Testament resting on the Old.
-
-In ecclesiastical decoration, and particularly in the stained glass,
-they are often found in combination with the Four Doctors, the
-Evangelists being considered as witnesses, the Doctors as interpreters,
-of the truth: or as a series with the Four Greater Prophets, the Four
-Sibyls, and the Four Doctors of the Church, the Evangelists taking the
-third place.
-
-If, as late as the sixteenth century, we find the Evangelists still
-expressed by the mystic emblems (as in the fine bronzes in the choir
-of Sant’ Antonio at Padua), as early as the sixth we have in the Greek
-MSS. and mosaics the Evangelists as venerable men, and promulgators
-of a revelation; as in San Vitale at Ravenna (A.D. 547): on each side
-of the choir, nearest the altar, we find the prophets Isaiah and
-Jeremiah; then follow the Evangelists, two on each side, all alike,
-all classically draped in white tunics, each holding an open book, on
-which is inscribed ‘Secundum Marcum,’ ‘Secundum Johannem,’ &c.; and
-above each the animal symbol or attribute, large, full length, and
-grandly designed. In modern ecclesiastical decoration, the usual and
-appropriate situation of the Four Evangelists is immediately under the
-dome, nearest to the Saviour after the angels, or after the prophets,
-where either are introduced. I will mention here a few examples
-celebrated in the history of Art; premising that among the works of
-Leonardo, of Michael Angelo, and Raphael, we find no representations of
-the Four Evangelists; which is singular, considering that such figures
-entered necessarily into every scheme of theological decorative art.
-
-By Cimabue (A.D. 1270), larger than life, on the vault of the choir in
-San Francesco d’Assisi.
-
-By Giotto (A.D. 1320), in the choir of Sant’ Apollinare, at Ravenna;
-seated, and each accompanied by one of the doctors of the Church.
-
-By Angelico (A.D. 1390), round the dome of the chapel of San Niccolò,
-in the Vatican; all seated, each with his emblem.
-
-By Masaccio (A.D. 1420), round the dome of the chapel of the Passion in
-San Clemente, at Rome; admirable for simple grandeur.
-
-By Perugino (A.D. 1490), on the dome of the chapel del Cambio, at
-Perugia; the heads admirable.
-
-By Correggio (A.D. 1520), immediately under the cupola of San Giovanni,
-in four lunettes, magnificent figures: and again in the Cathedral of
-Parma, each seated in glory, with one of the doctors of the Church.
-
-By Domenichino, two sets (A.D. 1620). Those in the church of St. Andrea
-della Valle, at Rome, are considered his finest works, and celebrated
-in the history of Art: they are grand figures. The emblematical animals
-are here combined with the personages in a manner the most studied and
-picturesque; and the angels which sport around them, playing with the
-mane of St. Mark’s lion, or the pallet and pencils of St. Luke, are
-like beautiful ‘Amoretti,’—but we hardly think of angels. The series at
-Grotta-Ferrata is inferior.
-
-The Four Evangelists by Valentin (A.D. 1632), in the Louvre, had once
-great celebrity, and have been often engraved; they appear to me signal
-examples of all that should be avoided in character and sentiment. St.
-Matthew, for example, is an old beggar; the model for the attendant
-angel is a little French _gamin_, ‘à qui Valentin a commandé de sortir
-un bras de la manche de sa chemise, que de l’autre main il soutient
-gauchement.’
-
-Le Sueur (A.D. 1655) has represented the Four Evangelists seated at a
-table writing; the Holy Ghost descends upon them in the form of a dove.
-
-Towards the end of the seventeenth century, we find sets of the
-Evangelists in which the emblems are altogether omitted, and the
-personages distinguished by their situation, or by their names
-inscribed under or over them: but we miss those antique scriptural
-attributes which placed them before us as beings foreshadowed in the
-prophecies uttered of old; they have become mere men.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-This must suffice for the Evangelists considered as a series and in
-their collective character; but it will be interesting to pause for a
-moment, and take a rapid retrospective view of the progress, from first
-to last, in the expression of an idea through form.
-
-First, we have the mere _fact_; the four scrolls, or the four books.
-
-Next, the _idea_; the four rivers of salvation flowing from on high, to
-fertilise the whole earth.
-
-Thirdly, the _prophetic_ Symbol; the winged cherub of fourfold aspect.
-
-Next, the _Christian_ Symbol; the four ‘beasts’ in the Apocalypse, with
-or without the angel-wings.
-
-Then the combination of the _emblematical animal_ with the _human_ form.
-
-Then the _human_ personages, each of venerable or inspired aspect, as
-becomes the teacher and witness; and each attended by the scriptural
-emblem—no longer an emblem, but an attribute—marking his individual
-vocation and character.
-
-And, lastly, the emblem and attribute both discarded, we have the human
-being only, holding his gospel, i.e. _his_ version of the doctrine of
-Christ.
-
-
-                             ST. MATTHEW.
-
- _Lat._ S. Mattheus. _Ital._ San Matteo. _Fr._ Saint Matthieu. _Ger._
-                       St. Matthäus. (Sept. 21.)
-
-St. Matthew among the Apostles takes the seventh or eighth place, but
-as an Evangelist he always stands first, because his gospel was the
-earliest written. Very little is certainly known concerning him, his
-name occurring but once in his own gospel, and in the other gospels
-only incidentally with reference to two events.
-
-He was a Hebrew by birth; by profession a publican, or tax-gatherer, in
-the service of the Romans—an office very lucrative, but particularly
-odious in the sight of his countrymen. His original name was Levi. It
-is recorded in few words, that as he sat at the receipt of custom by
-the lake of Gennesareth, Jesus in passing by saw him, and said unto
-him, ‘Follow me,’ and he left all and followed him; and farther, that
-he made a feast in his house, at which many publicans and sinners sat
-down with the Lord and his disciples, to the great astonishment and
-scandal of the Jews. So far the sacred record: the traditional and
-legendary history of St. Matthew is equally scanty. It is related in
-the _Perfetto Legendario_ that after the dispersion of the apostles
-he travelled into Egypt and Ethiopia, preaching the Gospel; and
-having arrived in the capital of Ethiopia, he lodged in the house of
-the eunuch who had been baptized by Philip, and who entertained him
-with great honour. There were two terrible magicians at that time in
-Ethiopia, who by their diabolical spells and incantations kept all the
-people in subjection, afflicting them at the same time with strange and
-terrible diseases; but St. Matthew overcame them, and having baptized
-the people, they were delivered for ever from the malignant influence
-of these enchanters. And further, it is related that St. Matthew raised
-the son of the King of Egypt from the dead, and healed his daughter of
-the leprosy. The princess, whose name was Iphigenia, he placed at the
-head of a community of virgins dedicated to the service of God; and a
-certain wicked heathen king, having threatened to tear her from her
-asylum, was struck by leprosy, and his palace destroyed by fire. St.
-Matthew remained twenty-three years in Egypt and Ethiopia, and it is
-said that he perished in the ninetieth year of our era, under Domitian:
-but the manner of his death is uncertain; according to the Greek
-legend, he died in peace, but according to the tradition of the Western
-Church, he suffered martyrdom either by the sword or the spear.
-
-[Illustration: 59 St. Matthew]
-
-Few churches are dedicated to St. Matthew. I am not aware that he is
-the patron saint of any country, trade, or profession, unless it be
-that of tax-gatherer or exciseman; and this is perhaps the reason
-that, except where he figures as one of the series of evangelists or
-apostles, he is so seldom represented alone, or in devotional pictures.
-In a large altar-piece, the ‘San Matteo’ of Annibal Caracci,[105] he
-is standing before the throne of the Madonna, as a pendant to John
-the Baptist, and gives his name to the picture: but such examples are
-uncommon. When he is portrayed as an evangelist, he holds a book or a
-pen; and the angel, his proper attribute and attendant, stands by,
-pointing up to heaven, or dictating; or he holds the inkhorn, or he
-supports the book. In his character of apostle, St. Matthew frequently
-holds a purse or money-bag, as significant of his former vocation (56).
-
-Neither are pictures from his life of frequent occurrence. The
-principal incident, entitled the ‘Calling of Matthew,’ has been
-occasionally, but not often, treated in painting. The _motif_ is simple
-and not easily mistaken. St. Matthew is seated at a kind of desk with
-money before him; various personages bring tribute; on one side is
-seen Christ, with one or two of his disciples, generally Peter and
-Andrew; St. Matthew is either looking towards him with an expression of
-awe-struck attention, or he is rising from his seat, as in the act to
-follow: the mere accessories and number of the personages vary with the
-period of the composition and the taste of the painter.
-
-1. The earliest instance I can cite, probably the oldest which has come
-down to us, is in a Greek MS. of the ninth century.[106] St. Matthew
-sits with both hands on a heap of gold, lying on a table before him: he
-looks round at Christ, who is a little behind.
-
-2. St. Matthew is about to rise to follow the Saviour; by Matte di Ser
-Cambio of Perugia, who has represented his patron saint in a small
-composition.[107]
-
-3. In the Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace, there is a very curious
-and interesting picture of this subject, by Mabuse, which once belonged
-to King Charles I., and is quaintly described in the old catalogue of
-his pictures ‘as a very old, defaced, curious altar-piece, upon a thick
-board, where Christ is calling St. Matthew out of the custom-house;
-which picture was got in Queen Elizabeth’s days, in the taking of Calus
-Malus (Cadiz), in Spain. Painted upon a board in a gilded arched frame,
-like an altar-piece; containing ten big figures, less than half so big
-as the life, and some twenty-two afar off less figures. Given to the
-King.’ In the foreground there is a rich architectural porch, from
-which St. Matthew is issuing in haste, leaving his money-bags behind;
-and in the background is seen the lake of Gennesareth and shipping.
-This picture was among the booty taken in Essex’s expedition against
-Cadiz in 1596, and probably stolen from some church.
-
-4. In the Vienna Gallery I found three pictures of the same subject,
-all by Hemessen, very quaint and curious.
-
-5. At Dresden the same subject in the Venetian style by Pordenone.
-
-6. By Ludovico Caracci, a grand scenic picture, painted for the
-Mendicanti in Bologna.
-
-7. In a chapel of the church of San Luigi de’ Francesi, at Rome,
-there are three pictures by Caravaggio from the life of St. Matthew.
-Over the altar is the saint writing his gospel; he looks up at the
-attendant angel, who is behind with outspread wings, and in the act
-of dictating. On the left is the calling of St. Matthew; the saint,
-who has been counting money, rises with one hand on his breast, and
-turns to follow the Saviour: an old man, with spectacles on his nose,
-examines with curiosity the personage whose summons has had such a
-miraculous effect: a boy is slyly appropriating the money which the
-apostle has thrown down. The third picture is the martyrdom of the
-saint, who, in the sacerdotal habit, lies extended on a block, while a
-half-naked executioner raises the sword, and several spectators shrink
-back with horror. There is nothing dignified or poetical in these
-representations; and though painted with all that power of effect which
-characterised Caravaggio, then at the height of his reputation, they
-have also his coarseness of feeling and execution: the priests were
-(not without reason) dissatisfied; and it required all the influence
-of his patron, Cardinal Giustiniani, to induce them to retain the
-pictures in the church where we now see them;—here we sympathise with
-the priests, rather than with the artist and his patron.
-
-The Feast which St. Matthew made for our Saviour and his disciples is
-the subject of one of Paul Veronese’s gorgeous banquet scenes; that
-which he painted for the refectory of the Convent of St. John and St.
-Paul at Venice. It is now in the Academy, filling up the end wall of
-one of the great rooms from side to side, and seeming to let in light
-and air through the lofty marble porticoes, which give us such a
-magnificent idea of the splendour which surrounded Levi before he left
-all to follow Jesus.
-
-In all the representations of the death of St. Matthew, except those of
-the Greek or Byzantine school, he dies by the sword. The Greek artists
-uniformly exhibit him as dying in peace, while an angel swings the
-censer beside his bed: as on the ancient doors of San Paolo at Rome.
-
-Pictures from the legendary life of St. Matthew are very rare. The
-most remarkable are the frescoes in the chapel of San Matteo at
-Ravenna, attributed to Giotto. They are so much ruined, that, of the
-eight subjects represented, only three—his vocation, his preaching and
-healing the sick in Ethiopia, and the baptism of the king and queen—can
-be made out. In the Bedford missal at Paris I found a miniature,
-representing St. Matthew ‘healing the son and daughter of King Egyptus
-of the leprosy;’ but, as a subject of art, he is not popular.
-
-
-                               ST. MARK.
-
-   _Lat._ S. Marcus. _Ital._ San Marco Evangelista. _Fr._ St. Marc.
-            _Ger._ Der Heilige Marcus. (April 25. A.D. 68.)
-
-St. Mark the Evangelist was not one of the twelve Apostles: his
-conversion apparently took place after the ascension. He was the
-companion and assistant of Paul and Barnabas, with whom he preached the
-Gospel among the Gentiles. According to the traditions received in the
-Roman Church, he was converted by St. Peter, and became his favourite
-disciple; attended him first to Aquileia, where they converted and
-baptized the people on the shores of the Adriatic, and thence to Rome.
-While there he wrote his gospel for the use of the Roman converts,—some
-say from the dictation of the apostle. He afterwards, by command of St.
-Peter, went to preach the Gospel in Egypt; and after preaching in Lybia
-and Thebais for twelve years, he founded the church of Alexandria,
-subsequently one of the most celebrated of all the early Christian
-churches. The ire of the heathen being stirred up against him because
-of his miracles, they reviled him as a magician, and, during the feast
-of their god Serapis, seized him while in the act of worship, bound
-him, and dragged him along the streets and highways, and over stony and
-rocky places, till he perished miserably; at the same time a dreadful
-tempest of hail and lightning fell upon his murderers, by which they
-were dispersed and destroyed. The Christians of Alexandria buried his
-mangled remains, and his sepulchre was regarded with great reverence
-for several centuries. About 815 A.D., some Venetian merchants trading
-to Alexandria carried off the relics (literally stole them,—‘_convey_
-the wise it call!’), and they were deposited in the city of Venice,
-where the stately church of St. Mark was built over them. Since that
-time, St. Mark has been honoured as the patron saint of Venice, and
-his legendary history has supplied the Venetian painters with many
-beautiful and picturesque subjects.
-
-When St. Mark is represented as one of the four Evangelists, either
-singly or grouped with the others, he is almost invariably accompanied
-by the lion, winged or unwinged, but generally winged,—which
-distinguishes him from St. Jerome, who is also accompanied by the lion,
-but unwinged, as we shall see hereafter.
-
-In devotional representations, St. Mark often wears the habit of
-bishop, as first bishop of Alexandria. He is thus represented in the
-colossal mosaic over the principal door of St. Mark’s at Venice[108] in
-the pontificals of a Greek bishop, no mitre, short grey hair and beard;
-one hand raised in benediction, the other holding the gospel.
-
-Of the innumerable pictures in which St. Mark figures as patron of
-Venice, I can afford to give a few examples only.
-
-1. A. Busati. He is seated on a throne; an open book in one hand,
-bearing inscribed the Venetian motto (‘_la Leggenda de’ Veneti_‘) PAX
-TIBI, MARCE, EVANGELISTA MEUS; the other hand blessing: behind him a
-fig-tree, with leaves and no fruit; probably in allusion to the text,
-ch. xi. 13, which is peculiar to St. Mark. On his right stands St.
-Andrew bearing a cross; on the left St. Bernardino of Siena; behind him
-the apple-tree which ‘brought death into the world and all our woe.’
-This votive picture, from its mystical accessories and the introduction
-of St. Bernardino, was probably painted for the Franciscans (_i Frari_)
-of Venice: it is now in the Academy there.
-
-2. St. Mark on a lofty throne holds his gospel in his hand; at his feet
-the four saints who are protectors against sickness and pestilence, St.
-Sebastian, St. Roch, St. Cosmo, and St. Damian: a splendid picture,
-in Titian’s early manner.[109] 3. St. Mark plants the standard of
-Venice, by Bonifazio. And 4. ‘San Marco che assista all’ coscrizione
-maritima;’ (i.e. the enlisting of the mariners for the service of the
-State) by G. del Moro, both curious instances of the manner in which
-the Venetians mixed up their patron saint with all their political and
-military transactions. 5. St. Mark presents the Doge Leonardo Dona to
-the Virgin; the most remarkable of a numerous class of votive pictures
-common in the Venetian school, in which St. Mark introduces either the
-Doge or some general or magnifico to the Virgin.[110]
-
-Among the devotional pictures of St. Mark, one of the most famous is
-that of Fra Bartolomeo, in the Palazzo Pitti. He is represented as a
-man in the prime of life, with bushy hair and a short reddish beard,
-throned in a niche, and holding in one hand the gospel, in the other a
-pen; the lion is omitted. The Frate painted this picture for his own
-convent of San Marco at Florence. It is much lauded and celebrated,
-but the attitude appeared to me rather forced, and the features rather
-commonplace.
-
-The legend which describes St. Mark as the disciple and amanuensis
-of St. Peter, has given occasion for those votive pictures in which
-they are represented together. 1. In the treasury of St. Mark’s is
-preserved a golden reliquary of a square form, containing, it is said,
-a fragment of the original gospel in the handwriting of St. Mark; the
-chased cover represents St. Peter on a throne, and before him kneels
-the evangelist, writing from his dictation.[111] 2. And again, in an
-ancient Greek Evangelarium, St. Mark is seated, writing; St. Peter
-stands before him with his hand raised as dictating. 3. In a beautiful
-picture by Angelico da Fiesole,[112] St. Peter is in a pulpit preaching
-to the Romans; and Mark, seated, is taking down his words in a book.
-4. St. Peter and St. Mark standing together, the former holding a
-book, the latter a pen, with an inkhorn suspended from his girdle, by
-Bellini;[113] and, 5, a similar one by Bonvicino—very beautiful.[114]
-Such pictures are extremely interesting, showing the opinion generally
-entertained of the origin of St. Mark’s Gospel.
-
-Historical pictures from the legendary life of St. Mark abound in the
-Venetian school, but are not often found out of Venice.
-
-St. Mark preaching the Gospel at Alexandria, by Gentil Bellini,[115]
-a very large composition with numerous figures, is on many accounts
-extremely curious. The painter, who had been at Constantinople,
-transferred to Alexandria the Oriental scenery and costume with which
-he had become acquainted. The church of St. Euphemia at Alexandria, in
-the background, has the air of a Turkish mosque; a crowd of persons,
-men and women, in the costume of the Turks, surround the saint, who is
-standing on a kind of pedestal or platform, ascended by a flight of
-steps, from which he addresses his audience with great fervour. Gentil
-Bellini painted this picture for the Scuola di San Marco, at Venice.
-
-It is related that one day St. Mark, in his progress through the city
-of Alexandria, saw a poor cobbler, who had wounded his hand severely
-with his awl, so as to be incapacitated from gaining his bread: St.
-Mark healed the wound; and the cobbler, whose name was Anianus, being
-converted and properly instructed, became a zealous Christian, and
-succeeded St. Mark as bishop of Alexandria. This miraculous cure of St.
-Anianus, and his subsequent baptism, are represented in two pictures
-by Mansueti.[116] In the Berlin Gallery is the cure of St. Anianus, by
-Cima da Conegliano; a large composition with many figures. The cure
-and baptism of St. Anianus, represented as a very aged man, form the
-subjects of two fine bas-reliefs on the façade of the School of St.
-Mark, by Tullio Lombardo, A.D. 1502.
-
-In the Martyrdom of St. Mark, he is dragged through the streets by the
-enraged populace, who haul him along by a rope; a storm from above
-overwhelms the idolaters. The subject is thus represented by Angelico
-da Fiesole.[117]
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-A famous legend of St. Mark, which has been the subject of several
-pictures, can only be worthily given in the language of the old
-Venetian chronicle: there is something perfectly charming in the
-picturesque naïveté and matter-of-fact detail with which this wild and
-wonderful story is related; and if you, reader, have ever stood on the
-steps of the Piazzetta and looked over to San Giorgio, or San Niccolò,
-when the waves of the Lagune were foaming and driving up to your feet,
-and storm-clouds stooping and lowering seemed to touch the very domes
-and campanile around, then you will have the whole scene as a reality
-before you.
-
-‘On the 25th of February, 1340, there fell out a wonderful thing in
-this land; for during three days the waters rose continually, and in
-the night there was fearful rain and tempest, such as had never been
-heard of. So great was the storm that the waters rose three cubits
-higher than had ever been known in Venice; and an old fisherman being
-in his little boat in the canal of St. Mark, reached with difficulty
-the Riva di San Marco, and there he fastened his boat, and waited the
-ceasing of the storm. And it is related that, at the time this storm
-was at the highest, there came an unknown man, and besought him that he
-would row him over to San Giorgio Maggiore, promising to pay him well;
-and the fisherman replied, “How is it possible to go to San Giorgio?
-we shall sink by the way!” But the man only besought him the more that
-he should set forth. So, seeing that it was the will of God, he arose
-and rowed over to San Giorgio Maggiore; and the man landed there, and
-desired the boatman to wait. In a short while he returned with a young
-man; and they said, “Now row towards San Niccolò di Lido.” And the
-fisherman said, “How can one possibly go so far with one oar?” And they
-said, “Row boldly, for it shall be possible to thee, and thou shalt
-be well paid.” And he went; and it appeared to him as if the waters
-were smooth. Being arrived at San Niccolò di Lido, the two men landed,
-and returned with a third, and, having entered into the boat, they
-commanded the fisherman that he should row beyond the two castles. And
-the tempest raged continually. Being come to the open sea, they beheld
-approaching, with such terrific speed that it appeared to fly over the
-waters, an enormous galley full of demons (as it is written in the
-Chronicles, and Marco Sabellino also makes mention of this miracle):
-the said bark approached the castles to overwhelm Venice, and to
-destroy it utterly; anon the sea, which had hitherto been tumultuous,
-became calm; and these three men, having made the sign of the cross,
-exorcised the demons, and commanded them to depart, and immediately
-the galley or the ship vanished. Then these three men commanded the
-fisherman to land them, the one at San Niccolò di Lido, the other at
-San Giorgio Maggiore, and the third at San Marco. And when he had
-landed the third, the fisherman, notwithstanding the miracle he had
-witnessed, desired that he would pay him; and he replied, “Thou art
-right; go now to the Doge, and to the Procuratore of St. Mark, and tell
-them what thou hast seen, for Venice would have been overwhelmed had it
-not been for us three. I am St. Mark the evangelist, the protector of
-this city; the other is the brave knight St. George; and he whom thou
-didst take up at the Lido is the holy bishop St. Nicholas. Say to the
-Doge and to the Procuratori[118] that they are to pay you; and tell
-them likewise that this tempest arose because of a certain schoolmaster
-dwelling at San Felice, who did sell his soul to the devil, and
-afterwards hanged himself.” And the fisherman replied, “If I should
-tell them this, they will not believe me.” Then St. Mark took off a
-ring which was on his finger, which ring was worth five ducats; and he
-said, “Show them this, and tell them when they look in the sanctuary
-they will not find it:” and thereupon he disappeared. The next morning,
-the said fisherman presented himself before the Doge and related all he
-had seen the night before, and showed him the ring for a sign. And the
-Procuratori having sent for the ring, and sought in the usual place,
-found it not; by reason of which miracle the fisherman was paid, and a
-solemn procession was ordained, giving thanks to God, and to the relics
-of the three holy saints, who rest in our land, and who delivered us
-from this great danger. The ring was given to Signor Marco Loredano
-and to Signor Andrea Dandolo the Procuratori, who placed it in the
-sanctuary; and, moreover, a perpetual provision was made for the aged
-fisherman above mentioned.’[119]
-
-This legend is the subject of two celebrated pictures:—The first,
-attributed to Giorgione,[120] represents the storm. A ship, manned by
-demons, is seen towering over the waves: the demons appear to be seized
-with consternation; some fling themselves headlong over the side of
-their vessel, others are clinging to the rigging, others sit on the
-masts which flame with fire, and the glare is seen over the murky sky
-and sea. More in front are two barks, one rowed by four satyr-like
-demons, splendid figures admirably painted, literally glowing as if
-they were red-hot, and full of fierce animation. In the other bark
-are seen the three saints, St. Mark, St. Nicholas, and St. George,
-rowed by the fisherman; sea-monsters are sporting amid the waves,
-demons bestride them; the city of Venice is just visible in the far-off
-distance. The whole picture is full of vigour and poetic feeling; the
-fiery glow of colour and the romantic style of Giorgione suited the
-subject; and it has been admirably restored.
-
-The second picture is by Paris Bordone,[121] and represents the
-fisherman presenting the miraculous ring of St. Mark to the Doge
-Gradenigo. It is like a grand piece of scenic decoration: we have
-before us a magnificent marble hall, with columns and buildings in
-perspective; to the right, on the summit of a flight of steps, sits
-the Doge in council; the poor fisherman, ascending the steps, holds
-forth the ring. The numerous figures, the vivid colour, the luxuriant
-architecture, remind us of Paul Veronese, with, however, more delicacy,
-both in colour and execution.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-A Christian slave, in the service of a certain nobleman of Provence,
-disobeyed the commands of his lord, and persisted in paying his
-devotions at the shrine of St. Mark, which was at some distance. On his
-return home, he was condemned to the torture. As it was about to be
-inflicted, the saint himself descended from heaven to aid his votary;
-the instruments of torture were broken or blunted, the oppressor and
-his executioners confounded. This legend is the subject of a celebrated
-picture by Tintoretto,[122] of which Mr. Rogers had the original
-sketch. The slave lies on the ground amid a crowd of spectators, who
-look on, animated by all the various emotions of sympathy, rage,
-terror; a woman in front, with a child in her arms, has always been
-admired for the life-like vivacity of her attitude and expression.
-The executioner holds up the broken implements; St. Mark, with a
-headlong movement, seems to rush down from heaven in haste to save his
-worshipper; the dramatic grouping in this picture is wonderful; the
-colouring, in its gorgeous depth and harmony, is in Mr. Rogers’s sketch
-finer than in the picture.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-In St. Mark’s, at Venice, we find the whole history of St. Mark on the
-vault of the Cappella Zen (opening from the Baptistery), in a series
-of very curious mosaics of the twelfth century. The translation of the
-body of St. Mark; the carrying off the relics from Alexandria; their
-arrival in Venice; the grand religious ceremonies which took place on
-their arrival; are also represented in the mosaics over the portico
-of St. Mark’s, executed chiefly between 1650 and 1680. We have the
-same legend in two compositions of Tintoretto:[123] in the first, the
-remains of St. Mark are taken forcibly from the tomb by the Venetian
-mariners; in the other, they are borne away to sea in a night-storm,
-while in the air is seen hovering a bright transparent form,—the soul
-of the saint flitting with his body to Venice.
-
-
-                               ST. LUKE.
-
-  _Lat._ Sanctus Luca. _Ital._ San Luca. _Fr._ Saint Luc. (Oct. 18.)
-
-Of the real history of St. Luke we know very little. He was not an
-apostle; and, like St. Mark, appears to have been converted after the
-ascension. He was a beloved disciple of St. Paul, whom he accompanied
-to Rome, and remained with his master and teacher till the last. It
-is related, that, after the martyrdom of St. Peter and St. Paul, he
-preached the Gospel in Greece and Egypt; but whether he died a natural
-death, or suffered martyrdom, does not seem clear. The Greek traditions
-represent him as dying in peace, and his death was thus figured on the
-ancient doors of San Paolo at Rome. Others affirm that he was crucified
-at Patras with St. Andrew.
-
-There is some ground for the supposition that Luke was a physician.
-(Col. iv. 14.) But the pretty legend which makes him a painter,
-and represents him as painting the portrait of the Virgin Mary, is
-unsupported by any of the earlier traditions. It is of Greek origin,
-still universally received by the Greek Church, which considers
-painting a religious art, and numbers in its calendar of saints a long
-list of painters, as well as poets, musicians, and physicians. ‘Les
-Grecs,’ says Didron, ‘semblent avoir canonisé des chrétiens uniquement
-parce qu’ils s’occupaient de soulager le corps ou de charmer l’esprit.’
-In the west of Europe, the legend which represents St. Luke as a
-painter can be traced no higher than the tenth century; the Greek
-painters introduced it; and a rude drawing of the Virgin discovered
-in the catacombs, with an inscription purporting that it was ‘one of
-seven painted by Luca,’ confirmed the popular belief that St. Luke
-the evangelist was meant. Thus originated the fame of innumerable
-Virgins of peculiar sanctity, all attributed to his hand, and regarded
-with extreme veneration. Such ancient pictures are generally of Greek
-workmanship, and of a black complexion.[124] In the legend of St. Luke
-we are assured that he carried with him everywhere two portraits,
-painted by himself; one of our Saviour, and one of the Virgin; and
-that by means of these he converted many of the heathen, for not only
-did they perform great miracles, but all who looked on these bright
-and benign faces, which bore a striking resemblance to each other,
-were moved to admiration and devotion. It is also said, that St. Luke
-painted many portraits of the Virgin, delighting himself by repeating
-this gracious image; and in the church of Santa Maria in Via Lata, at
-Rome, they still show a little chapel in which, ‘as it hath been handed
-down from the first ages, St. Luke the Evangelist wrote, and painted
-the effigy of the Virgin-Mother of God.’
-
-On the strength of this tradition, St. Luke has been chosen as the
-patron saint of painters. Academies of art are placed under his
-particular protection; their chapels are dedicated to him, and over the
-altar we see him in his charming and pious avocation, that of painting
-portraits of the Blessed Virgin for the consolation of the faithful.
-
-The devotional figures of St. Luke, in his character of evangelist,
-represent him in general with his gospel and his attendant ox, winged
-or unwinged, as already described; but in Greek Art, and in those
-schools of Art which have been particularly under the Byzantine
-influence (as the early Venetian), we see St. Luke as evangelist young
-and beardless, holding the portrait of the Virgin as his attribute
-in one hand, and his gospel in the other. A beautiful figure of St.
-Luke as evangelist and painter is in the famous ‘Heures d’Anne de
-Bretagne.’[125]
-
-In an engraving by Lucas v. Leyden, executed as it should seem in
-honour of his patron saint, St. Luke is seated on the back of his ox,
-writing the gospel; he wears a hood like an old professor, rests his
-book against the horns of the animal, and his inkstand is suspended on
-the bough of a tree. But separate devotional figures of him as patron
-are as rare as those of St. Matthew.
-
-St. Luke painting the Virgin has been a frequent and favourite subject.
-The most famous of all is a picture in the Academy of St. Luke, at
-Rome, ascribed to Raphael. Here St. Luke, kneeling on a footstool
-before an easel, is busied painting the Virgin with the Child in her
-arms, who appears to him out of heaven sustained by clouds: behind St.
-Luke stands Raphael himself, looking on. Another of the same subject, a
-very small and beautiful picture, also ascribed to Raphael, is in the
-Grosvenor Gallery. In neither of these pictures is the treatment quite
-worthy of that great painter, wanting his delicacy both of sentiment
-and execution. There is a most curious and quaint example in the Munich
-Gallery, attributed to Van Eyck: here the Virgin, seated under a rich
-Gothic canopy, holds on her lap the Infant Christ, in a most stiff
-attitude; St. Luke, kneeling on one knee, is taking her likeness. There
-is another, similar in style, by Aldegraef, in the Vienna Gallery.
-Carlo Maratti represents St. Luke as presenting to the Virgin the
-picture he has painted of her. St. Luke painting the Madonna and Child,
-while an angel is grinding his colours, I remember in the Aguado
-Gallery; a late Spanish picture.[126]
-
-[Illustration: _St. Mark attended by St. Gregory._]
-
-[Illustration: _St. Luke painting the Virgin._]
-
-
-                               ST. JOHN.
-
-   _Lat._ Sanctus Johannes. _Gr._ St. John Theologos, or the Divine.
-   _Ital._ San Giovanni Evangelista. _Fr._ Saint Jean; Messire Saint
-         Jehan. _Ger._ Der Heilige Johann. (Dec. 27, A.D. 99.)
-
-Of St. Matthew, St. Mark, and St. Luke, so little is certainly known,
-that we have no data on which to found an individual portrait;
-therefore any representation of them as venerable and inspired teachers
-suffices to the fancy: but it is quite otherwise with St. John, the
-most distinguished of the evangelists, and the most beloved of the
-disciples of our Lord. Of him sufficient is known to convey a distinct
-impression of his personal character, and an idea of what his personal
-appearance may have been, supposing this outward semblance to have
-harmonised with the inward being.
-
-He was the son of the fisherman Zebedee, and, with his brother James,
-among the first followers of the Saviour. He is emphatically called
-‘the disciple whom Jesus loved;’ a preference which he merited, not
-only from the extreme purity of his life and character, but from
-his devoted and affectionate nature. He appears to have been at all
-times the constant companion of his divine Lord; and his life, while
-the Saviour was on earth, inseparable from His. In all the memorable
-circumstances recorded in the Gospel he was a party, or at least
-present. He witnessed the glory of the transfiguration; he leaned
-on the bosom of Jesus at the last supper; he stood by the cross in
-the hour of agony; he laid the body of his crucified Master in the
-sepulchre. After the death of the Virgin Mother, who had been confided
-to his care, he went about Judæa, preaching the Gospel with St. Peter.
-He then travelled into Asia Minor, where he founded the Seven Churches,
-and resided principally at Ephesus. During the persecution of the
-Christians under Domitian, St. John was sent in fetters to Rome; and,
-according to a tradition generally received in the Roman Church, he was
-cast into a cauldron of boiling oil, but was miraculously preserved,
-and ‘came out of it as out of a refreshing bath.’ He was then accused
-of magic, and exiled to the island of Patmos, in the Ægean Sea,
-where he is said to have written his Revelation. After the death of
-the Emperor Domitian he was released, and returned to his church at
-Ephesus; and for the use of the Christians there he is said to have
-written his gospel, at the age of ninety. A few years afterwards he
-died in that city, being nearly a century old. All the incidents here
-touched upon occur frequently as subjects of art, but most of them
-belong properly to the life of Christ.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The personal character of St. John, at once attractive and picturesque,
-has rendered him popular as a patron saint, and devotional pictures of
-him are far more numerous than of any of the other evangelists.
-
-He is represented in one of his three characters: 1, as evangelist; 2,
-as apostle; 3, as prophet; or the three are combined in one figure.
-
-1. Of the early eagle symbol, I have spoken at length.
-
-In Greek Art, whether as apostle or evangelist, St. John is always
-an aged man with white hair, and a venerable beard descending to
-his breast; and by the earlier Latin painters, where he figures as
-evangelist only, not as apostle, this type has been adhered to; but
-the later painters set it aside, and St. John the Evangelist, nearly
-a century old, has all the attributes of the youthful apostle. He
-is beardless, with light curling hair, and eyes gazing upwards in a
-rapture of inspiration: he is sometimes seated with his pen and his
-book, sometimes standing; the attendant eagle always near him, and
-frequently holding the pen or inkhorn in his beak.
-
-In some of the old prints and pictures, which represent St. John
-as writing the gospel, his eyes are turned on the Virgin with the
-Infant Christ in her arms, who appear as a vision in the skies above;
-underneath, or on his book, is inscribed,—‘The Word was made flesh,’ or
-some other text of the same import. The eagle at his side has sometimes
-the nimbus or a crown of stars,[127] and is then perhaps intended to
-figure the Holy Ghost.
-
-I remember an instance in which the devil, intent on intercepting
-the message of reconcilement and ‘goodwill towards men,’ which was
-destined to destroy his empire on earth, appears behind St. John, and
-is oversetting the ink upon the pages; another, in which he is stealing
-away the inkhorn.
-
-2. As one of the series of apostles, St. John is always, in Western
-Art, young, or in the prime of life; with little or no beard; flowing
-or curling hair, generally of a pale brown or golden hue, to express
-the delicacy of his nature; and in his countenance an expression of
-benignity and candour. His drapery is, or ought to be, red, with a blue
-or green tunic. He bears in his hand the sacramental cup, from which a
-serpent is seen to issue. St. Isidore relates that, at Rome, an attempt
-was made to poison St. John in the cup of the sacrament: he drank
-of the same and administered it to the communicants without injury,
-the poison having by a miracle issued from the cup in the form of a
-serpent, while the hired assassin fell down dead at his feet. According
-to another version of this story, the poisoned cup was administered
-by order of the Emperor Domitian. According to a third version,
-Aristodemus, the high-priest of Diana, at Ephesus, defied him to drink
-of the poisoned chalice, as a test of the truth of his mission; St.
-John drank unharmed,—the priest fell dead. Others say, and this seems
-the more probable interpretation, that the cup in the hand of St. John
-alludes to the reply given by our Saviour, when the mother of James and
-John requested for her sons the place of honour in heaven,—‘Ye shall
-drink indeed of my cup.’ As in other instances, the legend was invented
-to explain the symbol. When the cup has the consecrated wafer instead
-of the serpent, it signifies the institution of the Eucharist.
-
-[Illustration: 60 St. John (Hans Hemling)]
-
-Some of the old German representations of St. John are of singular
-beauty: for example, one by _Hans Hemling_, one by _Isaac von
-Melem_,[128] standing figures; simple, graceful, majestic; in the
-prime of youth, with a charming expression of devotion in the heads:
-both hold the sacramental cup with the serpent; no eagle; therefore
-St. John is here to be considered as the apostle only: when, with the
-cup, the eagle is placed by his side, he is represented in the double
-character of apostle and evangelist (61).
-
-[Illustration: 61 St. John (Raphael)]
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-In the early Siena school, and in some old illuminations, I have seen
-St. John carrying in his hand a radiant circle, inscribed ‘_In primo
-est verbum_,’ and within the circle an eagle with outspread wings: but
-this is uncommon.
-
-
-3. St. John as the prophet, the writer of the Revelation, is usually
-an aged man, with a white flowing beard, seated in a rocky desert; the
-sea in the distance, or flowing round him, to represent the island of
-Patmos; the eagle at his side. In the old frescoes, and the illuminated
-MSS. of the Apocalypse, this is the usual representation.
-
-
-Some examples of the ideal and devotional figures of St. John, as
-evangelist and prophet, will give an idea of the variety of treatment
-in this favourite subject:—
-
-
-1. Ancient Greek. St. John, with the head of an eagle and large wings,
-the figure fully draped, is soaring upwards. In such representations
-the inscription is usually ‘_Quasi aquila ascendet et avolabit_’
-(‘Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle.’ Jer. xlix. 22).
-
-2. Perugino. St. John as an aged man, with long grey beard and
-flowing hair, attended by a black eagle, looking up at the Madonna in
-glory.[129]
-
-3. Raphael (?). St. John, young and beautiful, mounted on the back
-of an eagle, and soaring heavenwards: in one hand he holds a tablet,
-in the other a pen: sea and land below. This treatment, which recalls
-the antique Jupiter bestriding his eagle, appears to me at once too
-theatrical and too commonplace for Raphael.[130]
-
-[Illustration: 62 St. John]
-
-4. Correggio. St. John seated writing his gospel; the eagle at his feet
-is pluming his wing: inscribed ‘_Altius cæteris Dei patefecit arcana_.’
-One of the series of Evangelists in the Duomo of Parma—wonderfully
-beautiful.
-
-5. Domenichino. St. John, full length, life size; young and beautiful,
-in an ecstasy of inspiration, and sustained by two angels; the eagle
-at his feet: formerly in the Giustiniani Gallery;[131]—finer, I think,
-than the St. John in Sant’ Andrea. Another, half length, a scroll in
-his hand, looking upwards as one to whom the glory of the heavens had
-been opened;—you see it reflected in his eyes,—while love, wonder,
-devotion, beam from his beautiful face and parted lips: behind him
-hovers the attendant eagle, holding the pen in his beak; near him
-is the chalice, with the serpent; so that here he is in his double
-character of apostle and evangelist.[132] Domenichino excelled in St.
-Johns, as Guido in Magdalenes; perhaps the most beautiful of all is
-that in the Brera, at Milan, where St. John bends on one knee at the
-foot of the throne of the Madonna and Child, his pen in one hand, the
-other pressed to his bosom, and looking up to them with an air of
-ecstatic inspiration. Two little angels, or rather _amoretti_, are in
-attendance: one has his arms round the neck of the eagle, sporting
-with it; the other holds up the cup and the serpent. Every detail
-is composed and painted to admiration; but this is the artistic and
-picturesque, not the religious, version of the subject.
-
-St. John is frequently represented with St. Peter, because, after the
-ascension, they taught and acted in concert. In such pictures, the
-contrast between the fiery resolve and sturdy, rugged grandeur which is
-given to St. Peter, and the refinement, mildness, and personal grace of
-St. John, produces a fine effect: as in Albert Dürer’s picture,[133]
-where John is holding open the Gospel, and Peter apparently reading it;
-two grand and simple figures, filling the mind as we gaze upon them.
-As this picture was painted _after_ Albert Dürer became a Protestant,
-I have thought it possible that he might have had some particular
-meaning in thus making Peter study the Gospel of John. At all events,
-Albert Dürer was quite capable of such an intention; and, whether
-intended or not, the picture may be, and has been, thus interpreted.
-The prophets and the poets often say more than they intended, for
-their light was for others more than for themselves: so also the great
-painters—the Raphaels and Albert Dürers—prophets and poets in their
-way. When I have heard certain critics ridiculed because they found
-more in the productions of a Shakspeare or a Raphael than the poet
-or painter himself ever perceived or ‘intended,’ such ridicule has
-appeared to me in the highest degree presumptuous and absurd. The true
-artist ‘feels that he is greater than he knows.’ In giving form or
-utterance to the soul within him, does he account to himself for all
-the world of thoughts his work will excite in the minds of others? Is
-its significance to be circumscribed either by the intention and the
-knowledge of the poet, or the comprehension of the age in which he
-lived? That is the characteristic of the second-rate, self-conscious
-poets or painters, whom we read or study because they reflect to us
-a particular meaning—a particular period,—but not of the Homers and
-Shakspeares, the Raphaels and Albert Dürers; _they_ speak to all times,
-to _all_ men, with a suggestive significance, widening, deepening with
-every successive generation; and to measure their depth of meaning by
-their own _intention_, or by the comprehension of their own or any
-one generation, what is it but to measure the star of heaven by its
-apparent magnitude?—an inch rule will do that!
-
-But to return from this digression. In devotional pictures we often
-see St. John the Evangelist and St. John the Baptist standing together;
-or on each side of Christ, or of the Madonna and Child. There is a
-peculiar propriety and significance in this companionship: both are,
-then, to be considered as prophets; they were, besides, kinsmen, and
-bore the same name; and St. John the Evangelist was the disciple of
-John the Baptist before he was called by Christ. Here, again, the
-contrast between the dark, emaciated, hairy prophet of the wilderness,
-and the graceful dignity of the youthful apostle, has a striking
-effect. An example at hand is the bronze bas-relief on the tomb of
-Henry VII.[134] Madonna pictures, in which the two St. Johns stand
-before her throne, occur frequently. I remember, also, a marble group
-of the Virgin and Child, in which the two St. Johns, as infants, are
-playing at her feet, one with his eagle, the other with his reed
-cross.[135]
-
-As one who bore the most direct testimony to the Incarnation, St.
-John is often introduced into Madonna pictures, and pictures of the
-Nativity; but in the later schools only. In these instances he points
-significantly to the Child, and the sacramental cup and wafer is either
-in his hand or at his feet, or borne by an angel.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The historical and dramatic subjects in which St. John figures as a
-principal personage are very numerous. As the scriptural scenes belong
-properly to the life of Christ, I shall confine myself here to some
-observations on the manner in which St. John is introduced and treated
-in such pictures. In general he is to be distinguished from the other
-apostles by his youth and beauty, and flowing hair; and by being placed
-nearest to Christ as the most beloved of his disciples.
-
-‘The mother of James and John imploring from our Saviour the highest
-place in heaven for her two sons.’ (Matt. xx. 21): a picture by
-Bonifazio, in the Borghese Gallery, beautiful both in sentiment and
-colour. There is another example by Paul Veronese; and another, by
-Tintoretto, was in the Coesvelt Gallery. I must observe that, except
-in Venetian pictures, I have not met with this incident as a separate
-subject.
-
-In the last supper, Peter is generally on the right of Christ, and St.
-John on the left: he leans his head down on the bosom of Christ (this
-is always the attitude in the oldest pictures); or he leans towards
-Christ, who places his hand upon his shoulder, drawing him towards him
-with an expression of tenderness: this is the action in the fresco by
-Raphael lately discovered at Florence. But I must reserve the full
-consideration of this subject for another place.
-
-Where, instead of the last supper, our Saviour is represented as
-administering the Eucharist, St. John is seen on his right hand,
-bearing the cup.
-
-In the crucifixion, when treated as a religious rather than an
-historical subject, St. John stands on the left of the Cross, and the
-Virgin on the right; both in attitudes of the profoundest grief and
-adoration mingled. In general the _motif_ of this sacred subject does
-not vary; but I remember examples, in which St. John is seen trampling
-a Jew under his feet; on the other side the Virgin tramples on a
-veiled woman, signifying the old law, the synagogue, as opposed to the
-Christian Church, of which the Virgin was the received symbol.
-
-When the crucifixion is a _scene_ or action, not a _mystery_, then
-St. John is beheld afar off, with the women who followed their divine
-Master to Calvary.
-
-St. John and the Virgin Mary returning from the crucifixion: he appears
-to be sustaining her slow and fainting steps. I have only once met with
-this beautiful subject, in a picture by Zurbaran, in the Munich Gallery.
-
-In the descent from the Cross, St. John is a chief actor; he generally
-sustains the head of the Saviour, and is distinguished by an expression
-of extreme sorrow and tenderness. In the entombment he is sometimes
-one of the bearers, sometimes he follows lamenting. In a print of
-the entombment after Andrea Mantegna, he is not only weeping and
-wringing his hands as usual, but absolutely crying aloud with the
-most exaggerated expression of anguish. In pictures of the descent of
-the Holy Ghost, St. John is usually a conspicuous figure, and in the
-foreground. In the assumption of the Virgin, he is also conspicuous,
-generally in front, as the pendant to St. Peter, and gazing upwards
-with ecstatic faith and devotion.
-
-Of course there is great variety in these representations: the later
-painters thought less of individual character and significant propriety
-of arrangement than of artistic grouping; therefore the above remarks
-have reference to the early painters only.
-
-In the scenes taken from the Acts, St. John is always in companionship
-with St. Peter, and becomes the secondary figure.
-
-[Illustration: 63 St. John (Lucas v. Leyden)]
-
-St. John writing his Revelation in the island of Patmos is a subject
-which frequently occurs in MSS. of the Apocalypse, and in the chapels
-dedicated to St. John. The _motif_ is generally the same in all;
-we have a desert island, with the sea in the distance, or flowing
-round it; St. John, seated on a rock or under a tree, is in the act
-of writing; or he is looking up to heaven, where the ‘Woman crowned
-with stars,’ or ‘the Woman fleeing from the dragon,’ appears as in
-his vision.[136] (Rev. xii.) Or he beholds St. Michael, armed, cast
-down the dragon in human form; he has the eagle and book, and looks
-up at the Virgin, as in a picture by Ambrogio Figino.[137] The eagle
-is always in attendance as the symbol of inspiration in a general
-sense; when represented with a diadem, or glory, as in some very early
-examples, it is a symbol of the Holy Ghost, which, among the Jews, was
-figured by the eagle.
-
-The subjects from the legendary life of St. John are exceedingly
-interesting, but they are not easily recognised, and require particular
-attention; some are of frequent occurrence, others rarely met with.
-
-1. Israel v. Meckenen. St. John instructing his disciples at Ephesus.
-(Acts iv. 37.) The scene is the interior of a Gothic church, the
-windows painted with heraldic emblazonments: St. John is seated
-expounding the Scriptures, and five disciples sit opposite to him with
-coarse ugly faces, but most intent, expressive countenances; in the
-background, a large chest full of money.
-
-2. Vatican, Chr. Mus. St. John drinking from the poisoned chalice;
-a man falls down dead at his feet, several figures look on with awe
-and astonishment: this is a frequent subject in the elder schools of
-art, and in the illuminated MSS. of the Gospel and Apocalypse: but I
-have never met with a representation later than the beginning of the
-fourteenth century.[138]
-
-3. It is related by Clement of Alexandria, that when St. John was at
-Ephesus, and before he was exiled to Patmos, he had taken to his care
-a young man of promising qualities of person and mind. During his
-absence he left him under the spiritual guidance of a certain bishop;
-but, after a while, the youth took to evil courses, and, proceeding
-from one excess to another, he at length became the leader of a band of
-robbers and assassins who struck terror into the whole country. When
-St. John returned to Ephesus, he went to the bishop and demanded ‘the
-precious deposit he had left in his hands.’ At first the priest did not
-understand him; but when St. John explained the allusion to his adopted
-son, he cast down his eyes with sorrow and shame, and told of what
-had befallen. Then St. John rent his garments, and wept with a loud
-voice, and cried out, ‘Alas! alas! to what a guardian have I trusted
-our brother!’ And he called for a horse and rode towards the forest in
-which the robbers sojourned; and when the captain of the robbers beheld
-his old master and instructor, he turned and would have fled from his
-presence; but St. John, by the most fervent entreaties, prevailed on
-him to stop and listen to his words. After some conference, the robber,
-utterly subdued, burst into tears of penitence, imploring forgiveness;
-and while he spoke, he hid beneath his robe his right hand, which had
-been sullied with so many crimes; but St. John, falling on his knees
-before him, seized that blood-polluted hand, and kissed it, and bathed
-it with his tears; and he remained with his re-converted brother till
-he had, by prayers and encouraging words and affectionate exhortations,
-reconciled him with Heaven and with himself.
-
-This beautiful legend is the subject of some old engravings, in which
-St. John is represented embracing the robber, who is weeping on his
-neck, having flung away his weapons. It has been, however, too rarely
-treated; I have never met with a picture of the subject; and yet it
-abounds in picturesque capabilities: the forest background—the contrast
-of youth and age—bright armour, flowing drapery, and the most striking
-and affecting moral, are here all combined.
-
-4. Another very pretty apologue relating to St. John is sometimes
-included in a series of subjects from his life. Two young men, who had
-sold all their possessions to follow him, afterwards repented. He,
-perceiving their thoughts, sent them to gather pebbles and faggots,
-and, on their return, changed these into money and ingots of gold,
-saying to them, ‘Take back your riches and enjoy them on earth, as you
-regret having exchanged them for heaven!’ This story is represented on
-one of the windows of the Cathedral at Bourges. The two young men stand
-before St. John, with a heap of gold on one side, and a heap of stones
-and faggots on the other.
-
-5. When St. John had sojourned in the island of Patmos a year and a
-day, he returned to his church at Ephesus; and as he approached the
-city, being received with great joy by the inhabitants, lo! a funeral
-procession came forth from the gates; and of those who followed weeping
-he inquired ‘who was dead?’ They said, ‘Drusiana.’ Now when he heard
-that name he was sad, for Drusiana had excelled in all good works, and
-he had formerly dwelt in her house; and he ordered them to set down the
-bier, and having prayed earnestly, God was pleased to restore Drusiana
-to life; she arose up, and the apostle went home with her and dwelt in
-her house.
-
-This incident is the subject of a fine fresco, painted by Filippo
-Lippi, on the left-hand wall of the Strozzi Chapel at Florence. It has
-the forcible expression and dramatic spirit of the painter, with that
-characteristic want of elevated feeling in the countenances and in the
-general treatment which is apparent in all his works: the group in one
-corner, of a child starting from a dog, is admired for its truth; but,
-by disturbing the solemnity of the marvellous scene, it repels like a
-falsehood.
-
-6. There is another beautiful and picturesque legend relating to St.
-John, of which I have never seen any representation; but it may,
-possibly, have occasioned the frequent introduction of a partridge into
-the pictures of sacred subjects, particularly in the Venetian School.
-St. John had a tame partridge, which he cherished much; and he amused
-himself with feeding and tending it. ‘A certain huntsman, passing by
-with his bow and arrows, was astonished to see the great apostle, so
-venerable for his age and sanctity, engaged in such an amusement. The
-apostle asked him if he always kept his bow bent? He answered, that
-would be the way to render it useless. “If,” replied St. John, “you
-unbend your bow to prevent its being useless, so do I thus unbend my
-mind for the same reason.”’
-
-7. The subject entitled the Martyrdom of St. John represents his
-immersion in a cauldron of boiling oil, by order of the Emperor
-Domitian. According to the received tradition, this event took place
-outside the Latin gate at Rome; and on the spot stands the chapel of
-San Giovanni _in Olio_, commemorating his miraculous deliverance, which
-is painted in fresco on the walls. The subject forms, of course, one of
-a series of the life of St. John, and is occasionally met with in old
-prints and pictures; but it is uncommon. The treatment affords little
-variety; in Albert Dürer’s famous woodcut, St. John is sitting in a pot
-of boiling oil; one executioner is blowing the fire, another is pouring
-oil from a ladle on the saint’s head; a judge, probably intended for
-Domitian, is seated on a throne to the left, and there are numerous
-spectators. Padovanino painted this subject for the San Pietro at
-Venice; Rubens, with horrible truth of detail, for the altar-piece of
-St. John at Malines.
-
-It is the martyrdom in the boiling oil which gives St. John the right
-to bear the palm, with which he is occasionally seen.
-
-8. St. John, habited in priest’s garments, descends the steps of an
-altar into an open grave, in which he lays himself down, not in death,
-but in sleep, until the coming of Christ; ‘being reserved alive with
-Enoch and Elijah (who also knew not death), to preach against the
-Antichrist in the last days.’ This fanciful legend is founded on the
-following text: ‘Peter, seeing the disciple whom Jesus loved following,
-saith unto Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto
-him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Then
-went this saying abroad among the brethren that that disciple should
-not die.’ (John xxi. 21, 22.)
-
-The legend which supposes St. John reserved alive has not been
-generally received in the Church, and as a subject of painting it is
-very uncommon. It occurs in the Menologium Græcum,[139] where the grave
-into which St. John descends is, according to the legend, ‘_fossa in
-crucis figuram_’ (in the form of a cross). In a series of the deaths
-of the Apostles,[140] St. John is ascending from the grave; for,
-according to the Greek legend, St. John died without pain or change,
-and immediately rose again in bodily form, and ascended into heaven to
-rejoin Christ and the Virgin.
-
-In a small and very curious picture which I saw at Rome,[141] forming
-part of a Predella, there is a tomb something like the Xanthian tombs
-in form: one end is open; St. John, with a long grey beard, is seen
-issuing from it, and, as he ascends, he is met by Christ, the Virgin,
-St. Peter, and St. Paul, who are descending from above; while figures
-below look up with astonishment. On the ancient doors of San Paolo he
-is lying in an open grave or sarcophagus.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Of the miracles performed by John after his death, two are singularly
-interesting in the history of Art; both have been treated in sculpture.
-
-9. When the Empress Galla Placidia was returning from Constantinople to
-Ravenna with her two children (A.D. 425), she encountered a terrible
-storm. In her fear and anguish she vowed a vow to St. John the
-Evangelist, and, being landed in safety, she dedicated to his honour a
-magnificent church. When the edifice was finished, she was extremely
-desirous of procuring some relics of the evangelist, wherewith to
-consecrate his sanctuary; but as it was not the manner of those days
-to exhume, and buy and sell, still less to steal, the bodies of holy
-men and martyrs, the desire of the pious empress remained unsatisfied.
-However, as it is related, St. John himself took pity upon her; for
-one night, as she prayed earnestly, he appeared to her in a vision;
-and when she threw herself at his feet to embrace and kiss them, he
-disappeared, leaving one of his slippers or sandals in her hand, which
-sandal was long preserved.
-
-The antique church of Galla Placidia still exists at Ravenna, to
-keep alive, after the lapse of fourteen centuries, the memory of
-her dream, and of the condescension of the blessed apostle. Not
-much of the original building is left; the superb mosaics have all
-disappeared, except a few fragments, in which may be traced the
-storm at sea, and Galla Placidia making her vow. Over the principal
-porch, which is of white marble, in the Lombard style, and richly
-and elegantly ornamented, the miracle of the slipper is represented
-in two bas-reliefs, one above the other. The lower compartment, or
-lunette, represents a tabernacle, and within it an altar: St. John the
-Evangelist is seen offering incense; on the other side is Barbation,
-the confessor of the empress; she, prostrate at the feet of the
-apostle, seems to take off his sandal: on each side are six hovering
-angels bearing the implements of the mass. In the upper compartment,
-Galla Placidia is seen kneeling at the feet of Christ, and offering
-to him the sacred sandal, while the evangelist stands on one side,
-and Barbation on the other. These bas-reliefs are not older than the
-twelfth century, and are in excellent preservation: I should suppose,
-from the style of the grouping, that they were copied, or imitated,
-from the older mosaics, once in the interior of the church.
-
-10. The other miracle has the rare interest of being English in its
-origin and in its representation. ‘King Edward the Confessor had, after
-Christ and the Virgin Mary, a special veneration for St. John the
-Evangelist. One day, returning from his church at Westminster, where
-he had been hearing mass in honour of the evangelist, he was accosted
-by a pilgrim, who asked of him an alms for the love of God and St.
-John. The king, who was ever merciful to the poor, immediately drew
-from his finger a ring, and, unknown to any one, delivered it to the
-beggar. When the king had reigned twenty-four years, it came to pass
-that two Englishmen, pilgrims, returning from the Holy Land to their
-own country, were met by one in the habit of a pilgrim, who asked of
-them concerning their country; and being told they were of England,
-he said to them, “When ye shall have arrived in your own country, go
-to King Edward, and salute him in my name: say to him, that I thank
-him for the alms which he bestowed on me in a certain street in
-Westminster; for there, on a certain day, as I begged of him an alms,
-he bestowed on me this ring, which till now I have preserved, and ye
-shall carry it back to him, saying that in six months from this time
-he shall quit the world, and come and remain with me for ever.” And
-the pilgrims, being astounded, said, “Who art thou, and where is thy
-dwelling-place?” And he answered, saying, “I am John the Evangelist.
-Edward, your king, is my friend, and for the sanctity of his life I
-hold him dear. Go now, therefore, deliver to him this message and this
-ring, and I will pray to God that ye may arrive safely in your own
-country.” When St. John had spoken thus, he delivered to them the ring,
-and vanished out of their sight. The pilgrims, praising and thanking
-the Lord for this glorious vision, went on their journey; and being
-arrived in England, they repaired to King Edward, and saluted him, and
-delivered the ring and the message, relating all truly. And the king
-received the news joyfully, and feasted the messengers royally. Then he
-set himself to prepare for his departure from this world. On the eve of
-the Nativity, in the year of our Lord 1066, he fell sick, and on the
-eve of the Epiphany following he died. The ring he gave to the Abbot of
-Westminster, to be for ever preserved among the relics there.’[142]
-
-According to one account,[143] the pilgrims met the king near his
-palace at Waltham, at a place since called _Havering_. The writer
-adds,—‘In allusion to this story, King Edward II. offered at his
-coronation a pound of gold made in the figure of a king holding a ring,
-and a mark of gold (8 oz.) made like to a pilgrim putting forth his
-hand to receive the ring.’ These must have been two little statuettes
-of gold.
-
-The legend of King Edward and St. John the Evangelist is represented,
-with other legends of the same monarch, along the top of the screen of
-Edward the Confessor’s chapel. It is in three compartments. The first
-represents King Edward bestowing the ring on St. John in the disguise
-of a pilgrim; Westminster Abbey is seen behind. The second shows us
-the meeting of the pilgrims and St. John in Palestine; he holds what
-seems a palm. In the third the pilgrims deliver the ring to King
-Edward, who is seated at table. The sculpture is very rude; the figures
-disproportioned and ungraceful. They are supposed to be of the time of
-Henry VI.
-
-The same legend was painted on one of the windows of Romford church, in
-Essex, but whether it still exists there I know not.[144]
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Before I quit the subject of the Evangelists, it is worth while to
-observe that, in Greek Art, not only the Four Evangelists, but the six
-writers of the Acts and Epistles, are considered as a sacred series. In
-an ancient and beautiful MS. of the _Epistole Canoniche_, presented by
-the Queen of Cyprus to Pope Innocent VIII., they are thus represented,
-two and two together:—
-
-St. Luke, with a very thoughtful, earnest countenance, holds a scroll,
-on which is written in Greek the commencement of the Acts, ‘The former
-treatise have I made, O Theophilus; &c.; and St. James, with a long,
-very earnest, and refined face, holds a single roll.
-
-St. Peter, with a broad, coarse, powerful physiognomy, strongly
-characterised, holds two rolls; and St. John, with a long and very
-refined face, grey hair and beard, holds three rolls.
-
-St. Jude, with a long white beard and very aquiline nose, holds one
-roll. St. Paul, bald in front, with long brown hair and beard, and a
-refined face, bears many rolls tied up together.
-
-All the figures are on a gold ground, about six inches in height, very
-finely conceived, though, as is usual in Byzantine Art, formal and
-mechanical in execution. They look like small copies of very grand
-originals. The draperies are all classical; a pale violet or brown
-tunic and a white mantle, as in the old mosaics; the rolls in their
-hands corresponding with the number of their writings.
-
-
-
-
-                         The Twelve Apostles.
-
-
-Next to those who recorded the word of God, were those called by Christ
-to the task of diffusing his doctrine, and sent to preach the kingdom
-of heaven ‘through all nations.’
-
-[Illustration: 64]
-
-The earliest representations of the Twelve Apostles appear to have
-been, like those of the Four Evangelists, purely emblematical: they
-were figured as twelve sheep, with Christ in the midst, as the Good
-Shepherd, bearing a lamb in his arms; or, much more frequently, Christ
-is himself the Lamb of God, raised on an eminence and crowned with a
-cruciform nimbus, and the apostles were ranged on each side as sheep.
-Instances are to be met with in the old Christian bas-reliefs. In
-the old Roman churches[145] we find this representation but little
-varied, and the situation is always the same. In the centre is the lamb
-standing on an eminence, from which flow the four rivers of Paradise;
-on one side six sheep issuing from the city of Jerusalem, on the other
-six sheep issuing from the city of Bethlehem, the whole disposed in a
-line forming a sort of frieze, just below the decoration of the vault
-of the apsis. The church of S. M. Maggiore exhibits the only exception
-I have met with; there we find a group of sheep, entering, not issuing
-from, the gates of Jerusalem and Bethlehem: in this case, however, the
-sheep may represent believers, or disciples in general, not the Twelve
-Apostles. Upon the great crucifix in the apsis of San Clemente, at
-Rome, are twelve doves, which appear to signify the Twelve Apostles.
-
-The next step was to represent the Apostles as twelve men all alike,
-each with a sheep, and Christ in the middle, also with a sheep,
-sometimes larger than the others. We find this on some of the
-sarcophagi.[146] Again, a little later, we have them represented as
-twelve venerable men, bearing tablets or scrolls in their hands, no
-emblems to distinguish one from another, but their names inscribed over
-or beside each. They are thus represented in relief on several ancient
-sarcophagi now in the Christian Museum in the Vatican, and in several
-of the most ancient churches at Rome and Ravenna, ranged on each side
-of the Saviour in the vault of the apsis, or standing in a line beneath.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-But while in the ancient Greek types, and the old mosaics, the
-attributes are omitted, they adhere almost invariably to a certain
-characteristic individual representation, which in the later ages
-of painting was wholly lost, or at least neglected. In these eldest
-types, St. Peter has a broad face, white hair, and short white beard:
-St. Paul, a long face, high bold forehead, dark hair and beard: St.
-Andrew is aged, with flowing white hair and beard: St. John, St.
-Thomas, St. Philip, young and beardless: St. James Major and St. James
-Minor, in the prime of life, short brown hair and beard; both should
-bear a resemblance more or less to the Saviour, but St. James Minor
-particularly: St. Matthew, St. Jude, St. Simon, St. Matthias, aged,
-with white hair. The tablets or scrolls which they carry in their
-hands bear, or are supposed to bear, the articles of the Creed. It is
-a tradition, that, before the apostles dispersed to preach the Gospel
-in all lands, they assembled to compose the declaration of faith since
-called the Apostles’ Creed, and that each of them furnished one of
-the twelve propositions contained in it, in the following order:—St.
-Peter: _Credo in Deum Patrem omnipotentem, creatorem cœli et terræ_.
-St. Andrew: _Et in Jesum Christum Filium ejus unicum, Dominum nostrum_.
-St. James Major: _Qui conceptus est de Spiritu Sancto, natus ex Maria
-Virgine_. St. John: _Passus sub Pontio Pilato, crucifixus, mortuus et
-sepultus_. St. Philip: _Descendit ad inferos, tertia die resurrexit à
-mortuis_. St. James Minor: _Ascendit ad cœlos, sedet ad dexteram Dei
-Patris omnipotentis_. St. Thomas: _Inde venturus est judicare vivos et
-mortuos_. St. Bartholomew: _Credo in Spiritum Sanctum_. St. Matthew:
-_Sanctam Ecclesiam Catholicam; sanctorum communionem_. St. Simon:
-_Remissionem peccatorum_. St. Matthias: _Carnis resurrectionem_. St.
-Thaddeus: _Et vitam æternam_.
-
-The statues of the apostles on the shrine of the Virgin in the San
-Michele at Florence exhibit a fine example of this arrangement. I give
-the figure of St. Philip holding his appropriate sentence of the Creed
-on a scroll (65).
-
-[Illustration: 65 Orcagna]
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-In later times, the Apostles, instead of being disposed in a line, are
-grouped round the Saviour in glory, or they form a circle of heads in
-medallions: as statues, they ornament the screen in front of the altar,
-or they are placed in a line on each side of the nave, standing against
-the pillars which support it. From the sixth century it became usual to
-distinguish each of them by a particular emblem or attribute borrowed
-from some circumstance of his life or death. Thus, taking them in
-order, according to the canon of the mass,—
-
-St. Peter bears the keys or a fish.
-
-St. Paul, the sword: sometimes two swords.
-
-St. Andrew, the transverse cross.
-
-St. James Major, the pilgrim’s staff.
-
-St. John, the chalice with the serpent; sometimes the eagle also: but
-the eagle, as I have observed, belongs to him properly only in his
-character of Evangelist.
-
-St. Thomas, a builder’s rule: also, but more seldom, a spear.
-
-St. James Minor, a club.
-
-St. Philip, the staff or crosier, surmounted by a cross; or a small
-cross in his hand.
-
-St. Bartholomew, a large knife.
-
-St. Matthew, a purse.
-
-St. Simon, a saw.
-
-St. Thaddeus (or Jude), a halberd or lance.
-
-St. Matthias, a lance.
-
-The origin and meaning of these attributes will be explained presently:
-meantime it must be borne in mind, that although in sacred Art the
-Apostles are always twelve in number, they are not always the same
-personages. St. Jude is frequently omitted to make room for St. Paul.
-Sometimes, in the most ancient churches (as in the Cathedral of
-Palermo), St. Simon and St. Matthias are omitted, and the evangelists
-St. Mark and St. Luke figure in their places. The Byzantine manual
-published by Didron omits James Minor, Jude, and Matthias; and inserts
-Paul, Luke, and Mark. This was the arrangement on the bronze doors of
-San Paolo-fuori-le-Mura at Rome, executed by Byzantine artists in the
-tenth century, and now destroyed.
-
-On an ancient pulpit, of beautiful workmanship, in the Cathedral of
-Troyes, the arrangement is according to the Greek formula.[147] Thus—
-
-  ─────────────   ─────────────  ─────────────    ─────────────
-  S. John B.      J. Christ.      The Virgin.
-  ─────────────   ─────────────   ─────────────      An Angel.
-  S. Matthew.     S. Peter.       S. Simon.
-  S. Philip.      S. Luke.        S. Bartholomew. ─────────────
-  S. Mark.        S. Andrew.      S. James.
-  S. Paul.        S. Thomas.      S. John.
-  ─────────────  ─────────────    ─────────────
-
-
-Here, John the Baptist figures in his character of angel or messenger;
-and St. Paul, St. Mark, and St. Luke take the place of St. James Minor,
-St. Jude, and St. Matthias.
-
-The earliest instance of the Apostles entering into a scheme of
-ecclesiastical decoration, as the consecrated and delegated teachers
-of a revealed religion, occurs in the church of San Giovanni in Fonte
-at Ravenna.[148] In the centre of the dome is the Baptism of Christ,
-represented quite in the classical style; the figure of the Saviour
-being entirely undraped, and the Jordan, signified by an antique river
-god, sedge-crowned, and bearing a linen napkin as though he were an
-attendant at a bath. Around, in a circle, in the manner of radii, are
-the Twelve Apostles. The order is,—Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip,
-Bartholomew, Simon, Jude, James Minor, Matthew, Thomas, Paul; so that
-Peter and Paul stand face to face at one extremity of the circle, and
-Simon and Bartholomew back to back at the other. All wear pointed caps,
-and carry the oblation in their hands. Peter has a yellow vest and
-white mantle; Paul, a white vest and a yellow mantle, and so all round
-alternately. The name of each is inscribed over his head, and without
-the title _Sanctus_, which, though admitted into the Calendar in 449,
-was not adopted in works of art till some years later, about 472.
-
-In the next instance, the attributes had not yet been admitted, except
-in the figures of St. Peter and St. Paul.
-
-MOSAIC (A.D. 816). Christ, in the centre, stands on an eminence; in
-one hand he holds an open book, on which is inscribed _Pax vobis_. St.
-Peter, with the keys and a cross, stands on the right; and Christ, with
-his right hand, points to the cross. St. Paul is on the left, with his
-sword; beyond, there are five Apostles on one side, and four on the
-other: in all, eleven (Judas being properly omitted). Each holds a
-book, and all are robed in white; underneath the whole is inscribed,
-in Latin, the words of our Saviour, ‘Go ye, and teach all nations.’
-On the arch to the right, Christ is seated on a throne, and presents
-the keys to St. Peter, who kneels on one side, and the standard to
-Constantine, who kneels on the other (alluding, of course, to the
-famous standard). On the arch to the left, St. Peter is throned, and
-presents the stole to Pope Leo III., and the standard to Charlemagne.
-This singular monument, a kind of _résumé_ of the power of the Church,
-is a restoration of the old mosaic, executed by order of Leo III. in
-the Triclinium of the old palace of the Lateran, and now on one side of
-the Scala Santa, the side facing the Porta San Giovanni.
-
-MOSAIC, in the old basilica of St. Paul (A.D. 1206). In the centre
-an altar veiled, on which are the Gospels (or perhaps, rather, the
-_Book of Life_, the seven-sealed book in the Revelations), and the
-instruments of the Passion. Behind it rises a large Greek cross,
-adorned with gold and jewels. Underneath, at the foot of the altar,
-five small figures standing and bearing palms, representing those
-who suffered for the cause of Christ; and on each side, kneeling,
-the monk Aginulph, and Giovanni Gaetano Orsini, afterwards Nicholas
-III. On each side of the altar, a majestic angel: one bears a scroll,
-inscribed GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO; the other, ET IN TERRA PAX HOMINIBUS
-BONÆ VOLUNTATIS. Beyond these the Apostles, six on each side, bearing
-scrolls with the articles of the Creed. They are much alike, all in
-white robes, and alternately with each stands a palm-tree, the symbol
-of victory and resurrection. This composition, of a colossal size,
-formed a kind of frieze (taking the place of the emblematical lamb and
-twelve sheep) round the apsis of the Basilica.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-In sculpture, the Apostles, as a series, entered into all decorative
-ecclesiastical architecture: sometimes on the exterior of the edifice,
-always in the interior. In our English cathedrals they are seldom found
-unmutilated, except when out of the reach of the spoiler; such was the
-indiscriminate rage which confounded the venerable effigies of these
-delegated teachers of the truth with the images which were supposed to
-belong exclusively to the repudiated religion!
-
-Where the scheme of decoration is purely theological, the proper place
-of the Apostles is after the Angels, Prophets, and Evangelists; but
-when the _motif_, or leading idea, implies a special signification,
-such as the Last Judgment, Paradise, the Coronation of the Madonna, or
-the apotheosis of a saint, then the order is changed, and the Apostles
-appear immediately after the Divine Personages and before the angels,
-as forming a part of the council or court of heaven;—‘When the Son
-of man shall come in his glory, ye also shall sit on twelve thrones,
-judging the twelve tribes of Israel.’[149] Such is the arrangement in
-the Campo Santo, in Angelico’s ‘Paradiso’ in the Florence Gallery,
-in Raphael’s ‘Disputa,’ and many other instances: and I may add the
-architectural treatment on the façade of Wells Cathedral, where,
-immediately under the Saviour sitting in judgment, _stand_ the Twelve
-Apostles, and beneath them the hierarchy of angels, each of the nine
-choirs being here expressed by a single angel.[150] Therefore to
-determine the proper place of the Apostles, it is necessary to observe
-well and to understand what has been the design of the artist, and the
-leading idea of the whole composition, whether strictly _theological_
-or partly _scenic_. In all monuments which have a solemn or a sacred
-purpose,—altars, pulpits, tombs,—the Apostles find an appropriate
-place, either in connection with other sacred personages, or as a
-company apart, the band of teachers. The range of statues along the top
-of the screen in front of the choir of St. Mark’s at Venice will be
-remembered by all who have seen them: in the centre stand the Virgin
-and St. Mark, and then the Apostles, six on each side, grand solemn
-figures, standing there as if to guard the sanctuary. These are by
-Jacobelli, in the simple religious style of the fifteenth century,
-but quite Italian. In contrast with them, as the finest example of
-German sculptural treatment, we have the Twelve Apostles on the tomb
-of St. Sebald, in his church at Nuremberg, cast in bronze by Peter
-Vischer (about 1500). These have become well known by the casts which
-have lately been brought to England; they are about two feet high, all
-remarkable for the characteristic expression of the heads, and the
-grand simplicity of the attitudes and draperies.
-
-There are instances of the Apostles introduced into a scheme of
-ecclesiastical decoration as devotional figures, but assuming,
-from the style of treatment and from being placed in relation with
-other personages, a touch of the dramatic and picturesque. Such are
-Correggio’s Apostles in the cupola of the duomo at Parma (1532), which
-may be considered as the most striking instance that could be produced
-of studied contrast to the solemnity and simplicity of the ancient
-treatment: here the _motif_ is essentially _dramatic_. They stand round
-the dome as spectators would stand in a gallery or balcony, all in
-picturesque attitudes, studiously varied (some, it must be confessed,
-rather extravagant), and all looking up with amazement, or hope, or
-joy, or adoration, to the figure of the glorified Virgin ascending into
-heaven.
-
-Another series of Apostles in the San Giovanni at Parma, which
-Correggio had painted earlier (1522), are conceived, I think, in a
-finer spirit as to character, but, perhaps, not more appropriate to
-the scene. Here the Twelve Apostles are seated on clouds round the
-glorified Saviour, as they are supposed to be in heaven: they are but
-partially draped. In the heads but little attention has been paid to
-the ancient types, except in those of St. Peter and St. Paul; but they
-are sublime as well as picturesque in the conception of character and
-expression.
-
-The Apostles in Michael Angelo’s Last Judgment (A.D. 1540) exhibit a
-still further deviation from the antique style of treatment. They stand
-on each side of the Saviour, who is not, here, Saviour and Redeemer,
-but inexorable Judge. They are grandly and artificially grouped, all
-without any drapery whatever, and with forms and attitudes which recall
-an assemblage of Titans holding a council of war, rather than the
-glorified companions of Christ. In early pictures of Christ in glory,
-the Apostles, his companions in heaven as on earth, form, with the
-Patriarchs and Prophets, the celestial court or council: they sit upon
-thrones to the right and to the left.[151] Raphael’s ‘Disputa’ in the
-Vatican is a grand example of this arrangement.
-
-Sets of the Apostles, in devotional pictures and prints are so common,
-that I shall particularise only a few among the most interesting and
-celebrated. Engravings of these can easily be referred to.
-
-1. A set by Raphael, engraved by Marc Antonio: grand, graceful figures,
-and each with his appropriate attribute. Though admirably distinguished
-in form and bearing, very little attention has been paid to the ancient
-types, except perhaps in St. Peter and St. John. Here St. James Minor
-is omitted to make room for St. Paul.
-
-2. A set by Lucas van Leyden, smaller than Raphael’s, but magnificent
-in feeling: here also the ancient types are for the most part
-neglected. These two sets should be compared as perfect examples of the
-best Italian and the most characteristic German manner. Some of the
-German sets are very curious and grotesque.
-
-3. By H. S. Beham, a most curious set, in what may be called the ultra
-German style: they stand two and two together, like a procession of old
-beggars; the workmanship exquisite. Another set by Beham, in which the
-figures stand singly, and which includes the Four Evangelists, dressed
-like old burgomasters, with the emblematical wings, has been already
-mentioned.
-
-4. A set by Parmigiano, graceful and mannered, as is usual with him.
-
-5. By Agostino Caracci. This set, famous as works of art, must, when
-compared with those of Raphael and Lucas van Leyden, be pronounced
-absolutely vulgar. Here St. John is drinking out of his cup, —an idea
-which might strike some people as picturesque; but it is in vile taste.
-Thaddeus has a saw as well as Simon; Peter has the papal tiara at his
-feet; St. James Minor, instead of Thomas, carries the builder’s rule;
-and St. Bartholomew has his skin thrown over his shoulders. This set
-is an example of the confusion which prevailed with respect to the old
-religious types and attributes, after the first half of the sixteenth
-century.
-
-6. ‘The Five Disciples,’ by Albert Dürer, seem intended to form part
-of a complete set. We have St. Paul, St. Bartholomew, St. Thomas,
-St. Philip, and St. Simon. The two last are the finest, and are most
-grandly conceived.
-
-These are examples of the simplest devotional treatment.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-When the Apostles are grouped together in various historical
-scenes,—some scriptural, some legendary—they are more interesting as
-individual personages; and the treatment should be more characteristic.
-Some of these subjects belong properly to the life of Christ: as the
-Delivery of the Keys to Peter; the Transfiguration; the Entry into
-Jerusalem; the Last Supper; the Ascension. Others, as the Death and
-Assumption of the Virgin, will be considered in the legends of the
-Madonna. But there are others, again, which refer more particularly to
-the personal history of the Apostles, as related in the Acts and in the
-Legends.
-
-The Descent of the Holy Ghost was the first and most important event
-after the Ascension of Christ. It is thus described: ‘When the day of
-Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
-And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty
-wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there
-appeared unto them cloven tongues, like as of fire, and sat upon each
-of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to
-speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there
-were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under
-heaven. Now when this was noised abroad the multitude came together,
-and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own
-language.... But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel.’
-(Acts ii. 1-12, 16.)
-
-According to the usual interpretation, the word _they_, in the first
-verse, does not signify the Apostles merely, but, with them, ‘the
-women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brethren:’ hence in so
-many representations of this subject the Virgin is not only present,
-but a principal person: Mary Magdalene and others are also frequently
-introduced.
-
-1. The most striking example I have yet met with is the grand mosaic
-in the principal dome of St. Mark’s at Venice. In the apex of the dome
-is seen the Celestial Dove in a glory of light; rays proceed from the
-centre on every side, and fall on the heads of the Virgin and the
-Twelve Apostles, seated in a circle. Lower down is a series of twelve
-figures standing all round the dome: ‘Parthians, Medes, and Elamites,
-the dwellers in Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia,
-Pamphylia, Cretes and Arabians,’—each nation represented by one person,
-and all in strange dresses, and looking up with amazement.
-
-2. The Twelve Apostles and the Virgin are seen above seated in an
-enclosure; tongues of fire descend from heaven; beneath is a closed
-door, at which several persons in strange foreign dresses, with
-turbans, &c., are listening with amazement. One of these is in the
-Chinese costume,—a curious circumstance, considering the age of the
-picture, and which could have occurred at that date nowhere but at
-Venice.[152]
-
-3. In the interior of a temple, sustained by slender pillars, the
-Twelve Apostles are seated in a circle, and in the midst the Virgin,
-tongues of fire on each head. Here the Virgin is the principal
-person.[153]
-
-4. An interior, the Twelve Apostles seated in a circle; above them, the
-Celestial Dove in a glory, and from his beak proceed twelve tongues
-of flame; underneath, in a small arch, is the prophet Joel, as an old
-man crowned with a kingly crown and holding twelve rolls or scrolls,
-indicating the Gospel in so many different languages. The allusion
-is to the words of Joel, ii. 28: ‘And I will pour out my Spirit upon
-all flesh.’[154] This is the Greek formula, and it is curious that it
-should have been closely followed by Pinturicchio;—thus:
-
-5. In a rich landscape, with cypresses, palm-trees, and birds, the
-Virgin is seen kneeling; St. Peter on the right, and James Minor on the
-left, also kneeling; five other Apostles on each side. The Celestial
-Dove, with outspread wings, descends in a glory surrounded by fifteen
-cherubim: there are no tongues of fire. The prophet Joel is seen
-above, with the inscription, ‘_Effundam de Spiritu meo super omnem
-carnem_.’[155]
-
-6. The Virgin and the Apostles seated; flames of fire stand on their
-heads; the Holy Ghost appears above in a glory of light, from which
-rays are poured on every side. Mary Magdalene, and another Mary, are
-present behind; astonishment is the prevailing expression in every
-face, except in the Virgin and St. Peter. The composition is attributed
-to Raphael.[156]
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The next event of importance is the separation of the Twelve Apostles
-when they disperse to preach the Gospel in all lands. According to the
-ancient traditions, the Apostles determined by lot to what countries
-they should go: Peter went to Antioch; James the Great remained in
-Jerusalem and the neighbourhood; Philip went to Phrygia; John to
-Ephesus; Thomas to Parthia and Judea; Andrew to Scythia; Bartholomew to
-India and Judea. The Parting of the Apostles is a beautiful subject, of
-which I have met with but few examples; one is a woodcut after Titian.
-The Mission of the Apostles I remember to have seen by Bissoni over an
-altar in the Santa Giustina at Padua: they are preparing to depart; one
-reads from a book; another looses his shoes from his feet, in allusion
-to the text, ‘Take neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes;’ several are
-bidding adieu to the Virgin. This picture struck me as dramatic; its
-merits otherwise I do not remember.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-We have next ‘The Twelve Baptisms.’[157] In the upper compartment
-Christ is standing in a majestic attitude, and on each side are six
-Apostles, all alike, and in white garments. The inscription above is
-in Greek: ‘Go ye, and preach the Gospel to all nations.’ Below, in
-twelve smaller compartments, each of the Apostles is seen baptizing a
-convert: an attendant, in white garments, stands by each font, holding
-a napkin. One of the converts and his attendant are black, denoting
-clearly the chamberlain of the Queen of Ethiopia. This is a very
-uncommon subject.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-And, lastly, we have ‘The Twelve Martyrdoms.’ This is a more frequent
-series, in pictures and in prints, and occurs in a set of large fresco
-compositions in the church of San Nereo e Sant’ Achilleo at Rome. In
-such representations the usual treatment is as follows:—1. St. Peter is
-crucified with his head downwards. 2. St. Andrew, bound on a transverse
-cross. 3. St. James Major, beheaded with a sword. 4. St. John, in a
-cauldron of boiling oil. 5. St. Philip, bound on a cross in the form of
-a T. 6. St. Bartholomew, flayed. 7. St. Thomas, pierced with a spear.
-8. St. Matthew, killed with a sword. 9. St. James Minor, struck down
-with a club. 10. St. Simon and St. Jude together: one is killed with a
-sword, the other with a club. 11. St. Matthias has his head cloven by a
-halbert. 12. St. Paul is beheaded.[158]
-
-The authority for many of these martyrdoms is wholly apocryphal,[159]
-and they sometimes vary; but this is the usual mode of representation
-in Western Art. In early Greek Art a series of the Deaths of the
-Apostles often occurs, but they do not all suffer martyrdom; and the
-subject of St. John in the cauldron of boiling oil, so famous in the
-Latin Church, is, I believe, unknown, or, at least, so rare, that I
-have not found it in genuine Byzantine Art.
-
-The most ancient series I have met with (in a Greek MS. of the ninth
-century) shows us five Apostles crucified: St. Peter and St. Philip
-with the head downwards; St. Andrew on the transverse cross, as usual;
-St. Simon and St. Bartholomew, in the same manner as our Saviour. St.
-Thomas is pierced by a lance; and St. John is buried, and then raised
-by angels, according to the legend. The same series, similarly treated,
-ornamented the doors of the old Basilica of St. Paul, executed by Greek
-artists of the tenth century.[160]
-
-Wherever the Apostles appear as a series, we expect, of course, some
-degree of discriminating propriety of character in each face and
-figure. We seek it when they merely form a part of the general scheme
-of significant decoration in the architectural arrangement of a place
-of worship; we seek it with more reason when they stand before us
-as a series of devotional representations; and still more when, as
-actors in some particular scene, they are supposed to be animated by
-sentiments called forth by the occasion, and modified by the individual
-character. By what test shall we try the truth and propriety of such
-representations? We ought to know both what to require from the artist,
-and on what grounds to require it, before we can rest satisfied.
-
-In the Gospel-histories the Apostles are consistently and beautifully
-distinguished in temper and bearing. Their characters, whether
-exhibited at full length, or merely touched upon, are sustained with
-dramatic truth. The mediæval legends, however wild, are, as far as
-character goes, in harmony with these scriptural portraits, and fill
-up the outline given. It becomes therefore a really interesting
-speculation to observe how far this variety of characteristic
-expression has been carried out in the early types, how far attended
-to, or neglected, by the great painters, since the revival of Art.
-
-
-                        ST. PETER AND ST. PAUL.
-
- _Lat._ SS. Petrus et Paulus. _Ital._ San Pietro or Piero, San Paolo.
-  _Fr._ S. Pierre, S. Paul. _Spa._ San Pedro, San Pablo. (June 29 and
-                                 30.)
-
-I have already observed, that, as apostles and preachers of the word,
-St. Peter and St. Paul take the first place. Even during their lives,
-a superiority was accorded to them; and this superiority, as the
-acknowledged heads and founders of the Christian Church, under Christ,
-has been allowed down to the present time. The precedence is by common
-consent given to St. Peter; but they are held to be equal in faith, in
-merit, and in sanctity.
-
-The early Christian Church was always considered under two great
-divisions: the church of the converted Jews, and the church of the
-Gentiles. The first was represented by St. Peter, the second by St.
-Paul. Standing together in this mutual relation, they represent the
-universal Church of Christ; hence in works of art they are seldom
-separated, and are indispensable in all ecclesiastical decoration.
-Their proper place is on each side of the Saviour, or of the Virgin
-throned; or on each side of the altar; or on each side of the arch
-over the choir. In any case, where they stand together, not merely as
-Apostles, but Founders, their place is next after the Evangelists and
-the Prophets.
-
-[Illustration: 66 St. Paul St. Peter (Crivelli)]
-
-Thus seen almost everywhere in companionship, it becomes necessary
-to distinguish them from each other; for St. Peter does not always
-bear his keys, nor St. Paul his sword. In the earliest examples, these
-attributes are wholly omitted; yet I scarcely know any instance in
-which a distinct type of head has not been more or less attended to.
-
-[Illustration: 67 St. Peter (Greek type, eleventh century)]
-
-The ancient Greek type of the head of St. Peter, ‘the Pilot of the
-Galilean lake,’ is so strongly characterised as to have the air of
-a portrait. It is either taken from the description of Nicephorus,
-so often quoted, or his description is taken from some very ancient
-representation: it certainly harmonises with all our preconceived
-notions of St. Peter’s temperament and character. He is a robust
-old man, with a broad forehead, and rather coarse features, an open
-undaunted countenance, short grey hair, and short thick beard, curled,
-and of a silvery white: according to the descriptive portrait of
-Nicephorus, he had red weak eyes,—a peculiarity which it has not been
-thought necessary to preserve in his effigies. In some early pictures
-he is bald on the top of the head, and the hair grows thick around in a
-circle, somewhat like the priestly tonsure; and in some examples this
-tonsure has the form of a triple row of curls close to the head, a kind
-of tiara. A curious exception to this predominant, almost universal,
-type is to be found in Anglo-Saxon Art,[161] where St. Peter is always
-beardless, and wears the tonsure; so that but for the keys, suspended
-to a ring on his finger, one might take him for an elderly monk. It is
-a tradition that the Gentiles shaved the head of St. Peter in order
-to make him an object of derision, and that this is the origin of the
-priestly tonsure.
-
-[Illustration: 68 St. Peter with one Key (Taddeo Gaddi)]
-
-The dress of St. Peter in the mosaics and Greek pictures is a blue
-tunic, with white drapery thrown over it, but in general the proper
-colours are a blue or green tunic with yellow drapery. On the early
-sarcophagi, and in the most ancient church mosaics, he bears merely
-a scroll or book, and, except in the character of the head, he is
-exactly like St. Paul: a little later we find him with the cross in
-one hand, and the Gospel in the other. The keys in his hand appear
-as his peculiar attribute about the eighth century. I have seen him
-with one great key, but in general he carries two keys, one of gold
-and one of silver, to absolve and to bind; or, according to another
-interpretation, one is of gold and one of iron, opening the gates
-of heaven and hell: occasionally, but rarely, he has a third key,
-expressing the dominion over heaven, and earth, and hell.[162]
-
-St. Paul presents a striking contrast to St. Peter, in features as
-in character. There must have existed effigies of him in very early
-times, for St. Augustine says that a certain Marcellina, living in the
-second century, preserved in her Lararium, among her household gods,
-‘the images of Homer, Pythagoras, Jesus Christ, and Paul the apostle.’
-Chrysostom alludes to a portrait of Paul which hung in his chamber,
-but unfortunately he does not describe it. The earliest allusion to
-the personal appearance of St. Paul occurs in Lucian, where he is
-styled, in a tone of mocking disparagement, ‘the bald-headed Galilean
-with a hook-nose.’ The description given by Nicephorus, founded, we
-may presume, on tradition and on the existing portraits, has been the
-authority followed in the early representations. According to the
-ancient tradition, Paul was a man of small and meagre stature, with
-an aquiline nose, a high forehead, and sparkling eyes. In the Greek
-type the face is long and oval, the nose aquiline, the forehead high
-and bald, the hair brown, the beard long, flowing and pointed, and of
-a dark brown (in the Greek formula it is said that his beard should
-be greyish—I recollect no instance of St. Paul with a grey beard);
-his dress is like St. Peter’s, a blue tunic and white mantle; he has
-a book or scroll in one hand, sometimes twelve rolls, which designate
-his epistles. He bears the sword, his attribute in a double sense; it
-signifies the manner of his martyrdom, and it is emblematical of the
-good fight fought by the faithful Christian, armed with ‘the sword of
-the Spirit, which is the word of God’ (Ephes. vi. 17). The life of
-St. Paul, after his conversion, was, as we know, one long spiritual
-combat:—‘perplexed, but not in despair; cast down, but not destroyed.’
-
-[Illustration: 69 St. Paul (Greek type, eleventh century)]
-
-These traditional characteristic types of the features and persons
-of the two greatest apostles were long adhered to. We find them most
-strictly followed in the old Greek mosaics, in the early Christian
-sculpture, and the early pictures; in all which the sturdy dignity
-and broad rustic features of St. Peter, and the elegant contemplative
-head of St. Paul, who looks like a Greek philosopher, form a most
-interesting and suggestive contrast. But, in later times, the old
-types, particularly in the head of St. Paul, were neglected and
-degraded. The best painters took care not to deviate wholly from the
-square head and short grey beard of St. Peter; but, from the time of
-Sixtus IV., we find substituted for the head of St. Paul an arbitrary
-representation, which varied according to the model chosen by the
-artist—which was sometimes a Roman porter or a German boor; sometimes
-the antique Jupiter or the bust of a Greek rhetorician.
-
-I shall now give some examples, in chronological order, of the two
-great Apostles represented together, as Founders of the Church.
-
-On the early sarcophagi (from A.D. 321 to 400), St. Peter and St. Paul
-stand on each side of the Saviour. The former bears a cross, and is
-generally on the left hand of Christ. The cross given to Peter, and
-often set with jewels, is supposed to refer to the passage in St.
-John, xxi. 19, ‘Signifying by what death he should die:’ but it may
-surely bear another interpretation, i.e. the spirit of Christianity
-transmitted to all nations by the first and greatest of the Apostles.
-St. Paul carries a roll of writing; he has a very high bald forehead:
-in other respects the two Apostles are not particularly discriminated;
-they wear the classical costume.[163] Similar figures of Peter and
-Paul occur on the ancient glass drinking-vessels and lamps preserved
-in the Vatican; but the workmanship is so rude, that they are merely
-curiosities, and cannot be cited as authorities.
-
-MOSAIC (Rome, A.D. 443) in Santa Maria Maggiore, over the arch which
-separates the sanctuary from the nave. We have in the centre a throne,
-on which lies the roll, sealed with seven seals; above the throne rises
-a cross set with precious stones; on each side of the throne, St.
-Peter and St. Paul; they have no attributes, are habited in classical
-draperies, and the whole representation is strictly antique in style,
-without a trace of any of the characteristics of Mediæval Art. This
-is the oldest representation I have met with next to those on the
-sarcophagi.
-
-MOSAIC (Rome, 6th century) in the church of Santa Sabina on the
-interior of the arch over the door. We find on one side St. Peter, on
-the other St. Paul. Under St. Peter stands a graceful female figure,
-veiled, and inscribed _Ecclesia ex circumcisione;_ under St Paul, a
-female figure, crowned, and inscribed _Ecclesia ex gentibus_.
-
-MOSAIC (Rome, A.D. 526) in St. Cosmo and St. Damian, on the vault of
-the apsis. Christ stands in the centre, sustained by clouds; his right
-hand is raised in the attitude of one who exhorts (not blessing, as
-is the usual manner); the left hand holds the book of life; at his
-feet flows the river Jordan, the symbol of Baptism. On each side, but
-lower down and much smaller in size, stand St. Peter and St. Paul; they
-seem to present St. Cosmo and St. Damian to the Saviour. Beyond these
-again, on either side, stand St. Theodore and the pope (Felix I.) who
-dedicated the church. Palm trees, and a Phœnix crowned with a starry
-glory, emblems of Victory and Immortality, close this majestic and
-significant composition on each side. Here St. Peter and St. Paul are
-dignified figures, in which the Greek type is strongly characterised;
-they wear long white mantles, and have no attributes.
-
-
-MOSAIC (Milan, 9th century), in Sant’ Ambrogio. Christ enthroned
-presents the Gospel to St. Paul, and the two keys to St. Peter.
-
-
-MOSAIC (A.D. 936) on the tomb of Otho II. St. Peter and St. Paul
-together, rather more than half length, and above life size. St. Peter
-has three keys, suspended on a ring; St. Paul, the book and sword.
-The original mosaic is preserved in the Vatican, and a copy is in the
-Lateran. This relic is, as a document, invaluable.
-
-
-MOSAIC (A.D. 1216-1227), in the apsis of the old basilica of St. Paul.
-Christ is seated on a throne, with the cruciform glory and his name
-ĪC̄. X̄C̄.: the right hand gives the benediction in the Greek form;
-he holds in his left an open book, inscribed VENITE BENEDICTI PATRIS
-MEI PERCIPITE REGNUM. (Matt. xxv. 34.) On the left, St. Peter with
-his right hand raised to Christ, and an open scroll in his left hand,
-inscribed TU ES CHRISTUS FILIUS DEI VIVI. On the other side of Christ,
-St. Paul; his right hand on his breast, and in his left a scroll with
-these words, IN NOMINE JESU OMNE GENU FLECTATUR CŒLESTIUM TERRESTRIUM
-ET INFERNORUM. (Phil. xi. 10.) Beyond St. Peter stands his brother St.
-Andrew; and beyond St. Paul his favourite disciple Luke. At the foot of
-the throne kneels a diminutive figure of the pope, Honorius III., by
-whom the mosaic was dedicated. Palm-trees close the composition on each
-side; underneath runs the frieze of the Twelve Apostles, described at
-p. 173.
-
-
-MOSAIC (12th century) in the Cathedral of Monreale at Palermo. St.
-Peter and St. Paul are seated on splendid thrones on each side of
-the tribune; St. Peter holds in his left hand a book, and the right,
-which gives the benediction, holds also the two keys: over his head is
-inscribed, SANCTUS PETRUS PRINCEPS APOSTOLORUM CUI TRADITÆ SUNT CLAVES
-REGNI CŒLORUM. St. Paul holds the sword with the point upwards like a
-sceptre, and the book as usual: the intellectual Greek character of
-the head is strongly discriminated. The inscription is, SANCTUS PAULUS
-PRÆDICATOR VERITATIS ET DOCTOR GENTIUM GENTI.
-
-Among the rich and curious bas-reliefs in front of the church of St.
-Trophime at Arles, we have St. Peter and St. Paul seated together
-receiving the souls of the just. Each has two souls in his lap, and the
-Archangel Michael is bringing another.
-
-In pictures, their proper place, as I have observed, is on each side of
-the throne of the Redeemer, or on each side of the Virgin and Child:
-sometimes they are standing together, or reading in the same book.
-
-
-This must suffice for the devotional treatment of St. Peter and St.
-Paul, when represented as joint founders and patrons of the universal
-Christian Church. Before I notice those historical subjects in which
-they appear together, I have to say a few words of the manner in which
-they are treated separately and distinctly. And first of St. Peter.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The various events of the life of St. Peter are recorded in the Gospels
-and the Acts so minutely, that they may be presumed to be familiar to
-all readers. From these we may deduce his character, remarkable for
-fervour and energy rather than sustained power. His traditional and
-legendary history is full of incidents, miracles, and wonderful and
-picturesque passages. His importance and popularity, considered as
-Prince of the Apostles and Founder of the Church of Rome, have extended
-with the influence of that powerful Church of which he is the head and
-representative, and multiplied, almost to infinitude, pictures and
-effigies of him in his individual character, as well as historical
-representations of his life and actions, wherever his paramount dignity
-is admitted.
-
-It struck me, when wandering over the grand old churches of Ravenna,
-where the ecclesiastical mosaics are the most ancient that exist, and
-still in wonderful preservation, that St. Peter and St. Paul do not
-often appear, at least are in no respect distinguished from the other
-apostles. Ravenna, in the fifth century, did not look to Rome for her
-saints. On the other hand, among the earliest of the Roman mosaics,
-St. Peter is sometimes found sustaining the throne of Christ, without
-his companion St. Paul; as in S. Maria-in-Trastevere, S. Maria Nuova,
-and others. At Rome, St. Peter is _the_ Saint, the _Santissimo_. The
-secession of the Protestant Church dimmed his glory as Prince of the
-Apostles and universal Saint; he fell into a kind of disrepute as
-identified with the See of Rome, which exposed his effigies, in England
-and Scotland particularly, to a sweeping destruction. Those were
-disputatious days; and Peter, the affectionate, enthusiastic, devoted,
-but somewhat rash apostle, veiled his head to the intellectual,
-intrepid, subtle philosopher Paul.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Let us now see how Art has placed before us the sturdy Prince of the
-Apostles.
-
-I have already mentioned the characteristic type which belongs to him,
-and his prevalent attributes the key, the cross, the book. When he
-figures among the disciples in the Gospel stories, he sometimes holds
-the fish as the symbol of his original vocation: if the fish be given
-to him in single devotional figures, it signifies also Christianity, or
-the rite of Baptism.
-
-The figures of St. Peter standing, as Apostle and Patron Saint,
-with book and keys, are of such perpetual occurrence as to defy all
-attempts to particularise them, and so familiar as to need no further
-illustration.[164]
-
-Representations of him in his peculiar character of Head and Founder of
-the Roman Church, and first universal bishop, are less common. He is
-seated on a throne; one hand is raised in the act of benediction; in
-the other he holds the keys, and sometimes a book or scroll, inscribed
-with the text, in Latin, ‘Thou art Peter, and on this rock have I built
-my Church.’ This subject of the throned St. Peter is very frequent
-in the older schools. The well-known picture by Giotto, painted for
-Cardinal Stefaneschi, now in the sacristy of the Vatican, is very
-fine, simple and solemn. In a picture by Cima da Conegliano,[165]
-St. Peter is not only throned, but wears the triple tiara as pope;
-the countenance is particularly earnest, fervent, almost fiery in
-expression: the keys lie at his feet; on one side stands St. John the
-Baptist, on the other St. Paul.
-
-As a deviation from the usual form of this subject, I must mention an
-old bas-relief, full of character, and significantly appropriate to
-its locality the church of San Pietro-in-Vincoli, at Rome. St. Peter,
-enthroned, holds in one hand the keys and the Gospel; with the other he
-presents his chains to a kneeling angel: this unusual treatment is very
-poetical and suggestive.
-
-[Illustration: 70]
-
-There are standing figures of St. Peter wearing the papal tiara, and
-brandishing his keys, as in a picture by Cola dell’ Amatrice (70). And
-I should think Milton had some such picture in his remembrance when he
-painted _his_ St. Peter:—
-
-                Last came and last did go
-    The pilot of the Galilean Lake;
-    Two massy keys he bore of metals twain,
-    (The golden opes, the iron shuts amain,)
-    He shook his _mitred_ locks, and stern bespake.
-
-When, in devotional pictures, St. Peter is accompanied by another
-apostle with no distinctive attributes, we may suppose it to be St.
-Mark, who was his interpreter, companion, and amanuensis at Rome.
-According to an early tradition, the Gospel of St. Mark was written
-down from the dictation of St. Peter.[166] In a miniature frontispiece
-to St. Mark’s Gospel, the evangelist is seated writing, and St. Peter
-stands opposite, as if dictating. In a picture by Angelico,[167] Peter
-is preaching from a pulpit to a crowd of people: Mark, seated on one
-side, is diligently taking down his words. In a very fine picture by
-Bonvicino[168] they stand together; St. Peter is reading from a book;
-St. Mark holds a scroll and inkhorn; he is submitting to St. Peter the
-Gospel he has just penned, and which was afterwards confirmed by the
-apostle.
-
-Lastly, a magnificent Venetian picture[169] represents St. Peter
-throned as bishop, with an earnest and rather stern countenance; he
-holds a book in his hand; two angels with musical instruments are
-seated on the steps of his throne: on his right hand stand John the
-Baptist, and St. Jerome as cardinal; on his left St. Ambrose; while St.
-Mark bends over a book, as if reading to this majestic auditory.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Those scenes and incidents related in the Gospels in which St. Peter is
-a principal or conspicuous figure, I shall enlarge upon when treating
-of the life of Christ, and will only indicate a few of them here, as
-illustrating the manner in which St. Peter is introduced and treated in
-such subjects.
-
-We have, first, the Calling of Peter and Andrew in a picture by
-Basaiti,[170] where the two brothers are kneeling at the feet of
-the Saviour; the fishing-boats and the Lake of Gennesareth in the
-background: and in the beautiful fresco by Ghirlandajo in the Sistine
-Chapel, where a number of contemporary personages are introduced as
-spectators. St. Andrew presenting St. Peter to our Saviour (as in a
-picture by Cavalucci, in the Vatican), is another version of the same
-subject; or St. Andrew is seen at the feet of Christ, while St. Peter
-is sitting on the edge of the boat, or descending from it in haste.
-
-‘Christ walking on the Sea’ is a familiar and picturesque subject, not
-to be mistaken. The most ancient and most celebrated representation
-is Giotto’s mosaic (A.D. 1298), now placed in the portico of St.
-Peter’s, over the arch opposite to the principal door. The sentiment
-in the composition of this subject is, generally, ‘Lord, help me; or I
-perish:’ St. Peter is sinking, and Christ is stretching out his hand to
-save him. It is considered as a type of the Church in danger, assailed
-by enemies, and saved by the miraculous interposition of the Redeemer;
-and in this sense must the frequent representations in churches be
-understood.
-
-In the ‘Miraculous Draught of Fishes,’ St. Peter is usually on his
-knees looking up with awe and gratitude:—‘Depart from me, O Lord! for
-I am a sinful man.’ The composition of Raphael (the cartoon at Hampton
-Court) is just what we should seek for in Raphael, a masterpiece of
-dramatic expression,—the significant, the poetical, the miraculous
-predominating. The composition of Rubens, at Malines, which deserves
-the next place, should be looked at in contrast, as an instance of
-the picturesque and vigorous treatment equally characteristic of the
-painter;—all life and reality, even to the glittering fish which tumble
-in the net. ‘St. Peter finding the tribute money’ is a subject I have
-seldom met with: the _motif_ is simple, and not to be mistaken.
-
-In all the scenes of the life of our Saviour in which the apostles are
-assembled,—in the Transfiguration, in the Last Supper, in the ‘Washing
-the Feet of the Disciples,’ in the scene of the agony and the betrayal
-of Christ,—St. Peter is introduced as a more or less prominent figure,
-but always to be distinguished from the other apostles. In the third of
-these subjects, the washing of the feet, St. Peter generally looks up
-at Christ with an expression of humble expostulation, his hand on his
-head: the sentiment is—‘Not my feet only, but my hands and my head.’
-
-In the scene of the betrayal of Christ, St. Peter cutting off the ear
-of Malthus is sometimes a _too_ prominent group; and I remember an old
-German print in which St. Peter having cut off the ear, our Lord bends
-down to replace it.[171]
-
-‘St. Peter denying the Saviour’ is always one of the subjects in the
-series of the Passion of Christ. It occurs frequently on the ancient
-sarcophagi as the symbol of repentance, and is treated with classical
-and sculptural simplicity, the cock being always introduced, as in the
-illustration (71): it is here to be understood as a general emblem of
-human weakness and repentance. As an action separately, or as one of
-the series of the life and actions of Peter, it has not been often
-painted; it seems to have been avoided in general by the early Italian
-painters as derogatory to the character and dignity of the apostle.
-The only examples I can recollect are in the later Italian and Flemish
-schools. Teniers has adopted it as a vehicle for a guard-room scene;
-soldiers playing at cards, bright armour, &c. Rembrandt has taken it as
-a vehicle for a fine artificial light; and, for the same reason, the
-Caravaggio school delighted in it. The maiden, whose name in the old
-traditions is Balilla, is always introduced with a look and gesture of
-reproach, and the cock is often perched in the background.
-
-[Illustration: 71 Repentance of Peter (Sarcophagus, third century)]
-
-‘Christ turned and looked upon Peter:’ of this beautiful subject,
-worthy of Raphael himself, I can remember no instance.
-
-The ‘Repentance of Peter’ is a subject seldom treated in the
-earlier schools of Italy, but frequently by the later painters, and
-particularly by the Bologna school; in some instances most beautifully.
-It was a subject peculiarly suited to the genius of Guercino, who
-excelled in the expression of profound rather than elevated feeling.
-
-There is a manner of representing the repentance of Peter which seems
-peculiar to Spanish Art, and is more ideal than is usual with that
-school. Christ is bound to a column and crowned with thorns; St.
-Peter kneels before him in an attitude of the deepest anguish and
-humiliation, and appears to be supplicating forgiveness. Except in
-the Spanish school, I have never met with this treatment. The little
-picture by Murillo[172] is an exquisite example; and in the Spanish
-Gallery are two others, by Pedro de Cordova and Juan Juanes:—in the
-former, St. Peter holds a pocket-handkerchief with which he has been
-wiping his eyes, and the cock is perched on the column to which our
-Saviour is bound.
-
-Another ideal treatment we find in a picture by Guercino; St. Peter
-is weeping bitterly, and opposite to him the Virgin is seated in
-motionless grief.
-
-Half-length figures of St. Peter looking up with an expression of
-repentant sorrow, and wringing his hands, are of frequent occurrence,
-more especially in the later followers of the Bologna and Neapolitan
-schools of the seventeenth century: Ribera, Lanfranco, Caravaggio,
-and Valentin. In most of these instances, the total absence of ideal
-or elevated sentiment is striking;—any old bearded beggar out of the
-streets, who could cast up his eyes and look pathetic, served as a
-model.
-
-
-I recollect no picture of the Crucifixion in which St. Peter is present.
-
-
-‘The delivery of the keys to Peter’ and ‘the Charge to Peter,’ (Feed my
-sheep,) either in separate pictures or combined into one subject, have
-been of course favourite themes in a Church which founds its authority
-on these particular circumstances. The bas-relief over the principal
-door of St. Peter’s at Rome represents the two themes in one: Christ
-delivers the keys to Peter, and the sheep are standing by. In the
-panels of the bronze doors beneath (A.D. 1431), we have the chain of
-thought and incident continued; Peter delivers the emblematical keys to
-Pope Eugenius IV.
-
-It is curious that, while the repentance of Peter is a frequent subject
-on the sarcophagi of the fourth century, the delivery of the keys to
-Peter occurs but once. Christ, as a beardless youth, presents to Peter
-two keys laid crosswise one over the other. Peter, in whose head the
-traditional type is most distinctly marked, has thrown his pallium
-over his outstretched hands, for, according to the antique ceremonial,
-of which the early sculpture and mosaics afford us so many examples,
-things consecrated could only be touched with covered hands. This
-singular example is engraved in Bottari.[173] An example of beautiful
-and solemn treatment in painting is Perugino’s fresco in the Sistine
-Chapel. It contains twenty-one figures; the conception is quite ideal,
-the composition regular even to formality, yet striking and dramatic.
-In the centre, Peter, kneeling on one knee, receives the keys from the
-hand of the Saviour; the apostles and disciples are arranged on each
-side behind Christ and St. Peter; in the background is the rebuilding
-of the Temple;—a double allegory: ‘Destroy this temple, I will build it
-up in three days:’ and also, perhaps, alluding to the building of the
-chapel by Sixtus IV.
-
-In Raphael’s cartoon[174] the scene is an open plain: Christ stands
-on the right; in front, St. Peter kneels, with the keys in his hand;
-Christ extends one hand to Peter, and with the other points to a
-flock of sheep in the background. The introduction of the sheep into
-this subject has been criticised as at once too literal and too
-allegorical,—a too literal transcript of the words, a too allegorical
-version of the meaning; but I do not see how the words of our Saviour
-could have been otherwise rendered in painting, which must speak to us
-through sensible objects. The other apostles standing behind Peter show
-in each countenance the different manner in which they are affected by
-the words of the Saviour.
-
-By Gian Bellini: a beautiful picture:[175] St. Peter kneeling,
-half-length, receives the keys from Jesus Christ, seated on a throne.
-Behind St. Peter stand the three Christian Graces, Faith, Hope, and
-Charity. Poussin has taken this subject in his series of the Seven
-Sacraments[176], to represent the sacrament of Ordination. In this
-instance again, the two themes are united; and we must also remember,
-that the allegorical representation of the disciples and followers of
-Christ as sheep looking up to be fed, is consecrated by the practice of
-the earliest schools of Christian Art. Rubens has rendered the subject
-very simply, in a picture containing only the two figures, Christ and
-St. Peter;[177] and again with five figures, less good.[178] Numerous
-other examples might be given; but the subject is one that, however
-treated, cannot be easily mistaken.
-
-A very ideal version of this subject is where St. Peter kneels at the
-feet of the Madonna, and the Infant Christ, bending from her lap,
-presents the keys to him; as in a singularly fine and large composition
-by Crivelli,[179] and in another by Andrea Salaino. Another, very
-beautiful and curious, is in the possession of Mr. Bromley of
-Wootten.[180]
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-After the ascension of our Saviour, the personal history of St. Peter
-is mingled first with that of St. John, and afterwards with that of St.
-Paul.
-
-‘Peter and John healing the lame man at the gate called Beautiful’ is
-the subject of one of the finest of the cartoons at Hampton Court.
-Perin del Vaga, Niccolò Poussin, and others less renowned, have also
-treated it; it is susceptible of much contrast and dramatic effect.
-
-‘The sick are brought out and placed in the shadow of Peter and John
-that they may be healed,’ by Masaccio.[181]
-
-‘Peter preaching to the early converts:’ the two most beautiful
-compositions I have seen, are the simple group of Masaccio; and another
-by Le Sueur, full of variety and sentiment.
-
-‘Peter and John communicate the Holy Ghost by laying their hands on the
-disciples,’ by Vasari.[182] I do not well remember this picture.
-
-The Vision of Peter: three angels sustain the curtain or sheet which
-contains the various forbidden animals, as pigs, rabbits, &c. (as in a
-print after Guercino).
-
-‘Peter baptizes the Centurion’ (very appropriately placed in the
-baptistery of the Vatican). St. Peter meets the Centurion; he blesses
-the family of the Centurion. All commonplace versions of very
-interesting and picturesque subjects.
-
-‘The Death of Ananias.’ Raphael’s cartoon of this awful scene is a
-masterpiece of dramatic and scenic power; never was a story more
-admirably and completely told in painting. Those who had to deal with
-the same subject, as if to avoid a too close comparison with his
-unapproachable excellence, have chosen the death of Sapphira as the
-_motif_: as, for example, Niccolò Poussin.[183]
-
-‘Dorcas or Tabitha restored to life.’ One of the finest and most
-effective of Guercino’s pictures, now in the Palazzo Pitti: the simple
-dignity of the apostle, and the look of sick amazement in the face of
-the woman restored to consciousness, show how strong Guercino could be
-when he had to deal with natural emotions of no elevated kind. The same
-subject, by Costanzi, is among the great mosaics in St. Peter’s. ‘The
-Death of Dorcas,’ by Le Sueur, is a beautiful composition. She lies
-extended on a couch; St. Peter and two other apostles approach the foot
-of it: the poor widows, weeping, show to St. Peter the garments which
-Dorcas had made for them (Acts ix. 39).
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The imprisonment of Peter, and his deliverance by the Angel, were
-incidents so important, and offer such obvious points of dramatic
-effect, that they have been treated in every possible variety of style
-and sentiment, from the simple formality of the early mosaics, where
-the two figures—Peter sitting on a stool, leaning his head on his hand,
-and the Angel at his side—express the story like a vision,[184] down to
-the scenic and architectural compositions of Steenwick, where, amid a
-vast perspective of gloomy vaults and pillars, a diminutive St. Peter,
-with an Angel or a sentinel placed somewhere in the foreground, just
-serves to give the picture a name.[185]
-
-Some examples of this subject are of great celebrity.
-
-Masaccio, in the frescoes of the Brancacci Chapel, has represented
-Peter in prison, looking through his grated window, and Paul outside
-communing with him. (The noble figure of St. Paul in this fresco was
-imitated by Raphael in the ‘St. Paul preaching at Athens.’) In the next
-compartment of the series, Masaccio has given us the Angel leading
-forth Peter, while the guard sleeps at the door: he sleeps as one
-oppressed with an unnatural sleep. Raphael’s fresco in the Vatican is
-not one of his best, but he has seized on the obvious point of effect,
-both as to light and grouping; and we have three separate moments of
-the same incident, which yet combine most happily into one grand scene.
-Thus in the centre, over the window, we see through a grating the
-interior of the prison, where St. Peter is sleeping between two guards,
-who, leaning on their weapons, are sunk in a deep charmed slumber;[186]
-an angel, whose celestial radiance fills the dungeon with a flood
-of light, is in the act of waking the apostle: on the right of the
-spectator, the angel leads the apostle out of the prison; two guards
-are sleeping on the steps: on the left, the soldiers are roused from
-sleep, and one with a lighted torch appears to be giving the alarm; the
-crescent moon faintly illumines the background.
-
-The deliverance of St. Peter has always been considered as figurative
-of the deliverance of the Church; and the two other frescoes of this
-room, the Heliodorus and the Attila, bear the same interpretation. It
-is worth while to compare this dramatic composition of Raphael with
-others wherein the story is merely a vehicle for artificial effects
-of light, as in a picture by Gerard Honthorst; or treated like a
-supernatural vision, as by that poet, Rembrandt.
-
-
-Those historical subjects in which St. Peter and St. Paul figure
-together will be noticed in the life of St. Paul.
-
-
-I come now to the legendary stories connected with St. Peter; an
-inexhaustible source of popular and pictorial interest.
-
-Peter was at Jerusalem as late as A.D. 52; then at Antioch; also in
-Babylon: according to the most ancient testimonies he was at Rome
-about A.D. 63; but the tradition, that he resided as bishop in the
-city of Rome for twenty-five years, first related by Jerome, seems
-questionable.[187] Among the legendary incidents which marked his
-sojourn in Rome, the first and the most important is the story of Simon
-Magus.
-
-Simon, a famous magician among the Jews, had astonished the whole city
-of Jerusalem by his wonderful feats; but his inventions and sorceries
-were overcome by the real miracles of Peter, as the Egyptian magi had
-been conquered by Aaron. He offered the apostles money to buy the
-secret of their power, which Peter rejected with indignation. St.
-Augustine tells us, as a characteristic trait of the fiery-spirited
-apostle, that ‘if he had fallen on the traitor Simon, he would
-certainly have torn him to pieces with his teeth.’ The magician,
-vanquished by a superior power, flung his books into the Dead Sea,
-broke his wand, and fled to Rome, where he became a great favourite
-of the Emperor Claudius, and afterwards of Nero. Peter, bent on
-counteracting the wicked sorceries of Simon, followed him to Rome.
-About two years after his arrival he was joined there by the Apostle
-Paul. Simon Magus having asserted that he was himself a god, and could
-raise the dead, Peter and Paul rebuked his impiety, and challenged
-him to a trial of skill in presence of the emperor. The arts of the
-magician failed; Peter and Paul restored the youth to life: and on many
-other occasions Simon was vanquished and put to shame by the miraculous
-power of the apostles. At length he undertook to fly up to heaven in
-sight of the emperor and the people; and, crowned with laurel, and
-supported by demons, he flung himself from a tower, and appeared for a
-while to float thus in the air: but St. Peter, falling on his knees,
-commanded the demons to let go their hold, and Simon, precipitated to
-the ground, was dashed to pieces.
-
-This romantic legend, so popular in the middle ages, is founded on some
-antique traditions not wholly unsupported by historical testimony.
-
-There can be no doubt that there existed in the first century a Simon,
-a Samaritan, a pretender to divine authority and supernatural powers;
-who, for a time, had many followers; who stood in a certain relation to
-Christianity; and who may have held some opinions more or less similar
-to those entertained by the most famous heretics of the early ages,
-the Gnostics. Irenæus calls this Simon the father of all heretics.
-‘All those,’ he says, ‘who in any way corrupt the truth, or mar the
-preaching of the Church, are disciples and successors of Simon, the
-Samaritan magician.’ Simon gave himself forth as a god, and carried
-about with him a beautiful woman named Helena, whom he represented as
-the first conception of his—that is, of the divine—mind, the symbol
-or manifestation of that portion of spirituality which had become
-entangled in matter.[188]
-
-The incidents of the story of Simon Magus have been often and variously
-treated.
-
-1. By Quintin Matsys: Peter refuses the offer of Simon Magus—‘Thy money
-perish with thee!’ Here Peter wears the mitre of a bishop: the picture
-is full of coarse but natural expression.
-
-2. ‘Peter and Paul accused before Nero:’ the fresco in the Brancacci
-Chapel, attributed by Kugler to Filippino Lippi, is certainly one of
-the most perfect pieces of art, as a dramatic composition, which we
-have before the time of Raphael. To the right the emperor is seated on
-his throne, on each side his ministers and attendants. The countenances
-are finely varied; some of them animated by attention and curiosity,
-others sunk in deep thought. The two apostles, and their accuser
-Simon Magus, are in front. Simon, a magnificent figure, who might
-serve for a Prospero, lays his hand on the vest of Peter, as if to
-drag him forward; Paul stands aside with quiet dignity; Peter, with a
-countenance full of energetic expression, points contemptuously to the
-broken idol at his feet. For the felicity and animation with which the
-story is told, and for propriety, grace, and grandeur, Raphael has not
-often exceeded this picture.
-
-3. Another of the series of the life of Peter in the Brancacci Chapel
-is the resuscitation of the youth, who in the legend is called the
-nephew of the emperor; a composition of numerous figures. In the centre
-stands St. Peter, and before him kneels the youth; a skull and a few
-bones are near him—a naïve method of expressing his return from death
-to life. The variety of expression in the countenances of the assembled
-spectators is very fine. According to the custom of the Florentine
-school at that time, many are portraits of distinguished persons; and,
-considering that the fresco was painted at a period most interesting in
-the Florentine history (A.D. 1440), we have much reason to regret that
-these can no longer be discriminated.
-
-4. ‘The Fall of Simon Magus’ is a favourite and picturesque subject,
-often repeated. A most ancient and most curious version is that on the
-walls of the Cathedral at Assisi, older than the time of Giotto, and
-attributed to Giunta Pisano. (A.D. 1232.) On one side is a pyramidical
-tower formed of wooden bars; Peter and Paul are kneeling in front; the
-figure of the magician is seen floating in the air and sustained by
-hideous demons;—very dreamy, poetical, and fanciful. In Mr. Ottley’s
-collection I saw a small ancient picture of the same subject, very
-curious, attributed to Benozzo Gozzoli. Raphael’s composition in the
-Vatican has the simplicity of a classical bas-relief,—a style which
-does not appear suited to this romantic legend. The picture by L.
-Caracci at Naples I have not seen. Over one of the altars of St. Peter,
-we now see the great mosaic, after Vanni’s picture of this subject; a
-clever commonplace treatment: the scene is an amphitheatre, the emperor
-above in his balcony; Peter and Paul in front, invoking the name of
-Christ, and Simon Magus tumbling headlong, forsaken by his demons; in
-the background sit the vestals. Battoni’s great picture in the S. Maria
-degli Angeli at Rome is considered his best production; it is full of
-well-studied academic drawing, but scenic and mannered.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The next subject in the order of events is styled the ‘DOMINE, QUO
-VADIS?’ After the burning of Rome, Nero threw upon the Christians the
-accusation of having fired the city. This was the origin of the first
-persecution, in which many perished by terrible and hitherto unheard-of
-deaths. The Christian converts besought Peter not to expose his life,
-which was dear and necessary to the well-being of all; and at length
-he consented to depart from Rome. But as he fled along the Appian Way,
-about two miles from the gates, he was met by a vision of our Saviour
-travelling towards the city. Struck with amazement, he exclaimed,
-‘Lord! whither goest thou?’ to which the Saviour, looking upon him
-with a mild sadness, replied, ‘I go to Rome to be crucified a second
-time,’ and vanished. Peter, taking this for a sign that he was to
-submit himself to the sufferings prepared for him, immediately turned
-back, and re-entered the city. Michael Angelo’s famous statue, now in
-the church of S. Maria-sopra-Minerva at Rome, is supposed to represent
-Christ as he appeared to Peter on this occasion; and a cast or copy of
-it is in the little church of ‘Domine, quo vadis?’ erected on the spot
-sanctified by this mysterious meeting.
-
-It is surprising that this most beautiful, picturesque, and, to my
-fancy, sublime legend has been so seldom treated; and never, as it
-appears to me, in a manner worthy of its capabilities and its high
-significance. It is seldom that a whole story can be told by two
-figures, and these two figures placed in such grand and dramatic
-contrast;—Christ in his serene majesty and radiant with all the glory
-of beatitude, yet with an expression of gentle reproach; the apostle
-at his feet, arrested in his flight, amazed, and yet filled with a
-trembling joy; and for the background the wide Campagna or the towering
-walls of imperial Rome;—these are grand materials; but the pictures I
-have met with are all ineffective in conception. The best fall short of
-the sublime ideal; most of them are theatrical and commonplace.
-
-Raphael has interpreted it in a style rather too classical for the
-spirit of the legend; with great simplicity and dignity, but as a
-_fact_, rather than a vision conjured up by the stricken conscience and
-tenderness of the affectionate apostle. The small picture by Annibale
-Caracci in our National Gallery is a carefully finished academical
-study and nothing more, but may be referred to as a fair example of the
-usual mode of treatment.
-
-Peter returned to Rome, persisted in his appointed work, preaching
-and baptizing; was seized with St. Paul and thrown into the Mamertine
-dungeons under the Capitol. The two centurions who guarded them,
-Processus and Martinian, and many of the criminals confined in the
-same prison, were converted by the preaching of the apostle; and there
-being no water to baptize them, at the prayer of St. Peter a fountain
-sprang up from the stone floor; which may be seen at this day.
-
-‘The Baptism of St. Processus and St. Martinian in the Dungeon,’ by
-Trevisani, is in the baptistery of St. Peter’s at Rome; they afterwards
-suffered for the faith, and were canonised. In the same church is
-the scene of their martyrdom by Valentino; they are seen bound and
-stretched on a hurdle, the head of one to the feet of the other, and
-thus beaten to death. The former picture—the Baptism—is commonplace;
-the latter, terrible for dark and effective expression; it is just one
-of those subjects in which the Caravaggio school delighted.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-A few days after their incarceration, St. Peter and St. Paul were
-condemned to death. According to one tradition, St. Peter suffered
-martyrdom in the Circus of Caligula at the foot of the Vatican, and was
-crucified between two metæ, i.e. the goals or terminæ in the Circus,
-round which the chariots turned in the race; but, according to another
-tradition, he was put to death in the court-yard of a barrack or
-military station on the summit of Mons Janicula, where the church of
-San Pietro in Montorio now stands; that is, on an eminence above the
-site of the Circus of Caligula. At his own request, and that his death
-might be even more painful and ignominious than that of his Divine
-Master, he was crucified with his head downwards.
-
-[Illustration: 72 Crucifixion of St. Peter (Giotto)]
-
-In the earliest representations I have met with,[189] St. Peter is
-raised on the cross with his head downwards, and wears a long shirt
-which is fastened round his ankles. In the picture of Giotto,[190] the
-local circumstances, according to the first tradition, are carefully
-attended to: we have the cross erected between the two metæ, and about
-twenty soldiers and attendants; among them a woman who embraces the
-foot of the cross, as the Magdalene embraces the cross of the Saviour.
-Above are seen angels, who bear the soul of the martyred saint in a
-glory to heaven. Masaccio’s composition[191] is very simple; the scene
-is the court-yard of a military station (according to the second
-tradition). Peter is already nailed upon a cross; three executioners
-are in the act of raising it with cords and a pulley to suspend it
-against a great beam of wood; there are several soldiers, but no women,
-present. In Guido’s composition[192] there are only three figures, the
-apostle and two executioners; it is celebrated as a work of art, but
-it appeared to me most ineffective. On the other hand, Rubens has gone
-into the opposite extreme; there are only three persons, the principal
-figure filling nearly the whole of the canvas: it is full of vigour,
-truth, and nature; but the brutality of the two executioners, and the
-agony of the aged saint, too coarsely and painfully literal. These
-simple representations of the mere act or fact should be compared with
-the fresco of Michael Angelo,[193] in which the event is evolved into
-a grand drama. Here the scene is evidently the summit of the Mons
-Janiculum: in the midst of a crowd of soldiers and spectators, St.
-Peter lies nailed to the cross, which a number of men are exerting
-their utmost strength to raise from the ground.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The legend which makes St. Peter the keeper of the gate of Paradise,
-with power to grant or refuse admission, is founded on the delivery of
-the keys to Peter. In most of the pictures which represent the entrance
-of the blessed into Paradise or the New Jerusalem, Peter stands with
-his keys near the gate. There is a beautiful example in the great
-fresco of Simone Memmi in the chapel _de’ Spagnuoli_ at Florence: St.
-Peter stands at the open portal with his great key, and two angels
-crown with garlands the souls of the just as they enter joyously hand
-in hand.
-
-[Illustration: 73 From the fresco of Simone Memmi, Florence (S. Maria
-Novella)]
-
-The legend of St. Petronilla, the daughter of St. Peter (in French,
-Sainte Pernelle), has never been popular as a subject of Art, and I can
-remember no series of incidents from the life of St. Peter in which
-she is introduced, except those in the Carmine at Florence. It is
-apparently a Roman legend, and either unknown to the earliest artists,
-or neglected by them. It is thus related:—
-
- ‘The apostle Peter had a daughter born in lawful wedlock, who
- accompanied him in his journey from the East. Being at Rome with
- him, she fell sick of a grievous infirmity which deprived her of the
- use of her limbs. And it happened that as the disciples were at meat
- with him in his house, one said to him, ‘Master, how is it that thou,
- who healest the infirmities of others, dost not heal thy daughter
- Petronilla?’ And St. Peter answered, ‘It is good for her to remain
- sick:’ but, that they might see the power that was in the word of God,
- he commanded her to get up and serve them at table, which she did;
- and having done so, she lay down again helpless as before; but many
- years afterwards, being perfected by her long suffering, and praying
- fervently, she was healed. Petronilla was wonderfully fair; and
- Valerius Flaccus, a young and noble Roman, who was a heathen, became
- enamoured of her beauty, and sought her for his wife; and he being
- very powerful, she feared to refuse him; she therefore desired him
- to return in three days, and promised that he should then carry her
- home. But she prayed earnestly to be delivered from this peril; and
- when Flaccus returned in three days with great pomp to celebrate the
- marriage, he found her dead. The company of nobles who attended him
- carried her to the grave, in which they laid her, crowned with roses;
- and Flaccus lamented greatly.’[194]
-
- The legend places her death in the year 98, that is, 34 years after
- the death of St. Peter; but it would be in vain to attempt to
- reconcile the dates and improbabilities of this story.
-
-St. Peter raising Petronilla from her sick bed is one of the subjects
-by Masaccio in the Brancacci Chapel. The scene of her entombment is the
-subject of a once celebrated and colossal picture by Guercino: the
-copy in mosaic is over the altar dedicated to her in St. Peter’s: in
-front, and in the lower part of the picture, she is just seen as they
-are letting her down into the grave, crowned with roses; behind stands
-Flaccus with a handkerchief in his hand, and a crowd of spectators:
-in the upper part of the picture Petronilla is already in Paradise,
-kneeling, in a rich dress, before the feet of Christ, having exchanged
-an earthly for a heavenly bridegroom. This great picture exhibits, in a
-surpassing degree, the merits and defects of Guercino; it is effective,
-dramatic, deeply and forcibly coloured, and arrests attention: on the
-other hand, it is coarse, crowded, vulgar in sentiment, and repugnant
-to our better taste. There is a standing figure of Petronilla in the
-Duomo at Lucca, by Daniel di Volterra, very fine.[195]
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The life of St. Peter, when represented as a series, generally
-comprises the following subjects, commencing with the first important
-incident after the Ascension of Christ.
-
-1. Peter and John heal the lame man at the Beautiful Gate. 2. Peter
-heals the paralytic Eneas. 3. Peter raises Tabitha. 4. The angel takes
-off the chains of Peter. 5. He follows the angel out of the prison. 6.
-St. Peter and St. Paul meet at Rome. 7. Peter and Paul before Nero are
-accused by Simon Magus. 8. The fall of Simon Magus. 9. The crucifixion
-of St. Peter. This example is taken from the series of mosaics in the
-Cathedral of Monreale, at Palermo.
-
-The fine series of frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel at Florence is
-differently arranged; thus:—1. The tribute money found in the fish by
-St. Peter. 2. Peter preaching to the converts. 3. Peter baptizes the
-converts. In this fresco, the youth, who has thrown off his garments
-and is preparing for baptism, is famous as the first really graceful
-and well-drawn undraped figure which had been produced since the
-revival of Art. 4. Peter and John heal the cripple at the Beautiful
-Gate, and Petronilla is raised from her bed. 5. Peter in his prison is
-visited by Paul. 6. Peter delivered by the angel. 7. The resuscitation
-of the dead youth. 8. The sick are laid in the way of Peter and John,
-‘that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some
-of them.’ 9. Peter and John distribute alms; a dead figure lies at the
-feet of the apostles, perhaps Ananias. The situation of the fresco
-is very dark, so that it is difficult to distinguish the action and
-expression of the figures. 10. Peter and Paul accused before Nero. 11.
-The crucifixion of Peter.
-
-In St. Peter’s at Rome, we have of course every scene from the life of
-the apostle which could well be expressed by Art; but none of these are
-of great merit or interest: most of them are from the schools of the
-seventeenth century.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-ST. PAUL, though called to the apostleship after the ascension of the
-Saviour, takes rank next to St. Peter as one of the chief witnesses of
-the Christian faith. Of all the apostles he is the most interesting;
-the one of whose personal character and history we know most, and
-through the most direct and irrefragable testimony. The events of his
-life, as conveyed in the Acts and the Epistles, are so well known, that
-I need not here particularise them. The legends connected with him are
-very few.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The earliest single figure of St. Paul to which I can refer was found
-painted on the walls of the cemetery of Priscilla, near Rome.[196] He
-stands, with outstretched arms, in the act of prayer; (in the early
-ages of Christianity the act of supplication was expressed in the
-classical manner, that is, not with folded hands, but with the arms
-extended;) he has the nimbus; his dress is that of a traveller, the
-tunic and pallium being short, and his feet sandalled, perhaps to
-indicate his many and celebrated travels; perhaps, also, it represents
-Paul praying for his flock before he departed from Macedon to return
-to Jerusalem (Acts xx.): over this ancient figure, which, though ill
-drawn, is quite classical in sentiment and costume, is inscribed
-PAULUS. PASTOR. APOSTOLOS; on his right hand stands the Good Shepherd,
-in reference to the title of PASTOR, inscribed over his effigy. Another
-figure of St. Paul, which appears to be of later date, but anterior to
-the fifth century, was found in the catacombs at Naples: in this effigy
-he wears the dress of a Greek philosopher; the style in which the
-drapery is worn recalls the time of Hadrian: he has no nimbus, nor is
-the head bald; he has sandals on his feet: over his head is inscribed
-his name, PAULUS; near him is a smaller figure similarly draped, who
-offers him fruit and flowers in a vase; probably the personage who was
-entombed on the spot.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-At what period the sword was given to St. Paul as his distinctive
-attribute, is with antiquaries a disputed point; certainly, much later
-than the keys were given to Peter.[197] If we could be sure that the
-mosaic on the tomb of Otho II., and another mosaic already described,
-had not been altered in successive restorations, these would be
-evidence that the sword was given to St. Paul as his attribute as early
-as the 6th century; but there are no monuments which can be absolutely
-trusted as regards the introduction of the sword before the end of
-the 11th century; since the end of the 14th century, it has been so
-generally adopted, that in the devotional effigies I can remember no
-instance in which it is omitted. When St. Paul is leaning on the sword,
-it expresses his martyrdom; when he holds it aloft, it expresses also
-his warfare in the cause of Christ: when two swords are given to him,
-one is the attribute, the other the emblem; but this double allusion
-does not occur in any of the older representations. In Italy I never
-met with St. Paul bearing two swords, and the only instance I can call
-to mind is the bronze statue by Peter Vischer, on the shrine of St.
-Sebald, at Nuremberg.
-
-Although devotional representations of St. Paul separate from St. Peter
-and the other apostles occur very rarely, pictures from his life and
-actions are commonly met with; the principal events are so familiar,
-that they are easily recognised and discriminated even by the most
-unlearned in biblical illustration: considered and treated as a series,
-they form a most interesting and dramatic succession of scenes, often
-introduced into the old churches; but the incidents chosen are not
-always the same.
-
-Paul, before his conversion, was present at the stoning of Stephen, and
-he is generally introduced holding on his knees the garments of the
-executioners. In some ancient pictures, he has, even while looking on
-and ‘consenting to the death’ of the victim, the glory round his head,
-as one who, while ‘breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the
-disciples of the Lord,’ was already a chosen vessel to bear His name
-before the Gentiles.’ But in a set of pictures which relate expressly
-to St. Paul the martyrdom of Stephen is, with proper feeling, omitted,
-and the series generally begins with the CONVERSION OF PAUL,—in his
-character of apostle, the first great event in his life. An incident so
-important, so celebrated, and in all its accessories so picturesque and
-dramatic, has of course been a frequent subject of artistic treatment,
-even as a separate composition. In some of the old mosaics, the story
-is very simply, and at the same time vividly, rendered. In the earliest
-examples, St. Paul has the nimbus or glory while yet unconverted; he
-is prostrate on the ground, grovelling on his hands and knees; rays
-of light fall upon him out of heaven, where the figure of Christ,
-half-length, is seen emerging from glory; sometimes it is a hand only,
-which is the emblem of the Almighty Power; two or four attendants at
-most are flying in terror. It is not said in Scripture that St. Paul
-journeyed on horseback from Jerusalem to Damascus; but the tradition
-is at least as old as the time of Pope Dalmasius (A.D. 384), as it is
-then referred to. St. Augustine says he journeyed on foot, because
-the Pharisees made a point of religion to go on foot, and it is so
-represented in the old Greek mosaics. The expression, ‘It is hard
-for thee to kick against the pricks,’ has been oddly enough assigned
-as a reason for placing Paul on horseback;[198] at all events, as he
-bore a military command, it has been thought proper in later times
-so to represent him, and also as surrounded by a numerous cortége of
-attendants. This treatment admits, of course, of endless variety,
-in the disposition and number of the figures, in the attitudes and
-expression; but the moment chosen is generally the same.
-
-1. The oldest example I can cite, next to the Greek mosaics, is an old
-Italian print mentioned by Zani. Paul, habited as a Roman warrior,
-kneels with his arms crossed on his breast, and holding a scroll, on
-which is inscribed in Latin, ‘Lord, what shall I do?’ Christ stands
-opposite to him, also holding a scroll, on which is written, ‘Saul,
-Saul, why persecutest thou me?’ There are no attendants. Zani does not
-give the date of this quaint and simple version of the story.
-
-2. Raphael. Paul, habited as a Roman soldier, is lying on the ground,
-as thrown from his horse; he looks upward to Christ, who appears in the
-clouds, attended by three child-angels: his attendants on foot and on
-horseback are represented as rushing to his assistance, unconscious of
-the vision, but panic struck by its effect on _him_: one attendant in
-the background seizes by the bridle the terrified horse. The original
-cartoon of this fine composition (one of the tapestries in the Vatican)
-is lost.
-
-3. Michael Angelo. Paul, a noble figure, though prostrate, appears to
-be struck motionless and senseless: Christ seems to be _rushing_ down
-from heaven surrounded by a host of angels; those of the attendants
-who are near to Paul are flying in all directions, while a long train
-of soldiers is seen ascending from the background. This grand dramatic
-composition forms the pendant to the Crucifixion of Peter in the
-Cappella Paolina. It is so darkened by age and the smoke of tapers, and
-so ill lighted, that it is not easily made out; but there is a fine
-engraving, which may be consulted.
-
-4. Another very celebrated composition of this subject is that of
-Rubens.[199] Paul, lying in the foreground, expresses in his attitude
-the most helpless and grovelling prostration. The attendants appear
-very literally frightened out of their senses; and the grey horse
-snorting and rearing behind is the finest part of the picture: as is
-usual with Rubens, the effects of physical fear and amazement are given
-with the utmost spirit and truth; but the scriptural dignity, the
-supernatural terrors, of the subject are ill expressed, and the apostle
-himself is degraded. To go a step lower, Cuyp has given us a Conversion
-of St. Paul apparently for the sole purpose of introducing horses in
-different attitudes: the favourite dapple-grey charger is seen bounding
-off in terror; no one looks at St. Paul, still less to Christ above—but
-the _horses_ are admirable.
-
-5. In Albert Dürer’s print, a shower of _stones_ is falling from heaven
-on St. Paul and his company.
-
-6. There is a very curious and unusual version of this subject in
-a rare print by Lucas van Leyden. It is a composition of numerous
-figures. St. Paul is seen, blind and bewildered, led between two men;
-another man leads his frightened charger; several warriors and horsemen
-follow, and the whole procession seems to be proceeding slowly to the
-right. In the far distance is represented the previous moment—Paul
-struck down and blinded by the celestial vision.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-‘Paul, after his conversion, restored to sight by Ananias,’ as a
-separate subject, seldom occurs; but it has been treated in the later
-schools by Vasari, by Cavallucci, and by P. Cortona.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-‘The Jews flagellate Paul and Silas.’ I know but one picture of this
-subject, that of Niccolò Poussin: the angry Jews are seen driving them
-forth with scourges; the Elders, who have condemned them, are seated in
-council behind: as we might expect from the character of Poussin, the
-dignity of the apostles is maintained,—but it is not one of his best
-pictures.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-‘Paul, after his conversion, escapes from Damascus;’ he is let down
-in a basket (Acts ix. 25): the incident forms, of course, one of the
-scenes in his life when exhibited in a series, but I remember no
-separate picture of this subject, and the situation is so ludicrous and
-so derogatory that we can understand how it came to be avoided.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-‘The ecstatic vision of St. Paul, in which he was caught up to the
-third heaven.’ (2 Cor. xii. 2.) Paul, who so frequently and familiarly
-speaks of angels, in describing this event makes no mention of them,
-but in pictures he is represented as borne upwards by angels. I find
-no early composition of this subject. The small picture of Domenichino
-is coldly conceived. Poussin has painted the ‘Ravissement de St. Paul’
-twice; in the first, the apostle is borne upon the arms of four angels,
-and in the second he is sustained by three angels. In rendering this
-ecstatic vision, the angels, always allowable as machinery, have here a
-particular propriety; Paul is elevated only a few feet above the roof
-of his house, where lie his sword and book. Here the sword serves to
-distinguish the personage; and the roof of the house shows us that it
-is a vision, and not an apotheosis. Both pictures are in the Louvre.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-‘Paul preaching to the converts at Ephesus.’ In a beautiful
-Raffaelesque composition by Le Sueur, the incident of the magicians
-bringing their books of sorcery and burning them at the feet of the
-apostle is well introduced. It was long the custom to exhibit this
-picture solemnly in Notre Dame every year on the 1st of May. It is now
-in the Louvre.
-
-‘Paul before Felix,’ and ‘Paul before Agrippa.’ Neither of these
-subjects has ever been adequately treated. It is to me inconceivable
-that the old masters so completely overlooked the opportunity for grand
-characteristic delineation afforded by both these scenes, the latter
-especially. Perhaps, in estimating its capabilities, we are misled by
-the effect produced on the imagination by the splendid eloquence of
-the apostle; yet, were another Raphael to arise, I would suggest the
-subject as a pendant to the St. Paul at Athens.
-
-‘Paul performs miracles before the Emperor Nero;’ a blind man, a sick
-child, and a possessed woman are brought to him to be healed. This,
-though a legendary rather than a scriptural subject, has been treated
-by Le Sueur with scriptural dignity and simplicity.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-‘The martyrdom of St. Paul’ is sometimes a separate subject, but
-generally it is the pendant to the martyrdom of St. Peter. According
-to the received tradition, the two apostles suffered at the same time,
-but in different places; for St. Paul, being by birth a Roman citizen,
-escaped the ignominy of the public exposure in the Circus, as well
-as the prolonged torture of the cross. He was beheaded by the sword
-outside the Ostian gate, about two miles from Rome, at a place called
-the Aqua Salvias, now the ‘Tre Fontane.’ The legend of the death of St.
-Paul relates that a certain Roman matron named Plautilla, one of the
-converts of St. Peter, placed herself on the road by which St. Paul
-passed to his martyrdom, in order to behold him for the last time;
-and when she saw him, she wept greatly, and besought his blessing.
-The apostle then, seeing her faith, turned to her and begged that she
-would give him her veil to bind his eyes when he should be beheaded,
-promising to return it to her after his death. The attendants mocked
-at such a promise, but Plautilla, with a woman’s faith and charity,
-taking off her veil, presented it to him. After his martyrdom, St. Paul
-appeared to her, and restored the veil stained with his blood. It is
-also related, that when he was decapitated the severed head made three
-bounds upon the earth, and wherever it touched the ground a fountain
-sprang forth.
-
-In the most ancient representations of the martyrdom of St. Paul,
-the legend of Plautilla is seldom omitted. In the picture of Giotto
-preserved in the sacristy of St. Peter’s, Plautilla is seen on an
-eminence in the background, receiving the veil from the hand of
-Paul, who appears in the clouds above; the same representation, but
-little varied, is executed in bas-relief on the bronze doors of St.
-Peter’s. The three fountains gushing up beneath the severed head are
-also frequently represented as a literal fact, though a manifest and
-beautiful allegory, figurative of the fountains of Christian faith
-which should spring forth from his martyrdom.
-
-In all the melancholy vicinity of Rome, there is not a more melancholy
-spot than the ‘Tre Fontane.’ A splendid monastery, rich with the
-offerings of all Christendom, once existed there: the ravages of that
-mysterious scourge of the Campagna, the malaria, have rendered it a
-desert; three ancient churches and some ruins still exist, and a few
-pale monks wander about the swampy dismal confines of the hollow in
-which they stand. In winter you approach them through a quagmire; in
-summer, you dare not breathe in their pestilential vicinity; and yet
-there is a sort of dead beauty about the place, something hallowed as
-well as sad, which seizes on the fancy. In the church properly called
-‘San Paolo delle Tre Fontane,’ and which is so old that the date of the
-foundation is unknown, are three chapels with altars raised over as
-many wells or fountains; the altars are modern, and have each the head
-of St. Paul carved in relief. The water, which appeared to me exactly
-the same in all the three fountains, has a soft insipid taste, neither
-refreshing nor agreeable. The ancient frescoes have perished, and the
-modern ones are perishing. It is a melancholy spot.
-
-To return, however, to that event which has rendered it for ages
-consecrated and memorable. Among the many representations of the
-decollation of St. Paul which exist in sculpture and in painting, I
-have not met with one which could take a high place as a work of art,
-or which has done justice to the tragic capabilities of the subject.
-
-After his martyrdom the body of St. Paul was interred on a spot between
-the Ostian gate and the Aqua Salvias, and there arose the magnificent
-church known as San Paolo-_fuori-le-mura_. I saw this church a few
-months before it was consumed by fire in 1823; I saw it again in
-1847, when the restoration was far advanced. Its cold magnificence,
-compared with the impressions left by the former structure, rich with
-inestimable remains of ancient art, and venerable from a thousand
-associations, saddened and chilled me.
-
-The mosaics in the old church, which represented the life and actions
-of St. Paul, were executed by the Greek mosaic masters of the eleventh
-century. They appear to have comprised the same subjects which still
-exist as a series in the church of Monreale near Palermo, and which I
-shall now describe.
-
-1. Saul is sent by the high-priest to Damascus. Two priests are seated
-on a raised throne in front of the Temple; Saul stands before them.
-
-2. The Conversion of Saul, as already described (p. 214).
-
-3. Saul, being blind, is led by his attendants to the gate of Damascus.
-
-4. Saul seated. Ananias enters and addresses him.
-
-5. Paul is baptized: he is standing, or rather sitting, in a font,
-which is a large vase, and not much larger in proportion than a
-punch-bowl.
-
-6. St. Paul disputes with the Jews. His attitude is vehement and
-expressive: three Jewish doctors stand before him as if confounded and
-put to silence by his eloquent reasoning.
-
-7. St. Paul escapes from Damascus; the basket, in which he is lowered
-down from a parapet, is about the size of a hand-basket.
-
-8. St. Paul delivers a scroll to Timothy and Silas; he consigns to
-their direction the deacons that were ordained by the apostles and
-elders. (Acts xvi. 4.)
-
-9. St. Paul and St. Peter meet at Rome, and embrace with brotherly
-affection. I believe this subject to represent the reconciliation of
-the two apostles after the dispute at Antioch. The inscription is, _Hic
-Paulus venit Romam et pacem fecit cum Petro_. (In the Christian Museum
-in the Vatican there is a most beautiful small Greek picture in which
-Peter and Paul are embracing; it may represent the reconciliation or
-the parting: the heads, though minute, are extremely characteristic.)
-
-10. The decollation of St. Paul at the Aqua Salvias; one fountain only
-is introduced.
-
-This is the earliest instance I can quote of the dramatic treatment
-of the life and actions of St. Paul in a series of subjects. The
-Greek type of the head of St. Paul is retained throughout, strongly
-individualised, and he appears as a man of about thirty-five or forty.
-In the later schools of art, which afford some celebrated examples
-of the life of St. Paul treated as a series, the Greek type has been
-abandoned.
-
-The series by Raphael, executed for the tapestries of the Sistine
-Chapel in the Vatican, consists of five large and seven small
-compositions.
-
-1. The conversion of Saul, already described: the cartoon is lost. 2.
-Elymas the sorcerer struck blind: wonderful for dramatic power. 3.
-St. Paul and Barnabas at Lystra. 4. Paul preaches at Athens. Of these
-three magnificent compositions we have the cartoons at Hampton Court.
-5. St. Paul in prison at Philippi. The earthquake through which he was
-liberated is here represented allegorically as a Titan in the lower
-corner of the picture, with shoulders and arms heaving up the earth.
-This, which strikes us as rather pagan in conception, has, however,
-a parallel in the earliest Christian Art, where, in the baptism of
-Christ, the Jordan is sometimes represented by a classical river-god,
-sedge-crowned, and leaning on his urn.
-
-The seven small subjects, which in the set of tapestries run underneath
-as borders to the large compositions, are thus arranged:—
-
-1. ‘As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every
-house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.’ (Acts viii.
-3.) At one end of a long narrow composition Saul is seated in the dress
-of a Roman warrior, and attended by a lictor; they bring before him a
-Christian youth; farther on are seen soldiers ‘haling men and women’
-by the hair; others flee in terror. This was erroneously supposed to
-represent the massacre at Prato, in 1512, by the adherents of the
-Medici, and is so inscribed in the set of engravings by Bartoli and
-Landon.
-
-2. John and Mark taking leave of the brethren at Perga in Pamphylia.
-(Acts xiii. 3.)
-
-3. Paul, teaching in the synagogue at Antioch, confounds the Jews.
-(Acts xviii. 3.)
-
-4. Paul at Corinth engaged in tent-making with his host. This is an
-uncommon subject, but I remember another instance in a curious old
-German print, where, in the lower part of the composition, the apostle
-is teaching or preaching; and above there is a kind of gallery or
-balcony, in which he is seen working at a loom: ‘You yourselves know
-that these hands have ministered to my necessities, labouring night and
-day, because we would not be chargeable unto you.’ (Acts xviii. 6.)
-
-5. Being at Corinth, he is mocked by the Jews. (Acts viii. 12.)
-
-6. He lays his hand on the Christian converts.
-
-7. He is brought before the judgment-seat of Gallio.[200]
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-‘Paul, in the island of Melita, shaking the viper from his hand,’ is
-not a common subject, and yet it is capable of the finest picturesque
-and dramatic effects: the storm and shipwreck in the background,
-the angry heavens above, the red firelight, the group of astonished
-mariners, and, pre-eminent among them, the calm intellectual figure
-of the apostle shaking the venomous beast from his hand,—these are
-surely beautiful and available materials for a scenic picture. Even if
-treated as an allegory in a devotional sense, a single majestic figure,
-throwing the evil thing innocuous from him, which I have not yet
-seen, it would be an excellent and a significant subject. The little
-picture by Elzheimer is the best example I can cite of the picturesque
-treatment. That of Le Sueur has much dignity; those of Perino del Vaga,
-Thornhill, West, are all commonplace.
-
-Thornhill, as everybody knows, painted the eight principal scenes of
-the life of the apostle in the cupola of St. Paul’s.[201] Few people,
-I should think, have strained their necks to examine them; the eight
-original studies, small sketches _en grisaille_, are preserved in the
-vestry, and display that heartless, mindless, mannered mediocrity,
-which makes all criticism foolishness; I shall, however, give a list of
-the subjects.
-
-1. Paul and Barnabas at Lystra. 2. Paul preaching at Athens. 3. Elymas
-struck blind. 4. The converts burn their magical books. 5. Paul before
-Festus. 6. A woman seated at his feet; I presume the Conversion of
-Lydia of Thyatira. 7. Paul let down in a basket. 8. He shakes the viper
-from his hand.
-
-At the time that Thornhill was covering the cupola at ‘the rate of
-2_l._ the square yard,’ Hogarth, his son-in-law, would also try his
-hand. He painted ‘St. Paul pleading before Felix’ for Lincoln’s.
-Inn Hall; where the subject, at least, is appropriate. The picture
-itself is curiously characteristic, not of the scene or of the chief
-personage, but of the painter. St. Paul loaded with chains, and his
-accuser Tertullus, stand in front; and Felix, with his wife Drusilla,
-are seated on a raised tribunal in the background; near Felix is the
-high-priest Ananias. The composition is good. The heads are full
-of vivid expression—wrath, terror, doubt, fixed attention; but the
-conception of character most ignoble and commonplace. Hogarth was
-more at home when he took the same subject as a vehicle for a witty
-caricature of the Dutch manner of treating sacred subjects—their
-ludicrous anachronisms and mean incidents. St. Paul, in allusion to his
-low stature, is mounted on a stool; an angel is sawing through one
-leg of it; Tertullus is a barrister, in wig, band, and gown; the judge
-is like an old doting justice of peace, and his attendants like old
-beggars.
-
-In the Florentine Gallery there is a very curious series of the lives
-of St. Peter and St. Paul in eight pictures, in the genuine old German
-style; fanciful, animated, full of natural and dramatic expression,
-and exquisitely finished,—but dry, hard, grotesque, and abounding in
-anachronisms.[202]
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Among the few separate historical subjects in which St. Peter and St.
-Paul are represented together, the most important is the dispute at
-Antioch,—a subject avoided by the earliest painters. St. Paul says,
-‘When Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because
-he was to be blamed.’ Guido’s picture in the _Brera_ at _Milan_ is
-celebrated: Peter is seated, looking thoughtful, with downcast eyes,
-an open book on his knees; Paul, in an attitude of rebuke, stands over
-against him. There is another example by Rosso: here both are standing;
-Peter is looking down; Paul, with long hair and beard floating back,
-and a keen reproving expression, ‘rebukes him to his face.’  I presume
-the same subject to be represented by Lucas van Leyden in a rare and
-beautiful little print, in which St. Peter and St. Paul are seated
-together in earnest conversation. St. Peter holds a _key_ in his right
-hand, and points with the other to a book which lies on his knees. St.
-Paul is about to turn the leaf, and his right hand appears to rebuke
-St. Peter; his left foot is on the _sword_ which lies at his feet.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-‘The Parting of St. Peter and St. Paul before they are led to death.’
-The scene is without the gates of Rome; and as the soldiers drag Peter
-away, he turns back to Paul with a pathetic expression. This picture,
-now in the Louvre, is one of Lanfranco’s best compositions.[203]
-
-When the crucifixion of St. Peter and the decollation of St. Paul
-are represented together in the same picture, such a picture must be
-considered as religious and devotional, not historical; it does not
-express the action as it really occurred, but, like many pictures
-of the crucifixion of our Saviour, it is placed before us as an
-excitement to piety, self-sacrifice, and repentance. We have this kind
-of treatment in a picture by Niccolò dell’ Abate:[204] St. Paul kneels
-before a block, and the headsman stands with sword uplifted in act to
-strike; in the background, two other executioners grasp St. Peter, who
-is kneeling on his cross and praying fervently: above, in a glory, is
-seen the Virgin; in her arms the Infant Christ, who delivers to two
-angels palm-branches for the martyred saints. The genius of Niccolò was
-not precisely fitted for this class of subjects. But the composition
-is full of poetical feeling. The introduction of the Madonna and Child
-stamps the character of the picture as devotional, not historical—it
-would otherwise be repulsive, and out of keeping with the subject.
-
-There is a Martyrdom of St. Peter and St. Paul engraved after
-Parmigiano,[205] which I shall notice on account of its careless and
-erroneous treatment. They are put to death together; an executioner
-prepares to decapitate St. Peter, and another drags St. Paul by the
-beard: the incidents are historically false, and, moreover, in a
-degraded and secular taste. These are the mistakes that make us turn
-disgusted from the technical facility, elegance, and power of the
-sixteenth century, to the simplicity and reverential truth of the
-fourteenth.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-There are various traditions concerning the relics of St. Peter and
-St. Paul. According to some, the bodies of the two apostles were, in
-the reign of Heliogabalus, deposited by the Christian converts in the
-catacombs of Rome, and were laid in the same sepulchre. After the lapse
-of about two hundred years, the Greek or Oriental Christians attempted
-to carry them off; but were opposed by the Roman Christians. The Romans
-conquered; and the two bodies were transported to the church of the
-Vatican, where they reposed together in a magnificent shrine, beneath
-the church. Among the engravings in the work of Ciampini and Bosio are
-two rude old pictures commemorating this event. The first represents
-the combat of the Orientals and the Romans for the bodies of the
-Saints; in the other, the bodies are deposited in the Vatican. In these
-two ancient representations, which were placed in the portico of the
-old basilica of St. Peter, the traditional types may be recognised—the
-broad full features, short curled beard, and bald head of St. Peter,
-and the oval face and long beard of St. Paul.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Here I must conclude this summary of the lives and characters of the
-two greatest apostles, as they have been exhibited in Christian Art;
-to do justice to the theme would have required a separate volume. One
-observation, however, suggests itself, and cannot be passed over. The
-usual type of the head of St. Peter, though often ill rendered and
-degraded by coarseness, can in general be recognised as characteristic;
-but is there among the thousand representations of the apostle Paul,
-_one_ on which the imagination can rest completely satisfied? I know
-not one. No doubt the sublimest ideal of embodied eloquence that ever
-was expressed in Art is Raphael’s St. Paul preaching at Athens. He
-stands there the delegated voice of the true God, the antagonist and
-conqueror of the whole heathen world:—‘Whom ye ignorantly worship,
-HIM declare I unto you’—is not this what he says? Every feature, nay,
-every fold in his drapery, speaks; as in the other St. Paul leaning
-on his sword (in the famous St. Cecilia), every feature and every
-fold of drapery meditates. The latter is as fine in its tranquil
-melancholy grandeur, as the former in its authoritative energy: in the
-one the orator, in the other the philosopher, were never more finely
-rendered: but is it, in either, the Paul of Tarsus whom we know? It
-were certainly both unnecessary and pedantic to adhere so closely
-to historic fact as to make St. Paul of diminutive stature, and St.
-Peter weak-eyed: but has Raphael done well in wholly rejecting the
-traditional portrait which reflected to us the Paul of Scripture,
-the man of many toils and many sorrows, wasted with vigils, worn
-down with travel, whose high bald forehead, thin flowing hair, and
-long pointed beard, spoke so plainly the fervent and indomitable,
-yet meditative and delicate, organisation,—and in substituting this
-Jupiter Ammon head, with the dark redundant hair, almost hiding the
-brow, and the full bushy beard? This is one of the instances in which
-Raphael, in yielding to the fashion of his time, has erred, as it
-seems to me,—though I say it with all reverence! The St. Paul rending
-his garments at Lystra, and rejecting the sacrifice of the misguided
-people, is more particularly false as to the character of the man,
-though otherwise so grandly expressive, that we are obliged to admire
-what our better sense—our _conscience_—cannot wholly approve.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-I shall now consider the rest of the apostles in their proper order.
-
-
-                              ST. ANDREW.
-
-_Lat._ S. Andreas. _Ital._ Sant’ Andrea. _Fr._ St. André. Patron saint
-              of Scotland and of Russia. Nov. 30 A.D. 70.
-
-St. Andrew was the brother of Simon Peter, and the first who was called
-to the apostleship. Nothing farther is recorded of him in Scripture:
-he is afterwards merely included by name in the general account of the
-apostles.
-
-In the traditional and legendary history of St. Andrew we are told,
-that after our Lord’s ascension, when the apostles dispersed to
-preach the Gospel to all nations, St. Andrew travelled into Scythia,
-Cappadocia, and Bithynia, everywhere converting multitudes to the
-faith. The Russians believe that he was the first to preach to the
-Muscovites in Sarmatia, and thence he has been honoured as titular
-saint of the empire of Russia. After many sufferings, he returned to
-Jerusalem, and thence travelled into Greece, and came at length to
-a city of Achaia, called Patras. Here he made many converts; among
-others, Maximilla, the wife of the proconsul Ægeus, whom he persuaded
-to make a public profession of Christianity. The proconsul, enraged,
-commanded him to be seized and scourged, and then crucified. The cross
-on which he suffered was of a peculiar form (_crux decussata_), since
-called the St. Andrew’s cross; and it is expressly said that he was not
-fastened to his cross with nails, but with cords,—a circumstance always
-attended to in the representations of his death. It is, however, to be
-remembered, that while all authorities agree that he was crucified, and
-that the manner of his crucifixion was peculiar, they are not agreed
-as to the form of his cross. St. Peter Chrysologos says that it was
-a tree: another author affirms that it was an olive tree. The Abbé
-Méry remarks, that it is a mistake to give the transverse cross to
-St. Andrew; that it ought not to differ from the cross of our Lord.
-His reasons are not absolutely conclusive:—‘Il suffit pour montrer
-qu’ils sont là-dessus dans l’erreur, de voir _la croix véritable_ de
-St. André, conservée dans l’Église de St. Victor de Marseille; on
-trouvera qu’elle est à angles droits,’ &c.[206] Seeing is believing;
-nevertheless, the form is fixed by tradition and usage, and ought not
-to be departed from, though Michael Angelo has done so in the figure of
-St. Andrew in the Last Judgment, and there are several examples in the
-Italian masters.[207] The legend goes on to relate, that St. Andrew, on
-approaching the cross prepared for his execution, saluted and adored
-it on his knees, as being already consecrated by the sufferings of the
-Redeemer, and met his death triumphantly. Certain of his relics were
-brought from Patras to Scotland in the fourth century, and since that
-time St. Andrew has been honoured as the patron saint of Scotland, and
-of its chief order of knighthood. He is also the patron saint of the
-famous Burgundian Order, the Golden Fleece; and of Russia and its chief
-Order, the Cross of St. Andrew.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Since the fourteenth century, St. Andrew is generally distinguished in
-works of art by the transverse cross; the devotional pictures in which
-he figures as one of the series of apostles, or singly as patron saint,
-represent him as a very old man with some kind of brotherly resemblance
-to St. Peter; his hair and beard silver white, long, loose, and
-flowing, and in general the beard is divided; he leans upon his cross,
-and holds the Gospel in his right hand.
-
-[Illustration: 74 St. Andrew (Peter Vischer)]
-
-The historical subjects from the life of St. Andrew, treated separately
-from the rest of the apostles, are very few; his crucifixion is the
-only one that I have found treated before the fifteenth century. On
-the ancient doors of San Paolo, the instrument of his martyrdom has the
-shape of a Y, and resembles a tree split down the middle. The cross in
-some later pictures is very lofty, and resembles the rough branches of
-a tree laid transversely.
-
-I know but two other subjects relating to the life of St. Andrew which
-have been separately treated in the later schools of art—the Adoration
-of the Cross, and the Flagellation.
-
-‘St. Andrew adoring his cross,’ by Andrea Sacchi, is remarkable for
-its simplicity and fine expression; it contains only three figures.
-St Andrew, half undraped, and with his silver hair and beard floating
-dishevelled, kneels, gazing up to the cross with ecstatic devotion; he
-is addressing to it his famous invocation:—‘Salve, Croce preziosa! che
-fosti consecrata dal corpo del mio Dio!’—an executioner stands by, and
-a fierce soldier, impatient of delay, urges him on to death.[208]
-
-‘St. Andrew taken down from the cross’ is a fine effective picture by
-Ribera.[209]
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-When Guido and Domenichino painted, in emulation of each other,
-the frescoes in the chapel of Sant’ Andrea in the church of San
-Gregorio, at Rome, Guido chose for his subject the Adoration of the
-Cross. The scene is supposed to be outside the walls of Patras in
-Achaia; the cross is at a distance in the background; St. Andrew, as
-he approaches, falls down in adoration before the instrument of his
-martyrdom, consecrated by the death of his Lord; he is attended by one
-soldier on horseback, one on foot, and three executioners; a group of
-women and alarmed children in the foreground are admirable for grace
-and feeling—they are, in fact, the best part of the picture. On the
-opposite wall of the chapel Domenichino painted the Flagellation of
-St. Andrew, a subject most difficult to treat effectively, and retain
-at the same time the dignity of the suffering apostle, while avoiding
-all resemblance to a similar scene in the life of Christ. Here he is
-bound down on a sort of table; one man lifts a rod, another seems
-to taunt the prostrate saint; a lictor drives back the people. The
-group of the mother and frightened children, which Domenichino so
-often introduces with little variation, is here very beautiful; the
-judge and lictors are seen behind, with a temple and a city in the
-distance. When Domenichino painted the same subject in the church of
-Sant’ Andrea-della-Valle, he chose another moment, and administered
-the torture after a different manner: the apostle is bound by his
-hands and feet to four short posts set firmly in the ground; one of
-the executioners in tightening a cord breaks it and falls back; three
-men prepare to scourge him with _thongs_: in the foreground we have
-the usual group of the mother and her frightened children. This is
-a composition full of dramatic life and movement, but unpleasing.
-Domenichino painted in the same church the crucifixion of the saint,
-and his apotheosis surmounts the whole.
-
-All these compositions are of great celebrity in the history of Art for
-colour and for expression. Lanzi says, that the personages, ‘if endued
-with speech, could not say more to the ear than they do to the eye.’
-But, in power and pathos, none of them equal the picture of Murillo,
-of which we have the original study in England.[210] St. Andrew is
-suspended on the high cross, formed, not of planks, but of the trunks
-of trees laid transversely. He is bound with cords, undraped, except
-by a linen cloth; his silver hair and beard loosely streaming in the
-air; his aged countenance illuminated by a heavenly transport, as he
-looks up to the opening skies, whence two angels of really celestial
-beauty, like almost all Murillo’s angels, descend with the crown and
-palm. In front, to the right, is a group of shrinking sympathising
-women; and a boy turns away, crying with a truly boyish grief; on the
-left are guards and soldiers. The subject is here rendered poetical by
-mere force of feeling; there is a tragic reality in the whole scene,
-far more effective, to my taste, than the more studied compositions
-of the Italian painters. The martyrdom of St. Andrew, and the saint
-preaching the Gospel, by Juan de Roelas, are also mentioned as splendid
-productions of the Seville school.
-
-I think it possible that St. Andrew may owe his popularity in the
-Spanish and Flemish schools of art to his being the patron saint of
-the far-famed Burgundian Order of the Golden Fleece. At the time
-that Constantinople was taken, and the relics of St. Andrew dispersed
-in consequence, a lively enthusiasm for this apostle was excited
-throughout all Christendom. He had been previously honoured chiefly as
-the brother of St. Peter; he obtained thenceforth a kind of personal
-interest and consideration. Philip of Burgundy (A.D. 1433), who had
-obtained at great cost a portion of the precious relics, consisting
-chiefly of some pieces of his cross, placed under the protection of the
-apostle his new order of chivalry, which, according to the preamble,
-was intended to revive the honour and the memory of the Argonauts. His
-knights wore as their badge the cross of St. Andrew.
-
-
-                         ST. JAMES THE GREAT.
-
-     _Lat._ Sanctus Jacobus Major. _Ital._ San Giacomo, or Jacopo,
- Maggiore. _Fr._ St. Jacques Majeur. _Spa._ San Jago, or Santiago. El
-           Tutelar. Patron saint of Spain. July 25. A.D. 44.
-
-St. James the Great, or the Elder, or St. James _Major_, was nearly
-related to Christ, and, with his brother John (the evangelist) and
-Peter, he seems to have been admitted to particular favour, travelled
-with the Lord, and was present at most of the events recorded in the
-Gospels. He was one of the three who were permitted to witness the
-glorification of Christ on Mount Tabor, and one of those who slept
-during the agony in the garden. After our Saviour’s ascension, nothing
-is recorded concerning him, except the fact that Herod slew him with
-the sword. In the ancient traditions he is described as being of a
-zealous and affectionate temper, easily excited to anger: of this we
-have a particular instance in his imprecation against the inhospitable
-Samaritans, for which Christ rebuked him: ‘Ye know not what manner of
-spirit ye are of. The Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives,
-but to save them.’ (Luke, ix. 55.)
-
-As Scripture makes no farther mention of one so distinguished by his
-zeal and by his near relationship to the Saviour, the legends of the
-middle ages have supplied this deficiency; and so amply, that St.
-James, as St. Jago or SANTIAGO, the military patron of Spain, became
-one of the most renowned saints in Christendom, and one of the most
-popular subjects of Western Art. Many of these subjects are so
-singular, that, in order to render them intelligible, I must give
-the legend at full length as it was followed by the artists of the
-fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
-
-According to the Spanish legend, the apostle James was the son of
-Zebedee, an illustrious baron of Galilee, who, being the proprietor
-of ships, was accustomed to fish along the shores of a certain lake
-called Gennesareth, but solely for his good pleasure and recreation:
-for who can suppose that Spain, that nation of Hidalgos and Caballeros,
-would ever have chosen for her patron, or accepted as the leader and
-captain-general of her armies, a poor ignoble fisherman? It remains,
-therefore, indisputable, that this glorious apostle, who was our Lord’s
-cousin-german, was of noble lineage, and worthy of his spurs as a
-knight and a gentleman;—so in Dante:—
-
-                   Ecco _il Barone_
-    Per cui laggiù si visita Galizia.‘
-
-But it pleased him, in his great humility, to follow, while on earth,
-the example of his divine Lord, and reserve his warlike prowess till
-called upon to slaughter, by thousands and tens of thousands, those
-wicked Moors, the perpetual enemies of Christ and his servants. Now,
-as James and his brother John were one day in their father’s ship
-with his hired servants, and were employed in mending the nets, the
-Lord, who was walking on the shores of the lake, called them; and they
-left all and followed him; and became thenceforward his most favoured
-disciples, and the witnesses of his miracles while on earth. After
-the ascension of Christ, James preached the Gospel in Judea; then he
-travelled over the whole world, and came at last to Spain, where he
-made very few converts, by reason of the ignorance and darkness of
-the people. One day, as he stood with his disciples on the banks of
-the Ebro, the blessed Virgin appeared to him seated on the top of a
-pillar of jasper, and surrounded by a choir of angels; and the apostle
-having thrown himself on his face, she commanded him to build on that
-spot a chapel for her worship, assuring him that all this province of
-Saragossa, though now in the darkness of paganism, would at a future
-time be distinguished by devotion to her. He did as the holy Virgin
-had commanded, and this was the origin of a famous church afterwards
-known as that of Our Lady of the Pillar (’_Nuestra Señora del
-Pillar_‘). Then St. James, having founded the Christian faith in Spain,
-returned to Judea, where he preached for many years, and performed many
-wonders and miracles in the sight of the people: and it happened that a
-certain sorcerer, whose name was Hermogenes,[211] set himself against
-the apostle, just as Simon Magus had wickedly and vainly opposed St.
-Peter, and with the like result. Hermogenes sent his scholar Philetus
-to dispute with James, and to compete with him in wondrous works; but,
-as you will easily believe, he had no chance against the apostle, and,
-confessing himself vanquished, he returned to his master, to whom he
-announced his intention to follow henceforth James and his doctrine.
-Then Hermogenes, in a rage, bound Philetus by his diabolical spells,
-so that he could not move hand or foot; saying, ‘Let us now see if
-thy new master can deliver thee:’ and Philetus sent his servant to
-St. James, praying for aid. Then the apostle took off his cloak, and
-gave it to the servant to give his master; and no sooner had Philetus
-touched it, than he became free, and hastened to throw himself at the
-feet of his deliverer. Hermogenes, more furious than ever, called to
-the demons who served him, and commanded that they should bring to him
-James and Philetus, bound in fetters; but on their way the demons met
-with a company of angels, who seized upon them, and punished them for
-their wicked intentions, till they cried for mercy. Then St. James said
-to them, ‘Go back to him who sent ye, and bring him hither bound.’
-And they did so; and having laid the sorcerer down at the feet of St.
-James, they besought him, saying, ‘Now give us power to be avenged
-of our enemy and thine!’ But St. James rebuked them, saying, ‘Christ
-hath commanded us to do good for evil.’ So he delivered Hermogenes
-from their hands; and the magician, being utterly confounded, cast his
-books into the sea, and desired of St. James that he would protect him
-against the demons, his former servants. Then St. James gave him his
-staff, as the most effectual means of defence against the infernal
-spirits; and Hermogenes became a faithful disciple and preacher of the
-word from that day.
-
-But the evil-minded Jews, being more and more incensed, took James and
-bound him, and brought him before the tribunal of Herod Agrippa; and
-one of those who dragged him along, touched by the gentleness of his
-demeanour, and by his miracles of mercy, was converted, and supplicated
-to die with him; and the apostle gave him the kiss of peace, saying,
-‘Pax vobis!’ and the kiss and the words together have remained as a
-form of benediction in the Church to this day. Then they were both
-beheaded, and so died.
-
-And the disciples of St. James came and took away his body; and, not
-daring to bury it, for fear of the Jews, they carried it to Joppa, and
-placed it on board of a ship: some say that the ship was of marble,
-but this is not authenticated; however, it is most certain that angels
-conducted the ship miraculously to the coast of Spain, where they
-arrived in seven days; and, sailing through the straits called the
-Pillars of Hercules, they landed at length in Galicia, at a port called
-Iria Flavia, now Padron.
-
-In those days there reigned over the country a certain queen whose
-name was Lupa, and she and all her people were plunged in wickedness
-and idolatry. Now, having come to shore, they laid the body of the
-apostle upon a great stone, which became like wax, and, receiving the
-body, closed around it: this was a sign that the saint willed to remain
-there; but the wicked queen Lupa was displeased, and she commanded
-that they should harness some wild bulls to a car, and place on it the
-body, with the self-formed tomb, hoping that they would drag it to
-destruction. But in this she was mistaken; for the wild bulls, when
-signed by the cross, became as docile as sheep, and they drew the body
-of the apostle straight into the court of her palace. When Queen Lupa
-beheld this miracle, she was confounded, and she and all her people
-became Christians: she built a magnificent church to receive the sacred
-remains, and died in the odour of sanctity.
-
-But then came the darkness and ruin which during the invasion of the
-Barbarians overshadowed all Spain; and the body of the apostle was
-lost, and no one knew where to find it, till, in the year 800, the
-place of sepulture was revealed to a certain holy friar.
-
-Then they caused the body of the saint to be transported to
-Compostella; and, in consequence of the surprising miracles which
-graced his shrine, he was honoured not merely in Galicia, but
-throughout all Spain. He became the patron saint of the Spaniards, and
-Compostella, as a place of pilgrimage, was renowned throughout Europe.
-From all countries bands of pilgrims resorted there, so that sometimes
-there were no less than a hundred thousand in one year. The military
-Order of Saint Jago, enrolled by Don Alphonso for their protection,
-became one of the greatest and richest in Spain.
-
-Now, if I should proceed to recount all the wonderful deeds enacted
-by Santiago in behalf of his chosen people, they would fill a volume.
-The Spanish historians number thirty-eight visible apparitions, in
-which this glorious saint descended from heaven in person, and took the
-command of their armies against the Moors. The first of these, and the
-most famous of all, I shall now relate.
-
-In the year of our Lord 939, King Ramirez, having vowed to deliver
-Castile from the shameful tribute imposed by the Moors, of one hundred
-virgins delivered annually, collected his troops, and defied their king
-Abdelraman, to battle:
-
-    The king call’d God to witness, that, came there weal or woe,
-    Thenceforth no maiden tribute from out Castile should go.—
-    ‘At least I will do battle on God our Saviour’s foe,
-    And die beneath my banner before I see it so!’
-
-Accordingly he charged the Moorish host on the plain of Alveida
-or Clavijo: after a furious conflict, the Christians were, by the
-permission of Heaven, defeated, and forced to retire. Night separated
-the combatants, and King Ramirez, overpowered with fatigue, and sad at
-heart, flung himself upon his couch and slept. In his sleep he beheld
-the apostle St. Jago, who promised to be with him next morning in
-the field, and assured him of victory. The king, waking up from the
-glorious vision, sent for his prelates and officers, to whom he related
-it; and the next morning, at the head of his army, he recounted it to
-his soldiers, bidding them rely on heavenly aid. He then ordered the
-trumpets to sound to battle. The soldiers, inspired with fresh courage,
-rushed to the fight. Suddenly St. Jago was seen mounted on a milk-white
-charger, and waving aloft a white standard; he led on the Christians,
-who gained a decisive victory, leaving 60,000 Moors dead on the
-field. This was the famous battle of Clavijo; and ever since that day,
-‘SANTIAGO!’ has been the war-cry of the Spanish armies.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-But it was not only on such great occasions that the invincible patron
-of Spain was pleased to exhibit his power: he condescended oftentimes
-to interfere for the protection of the poor and oppressed, of which I
-will now give a notable instance, as it is related by Pope Calixtus II.
-
-There was a certain German, who with his wife and son went on a
-pilgrimage to St. James of Compostella. Having come as far as Torlosa,
-they lodged at an inn there; and the host had a fair daughter, who,
-looking on the son of the pilgrim, a handsome and a graceful youth,
-became deeply enamoured; but he, being virtuous, and, moreover, on his
-way to a holy shrine, refused to listen to her allurements. Then she
-thought how she might be avenged for this slight put upon her charms,
-and hid in his wallet her father’s silver drinking-cup. The next
-morning, no sooner were they departed, than the host, discovering his
-loss, pursued them, accused them before the judge, and the cup being
-found in the young man’s wallet, he was condemned to be hung, and all
-they possessed was confiscated to the host.
-
-Then the afflicted parents pursued their way lamenting, and made their
-prayer and their complaint before the altar of the blessed Saint Jago;
-and thirty-six days afterwards as they returned by the spot where
-their son hung on the gibbet, they stood beneath it, weeping and
-lamenting bitterly. Then the son spoke and said, ‘O my mother! O my
-father! do not lament for me, for I have never been in better cheer;
-the blessed apostle James is at my side, sustaining me and filling
-me with celestial comfort and joy!’ The parents, being astonished,
-hastened to the judge, who at that moment was seated at table, and the
-mother called out, ‘Our son lives!’ The judge mocked at them: ‘What
-sayest thou, good woman? thou art beside thyself! If thy son liveth,
-so do those fowls in my dish.’ And lo! scarcely had he uttered the
-words, when the fowls (being a cock and a hen) rose up full-feathered
-in the dish, and the cock began to crow, to the great admiration of
-the judge and his attendants.[212] Then the judge rose up from table
-hastily, and called together the priests and the lawyers, and they went
-in procession to the gibbet, took down the young man, and restored
-him to his parents; and the miraculous cock and hen were placed under
-the protection of the Church, where they and their posterity long
-flourished in testimony of this stupendous miracle.
-
-There are many other legends of St. James; the Spanish chroniclers in
-prose and verse abound in such; but, in general, they are not merely
-incredible, but puerile and unpoetical; and I have here confined myself
-to those which I know to have been treated in Art.
-
-Previous to the twelfth century, St. James is only distinguished among
-the apostles by his place, which is the fourth in the series, the
-second after St. Peter and St. Paul. In some instances he is portrayed
-with a family resemblance to Christ, being his kinsman; the thin
-beard, and the hair parted and flowing down on each side. But from the
-thirteenth century it became a fashion to characterise St. James as a
-pilgrim of Compostella: he bears the peculiar long staff, to which the
-wallet or gourd of water is suspended; the cloak with a long cape, the
-scallop-shell on his shoulder or on his flapped hat. Where the cape,
-hat, and scallop-shells are omitted, the staff, borne as the first of
-the apostles who departed to fulfil his Gospel mission, remains his
-constant attribute, and by this he may be recognised in the Madonna
-pictures, and when grouped with other saints.
-
-[Illustration: 75 St. James Major (Gio. Santi)]
-
-The single devotional figures of St. James represent him in two
-distinct characters:—
-
-1. As tutelar saint of Spain, and conqueror of the Moors. In his
-pilgrim habit, mounted on a white charger, and waving a white banner,
-with white hair and beard streaming like a meteor, or sometimes armed
-in complete steel, spurred like a knight, his casque shadowed by white
-plumes, he tramples over the prostrate Infidels; so completely was the
-humble, gentle-spirited apostle of Christ merged in the spirit of the
-religious chivalry of the time. This is a subject frequent in Spanish
-schools. The figure over the high altar of Santiago is described as
-very grand when seen in the solemn twilight.
-
-[Illustration: 76 Santiago (Carreño de Miranda)]
-
-[Illustration: 77 St. James Major (A. del Sarto)]
-
-2. St. James as patron saint in the general sense. The most beautiful
-example I have met with is a picture in the Florence Gallery, painted
-by Andrea del Sarto for the Compagnia or Confraternita of Sant’
-Jacopo, and intended to figure as a standard in their processions. The
-Madonna di San Sisto of Raphael was painted for a similar purpose: and
-such are still commonly used in the religious processions in Italy;
-but they have no longer Raphaels and Andrea-del-Sartos to paint them.
-In this instance the picture has a particular form, high and narrow,
-adapted to its especial purpose: St. James wears a green tunic, and a
-rich crimson mantle; and as one of the purposes of the Compagnia was to
-educate poor orphans, they are represented by the two boys at his feet.
-This picture suffered from the sun and the weather, to which it had
-been a hundred times exposed in yearly processions; but it has been
-well restored, and is admirable for its vivid colouring as well as the
-benign attitude and expression.
-
-3. St. James seated; he holds a large book bound in vellum (the
-Gospels) in his left hand—and with his right points to heaven: by
-Guercino, in the gallery of Count Harrach, at Vienna. One of the finest
-pictures by Guercino I have seen.
-
-Pictures from the life of St. James singly, or as a series, are not
-common; but among those which remain to us there are several of great
-beauty and interest.
-
-In the series of frescoes painted in a side chapel of the church of St.
-Antony of Padua (A.D. 1376), once called the Capella di San Giacomo,
-and now San Felice, the old legend of St. James has been exactly
-followed; and though ruined in many parts, and in others coarsely
-repainted, these works remain as compositions amongst the most curious
-monuments of the _Trecentisti_. It appears that, towards the year
-1376, Messer Bonifacio de’ Lupi da Parma, Cavaliere e Marchese di
-Serana, who boasted of his descent from the Queen Lupa of the legend,
-dedicated this chapel to St. James of Spain (San Jacopo di Galizia),
-and employed M. Jacopo Avanzi to decorate it, who no doubt bestowed his
-best workmanship on his patron saint. The subjects are thus arranged,
-beginning with the lunette on the left hand, which is divided into
-three compartments:
-
-1. Hermogenes sends Philetus to dispute with St. James. 2. St. James in
-his pulpit converts Philetus. 3. Hermogenes sends his demons to bind
-St. James and Philetus. 4. Hermogenes brought bound to St. James. 5.
-He burns his books of magic. 6. Hermogenes and Philetus are conversing
-in a friendly manner with St. James. 7. St. James is martyred. 8. The
-arrival of his body in Spain in a marble ship steered by an angel. 9.
-The disciples lay the body on a rock, while Queen Lupa and her sister
-and another personage look on from a window in her palace. Then follow
-two compartments on the side where the window is broken out, much
-ruined; they represented apparently the imprisonment of the disciples.
-12. The disciples escape and are pursued, and their pursuers with their
-horses are drowned. 13. The wild bulls draw the sarcophagus into the
-court of Queen Lupa’s palace. 14. Baptism of Lupa. 15 and 16 (lower
-compartments to the left): St. Jago appears to King Ramirez, and the
-defeat of the Moors at Clavijo.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-There is a rare and curious print by Martin Schoen, in which the
-apparition of St. James at Clavijo is represented not in the Spanish
-but the German style. It is an animated composition of many figures.
-The saint appears on horseback in the midst, wearing his pilgrim’s
-dress, with the cockle-shell in his hat: the Infidels are trampled
-down, or fly before him.
-
-[Illustration: 78 The miracle of the Fowls (Lo Spagna)]
-
-On the road from Spoleto to Foligno, about four miles from Spoleto,
-there is a small chapel dedicated to St. James of Galizia. The frescoes
-representing the miracles of the saint were painted by Lo Spagna (A.D.
-1526), the friend and fellow pupil of Raphael. In the vault of the
-apsis is the Coronation of the Virgin; she kneels, attired in white
-drapery flowered with gold, and the whole group, though inferior in
-power, appeared to me in delicacy and taste far superior to the fresco
-of Fra Filippo Lippi at Spoleto, from which Passavant thinks it is
-borrowed.[213] Immediately under the Coronation, in the centre, is a
-figure of St. James as patron saint, standing with his pilgrim’s staff
-in one hand, and the Gospel in the other; his dress is a yellow tunic
-with a blue mantle thrown over it. In the compartment on the left, the
-youth is seen suspended on the gibbet, while St. James with his hands
-under his feet sustains him; the father and mother look up at him with
-astonishment. In the compartment to the right, we see the judge seated
-at dinner, attended by his servants, one of whom is bringing in a dish:
-the two pilgrims appear to have just told their story, and the cock and
-hen have risen up in the dish (78). These frescoes are painted with
-great elegance and animation, and the story is told with much naïveté.
-I found the same legend painted on one of the lower windows of the
-church of St. Ouen, and on a window of the right-hand aisle in St.
-Vincent’s at Rouen.
-
-
-Of ST. JOHN, who is the fifth in the series, I have spoken at large
-under the head of the Evangelists.
-
-
-                              ST. PHILIP.
-
- _Ital._ San Filippo Apostolo. _Fr._ Saint Philippe. Patron of Brabant
-                        and Luxembourg. May 1.
-
-Of St. Philip there are few notices in the Gospel. He was born at
-Bethsaida, and he was one of the first of those whom our Lord summoned
-to follow him. After the ascension, he travelled into Scythia, and
-remained there preaching the Gospel for twenty years; he then preached
-at Hieropolis in Phrygia, where he found the people addicted to the
-worship of a monstrous serpent or dragon, or of the god Mars under that
-form. Taking compassion on their blindness, the apostle commanded the
-serpent, in the name of the cross he held in his hand, to disappear,
-and immediately the reptile glided out from beneath the altar, at the
-same time emitting such a hideous stench, that many people died, and
-among them the king’s son fell dead in the arms of his attendants: but
-the apostle, by Divine power, restored him to life. Then the priests of
-the dragon were incensed against him, and they took him, and crucified
-him, and being bound on the cross they stoned him; thus he yielded up
-his spirit to God, praying, like his Divine Master, for his enemies and
-tormentors.
-
-According to the Scripture, St. Philip had four daughters, who were
-prophetesses, and made many converts to the faith of Christ (Acts, xxi.
-9). In the Greek calendar, St. Mariamne, his sister, and St. Hermione,
-his daughter, are commemorated as martyrs.
-
-[Illustration: 79 St. Philip (A. Dürer)]
-
-When St. Philip is represented alone, or as one of the series of
-apostles, he is generally a man in the prime of life, with little
-beard, and with a benign countenance, being described as of a
-remarkably cheerful and affectionate nature. He bears, as his
-attribute, a cross, which varies in form; sometimes it is a small
-cross, which he carries in his hand; sometimes a high cross in the form
-of a T, or a tall staff with a small Latin cross at the top of it (79).
-The cross of St. Philip may have a treble signification: it may allude
-to his martyrdom; or to his conquest over the idols through the power
-of the cross; or, when placed on the top of the pilgrim’s staff, it may
-allude to his mission among the barbarians as preacher of the cross of
-salvation. Single figures of St. Philip as patron are not common: there
-is a fine statue of him on the façade of San Michele at Florence; and a
-noble figure by Beccafumi, reading;[214] another, seated and reading,
-by Ulrich Mair.[215]
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Subjects from the life of St. Philip, whether as single pictures or
-in a series, are also rarely met with. As he was the first called by
-our Saviour to leave all and follow him, and his vocation therefore a
-festival in the Church, it must, I think, have been treated apart; but
-I have not met with it. I know but of three historical subjects taken
-from his life:—
-
-1. Bonifazio. St. Philip stands before the Saviour: the attitude of the
-latter is extremely dignified, that of Philip supplicatory; the other
-apostles are seen in the background: the colouring and expression
-of the whole like Titian. The subject of this splendid picture is
-expressed by the inscription underneath (John, xiv. 14): ‘Domine,
-ostende nobis Patrem, et sufficit nobis.’ ‘Philippe, qui videt me,
-videt et Patrem meum: ego et Pater unum sumus.‘[216]
-
-2. St. Philip exorcises the serpent. The scene is the interior of a
-temple, an altar with the statue of the god Mars: a serpent, creeping
-from beneath the altar, slays the attendants with his poisonous and
-fiery breath. The ancient fresco in his chapel at Padua, described
-by Lord Lindsay, is extremely animated, but far inferior to the same
-subject in the Santa Croce at Florence by Fra Filippo Lippi, where
-the dignified attitude of the apostle, and the group of the king’s
-son dying in the arms of the attendants, are admirably effective and
-dramatic. St. Philip, it must be observed, was the patron saint of the
-painter.
-
-3. The Crucifixion of St. Philip. According to the old Greek
-traditions, he was crucified with his head downwards, and he is so
-represented on the gates of San Paolo; also in an old picture over the
-tomb of Cardinal Philippe d’Alençon, where his patron, St. Philip,
-is attached to the cross with cords, and head downwards, like St.
-Peter;[217] but in the old fresco by Giusto da Padova, in the Capella
-di San Filippo, he is crucified in the usual manner, arrayed in a long
-red garment which descends to his feet.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-It is necessary to avoid confounding St. Philip the apostle with
-St. Philip the deacon. It was Philip the deacon who baptized the
-chamberlain of Queen Candace, though the action has sometimes been
-attributed to Philip the apostle. The incident of the baptism of the
-Ethiopian, taking place in the road, by running water, ‘on the way that
-goeth down from Jerusalem to Gaza,’ has been introduced into several
-beautiful landscapes with much picturesque effect. Claude has thus
-treated it; Salvator Rosa; Jan Both, in a most beautiful picture in the
-Queen’s Gallery; Rembrandt, Cuyp, and others.
-
-
-                           ST. BARTHOLOMEW.
-
- _Lat._ S. Bartholomeus. _Ital._ San Bartolomeo. _Fr._ St. Barthélemi.
-                               Aug. 24.
-
-As St. Bartholomew is nowhere mentioned in the canonical books, except
-by name in enumerating the apostles, there has been large scope for
-legendary story, but in works of art he is not a popular saint.
-According to one tradition, he was the son of a husbandman; according
-to another, he was the son of a prince Ptolomeus. After the ascension
-of Christ he travelled into India, even to the confines of the
-habitable world, carrying with him the Gospel of St. Matthew; returning
-thence, he preached in Armenia and Cilicia; and coming to the city of
-Albanopolis, he was condemned to death as a Christian: he was first
-flayed and then crucified.
-
-[Illustration: 80 St. Bartholomew (Giotto)]
-
-In single figures and devotional pictures, St. Bartholomew sometimes
-carries in one hand a book, the Gospel of St. Matthew; but his peculiar
-attribute is a large knife, the instrument of his martyrdom. The
-legends describe him as having a quantity of strong black hair and a
-bushy grizzled beard; and this portrait being followed very literally
-by the old German and Flemish painters, gives him, with his large
-knife, the look of a butcher. In the Italian pictures, though of a
-milder and more dignified appearance, he has frequently black hair; and
-sometimes dark and resolute features; yet the same legend describes
-him as of a cheerful countenance, wearing a purple robe and attended
-by angels. Sometimes St. Bartholomew has his own skin hanging over
-his arm, as among the saints in Michael Angelo’s Last Judgment, where
-he is holding forth his skin in one hand, and grasping his knife in
-the other: and in the statue by Marco Agrati in the Milan Cathedral,
-famous for its anatomical precision and its boastful inscription, _Non
-me Praxiteles sed Marcus pinxit Agratis_. I found in the church of
-Nôtre Dame at Paris a picture of St. Bartholomew healing the Princess
-of Armenia. With this exception, I know not any historical subject
-where this apostle is the principal figure, except his revolting and
-cruel martyrdom. In the early Greek representation on the gates of San
-Paolo, he is affixed to a cross, or rather to a post, with a small
-transverse bar at top, to which his hands are fastened above his head;
-an executioner, with a knife in his hand, stoops at his feet. This is
-very different from the representations in the modern schools. The
-best, that is to say, the least disgusting, representation I have
-met with, is a small picture by Agostino Caracci, in the Sutherland
-Gallery, which once belonged to King Charles I.: it is easy to see
-that the painter had the antique Marsyas in his mind. That dark
-ferocious spirit, Ribera, found in it a theme congenial with his own
-temperament;[218] he has not only painted it several times with a
-horrible truth and power, but etched it elaborately with his own hand:
-a small picture, copied from the etching, is at Hampton Court.
-
-
-                              ST. THOMAS.
-
- _Ital._ San Tomaso. _Sp._ San Tomé. Dec. 21. Patron Saint of Portugal
-                              and Parma.
-
-St. Thomas, called _Didymus_ (the twin), takes, as apostle, the seventh
-place. He was a Galilean and a fisherman, and we find him distinguished
-among the apostles on two occasions recorded in the Gospel. When
-Jesus was going up to Bethany, being then in danger from the Jews,
-Thomas said, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with him.’ (John, xi.
-16, xx. 25.) After the resurrection, he showed himself unwilling to
-believe in the reappearance of the crucified Saviour without ocular
-demonstration: this incident is styled the Incredulity of Thomas. From
-these two incidents we may form some idea of his character: courageous
-and affectionate, but not inclined to take things for granted; or, as
-a French writer expresses it, ‘brusque et résolu, mais d’un esprit
-exigeant.’ After the ascension, St. Thomas travelled into the East,
-preaching the Gospel in far distant countries towards the rising sun.
-It is a tradition received in the Church, that he penetrated as far
-as India; that there meeting with the three Wise Men of the East,
-he baptized them; that he founded a church in India, and suffered
-martyrdom there. It is related, that the Portuguese found at Meliapore
-an ancient inscription, purporting that St. Thomas had been pierced
-with a lance at the foot of a cross which he had erected in that city,
-and that in 1523 his body was found there and transported to Goa.
-
-In Correggio’s fresco of St. Thomas as protector of Parma he is
-surrounded by angels bearing exotic fruits, as expressing his ministry
-in India.
-
-There are a number of extravagant and poetical legends relating to
-St. Thomas. I shall here limit myself to those which were adopted in
-ecclesiastical decoration, and treated by the artists of the middle
-ages.
-
-When St. Thomas figures as apostle, alone or with others, in all the
-devotional representations which are not prior to the thirteenth
-century he carries as his attribute the builder’s rule, of this form—
-
-[Illustration]
-
-Now, as he was a fisherman, and neither a carpenter nor a mason, the
-origin of this attribute must be sought in one of the most popular
-legends of which he is the subject.
-
-[Illustration: 81 St. Thomas the Apostle]
-
-‘When St. Thomas was at Cesarea, our Lord appeared to him and said,
-“The king of the Indies, Gondoforus, hath sent his provost Abanes
-to seek for workmen well versed in the science of architecture, who
-shall build for him a palace finer than that of the Emperor of Rome.
-Behold, now, I will send thee to him.” And Thomas went, and Gondoforus
-commanded him to build for him a magnificent palace, and gave him much
-gold and silver for the purpose. The king went into a distant country,
-and was absent for two years; and St. Thomas meanwhile, instead of
-building a palace, distributed all the treasures entrusted to him among
-the poor and sick; and when the king returned, he was full of wrath,
-and he commanded that St. Thomas should be seized and cast into prison,
-and he meditated for him a horrible death. Meantime the brother of the
-king died; and the king resolved to erect for him a most magnificent
-tomb; but the dead man, after that he had been dead four days, suddenly
-arose and sat upright, and said to the king, “The man whom thou wouldst
-torture is a servant of God: behold I have been in Paradise, and the
-angels showed to me a wondrous palace of gold and silver and precious
-stones,” and they said, “This is the palace that Thomas the architect
-hath built for thy brother King Gondoforus.” And when the king heard
-these words, he ran to the prison, and delivered the apostle; and
-Thomas said to him, “Knowest thou not that those who would possess
-heavenly things, have little care for the things of this earth? There
-are in heaven rich palaces without number, which were prepared from the
-beginning of the world for those who purchase the possession through
-faith and charity. Thy riches, O king, may prepare the way for thee to
-such a palace, but they cannot follow thee thither.”’[219]
-
-The builder’s rule in the hand of St. Thomas characterises him as the
-spiritual architect of King Gondoforus, and for the same reason he has
-been chosen among the saints as patron of architects and builders.
-
-There is in this legend or allegory, fanciful as it is, an obvious
-beauty and significance, which I need not point out. It appears to me
-to be one of those many legends which originally were not assumed to
-be facts, but were related as parables, religious fictions invented
-for the instruction of the people, like our Saviour’s stories of the
-‘Good Samaritan,’ the ‘Prodigal Son,’ &c., and were rendered more
-striking and impressive by the introduction of a celebrated and exalted
-personage—our Saviour, the Virgin, or one of the apostles—as hero of
-the tale. This beautiful legend of St. Thomas and King Gondoforus
-is painted on one of the windows of the cathedral at Bourges,—an
-appropriate offering from the company of builders in that ancient
-city. It is also the subject of one of the finest of the ancient
-French _mysteries_, which was acted with great applause at Paris in the
-fourteenth century.
-
-But, in the historical subjects from the life of St. Thomas, the first
-place must be given to the one scriptural incident in which he figures
-as a principal person. ‘The Incredulity of St. Thomas’ occurs in all
-the early series of the life of Christ, as one of the events of his
-mission, and one of the proofs of his resurrection. On the ancient
-gates of San Paolo it is treated with great simplicity as a sacred
-mystery, St. Thomas being the principal personage in the action, as
-the one whose conviction was to bring conviction to the universe.
-Christ stands on a pedestal surmounted by a cross; the apostles are
-ranged on each side, and St. Thomas, approaching, stretches forth his
-hand. The incident, as a separate subject, is of frequent occurrence
-in the later schools of Italy, and in the Flemish schools. The general
-treatment, when given in this dramatic style, admits of two variations:
-either St. Thomas is placing his hand, with an expression of doubt and
-fear, on the wounds of the Saviour; or, his doubts being removed, he
-is gazing upwards in adoration and wonder. Of the first, one of the
-finest examples is a well-known picture by Rubens,[220] one of his
-most beautiful works, and extraordinary for the truth of the expression
-in the countenance of the apostle, whose hand is on the side of Christ;
-St. John and St. Peter are behind. In Vandyck’s picture at Petersburg,
-St. Thomas stoops to examine the Saviour’s hand. In a design ascribed
-to Raphael, we have the second version: the look of astonished
-conviction in St. Thomas.[221] Niccolò Poussin has painted it finely,
-introducing twelve figures.[222] Guercino’s picture is celebrated, but
-he has committed the fault of representing the two principal figures
-both in profile.[223]
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The legendary subject styled ‘La Madonna della Cintola’ belongs
-properly to the legends of the Virgin, but as St. Thomas is always a
-principal personage I shall mention it here. The legend relates that
-when the Madonna ascended into heaven, in the sight of the apostles,
-Thomas was absent; but after three days he returned, and, _doubting_
-the truth of her glorious translation, he desired that her tomb should
-be opened; which was done, and lo! it was found empty. Then the
-Virgin, taking pity on his weakness and want of faith, threw down to
-him her girdle, that this tangible proof remaining in his hands might
-remove all doubts for ever from his mind: hence in many pictures of
-the Assumption and Coronation of the Virgin, St. Thomas is seen below
-holding the sacred girdle in his hand. For instance, in Raphael’s
-beautiful ‘Coronation’ in the Vatican; and in Correggio’s ‘Assumption’
-at Parma, where St. Thomas holds the girdle, and another apostle kisses
-it.
-
-[Illustration: _The Madonna of the Girdle_]
-
-The belief that the girdle is preserved in the Cathedral at Pistoia has
-rendered this legend a popular subject with the Florentine painters;
-and we find it treated, not merely as an incident in the scene of
-the Assumption, but in a manner purely mystic and devotional. Thus,
-in a charming bas-relief by Luca della Robbia,[224] the Virgin,
-surrounded by a choir of angels, presents her girdle to the apostle.
-In a beautiful picture by Granacci,[225] the Virgin is seated in the
-clouds; beneath is her empty sepulchre: on one side kneels St. Thomas,
-who receives with reverence the sacred girdle; on the other kneels the
-Archangel Michael. In simplicity of arrangement, beauty of expression,
-and tender harmony of colour, this picture has seldom been exceeded.
-Granacci has again treated this subject, and St. Thomas receives the
-girdle in the presence of St. John the Baptist, St. James Major, St.
-Laurence, and St. Bartholomew.[226] We have the same subject by Paolino
-da Pistoia; by Sogliani; and by Mainardi, a large and very fine fresco
-in the church of Santa Croce at Florence.
-
-A poetical and truly mystical version of this subject is that wherein
-the Infant Saviour, seated or standing on his mother’s knee, looses
-her girdle and presents it to St. Thomas. Of this I have seen several
-examples; one in the Duomo at Viterbo.[227]
-
-In the Martyrdom of St. Thomas, several idolaters pierce him through
-with lances and javelins. It was so represented on the doors of San
-Paolo, with four figures only. Rubens, in his large picture, has
-followed the legend very exactly; St. Thomas embraces the cross, at
-the foot of which he is about to fall, transfixed by spears. A large
-picture in the gallery of Count Harrach at Vienna, called there the
-Martyrdom of St. Jude, I believe to represent the Martyrdom of St.
-Thomas. Two of the idolatrous priests pierce him with lances. Albert
-Dürer, in his beautiful print of St. Thomas, represents him holding the
-lance, the instrument of his martyrdom: but this is very unusual.
-
-
-The eighth in the order of the Apostles is the Evangelist ST. MATTHEW,
-of whom I have spoken at length.
-
-
-                           ST. JAMES MINOR.
-
-   _Lat._ S. Jacobus Frater Domini. _Gr._ Adelphotheos. _Ital._ San
-     Jacopo or Giacomo Minore. _Fr._ St. Jacques Mineur. (May 1.)
-
-The ninth is St. James Minor, or the Less, called also the Just: he
-was a near relative of Christ, being the son of Mary, the wife of
-Cleophas, who was the sister of the Virgin Mary; hence he is styled
-‘the Lord’s brother.’ Nothing particular is related of him till after
-the ascension. He is regarded as first Christian bishop of Jerusalem,
-and venerated for his self-denial, his piety, his wisdom, and his
-charity. These characteristics are conspicuous in the beautiful Epistle
-which bears his name. Having excited, by the fervour of his teaching,
-the fury of the Scribes and Pharisees, and particularly the enmity of
-the high-priest Ananus, they flung him down from a terrace or parapet
-of the Temple, and one of the infuriated populace below beat out his
-brains with a _fuller’s club_.
-
-In single figures and devotional pictures, St. James is generally
-leaning on this club, the instrument of his martyrdom. According to
-an early tradition, he so nearly resembled our Lord in person, in
-features, and deportment, that it was difficult to distinguish them.
-‘The Holy Virgin herself,’ says the legend, ‘had she been _capable_
-of error, might have mistaken one for the other:’ and this exact
-resemblance rendered necessary the kiss of the traitor Judas, in order
-to point out his victim to the soldiers.
-
-This characteristic resemblance is attended to in the earliest and
-best representations of St. James, and by this he may usually be
-distinguished when he does not bear his club, which is often a thick
-stick or staff. With the exception of those Scripture scenes in which
-the apostles are present, I have met with few pictures in which St.
-James Minor is introduced: he does not appear to have been popular as
-a patron saint. The event of his martyrdom occurs very seldom, and
-is very literally rendered: the scene is a court of the Temple, with
-terraces and balconies; he is falling, or has fallen, to the ground,
-and one of the crowd lifts up the club to smite him.
-
-Ignorant artists have in some instances confounded St. James Major and
-St. James Minor. The Cappella dei Belludi at Padua, already mentioned,
-dedicated to St. Philip and St. James, contains a series of frescoes
-from the life of St. James Minor, in which are some of the miraculous
-incidents attributed in the Legenda Aurea to St. James Major.
-
-[Illustration: 82 St. James Minor]
-
-1. The Council of the Apostles held at Jerusalem, in which St. James
-was nominated chief or bishop of the infant Church. 2. Our Saviour
-after his resurrection appears to St. James, who had vowed not to eat
-till he should see Christ.[228] 3. St. James thrown down from the
-pulpit in the court of the Temple. 4. He is slain by the fuller. 5.
-A certain merchant is stript of all his goods by a tyrant, and cast
-into prison. He implores the protection of St. James, who, leading
-him to the summit of the tower, commands the tower to bow itself to
-the ground, and the merchant steps from it and escapes; or, according
-to the version followed in the fresco, the apostle lifts the tower on
-one side from its foundation, and the prisoner escapes from under it,
-like a mouse out of a trap. 6. A poor pilgrim, having neither money nor
-food, fell asleep by the way-side, and, on waking, found that St. James
-had placed beside him a loaf of bread, which miraculously supplied his
-wants to the end of his journey. These two last stories are told also
-of St. James of Galicia, but I have never met with any pictures of his
-life in which they are included. Here they undoubtedly refer to St.
-James Minor, the chapel being consecrated to his honour.
-
-
-  ST. SIMON ZELOTES (or THE ZEALOT). ST. JUDE (THADDEUS, or LEBBEUS).
-
- _Ital._ San Simone; San Taddeo. _Fr._ St. Simon le Zélé. St. Thaddée.
-                   _Ger._ Judas Thaddäus. (Oct. 28.)
-
-The uncertainty, contradiction, and confusion which I find in all
-the ecclesiastical biographies relative to these apostles, make it
-impossible to give any clear account of them; and as subjects of Art
-they are so unimportant, and so uninteresting, that it is the less
-necessary. According to one tradition, they were the same mentioned by
-Matthew as our Lord’s brethren or kinsmen. But, according to another
-tradition, they were not the same, but two brothers who were among
-the shepherds to whom the angel and the heavenly host revealed the
-birth of the Saviour. Those painters who followed the first tradition
-represent Simon and Jude as young, or at least in the prime of life.
-Those who adopt the second represent them as very old, taking it for
-granted that at the birth of Christ they must have been full-grown men;
-and this, I think, is the legend usually followed. It seems, however,
-generally agreed, that they preached the Gospel together in Syria and
-Mesopotamia, and together suffered martyrdom in Persia: in what manner
-they suffered is unknown; but it is supposed that St. Simon was sawn
-asunder, and St. Thaddeus killed with a halberd.
-
-In a series of apostles, St. Simon bears the saw, and St. Thaddeus a
-halberd. In Greek Art, Jude and Thaddeus are two different persons.
-Jude is represented young, Thaddeus old. St. Simon in extreme old age,
-with a bald head, and long white beard. In the Greek representation
-of his martyrdom, he is affixed to a cross exactly like that of our
-Saviour, so that, but for the superscription Ο CΙΜΩΝ, he might be
-mistaken for Christ. I do not know of any separate picture of these
-apostles.
-
-There is, however, one manner of treating them, with reference to
-their supposed relationship to our Saviour, which is peculiarly
-beautiful. Assuming that the three last-named apostles, James, the
-son of Mary Cleophas; Simon and Jude; Joseph or Joses the Just, also
-named by Matthew among the brethren of Christ; together with James
-and John, the sons of Mary Salome,—were all nearly related to the
-Saviour; it was surely a charming idea to group as children around
-him in his infancy those who were afterwards called to be the chosen
-ministers of his Word. Christianity, which has glorified womanhood and
-childhood, never suggested to the Christian artist a more beautiful
-subject, nor one which it would be more easy, by an unworthy or too
-picturesque treatment, to render merely pretty and commonplace. This
-version, however, of the _Sacra Famiglia_ is rarely met with. There is
-an example in the Louvre, signed ‘Laurentius’ (Lorenzo di Pavia, A.D.
-1513), which is remarkable as a religious representation; but the most
-beautiful instance of this treatment is a _chef-d’œuvre_ of Perugino,
-in the Musée at Marseilles. In the centre is the Virgin, seated on a
-throne; she holds the Infant Christ in her arms. Behind her is St.
-Anna, her two hands resting affectionately on the shoulders of the
-Virgin. In front, at the foot of the throne, are two lovely children,
-undraped, with glories round their heads, on which are inscribed their
-names, Simon and Thaddeus. To the right is Mary Salome, a beautiful
-young woman, holding a child in her arms—St. John, afterwards the
-evangelist. Near her is Joachim, the father of the Virgin. At his feet
-another child, James Major. To the left of the Virgin, Mary the wife of
-Cleophas, standing, holds by the hand James Minor: behind her, Joseph,
-the husband of the Virgin, and at his feet another child, Joseph (or
-Joses) Justus. I have also seen this subject in illuminated MSS., and,
-however treated, it is surely very poetical and suggestive.[229]
-
-
-                             ST. MATTHIAS.
-
-           _Ital._ San Mattia. _Fr._ St. Mathias. (Feb. 24.)
-
-St. Matthias, who was chosen by lot to fill the place of the traitor
-Judas, is the last of the apostles. (Acts i.) He preached the Gospel
-in Judea, and suffered martyrdom at the hands of the Jews, either by
-the lance or by the axe. In the Italian series of the apostles, he
-bears as his attribute the lance; in the German sets, more commonly the
-axe.[230] The ceremony of choosing St. Matthias by lot is the subject
-of a mediocre picture by Boschi. St. Denis says that the apostles were
-directed in their choice by a beam of divine splendour, for it were
-impious to suppose that such an election was made by chance. In this
-picture of Boschi, a ray of light falls from heaven on the head of St.
-Matthias.
-
-[Illustration: 83 St. Matthias (Raphael)]
-
-There is a figure of this apostle by Cosimo Roselli, holding a sword
-_by the point_: what might be the intention of that capricious painter
-it is now impossible to guess.[231] Separate pictures of St. Matthias
-are very rare, and he is seldom included in sets of the apostles.
-
-                            JUDAS ISCARIOT.
-
-            _Ital._ Giuda Scariota. _Fr._ Judas Iscariote.
-
-The very name of Judas Iscariot has become a by-word; his person and
-character an eternal type of impiety, treachery, and ingratitude. We
-shudder at the associations called up by his memory; his crime, without
-a name, so distances all possible human turpitude, that he cannot even
-be held forth as a terror to evil doers; we set him aside as one cut
-off; we never think of him but in reference to the sole and unequalled
-crime recorded of him. Not so our ancestors; one should have lived in
-the middle ages, to conceive the profound, the ever-present, horror
-with which Judas Iscariot was then regarded. The devil himself did not
-inspire the same passionate hatred and indignation. Being the devil,
-what _could_ he be but devilish? His wickedness was according to his
-infernal nature: but the crime of Judas remains the perpetual shame
-and reproach of our humanity. The devil betrayed mankind, but Judas
-betrayed his God.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The Gospels are silent as to the life of Judas before he became an
-apostle, but our progenitors of the middle ages, who could not conceive
-it possible that any being, however perverse, would rush at once into
-such an abyss of guilt, have filled up the omissions of Scripture
-after their own fancy. They picture Judas as a wretch foredoomed from
-the beginning of the world, and prepared by a long course of vice and
-crime for that crowning guilt which filled the measure full. According
-to this legend, he was of the tribe of Reuben. Before his mother
-brought him forth, she dreamed that the son who lay in her womb would
-be accursed, that he would murder his father, commit incest with his
-mother, and sell his God. Terrified at her dream, she took counsel
-with her husband, and they agreed to avert the threatened calamity by
-exposing the child. As in the story of Œdipus, from which, indeed,
-this strange wild legend seems partly borrowed, the means taken to
-avert the threatened curse caused its fulfilment. Judas, at his birth,
-is enclosed in a chest, and flung into the sea; the sea casts him up,
-and, being found on the shore, he is fostered by a certain king and
-queen as their own son; they have, however, another son, whom Judas,
-malignant from his birth, beats and oppresses, and at length kills in a
-quarrel over a game at chess. He then flies to Judea, where he enters
-the service of Pontius Pilate as page. In due time he commits the
-other monstrous crimes to which he was predestined; and when he learns
-from his mother the secret of his birth, he is filled with a sudden
-contrition and terror; he hears of the prophet who has power on earth
-to forgive sins; and seeking out Christ throws himself at his feet.
-Our Saviour, not deceived, but seeing in him the destined betrayer,
-and that all things may be accomplished, accepts him as his apostle:
-he becomes the seneschal or steward of Christ, bears the purse, and
-provides for the common wants. In this position, avarice, the only
-vice to which he was not yet addicted, takes possession of his soul,
-and makes the corruption complete. Through avarice, he grudges every
-penny given to the poor, and when Mary Magdalene anoints the feet of
-our Lord he is full of wrath at what he considers the waste of the
-precious perfume: ‘Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred
-pence, and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the
-poor, but because he was a thief.’ Through avarice, he yields to the
-bribe offered by the Jews. Then follow the scenes of the betrayal of
-Christ, and the late repentance and terrible suicide of the traitor,
-as recorded in Scripture. But in the old Mystery of the ‘Passion of
-Christ’ the repentance and fate of Judas are very dramatically worked
-out, and with all possible circumstances of horror. When he beholds the
-mild Saviour before the judgment-seat of Herod, he repents: Remorse,
-who figures as a real personage, seizes on the fated wretch, and
-torments him till in his agony he invokes Despair. Despair appears,
-almost in the guise of the ‘accursed wight’ in Spenser, and, with like
-arguments, urges him to make away with his life:—
-
-    And brings unto him swords, rope, poison, fire,
-    And all that might him to perdition draw,
-    And bids him choose what death he would desire.
-
-Or in the more homely language of the old French mystery,—
-
-    Il faut que tu passes le pas!
-    Voici dagues et coutelas,
-    Forcettes, poinçons, allumettes,—
-    Avise, choisis les plus belles,
-    Et celles de meilleure forge,
-    Pour te couper à coup la gorge;
-    Ou si tu aimes mieux te pendre,
-    Voici lacs et cordes à vendre.
-
-The offer here of the bodkins and the allumettes reminds us of the
-speech of Falconbridge:—
-
-      If thou would’st drown thyself,
-    Put but a little water in a spoon,
-    And it shall be as all the ocean,
-    Enough to stifle such a villain up.
-
-Judas chooses the rope, and hangs himself forthwith; ‘and falling
-headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed
-out:’ which account is explained by an early tradition, that being
-found and cut down, his body was thrown over the parapet of the Temple
-into the ravine below, and, in the fall, was riven and dashed to pieces.
-
-There required but one more touch of horror to complete the picture;
-and this is furnished by a sonnet of Giani, which I remember to have
-read in my youth. When Judas falls from the fatal tree, his evil genius
-seizes the broken rope, and drags him down to the seething abyss below:
-at his approach, hell sends forth a shout of rejoicing; Lucifer smooths
-his brow, corrugated with fire and pain, and rises from his burning
-throne to welcome a greater sinner than himself:—
-
-    Poi fra le braccia incatenò quel tristo,
-    E colla bocca sfavillante e nera
-    Gli rese il bacio ch’ avea dato a Christo!
-
-The retribution imaged in the last two lines borders, I am afraid, on a
-_concetto_; but it makes one shiver, notwithstanding.
-
-Separate representations of the figure or of the life of Judas Iscariot
-are not, of course, to be looked for; they would have been regarded as
-profane, as ominous,—worse than the evil-eye. In those Scripture scenes
-in which he finds a place, it was the aim of the early artists to give
-him a countenance as hateful, as expressive of treachery, meanness,
-malignity, as their skill could compass,—the Italians having depended
-more on expression, the German and Spanish painters on form. We have a
-conviction, that if the man had really worn such a look, such features,
-he would have been cast out from the company of the apostles; the
-legend already referred to says expressly that Judas was of a comely
-appearance, and was recommended to the service of Pontius Pilate by
-his beauty of person; but the painters, speaking to the people in the
-language of form, were right to admit of no equivocation. The same
-feeling which induced them to concentrate on the image of the Demon
-all they could conceive of hideous and repulsive, made them picture
-the exterior of Judas as deformed and hateful as the soul within; and,
-by an exaggeration of the Jewish cast of features combined with red
-hair and beard, they flattered themselves that they had attained the
-desired object. But as if this were not enough, the ancient painters,
-particularly in the old illuminations, and in Byzantine Art, represent
-Judas as directly and literally possessed by the Devil: sometimes it is
-a little black demon seated on his shoulder, and whispering in his ear;
-sometimes entering his mouth: thus, in their simplicity, rendering the
-words of the Gospel, ‘Then entered Satan into Judas.’
-
-The colour proper to the dress of Judas is a dirty dingy yellow; and
-in Spain this colour is so intimately associated with the image of the
-arch-traitor, as to be held in universal dislike: both in Spain and in
-Italy, malefactors and galley-slaves are clothed in yellow.[232] At
-Venice the Jews were obliged to wear yellow hats.
-
-In some of the scriptural scenes in which Judas is mentioned or
-supposed to be present, it is worth while to remark whether the painter
-has passed him over as spoiling the harmony of the sacred composition
-by his intrusive ugliness and wickedness, or has rendered him
-conspicuous by a distinct and characteristic treatment. In a picture
-by Niccolò Frumenti[233] of the Magdalene at the feet of our Saviour,
-Judas stands in the foreground, looking on with a most diabolical
-expression of grudging malice mingled with scorn; he seems to grind
-his teeth as he says, ‘To what purpose is this waste?’ In Perugino’s
-beautiful picture of the washing the feet of the disciples,[234] Judas
-is at once distinguished, looking askance with a wicked sneer on his
-face, which is not otherwise ugly. In Raphael’s composition of the
-Magdalene anointing the feet of Christ, Judas leans across the table
-with an angry look of expostulation.
-
-Those subjects in which Judas Iscariot appears as a principal personage
-follow here.
-
-1. Angelico da Fiesole.[235] He is bribed by the Jews. The high-priest
-pays into the hand of Judas the thirty pieces of silver. They are
-standing before a doorway on some steps; Judas is seen in profile, and
-has the nimbus as one of the apostles: three persons are behind, one
-of whom expresses disapprobation and anxiety. In this subject, and in
-others wherein Judas is introduced, Angelico has not given him ugly and
-deformed features; but in the scowling eye and bent brow there is a
-vicious expression.
-
-In Duccio’s series of the ‘Passion of our Saviour,’ in the Duomo at
-Siena, he has, in this and in other scenes, represented Judas with
-regular and not ugly features; but he has a villanous, and at the same
-time anxious, expression;—he has a bad conscience.
-
-The scene between Judas and the high-priest is also given by Schalken
-as a candle-light effect, and in the genuine Dutch style.
-
-2. ‘Judas betrays his Master with a kiss.’ This subject will be noticed
-at large in the Life of Christ. The early Italians, in giving this
-scene with much dramatic power, never forgot the scriptural dignity
-required; while the early Germans, in their endeavour to render Judas
-as odious in physiognomy as in heart, have, in this as in many other
-instances, rendered the awful and the pathetic merely grotesque. We
-must infer from Scripture, that Judas, with all his perversity, had a
-conscience: he would not else have hanged himself. In the physiognomy
-given to him by the old Germans, there is no trace of this; he is an
-ugly malignant brute, and nothing more.
-
-3. Rembrandt. ‘Judas throws down the thirty pieces of silver in the
-Temple, and departs.’[236]
-
-4. ‘The remorse of Judas.’ He is seated and in the act of putting
-the rope about his neck; beside him is seen the purse and the money,
-scattered about the ground. The design is by Bloemart, and, from the
-Latin inscription underneath, appears to be intended as a warning to
-all unrighteous dealers.
-
-5. ‘Judas hanging on a tree’ is sometimes introduced into the
-background, in ancient pictures of the Deposition and the Entombment:
-there is one in the Frankfort Museum.
-
-6. ‘Demons toss the soul of Judas from hand to hand in the manner of a
-ball:’ in an old French miniature.[237] This is sufficiently grotesque
-in representation; yet, in the idea, there is a restless, giddy horror
-which thrills us. At all events, it is better than placing Judas
-between the jaws of Satan with his legs in the air, as Dante has done,
-and as Orcagna in his Dantesque fresco has very literally rendered the
-description of the poet.[238]
-
-[Illustration: _Lionardo da Vinci_]
-
-[Illustration: _Giotto_]
-
-[Illustration: _Raphael_]
-
-
-                           THE LAST SUPPER.
-
-   _Ital._ Il Cenacolo. La Cena. _Fr._ La Cène. _Ger._ Das Abendmal
-                               Christi.
-
-I have already mentioned the principal scenes in which the Twelve
-always appear together; there is, however, one event belonging properly
-to the life of Christ, so important in itself, presenting the Apostles
-under an aspect so peculiar, and throwing so much interest around them
-collectively and individually, that I must bring it under notice here.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Next to the Crucifixion, there is no subject taken from the history
-of our redemption so consecrated in Art as the Last Supper. The awful
-signification lent to it by Protestants as well as Catholics has given
-it a deep religious import, and caused its frequent representation in
-churches; it has been, more particularly, the appropriate decoration of
-the refectories of convents, hospitals, and other institutions having
-a sacred character. In our Protestant churches, it is generally the
-subject of the altar-piece, where we have one.
-
-Besides being one of the most important and interesting, it is one of
-the most difficult among the sacred subjects treated in Art. While the
-fixed number of personages introduced, the divine and paramount dignity
-of One among them, the well-known character of all, have limited the
-invention of the artist, they have tasked to the utmost his power of
-expression. The occasion, that of a repast eaten by twelve persons, is,
-under its material aspect, so commonplace, and, taken in the spiritual
-sense, so awful, that to elevate himself to the height of his theme,
-while keeping the ideal conscientiously bounded within its frame of
-circumstance, demanded in the artist aspirations of the grandest order,
-tempered by the utmost sobriety of reflection; and the deepest insight
-into the springs of character, combined with the most perfect knowledge
-of the indications of character as manifested through form. On the
-other hand, if it has been difficult to succeed, it has been equally
-difficult to fail signally and completely; because the spectator is not
-here, as in the crucifixion, in danger of being perpetually shocked by
-the intrusion of anomalous incidents, and is always ready to supply
-the dignity and meaning of a scene so familiar in itself out of his
-own mind and heart. It has followed, that mediocrity has been more
-prevalent and more endurable in this than in any other of the more
-serious subjects of Art. But where excellence has been in some few
-instances attained, it has been attained in such a supreme degree, that
-these examples have become a perpetual source of contemplation and of
-emulation, and rank among the most renowned productions of human genius.
-
-But, before I come to consider these analytically, it is necessary to
-premise one or two observations, which will assist us to discrimination
-in the general treatment.
-
-Pictures and works of art, which represent the Last Supper of our
-Lord, admit of the same classification which I have adhered to
-generally throughout this work. Those which represent it as a religious
-mystery must be considered as _devotional_; those which represent it
-merely as a scene in the passion of our Saviour are _historical_.
-In the first, we have the spiritual origin of the Eucharist; in
-the second, the highly dramatic detection of Judas. It is evident
-that the predominating _motif_ in each must be widely different. In
-paintings which are intended for the altar, or for the chapels of the
-Holy Sacrament, we have the first, the mystical version;—it is the
-distribution of the spiritual food. In the second form, as the Last
-Supper eaten by Christ with his disciples, as leading the mind to an
-humble and grateful sense of his sacrifice, as repressing all sinful
-indulgence in food, it has been the subject chosen to decorate the
-refectory or common dining-room of convents.
-
-It is curious that on the Christian sarcophagi the Last Supper does
-not occur. There is, in the Vatican, a rude painting taken from the
-catacombs representing twelve persons in a semicircle, with something
-like plates and dishes before them. I could not determine whether
-this was our Saviour and his apostles, or merely one of those feasts
-or suppers instituted by the early Christians called _Agapæ_ or
-love-feasts; but I should think the latter.
-
-On the Dalmatica (deacon’s robe) preserved in the sacristy of the
-Vatican, there is, if the date be exact (A.D. 795), the most ancient
-representation I have seen of the institution of the Sacrament. The
-embroidery, which is wonderfully beautiful, is a copy from Byzantine
-Art. On one side, our Saviour stands by a table or altar, and presents
-the cup to his apostles, one of whom approaches in a reverential
-attitude, and with his hands folded in his robe; on the other side,
-Christ presents the wafer or host: so that we have the two separate
-moments in separate groups.
-
-There exists in the Duomo of Lodi the most ancient sculptural example
-of this subject I have met with; it is a bas-relief of the twelfth
-century, dated 1163, and fixed in the wall to the left of the entrance.
-Christ and the apostles are in a straight row, all very much alike; six
-of the apostles lay their hands on their breast,—‘Lord, is it I?’ and
-Christ presents the sop to Judas, who sits in front, and is as ugly as
-possible.
-
-Although all the Byzantine pictures of the twelfth and thirteenth
-centuries which have come under my notice represent Christ breaking the
-bread or holding the cup, that is, the institution of the Sacrament,
-the Greek formula published by Didron distinguishes between this scene
-and that of the repast in which Judas is denounced as a traitor.
-The earliest representation to which I can refer in Western Art, as
-taking the historical form, is the Cenacolo of Giotto, the oldest and
-the most important that has been preserved to us; it was painted by
-him in the refectory of the convent of Santa Croce at Florence. This
-refectory, when I visited it in 1847, was a carpet manufactory, and
-it was difficult to get a good view of the fresco by reason of the
-intervention of the carpet-looms. It has been often restored, and is
-now in a bad state; still, enough remains to understand the original
-intention of the artist, and that arrangement which has since been the
-groundwork of similar compositions.
-
-A long table extends across the picture from side to side: in the
-middle, and fronting the spectator, sits the Redeemer; to the right,
-St. John, his head reclining on the lap of Christ; next to him, Peter;
-after Peter, St. James Major; thus placing together the three favourite
-disciples. Next to St. James, St. Matthew, St. Bartholomew, and a young
-beardless apostle, probably St. Philip.
-
-On the left hand of our Saviour is St. Andrew; and next to him, St.
-James Minor (the two St. Jameses bearing the traditional resemblance
-to Christ); then St. Simon and St. Jude; and lastly, a young apostle,
-probably St. Thomas. (The reader will have the goodness to recollect
-that I give this explanation of the names and position of the eleven
-apostles as my own, and with due deference to the opinion of those who
-on a further study of the fresco may differ from me.) Opposite to the
-Saviour, and on the near side of the table, sits Judas, apart from the
-rest, and in the act of dipping his hand into the dish. It is evident
-that the moment chosen by the artist is, ‘He that dippeth with me in
-the dish, the same shall betray me.’
-
-Although the excuse may be found in the literal adoption of the words
-of the Gospel,[239] it appears to me a fault to make St. John leaning,
-as one half asleep, on the lap of our Saviour, after such words have
-been uttered as must have roused, or at least ought to have roused, the
-young and beloved apostle from his supine attitude; therefore, we may
-suppose that Christ is about to speak the words, but has not yet spoken
-them. The position of Judas is caused by the necessity of placing him
-sufficiently near to Christ to dip his hand in the same dish; while
-to have placed him on the same side of the table, so as to give him
-the precedence over the more favoured disciples, would have appeared
-to the early artists nothing less than profane. Giotto has paid great
-attention to the heads, which are individually characterised, but there
-is little dramatic expression; the attention is not yet directed to
-Judas, who is seen in profile, looking up, not ugly in feature, but
-with a mean vicious countenance, and bent shoulders.
-
-The arrangement of the table and figures, so peculiarly fitted for
-a refectory, has been generally adopted since the time of Giotto in
-pictures painted for this especial purpose. The subject is placed on
-the upper wall of the chamber; the table extending from side to side:
-the tables of the monks are placed, as in the dining-rooms of our
-colleges, length-ways; thus all can behold the divine assembly, and
-Christ appears to preside over and sanctify the meal.
-
-In another Cenacolo by Giotto,[240] which forms one of the scenes in
-the history of Christ, he has given us a totally different version of
-the subject; and, not being intended for a refectory, but as an action
-or event, it is more dramatic. It is evident that our Saviour has just
-uttered the words, ‘He that dippeth with me in the dish, the same shall
-betray me.’ Judas, who has mean, ugly, irregular features, looks up
-alarmed, and seems in the act of rising to escape. One apostle (Philip,
-I think) points at him, and the attention of all is more or less
-directed to him. This would be a fault if the subject were intended
-for a refectory, or to represent the celebration of the Eucharist. But
-here, where the subject is historical, it is a propriety.
-
-The composition of Duccio of Siena, in the Duomo at Siena, must have
-been nearly contemporary with, if it did not precede, those of Giotto
-(A.D. 1308); it is quite different, quite original in _motif_ and
-arrangement. Seven apostles sit on the same side with Christ, and five
-opposite to him, turning their backs on the spectator; the faces are
-seen in profile. The attitude of St. John, leaning against our Saviour
-with downcast eyes, is much more graceful than in the composition of
-Giotto. St. Peter is on the right of Christ; next to him St. James
-Minor: two young apostles sit at the extreme ends of the table, whom
-I suppose to be St. Philip and St. Thomas: the other apostles I am
-unable to discriminate, with the exception of Judas, who, with regular
-features, has a characteristic scowl on his brow. Christ holds out a
-piece of bread in his hand: two of the apostles likewise hold bread,
-and two others hold a cup; the rest look attentive or pensive, but the
-general character of the heads is deficient in elevation. The moment
-chosen may be the distribution of the bread and wine; but, to me,
-it rather expresses the commencement of the meal, and our Saviour’s
-address: ‘With desire have I desired to eat this passover with you
-before I suffer’ (Luke xxii. 15). The next compartment of the same
-series, which represents the apostles seated in a group before Christ,
-and listening with upturned faces and the most profound attention to
-his last words, has much more of character, solemnity, and beauty, than
-the Last Supper. Judas is here omitted; ‘for he, having received the
-sop, went immediately out.’
-
-Angelico da Fiesole, in his life of Christ, has been careful to
-distinguish between the detection of Judas and the institution of the
-Eucharist.[241] He has given us both scenes. In the first compartment,
-John is leaning down with his face to the Saviour; the back of his head
-only is seen, and he appears too unmindful of what is going forward.
-The other apostles are well discriminated, the usual type strictly
-followed in Peter, Andrew, James Major and James Minor. To the right of
-Christ are Peter, Andrew, Bartholomew; to the left, James Minor. Four
-turn their backs, and two young apostles stand on each side,—I presume
-Thomas and Philip; they seem to be waiting on the rest: Judas dips
-his hand in the dish. I suppose the moment to be the same as in the
-composition of Duccio.
-
-But in the next compartment the _motif_ is different. All have risen.
-from table; it is no longer a repast, it is a sacred mystery; Christ is
-in the act of administering the bread to St. John; all kneel; and Judas
-is seen kneeling behind Christ, near an open door, and apart from the
-rest, as if he were watching for the opportunity to escape. To dispose
-of Judas in this holy ceremony is always a difficulty. To represent him
-as receiving with the rest the sacred rite is an offence to the pious.
-The expression used by St. John (xii. 30), ‘After he had received the
-sop he went out,’ implies that Judas was not present at the Lord’s
-Supper, which succeeded the celebration of the paschal supper. St. Luke
-and St. Mark, neither of whom were present, leave us to suppose that
-Judas partook, with the other disciples, of the mystic bread and wine;
-yet we can hardly believe that, after having been pointed out as the
-betrayer, the conscience-stricken Judas should remain to receive the
-Eucharist. Sometimes he is omitted altogether; sometimes he is stealing
-out at the door. In the composition of Luca Signorelli, which I saw at
-Cortona, all the twelve apostles are kneeling; Christ is distributing
-the wafer; and Judas, turning away with a malignant look, puts _his_
-wafer into his satchel. In the composition of Palmezzano, in the Duomo
-at Forlì, our Saviour stands, holding a plate, and is in the act of
-presenting the wafer to Peter, who kneels: St. John stands by the side
-of Christ, holding the cup: Judas is in the background; he kneels by
-the door, and seems to be watching for the opportunity to steal away.
-
-The fine composition, fine also in sentiment and character, of
-Ghirlandajo, was painted for the small refectory in the San Marco
-at Florence. The arrangement is ingenious: the table is of what we
-call the horse-shoe form, which allows all the figures to face the
-spectator; and at the same time takes up less room than where the
-table runs across the picture from side to side. Judas sits in front,
-alone; Christ has just designated him. ‘He it is to whom I shall give
-the sop when I have dipped it.’ (John xiii. 26.) Judas holds the sop
-in his hand, with an alarmed conscious look. Behind sits an ill-omened
-cat, probably intended for the fiend. John, to the left of Christ,
-appears to have swooned away. The other apostles express, in various
-ways, amazement and horror.
-
-It has been a question among critics, whether the purse ought to be
-placed in the hand of Judas when present at the Last Supper, because it
-is usually understood as containing the thirty pieces of silver: but
-this is a mistake; and it leads to the mistake of representing him as
-hiding the purse, as if it contained the price of his treachery. Judas
-carries the purse openly, for he was the steward, or purse-bearer, of
-the party ‘he had the bag, and bare what was put therein’ (John xii. 6,
-xiii. 29): and as the money-bag is also the attribute of St. Matthew
-the tax-gatherer, we must take care not to confound him with the
-traitor and thief. This brings me to the consideration of the subject
-as treated by Albert Dürer.
-
-In the series of large woodcuts from the Passion of our Saviour
-(styled ‘_La grande Passion_’), the Cenacolo is an event, and not a
-mystery. John, as a beautiful youth, is leaning against our Saviour
-with downcast eyes; he does not look as if he had thrown himself down
-half asleep, but as if Christ had put his arm around him, and drawn
-and pressed him fondly towards him. On the right is Peter: the other
-apostles are not easily discriminated, but they have all that sort of
-_grandiose_ ugliness which is so full of character, and so particularly
-the characteristic of the artist: the apostle seated in front in a
-cowering attitude, holding the purse which he seems anxious to conceal,
-and looking up apprehensively, I suppose to be Judas.
-
-In the smaller set of woodcuts (‘_La petite Passion_’) I believe the
-apostle with the purse in the foreground to be St. Matthew; while the
-ugly, lank-haired personage behind Christ, who looks as if about to
-steal away, is probably intended for Judas: one of the apostles has
-laid hold of him, and seems to say, ‘Thou art the man!’
-
-There is a third Cenacolo, by Albert Dürer, which plainly represents
-the Eucharist. The cup only is on the table, and Judas is omitted.
-
-In a Cenacolo by another old German, Judas is in the act of receiving
-the sop which Christ is putting into his mouth; and at the same time he
-is _hiding_ the purse:—a mistake, as I have already observed.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-These examples must suffice to give some idea of the manner in which
-this subject was generally treated by the early German and Italian
-artists. But, whether presented before us as a dramatic scene
-expressing individual character, or as an historical event memorable
-in the life of Christ, or as a religious rite of awful and mysterious
-import—all the examples I have mentioned are in some respects
-deficient. We have the feeling, that, whatever may be the merit in
-sentiment, in intention, in detail, what has been attempted has _not_
-been achieved.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-When Leonardo da Vinci, the greatest thinker as well as the greatest
-painter of his age, brought all the resources of his wonderful mind
-to bear on the subject, then sprang forth a creation so consummate,
-that since that time it has been at once the wonder and the despair of
-those who have followed in the same path. True, the work of his hand is
-perishing—will soon have perished utterly. I remember well, standing
-before this wreck of a glorious presence, so touched by its pale,
-shadowy, and yet divine significance, and by its hopelessly impending
-ruin, that the tears sprang involuntarily. Fortunately for us,
-multiplied copies have preserved at least the intention of the artist
-in his work. We can judge of what it _has_ been, and take that for our
-text and for our theme.
-
-The purpose being the decoration of a refectory in a rich convent, the
-chamber lofty and spacious, Leonardo has adopted the usual arrangement:
-the table runs across from side to side, filling up the whole extent
-of the wall, and the figures, being above the eye, and to be viewed
-from a distance, are colossal; they would otherwise have appeared
-smaller than the real personages seated at the tables below. The moment
-selected is the utterance of the words, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto
-you, that one of you shall betray me:’ or rather the words have just
-been uttered, and the picture expresses their effect on the different
-auditors. It is of these auditors, his apostles, that I have to speak,
-and not of Christ himself; for the full consideration of the subject,
-as it regards _Him_, must be deferred; the intellectual elevation,
-the fineness of nature, the benign God-like dignity, suffused with
-the profoundest sorrow, in this divine head, surpassed all I could
-have conceived as possible in Art; and, faded as it is, the character
-there, being stamped on it by the soul, not the hand, of the artist,
-will remain while a line or hue remains visible. It is a divine shadow,
-and, until it fades into nothing, and disappears utterly, will have
-the lineaments of divinity. Next to Christ is St. John; he has just
-been addressed by Peter, who beckons to him that he should ask ‘of
-whom the Lord spake:’—his disconsolate attitude, as he has raised
-himself to reply, and leans his clasped hands on the table, the almost
-feminine sweetness of his countenance, express the character of this
-gentle and amiable apostle. Peter, leaning from behind, is all fire
-and energy; Judas, who knows full well of whom the Saviour spake,
-starts back amazed, oversetting the salt; his fingers clutch the bag,
-of which he has the charge, with that action which Dante describes as
-characteristic of the avaricious:—
-
-            Questi risurgeranno dal sepolcro
-            Col pugno chiuso.
-
-    These from the tomb with clenchèd grasp shall rise.
-
-His face is seen in profile, and cast into shadow: without being
-vulgar, or even ugly, it is hateful. St. Andrew, with his long grey
-beard, lifts up his hands, expressing the wonder of a simple-hearted
-old man. St. James Minor, resembling the Saviour in his mild features,
-and the form of his beard and hair, lays his hand on the shoulder of
-St. Peter—the expression is, ‘_Can_ it be possible? Have we heard
-aright?’ Bartholomew, at the extreme end of the table, has risen
-perturbed from his seat; he leans forward with a look of eager
-attention, the lips parted; he is impatient to hear more. (The fine
-copy of Uggione, in the Royal Academy, does not give this anxious
-look—he is attentive only.) On the left of our Saviour is St. James
-Major, who has also a family resemblance to Christ; his arms are
-outstretched, he shrinks back, he repels the thought with horror.
-The vivacity of the action and expression are wonderfully true
-and characteristic. (Morghen, the engraver, erroneously supposed
-this to represent St. Thomas, and placed on the border of his robe
-an inscription fixing the identity; which inscription, as Bossi
-asserts, never did exist in the original picture.) St. Thomas is
-behind St. James, rather young, with a short beard; he holds up his
-hand, threatening—‘If there be indeed such a wretch, let him look
-to it.’ Philip, young and with a beautiful head, lays his hand on
-his heart: he protests his love, his truth. Matthew, also beardless,
-has more elegance, as one who belonged to a more educated class than
-the rest; he turns to Jude and points to our Saviour, as if about
-to repeat his words, ‘Do you hear what he says?’ Simon and Jude sit
-together (Leonardo has followed the tradition which makes them old
-and brothers); Jude expresses consternation; Simon, with his hands
-stretched out, a painful anxiety.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-To understand the wonderful skill with which this composition has been
-arranged, it ought to be studied long and minutely; and, to appreciate
-its relative excellence, it ought to be compared with other productions
-of the same period. Leonardo has contrived to break the formality of
-the line of heads without any apparent artifice, and without disturbing
-the grand simplicity of the usual order; and he has vanquished the
-difficulties in regard to the position of Judas, without making him too
-prominent. He has imparted to a solemn scene sufficient movement and
-variety of action, without detracting from its dignity and pathos; he
-has kept the expression of each head true to the traditional character,
-without exaggeration, without effort. To have done this, to have been
-the first to do this, required the far-reaching philosophic mind, not
-less than the excelling hand, of this ‘miracle of nature,’ as Mr.
-Hallam styles Leonardo, with reference to his scientific as well as his
-artistic powers.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-And now to turn to another miracle of nature, Raphael. He has given us
-three compositions for the Last Supper. The fresco lately discovered in
-the refectory of Sant’ Onofrio, at Florence, is an early work painted
-in his twenty-third year (A.D. 1505). The authenticity of this picture
-has been vehemently disputed; for myself—as far as my opinion is worth
-anything—I never, after the first five minutes, had a doubt on the
-subject. As to its being the work of Neri de’ Bicci, I do not believe
-it possible; and as for the written documents brought forward to prove
-this, I turn from them ‘to the handwriting on the wall,’ and there I
-see, in characters of light, RAPHAEL—and _him_ only. It is, however, a
-youthful work, full of sentiment and grace, but deficient, it appears
-to me, in that depth and discrimination of character displayed in his
-later works. It is evident that he had studied Giotto’s fresco in the
-neighbouring Santa Croce. The arrangement is nearly the same.
-
-Christ is in the centre; his right hand is raised, and he is about to
-speak; the left hand is laid, with extreme tenderness in the attitude
-and expression, on the shoulder of John, who reclines upon him. To
-the right of Christ is St. Peter, the head of the usual character;
-next to him St. Andrew, with the flowing grey hair and long divided
-beard; St. James Minor, the head declined resembling Christ: he holds
-a cup. St. Philip is seen in profile with a white beard: (this is
-contrary to the received tradition, which makes him young; and I doubt
-the correctness of this appellation). St. James Major, at the extreme
-end of the table, looks out of the picture; Raphael has apparently
-represented himself in this apostle. On the left of Christ, after St.
-John, is St. Bartholomew; he holds a knife, and has the black beard
-and dark complexion usually given to him. Then Matthew, something like
-Peter, but milder and more refined. Thomas, young and handsome, pours
-wine into a cup; last, on the right, are Simon and Jude: Raphael has
-followed the tradition which supposes them young, and the kinsmen of
-our Saviour. Judas sits on a stool on the near side of the table,
-opposite to Christ, and while he dips his hand into the dish he looks
-round to the spectators; he has the Jewish features, red hair and
-beard, and a bad expression. All have glories; but the glory round the
-head of Judas is much smaller than the others.[242]
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-In the second composition, one of the series of the life of Christ,
-in the Loggie of the Vatican, Raphael has placed the apostles round a
-table, four on each of the three sides; our Saviour presiding in the
-centre. John and Peter, who are, as usual, nearest to Christ, look to
-him with an animated appealing expression. Judas is in front, looking
-away from the rest, and as if about to rise. The other heads are
-not well discriminated, nor is the moment well expressed: there is,
-indeed, something confused and inharmonious, unlike Raphael, in the
-whole composition. I pass it over, therefore, without further remark,
-to come to the third example—a masterpiece of his later years, worthy
-as a composition of being compared with Leonardo’s; but, never having
-been painted, we can only pronounce it perfect as far as it goes. The
-original drawing enriches the collection of the Queen of England: the
-admirable engraving of Marc Antonio, said to have been touched by
-Raphael, is before me while I write. From the disposition of the unshod
-feet as seen under the table, it is styled by collectors ‘_il pezzo dei
-piedi_:’ from the arrangement of the table and figures it was probably
-designed for a refectory.
-
-In the centre is Christ, with both hands resting on the table; in the
-head, a melancholy resignation. Peter is on the right, his hand on
-his breast. John, on the left, places both hands on his breast, with
-a most animated expression,—‘You cannot believe it is I?’ Andrew has
-laid his hand on the shoulder of Peter, and leans forward with a sad
-interrogative expression. The head of Judas has features akin to those
-of the antique satyr, with the look askance of a detected villain:
-he has heard the words, but he dares not meet the eye, of his Divine
-Master: he has no purse. James Minor, next to John, with his hands
-extended, seems to speak sadly to Philip: ‘And they began to inquire
-among themselves, which of them should do this thing?’ The whole
-composition is less dramatic, has less variety of action and attitude,
-than that of Leonardo, but is full of deep melancholy feeling.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The Cenacolo of Andrea del Sarto, in the Convent of the Salvi near
-Florence, takes, I believe, the third rank after those of Leonardo
-and Raphael. He has chosen the self-same moment, ‘One of you shall
-betray me.’ The figures are, as usual, ranged on one side of a long
-table. Christ, in the centre, holds a piece of bread in his hand; on
-his left is St. John, and on his right St. James Major, both seen in
-profile. The face of St. John expresses interrogation; that of St.
-James, interrogation and a start of amazement. Next to St. James are
-Peter, Thomas, Andrew; then Philip, who has a small cross upon his
-breast. After St. John come James Minor, Simon, Jude, Judas Iscariot,
-and Bartholomew. Judas, with his hands folded together, leans forward,
-and looks down, with a round mean face, in which there is no power of
-any kind, not even of malignity. In passing almost immediately from the
-Cenacolo in the St. Onofrio to that in the Salvi, we feel strongly all
-the difference between the mental and moral superiority of Raphael at
-the age of twenty, and the artistic greatness of Andrea in the maturity
-of his age and talent. This fresco deserves its high celebrity. It is
-impossible to look on it without admiration, considered as a work of
-art. The variety of the attitudes, the disposition of the limbs beneath
-the table, the ample, tasteful draperies, deserve the highest praise;
-but the heads are deficient in character and elevation, and the whole
-composition wants that solemnity of feeling proper to the subject.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The Cenacolo of Titian, painted for Philip II. for the altar of his
-chapel in the Escurial, is also a notable example of the want of proper
-reverential feeling: two servants are in attendance; Judas is in front,
-averting his head, which is in deep shadow; a dog is under the table,
-and the Holy Ghost is descending from above.
-
-Niccolò Poussin has three times painted the Cenacolo. In the two series
-of the Seven Sacraments, he has, of course, represented the institution
-of the Eucharist, as proper to his subject; in both instances, in that
-pure and classical taste proper to himself. In the best and largest
-composition, the apostles are reclining on couches round the table.
-Christ holds a plate full of bread, and appears as saying, ‘Take, eat.’
-Four are putting the morsel into their mouths. Judas is seen behind,
-with an abject look, stealing out of the room.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The faults which I have observed in pictures of this subject are
-chiefly met with in the Venetian, Flemish, and later Bolognese schools.
-When the _motif_ selected is the institution of the Eucharist, it is a
-fault to sacrifice the solemnity and religious import of the scene in
-order to render it more dramatic: it ought not to be dramatic; but the
-pervading sentiment should be _one_, a deep and awful reverence. When
-Christ is distributing the bread and wine, the apostles should not be
-conversing with each other; nor should the figures exceed twelve in
-number, for it appears to me that the introduction of Judas disturbs
-the sacred harmony and tranquillity of the scene. When the _motif_ is
-the celebration of the Passover, or the detection of Judas, a more
-dramatic and varied arrangement is necessary; but here, to make the
-apostles intent on eating and drinking, as in some old German pictures,
-is a fault. Even Albano has represented one of the apostles as peeping
-into an empty wine-pitcher with a disappointed look.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-It appears to me, also, a gross fault to introduce dogs and cats, and
-other animals; although I have heard it observed, that a dog gnawing a
-bone is introduced with propriety, to show that the supper is over, the
-Paschal Lamb eaten, before the moment represented.
-
-Vulgar heads, taken from vulgar models, or selected without any regard
-either to the ancient types, or the traditional character of the
-different apostles, are defects of frequent occurrence, especially in
-the older German schools; and in Titian, Paul Veronese, and Rubens,
-even where the heads are otherwise fine and expressive, the scriptural
-truth of character is in general sacrificed.
-
-It is a fault, as I have already observed, to represent Judas anxiously
-concealing the purse.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Holbein, in his famous Last Supper at Basle, and in the small one in
-the Louvre, has adopted the usual arrangement: the heads all want
-elevation; but here the attention fixes at once upon Judas Iscariot—the
-very ideal of scoundrelism—I can use no other word to express the
-unmitigated ugliness, vulgarity, and brutality of the face. Lavater
-has referred to it as an example of the physiognomy proper to cruelty
-and avarice; but the dissimulation is wanting. This base, eager,
-hungry-looking villain stands betrayed by his own looks: he is too
-prominent; he is in fact the principal figure;—a fault in taste,
-feeling, and propriety.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The introduction of a great number of figures, as spectators or
-attendants, is a fault; excusable, perhaps, where the subject is
-decorative and intended for the wall of a refectory, but not otherwise.
-In the composition of Paul Veronese, there are twenty-three figures;
-in that of Zucchero, forty-five; in that of Baroccio, twenty-one. These
-supernumerary persons detract from the dignity and solemnity of the
-scene.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Tintoretto has introduced several spectators, and among them an old
-woman spinning in a corner, who, while she turns her spindle, looks on
-with an observant eye. This alludes to an early tradition, that the
-Last Supper was eaten in the house of Mary, the mother of Mark the
-evangelist. But it is nowhere said that she was present, and therefore
-it is an impropriety to introduce her. Magnificent architecture, as in
-the picture by B. Peruzzi (who, by the way, was an architect), seems
-objectionable: but equally unsuitable is the poor dismantled garret in
-this picture of Tintoretto; for the chamber in which the scene took
-place was ‘the guest chamber,’ a large upper room, ready prepared; and
-as it was afterwards the scene of the Pentecost, it must have held more
-than a hundred persons.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-It is a fault, as I have already observed, to represent John as
-_asleep_ on the breast or the shoulder of our Saviour.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Though countenanced by the highest authorities in Art, I believe it
-must be considered as a fault, or at least a mistake, to represent our
-Saviour and his apostles as seated, instead of reclining round the
-table. It is a fault, not merely because the use of the _triclinium_
-or couch at all social meals was general in the antique times,—for the
-custom of sitting upright was not so entirely extinct among the Jews
-but that it might on any other occasion have been admissible,—but, from
-peculiar circumstances, it became in this instance an impropriety. We
-know that when the Passover was first instituted the Jews were enjoined
-to eat it standing, as men in haste, with girded loins and sandalled
-feet: but afterwards it was made imperative that they should eat it
-in an attitude of repose, lying upon couches, and as men at ease; and
-the reason for this was, that all the circumstances of the meal, and
-particularly the attitude in which it was eaten, should indicate the
-condition of security and freedom which the Israelites enjoyed after
-their deliverance from the Egyptian bondage. In the then imperfect
-state of Biblical criticism, this fact seems to have been unknown to
-the earlier artists, or disregarded by those who employed and directed
-them. Among modern artists, Poussin and Le Sueur have scrupulously
-attended to it, even when the moment chosen is the mystical
-distribution of the bread and wine which succeeded the Paschal Supper.
-Commentators have remarked, that if Christ and his disciples _reclined_
-at table, then, supposing Christ to have the central place of honour,
-the head of John would have been near to the bosom of Christ: but under
-these circumstances, if Judas were sufficiently near to receive the
-sop from the hand of Christ, then he must have reclined next to him
-on the other side, and have taken precedence of Peter. This supposed
-a propinquity which the early Christian artists deemed offensive and
-inadmissible.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-In the composition by Stradano the arrangement of the table and figures
-is particularly well managed: all recline on couches; in the centre
-of the table is a dish, to which Christ extends his hand, and Judas,
-who is here rather handsome than otherwise, at the same time stretches
-forth his; the moment is evidently, ‘He that dippeth with me in the
-dish, the same shall betray me.’ Two circumstances spoil this picture,
-and bring it down to the level of the vulgar and the commonplace. In
-the background is seen a kitchen and the cooking of the supper. Under
-Judas crouches a hideous demon, with horns, hoof, and tail, visible
-only to the spectator.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-When the Cenacolo represents the Eucharist, it is, perhaps, allowable
-to introduce angels, because it was, and I believe is, an established
-belief, that, visible or invisible, they are always present at the
-Sacrament. The Holy Ghost descending from above is unsanctioned by
-Scripture, but may serve to mark the mystical and peculiar solemnity
-of the moment chosen for representation. It may signify, ‘He that
-receiveth me, receiveth _Him_ that sent me.’ But where angels attend,
-or where the Spiritual Comforter comes floating down from above, then
-the presence of Judas, or of any superfluous figures as spectators or
-servitors, or of dogs or other animals, becomes a manifest impropriety.
-
-The introduction of the Devil in person as tempting Judas is rendered
-pardonable by the naïveté of the early painters: in the later schools
-of art it is offensive and ridiculous.
-
-The Cenacolo of Baroccio, painted by order of Clement VIII. (1594), for
-his family chapel in the Santa Maria-sopra-Minerva, is remarkable for
-an anecdote relating to it. Baroccio, who was not eminent for a correct
-taste, had in his first sketch reverted to the ancient fashion of
-placing Satan close behind Judas, whispering in his ear, and tempting
-him to betray his Master. The Pope expressed his dissatisfaction,—‘_che
-non gli piaceva il demonio si dimesticasse tanto con Gesù Cristo_,’—and
-ordered him to remove the offensive figure. This is not the last
-example of the ancient manner of treatment. In the Cenacolo of
-Franceschini, painted nearly a century later, two angels are attending
-on the sacred repast, while Judas is in the act of leaving the room,
-conducted by Satan in person.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-It is surely a fault, in a scene of such solemn and sacred import,
-to make the head of Judas a vehicle for public or private satire, by
-giving him the features of some obnoxious personage of the time.[243]
-This, according to tradition, has been done in some instances. Perhaps
-the most remarkable example that could be cited is the story of Andrea
-del Castagno, who, after having betrayed and assassinated his friend
-Domenico Veneziano, painted himself in the character of Judas: a
-curious instance of remorse of conscience.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Volumes might be written on the subject of the Last Supper. It extends
-before me, as I think and write, into endless suggestive associations,
-which, for the present, I dare not follow out: but I shall have
-occasion to return to it hereafter.[244]
-
-
-                             ST. BARNABAS.
-
-         _Ital._ San Parnabà. _Fr._ Saint Barnabé. (June 11.)
-
-St. Barnabas is usually entitled the _Apostle_ Barnabas, because he was
-associated with the Apostles in their high calling; ‘and,’ according
-to Lardner, ‘though without that large measure of inspiration and
-high authority which was peculiar to the TWELVE APOSTLES, properly so
-called, yet he is to be considered as _Apostolical_, and next to them
-in sanctity.’ For this reason I place him here.
-
-St. Barnabas was a Levite, born in the island of Cyprus, and the
-cousin-german of Mark the evangelist. The notices of his life and
-character scattered through the Acts invest him with great personal
-interest. He it was who, after the conversion of Paul, was the first
-to believe in his sincerity, and took courage to present him to the
-other apostles, ‘who were afraid of him, and would not believe that
-he was a disciple.’ (Acts xv. 39.) Barnabas afterwards became the
-fellow-labourer of Paul, and attended him to Antioch. We are told
-that ‘he was a good man, full of the Holy Ghost and of faith;’ and to
-this the legendary traditions add, that he was a man of a most comely
-countenance, of a noble presence, grave and commanding in his step
-and deportment; and thence, when he and Paul were at Lystra together,
-‘they called Barnabas Jupiter, and Paul Mercurius.’ Subsequently,
-however, Paul and Barnabas fell into a dispute concerning Mark, and
-separated. The tradition relates that Barnabas and Mark remained for
-some time together, being united by the ties of friendship, as well
-as by those of kindred. Barnabas preached the Gospel in Asia Minor,
-Greece, and Italy; and there is an old legendary tradition that he was
-the first bishop of Milan. The legend also relates that everywhere he
-carried with him the Gospel of St. Matthew, written by the hand of
-the evangelist, preaching what was written therein; and when any were
-sick, or possessed, he laid the sacred writing upon their bosom, and
-they were healed; (a beautiful allegory this!) and it happened that as
-he preached in a synagogue of Judea against the Jews, they were seized
-with fury and took him, and put him to a cruel death. But Mark and the
-other Christians buried him with many tears.
-
-The body of St. Barnabas remained in its place of sepulture till
-the days of the Emperor Zeno, when, according to Nicephorus, it was
-revealed in a dream to Antemius, that the apostle rested in a certain
-spot, and would be found there, with the Gospel of St. Matthew lying
-on his bosom. And so it happened: the remains were found; the Gospel
-was carried to the emperor at Constantinople; and a church was built,
-dedicated to St. Barnabas.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-It is, I presume, in consequence of his being the kinsman of St. Mark,
-that Barnabas is more popular at Venice than elsewhere, and that
-devotional figures of him are rarely found except in Venetian pictures.
-He is represented as a man of majestic presence, holding in his hand
-the Gospel of St. Matthew, as in a fine picture by Bonifazio; in his
-church at Venice he is represented over the high altar, throned as
-bishop, while St. Peter stands below.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-He often occurs in subjects taken from the Acts and the life of St.
-Paul. In the scene in which he presents Paul to the other apostles, he
-is the principal personage; but in the scene at Paphos, where Elymas
-is struck blind, and at Lystra, he is always secondary to his great
-companion.
-
-[Illustration: 84 Angel (Albert Dürer) _v._ p. 79.]
-
-
-
-
-                     The Doctors of the Church.
-
-
-                      I. THE FOUR LATIN FATHERS.
-
-The Evangelists and the Apostles represented in Art the Spiritual
-Church, and took their place among the heavenly influences. The great
-Fathers or Doctors were the representatives of the Church Militant
-on earth: as teachers and pastors, as logicians and advocates, they
-wrote, argued, contended, suffered, and at length, after a long and
-fierce struggle against opposing doctrines, they fixed the articles of
-faith thereafter received in Christendom. For ages, and down to the
-present time, the prevailing creed has been that which was founded on
-the interpretations of these venerable personages. They have become,
-in consequence, frequent and important subjects of Art, particularly
-from the tenth century—the period when, in their personal character,
-they began to be regarded not merely as gifted and venerable, but as
-divinely inspired; their writings appealed to as infallible, their
-arguments accepted as demonstration. We distinguish them as the Latin
-and the Greek Fathers. In Western Art, we find the Latin Fathers
-perpetually grouped together, or in a series: the Greek Fathers seldom
-occur except in their individual character, as saints rather than as
-teachers.
-
-The four Latin Doctors are St. Jerome, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine,
-and St. Gregory. When represented together, they are generally
-distinguished from each other, and from the sacred personages who may
-be grouped in the same picture, by their conventional attributes.
-Thus St. Jerome is sometimes habited in the red hat and crimson robes
-of a cardinal, with a church in his hand; or he is a half-naked,
-bald-headed, long-bearded, emaciated old man, with eager wasted
-features, holding a book and pen, and attended by a lion. St. Ambrose
-wears the episcopal robes as bishop of Milan, with mitre and crosier,
-and holds his book; sometimes, also, he carries a knotted scourge, and
-a bee-hive is near him. St. Augustine is also habited as a bishop, and
-carries a book; he has often books at his feet, and sometimes a flaming
-heart transpierced by an arrow. The origin and signification of these
-symbols I shall explain presently.
-
-[Illustration: _The Four Latin Fathers._]
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-In the most ancient churches the Four Doctors are placed after the
-Evangelists. In the later churches they are seen combined or grouped
-with the evangelists, occasionally also with the sibyls; but this
-seems a mistake. The appropriate place of the sibyls is neither with
-the evangelists nor the fathers, but among the prophets, where Michael
-Angelo has placed them.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Where the principal subject is the glory of Christ, or the coronation
-or assumption of the Virgin, the Four Fathers attend with their books
-as witnesses and interpreters.
-
-1. A conspicuous instance of this treatment is the dome of San Giovanni
-at Parma. In the centre is the ascension of Christ, around are the
-twelve apostles gazing upwards; below them, in the spandrils of the
-arches, as if bearing record, are the Four Evangelists, each with a
-Doctor of the Church seated by him as interpreter: St. Matthew is
-attended by St. Jerome; St. Mark, by St. Gregory; St. Luke, by St.
-Augustine; and St. John, by St. Ambrose.
-
-2. A picture in the Louvre by Pier-Francesco Sacchi (A.D. 1640)
-represents the Four Doctors, attended, or rather inspired, by the
-mystic symbols of the Four Evangelists. They are seated at a table,
-under a canopy sustained by slender pillars, and appear in deep
-consultation: near St. Augustine is the eagle; St. Gregory has the ox;
-St. Jerome, the angel; and St. Ambrose, the lion.
-
-3. In a well-known woodcut after Titian, ‘The Triumph of Christ,’ the
-Redeemer is seated in a car drawn by the Four Evangelists; while the
-Four Latin Doctors, one at each wheel, put forth all their strength
-to urge it on. The patriarchs and prophets precede, the martyrs and
-confessors of the faith follow, in grand procession.
-
-4. In a Coronation of the Virgin, very singularly treated, we have
-Christ and the Virgin on a high platform or throne, sustained by
-columns; in the space underneath, between these columns, is a group
-of unwinged angels, holding the instruments of the Passion. (Or, as I
-have sometimes thought, this beautiful group may be the souls of the
-Innocents, their proper place being under the throne of Christ.) On
-each side a vast company of prophets, apostles, saints, and martyrs,
-ranged tier above tier. Immediately in front, and on the steps of the
-throne, are the Four Evangelists, seated each with his symbol and book:
-behind them the Four Fathers, also seated. This picture, which as a
-painting is singularly beautiful, the execution finished, and the heads
-most characteristic and expressive, may be said to comprise a complete
-system of the theology of the middle ages.[245]
-
-5. We have the same idea carried out in the lower part of Raphael’s
-‘Disputa’ in the Vatican. The Four Doctors are in the centre of what
-may be called the _sublunary_ part of the picture: they are the only
-seated figures in the vast assembly of holy, wise, and learned men
-around; St. Gregory and St. Jerome on the right of the altar, St.
-Ambrose and St. Augustine on the left. As the two latter wear the same
-paraphernalia, they are distinguished by having books scattered at
-their feet, on which are inscribed the titles of their respective works.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The Madonna and Child enthroned, with the Doctors of the Church
-standing on each side, is a subject which has been often, and sometimes
-beautifully, treated; and here the contrast between all we can
-conceive of virginal and infantine loveliness and innocence enshrined
-in heavenly peace and glory—and these solemn, bearded, grand-looking
-old Fathers, attending in humble reverence, as types of earthly
-wisdom—ought to produce a magnificent effect, when conceived in the
-right spirit. I can remember, however, but few instances in which the
-treatment is complete and satisfactory.
-
-1. One of these is a picture by A. Vivarini (A.D. 1446), now in the
-Academy at Venice. Here, the Virgin sits upon a throne under a rich
-canopy sustained by four little angels. She looks out of the picture
-with a most dignified, tranquil, goddess-like expression; she wears,
-as usual, the crimson tunic and blue mantle, the latter being of a
-most brilliant azure; on her brow, a magnificent jewelled crown; the
-Divine Child stands on her knee, and raises his little hand to bless
-the worshipper. To the right of the Virgin, and on the platform of her
-throne, stands St. Jerome, robed as cardinal, and bearing his church;
-with St. Gregory, habited as pope. To the left stands St. Ambrose,
-holding his crosier and knotted scourge, and St. Augustine with his
-book. This is a wonderful picture, and, as a specimen of the early
-Venetian school, unequalled. The accuracy of imitation, the dazzling
-colour, the splendid dresses and accessories, the grave beauty of the
-Madonna, the divine benignity of the Infant Redeemer, and the sternly
-thoughtful heads of the old Doctors, are not only positively fine, but
-have a relative interest and value as being stamped with that very
-peculiar character which belonged to the Vivarini and their immediate
-followers. It was painted for the Scuola della Carità.[246]
-
-2. A different and a singular treatment of the Four Fathers occurs
-in another Venetian picture.[247] Christ is represented seated on a
-throne, and disputing with the Jewish doctors, who are eagerly arguing
-or searching their books. In front of the composition stand St. Jerome,
-St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, and St. Gregory; who, with looks fixed on
-the youthful Saviour, appear to be reverentially listening to, and
-recording, his words. This wholly poetical and ideal treatment of a
-familiar passage in the life of Christ, I have never seen but in this
-one instance.
-
-3. A third example is a picture by Moretto, of extraordinary
-beauty.[248] The Virgin sits on a lofty throne, to which there is an
-ascent of several steps; the Child stands on her right; she presses
-him to her with maternal tenderness, and his arms are round her neck.
-At the foot of the throne stand St. Ambrose, with his scourge, and
-St. Augustine; St. Gregory, wearing the papal tiara, and without a
-beard, is seated on a step of the throne, holding an open book; and
-St. Jerome, kneeling on one knee, points to a passage in it; he wears
-the cardinal’s dress complete. This picture is worthy of Titian in the
-richness of the effect, with a more sober grandeur in the colour. The
-Virgin is too much like a portrait; this is the only fault.[249]
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-In the Chapel of San Lorenzo, in the Vatican, Angelico has painted
-eight Doctors of the Church, single majestic figures standing under
-Gothic canopies. According to the names _now_ to be seen inscribed
-on the pedestals beneath, these figures represent St. Jerome,[250]
-St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, St. Gregory, St. Athanasius, St. Leo,
-St. John Chrysostom, and St. Thomas Aquinas. St. John Chrysostom and
-St. Athanasius represent the Greek doctors. St. Leo, who saved Rome
-from Attila, is with peculiar propriety placed in the Vatican; and
-St. Thomas Aquinas, the angelic doctor, naturally finds a place in a
-chapel painted by a Dominican for a pope who particularly favoured the
-Dominicans,—Nicholas V.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The Four Fathers communing on the mystery of the Trinity, or the
-Immaculate Conception, were favourite subjects in the beginning of the
-seventeenth century, when church pictures, instead of being religious
-and devotional, became more and more theological. There is an admirable
-picture of this subject by Dosso Dossi.[251] Above is seen the Messiah,
-as Creator, in a glory; he lays his hand on the head of the Virgin,
-who kneels in deep humility before him; St. Gregory sits in profound
-thought, a pen in one hand, a tablet in the other; St. Ambrose and
-St. Augustine are similarly engaged; St. Jerome, to whom alone the
-celestial vision appears to be visible, is looking up with awe and
-wonder. Guido, in a celebrated picture,[252] has represented the
-Doctors of the Church communing on the Immaculate Conception of the
-Virgin. The figures are admirable for thoughtful depth of character in
-the expression, and for the noble arrangement of the draperies; above
-is seen the Virgin, floating amid clouds, in snow-white drapery, and
-sustained by angels; visible, however, to St. Jerome and St. Ambrose
-only.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Rubens has treated the Fathers several times: the colossal picture in
-the Grosvenor Gallery is well known, where they appear before us as
-moving along in a grand procession: St. Jerome comes last; (he should
-be first; but on these points Rubens was not particular:) he seems in
-deep contemplation, enveloped in the rich scarlet robes of a cardinal
-of the seventeenth century, and turning the leaves of his great
-book. In another picture we have the Four Fathers seated, discussing
-the mystery of the Eucharist; St. Jerome points to a passage in the
-Scriptures; St. Gregory is turning the page; they appear to be engaged
-in argument; the other two are listening earnestly. There is another
-picture by Rubens in which the usual attributes of the Fathers are
-borne aloft by angels, while they sit communing below.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-These examples will suffice to give a general idea of the manner
-in which the four great Doctors of the Western Church are grouped
-in devotional pictures. We will now consider them separately, each
-according to his individual character and history.
-
-
-                              ST. JEROME.
-
-_Lat._ Sanctus Hieronymus. _Ital._ San Geronimo or Girolamo. _Fr._ St.
-Jérome, Hiérome, or Géroisme. _Ger._ Der Heilige Hieronimus. Patron of
- scholars and students, and more particularly of students in theology.
-                         (Sept. 30, A.D. 420.)
-
-Of the four Latin Doctors, St. Jerome, as a subject of painting, is
-by far the most popular. The reasons for this are not merely the
-exceedingly interesting and striking character of the man, and the
-picturesque incidents of his life, but also his great importance and
-dignity as founder of Monachism in the West, and as author of the
-universally received translation of the Old and New Testament into the
-Latin language (called ‘The Vulgate’). There is scarcely a collection
-of pictures in which we do not find a St. Jerome, either doing penance
-in the desert, or writing his famous translation, or meditating on the
-mystery of the Incarnation.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Jerome was born about A.D. 342, at Stridonium, in Dalmatia. His father,
-Eusebius, was rich; and as he showed the happiest disposition for
-learning, he was sent to Rome to finish his studies. There, through
-his own passions, and the evil example of his companions, he fell into
-temptation, and for a time abandoned himself to worldly pleasures. But
-the love of virtue, as well as the love of learning, was still strong
-within him: he took up the profession of law, and became celebrated
-for his eloquence in pleading before the tribunals. When more than
-thirty, he travelled into Gaul, and visited the schools of learning
-there. It was about this time that he was baptized, and vowed himself
-to perpetual celibacy. In 373, he travelled into the East, to animate
-his piety by dwelling for a time among the scenes hallowed by the
-presence of the Saviour; and, on his way thither, he visited some of
-the famous Oriental hermits and ascetics, of whom he has given us such
-a graphic account, and whose example inspired him with a passion for
-solitude and a monastic life. Shortly after his arrival in Syria, he
-retired to a desert in Chalcis, on the confines of Arabia, and there
-he spent four years in study and seclusion, supporting himself by the
-labour of his hands. He has left us a most vivid picture of his life of
-penance in the wilderness; of his trials and temptations, his fastings,
-his sickness of soul and body: and we must dwell for a moment on his
-own description, in order to show with what literal and circumstantial
-truth the painters have rendered it. He says, in one of his epistles,
-‘Oh how often, in the desert, in that vast solitude which, parched by
-the sultry sun, affords a dwelling to the monks, did I fancy myself
-in the midst of the luxuries of Rome! I sate alone, for I was full of
-bitterness. My misshapen limbs were rough with sackcloth, and my skin
-so squalid that I might have been mistaken for an Ethiopian. Tears
-and groans were my occupation every day and all day long. If sleep
-surprised me unawares, my naked bones, which scarcely held together,
-rattled on the earth.’ His companions, he says, ‘were scorpions and
-wild beasts;’ his home, ‘a recess among rocks and precipices.’ Yet,
-in the midst of this horrible self-torture and self-abasement, he
-describes himself as frequently beset by temptations to sin and sensual
-indulgence, and haunted by demons: at other times, as consoled by
-voices and visions from heaven. Besides these trials of the flesh and
-the spirit, he had others of the intellect. His love of learning, his
-admiration of the great writers of classical antiquity,—of Plato and
-Cicero,—made him impatient of the rude simplicity of the Christian
-historians. He describes himself as fasting before he opened Cicero;
-and, as a further penance, he forced himself to study Hebrew, which
-at first filled him with disgust, and this disgust appeared to him a
-capital sin. In one of his distempered visions, he fancied he heard
-the last trumpet sounded in his ear by an angel, and summoning him
-before the judgment-seat of God. ‘Who art thou?’ demanded the awful
-voice. ‘A Christian,’ replied the trembling Jerome. ‘‘Tis false!’
-replied the voice, ‘thou art no Christian: thou art a Ciceronian.
-Where the treasure is, there will the heart be also.’ He persevered,
-and conquered the difficulties of Hebrew; and then, wearied by the
-religious controversies in the East, after ten years’ residence there,
-he returned to Rome.
-
-But neither the opposition he had met with, nor his four years of
-solitude and penance in the desert, had subdued the fiery enthusiasm of
-temperament which characterised this celebrated man. At Rome he boldly
-combated the luxurious self-indulgence of the clergy, and preached
-religious abstinence and mortification. He was particularly remarkable
-for the influence he obtained over the Roman women; we find them,
-subdued or excited by his eloquent exhortations, devoting themselves
-to perpetual chastity, distributing their possessions among the poor,
-or spending their days in attendance on the sick, and ready to follow
-their teacher to the Holy Land—to the desert—even to death. His most
-celebrated female convert was Paula, a noble Roman matron, a descendant
-of the Scipios and the Gracchi. Marcella, another of these Roman
-ladies, was the first who, in the East, collected together a number
-of pious women to dwell together in community: hence she is, by some
-authors, considered as the first nun; but others contend that Martha,
-the sister of Mary Magdalene, was the first who founded a religious
-community of women.
-
-After three years’ sojourn at Rome, St. Jerome returned to Palestine,
-and took up his residence in a monastery he had founded at Bethlehem.
-When, in extreme old age, he became sensible of the approach of death,
-he raised with effort his emaciated limbs, and, commanding himself to
-be carried into the chapel of the monastery, he received the Sacrament
-for the last time from the hands of the priest, and soon after expired.
-He died in 420, leaving, besides his famous translation of the
-Scriptures, numerous controversial writings, epistles, and commentaries.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-We read in the legendary history of St. Jerome, that one evening, as
-he sat within the gates of his monastery at Bethlehem, a lion entered,
-limping, as in pain; and all the brethren, when they saw the lion, fled
-in terror: but Jerome arose, and went forward to meet him, as though he
-had been a guest. And the lion lifted up his paw, and St. Jerome, on
-examining it, found that it was wounded by a thorn, which he extracted;
-and he tended the lion till he was healed. The grateful beast remained
-with his benefactor, and Jerome confided to him the task of guarding
-an ass which was employed in bringing firewood from the forest. On one
-occasion, the lion having gone to sleep while the ass was at pasture,
-some merchants passing by carried away the latter; and the lion, after
-searching for him in vain, returned to the monastery with drooping
-head, as one ashamed. St. Jerome, believing that he had devoured his
-companion, commanded that the daily task of the ass should be laid upon
-the lion, and that the faggots should be bound on his back, to which
-he magnanimously submitted, until the ass was recovered; which was in
-this wise. One day, the lion, having finished his task, ran hither and
-thither, still seeking his companion; and he saw a caravan of merchants
-approaching, and a string of camels, which, according to the Arabian
-custom, were led by an ass; and when the lion recognised his friend, he
-drove the camels into the convent, and so terrified the merchants, that
-they confessed the theft, and received pardon from St. Jerome.
-
-The introduction of the lion into pictures of St. Jerome is supposed
-to refer to this legend; but in this instance, as in many others, the
-reverse was really the case. The lion was in very ancient times adopted
-as the symbol befitting St. Jerome, from his fervid, fiery nature, and
-his life in the wilderness; and in later times, the legend invented to
-explain the symbol was gradually expanded into the story as given above.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Representations of St. Jerome, in pictures, prints, and sculpture,
-are so numerous that it were in vain to attempt to give any detailed
-account of them, even of the most remarkable. All, however, may be
-included under the following classification, and, according to the
-descriptions given, may be easily recognised.
-
-The devotional subjects and single figures represent St. Jerome in
-one of his three great characters. 1. As Patron Saint and Doctor of
-the Church. 2. As Translator and Commentator of the Scriptures. 3. As
-Penitent. As Doctor of the Church, and teacher, he enters into every
-scheme of decoration, and finds a place in all sacred buildings. As
-Saint and Penitent, he is chiefly to be found in the convents and
-churches of the Jeronymites, who claim him as their Patriarch.
-
-When placed before us as the patron saint and father of divinity, he is
-usually standing full length, either habited in the cardinal’s robes,
-or with the cardinal’s hat lying at his feet. It may be necessary to
-observe, that there is no historical authority for making St. Jerome
-a cardinal. Cardinal-priests were not ordained till three centuries
-later; but as the other fathers were all of high ecclesiastical rank,
-and as St. Jerome obstinately refused all such distinction, it has
-been thought necessary, for the sake of his dignity, to make him a
-cardinal: another reason may be, that he performed, in the court of
-Pope Dalmasius, those offices since discharged by the cardinal-deacon.
-In some of the old Venetian pictures, instead of the official robes of
-a cardinal, he is habited in loose ample red drapery, part of which is
-thrown over his head. When represented with his head uncovered, his
-forehead is lofty and bald, his beard is very long, flowing even to his
-girdle; his features fine and sharp, his nose aquiline. In his hand
-he holds a book or a scroll, and frequently the emblematical church,
-of which he was the great support and luminary: and, to make the
-application stronger and clearer, rays of light are seen issuing from
-the door of the church.
-
-1. A signal instance of the treatment of Jerome as patron saint occurs
-in a fine picture by Wohlgemuth, the master of Albert Dürer.[253] It
-is an altar-piece representing the glorification of the saint, and
-consists of three compartments. In the centre, St. Jerome _stands_ on
-a magnificent throne, and lays his left hand on the head of a lion,
-raised up on his hind legs: the donors of the picture, a man and a
-woman, kneel in front; on each side are windows opening on a landscape,
-wherein various incidents of the life of St. Jerome are represented;
-on the right, his Penance in the Wilderness and his Landing at Cyprus;
-and on the left, the merchants who had carried off the ass bring
-propitiatory gifts, which the saint rejects, and other men are seen
-felling wood and loading the lion. On the inner shutters or wings of
-the central picture, are represented, on the right, the three other
-doctors,—St. Augustine, with the flaming heart; St. Ambrose, with
-the bee-hive; both habited as bishops; and St. Gregory, wearing his
-tiara, and holding a large book (his famous Homilies) in his hand. On
-the left, three apostles with their proper attributes, St. Andrew, St.
-Thomas, and St. Bartholomew; on the other side are represented, to the
-right, St. Henry II. holding a church (the cathedral of Bamberg), and
-a sword, his proper attributes; and his wife St. Cunegunda.[254] On
-the left St. Elizabeth of Hungary and St. Martin. There are besides,
-to close in the whole, two outer doors: on the inner side, to the
-right, St. Joseph and St. Kilian;[255] on the left, St. Catherine and
-St. Ursula; and on the exterior of the whole the mass of St. Gregory,
-with various personages and objects connected with the Passion of
-Christ. The whole is about six feet high, dated 1511, and may bear
-a comparison, for elaborate and multifarious detail and exquisite
-painting, with the famous Van Eyck altar-piece in St. John’s Church at
-Ghent.[256]
-
-2. In his character of patron, St. Jerome is a frequent subject of
-sculpture. There is a Gothic figure of him in Henry the Seventh’s
-Chapel, habited in the cardinal’s robes, the lion fawning upon him.
-
-When St. Jerome is represented in his second great character, as the
-translator of the Scriptures, he is usually seated in a cave or in a
-cell, busied in reading or in writing; he wears a loose robe thrown
-over his wasted form; and either he looks down intent on his book, or
-he looks up as if awaiting heavenly inspiration: sometimes an angel is
-dictating to him.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-1. In an old Italian print, which I have seen, he is seated on the
-ground reading, in _spectacles_;—an anachronism frequent in the old
-painters. Sometimes he is seated under the shade of a tree; or within
-a cavern, writing at a rude table formed of a stump of a tree, or a
-board laid across two fragments of rock; as in a beautiful picture by
-Ghirlandajo, remarkable for its solemn and tranquil feeling.[257]
-
-2. Very celebrated is an engraving of this subject by Albert Dürer. The
-scene is the interior of a cell, at Bethlehem; two windows on the left
-pour across the picture a stream of sunshine, which is represented with
-wonderful effect. St. Jerome is seen in the background, seated at a
-desk, most intently writing his translation of the Scriptures; in front
-the lion is crouching, and a fox is seen asleep. These two animals
-are here emblems;—the one, of the courage and vigilance, the other of
-the wisdom or acuteness, of the saint. The execution of this print is
-a miracle of Art, and it is very rare. There is an exquisite little
-picture by Elzheimer copied from it, and of the same size, at Hampton
-Court. I need hardly observe, that here the rosary and the pot of holy
-water are anachronisms, as well as the cardinal’s hat. By Albert Dürer
-we have also St. Jerome writing in a cavern; and St. Jerome reading in
-his cell: both woodcuts.
-
-3. Even more beautiful is a print by Lucas v. Leyden, in which St.
-Jerome is reclining in his cell and reading intently; the lion licks
-his foot.
-
-4. In a picture by Lucas Cranach, Albert of Brandenburg, elector of
-Mayence (1527), is represented in the character of St. Jerome, seated
-in the wilderness, and writing at a table formed of a plank laid across
-two stumps of trees: he is in the cardinal-robes; and in the foreground
-a lion, a hare, a beaver, a partridge, and a hind, beautifully
-painted, express the solitude of his life. In the background the
-caravan of merchants is seen entering the gate of the monastery,
-conducted by the faithful lion.
-
-5. The little picture by Domenichino, in our National Gallery,
-represents St. Jerome looking up from his book, and listening to the
-accents of the angel. 6. In a picture by Tiarini,[258] it is St. John
-the Evangelist, and not an angel, who dictates while he writes. 7. In
-a picture by Titian, St. Jerome, seated, holds a book, and gazes up at
-a crucifix suspended in the skies; the lion is drinking at a fountain.
-Out of twenty prints of St. Jerome after Titian, there are at least
-eight which represent him at study or writing.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-It is in the double character of Doctor of the Church, and translator
-of the Scriptures, that we find St. Jerome so frequently introduced
-into pictures of the Madonna, and grouped with other saints. Two of
-the most celebrated pictures in the world suggest themselves here as
-examples:—1. ‘The Madonna della Pesce’ of Raphael; where the Virgin,
-seated on a raised throne, holds the Infant Christ in her arms; on
-her right hand, the archangel Raphael presents the young Tobias, who
-holds the fish, the emblem of Christianity or Baptism. On the other
-side kneels St. Jerome, holding an open book, his beard sweeping to his
-girdle; the lion at his feet; the Infant Christ, while he bends forward
-to greet Tobias, has one hand upon St. Jerome’s book: the whole is a
-beautiful and expressive allegory.[259] 2. Correggio’s picture, called
-‘The St. Jerome of Parma,’ represents the Infant Christ on the knees of
-his mother: Mary Magdalene bends to kiss his feet: St. Jerome stands in
-front, presenting his translation of the Scriptures.
-
-[Illustration: 85 St. Jerome doing Penance (Titian)]
-
-The penitent St. Jerome seems to have been adopted throughout the
-Christian Church as the approved symbol of Christian penitence,
-self-denial, and self-abasement. No devotional subject, if we except
-the ‘Madonna and Child’ and the ‘Magdalene,’ is of such perpetual
-recurrence. In the treatment it has been infinitely varied. The scene
-is generally a wild rocky solitude: St. Jerome, half naked, emaciated,
-with matted hair and beard, is seen on his knees before a crucifix,
-beating his breast with a stone. The lion is almost always introduced,
-sometimes asleep, or crouching at his feet; sometimes keeping guard,
-sometimes drinking at a stream. The most magnificent example of this
-treatment is by Titian:[260] St. Jerome, kneeling on one knee, half
-supported by a craggy rock, and holding the stone, looks up with eager
-devotion to a cross, artlessly fixed into a cleft in the rock; two
-books lie on a cliff behind; at his feet are a skull and hour-glass;
-and the lion reposes in front. The feeling of deep solitude, and a kind
-of sacred horror breathed over this picture, are inconceivably fine and
-impressive. Another by Titian, but inferior, is in the Louvre; and
-there are at least twelve engravings of St. Jerome doing penance, after
-the same painter: among them a superb landscape, in which are seen
-a lion and a lioness prowling in the wilderness, while the saint is
-doing penance in the foreground. By Agostino Caracci there is a famous
-engraving of ‘St. Jerome doing penance in a cave,’ called from its size
-the _great_ St. Jerome. But to particularise further would be endless:
-I know scarcely any Italian painter since the fifteenth century who has
-not treated this subject at least once.
-
-The Spanish painters have rendered it with a gloomy power, and
-revelled in its mystic significance. In the Spanish gallery of the
-Louvre I counted at least twenty St. Jeromes: the old German painters
-and engravers also delighted in it, on account of its picturesque
-capabilities.
-
-Albert Dürer represents St. Jerome kneeling before a crucifix, which he
-has suspended against the trunk of a massy tree; an open book is near
-it; he holds in his right hand a flint-stone, with which he is about
-to strike his breast, all wounded and bleeding from the blows already
-inflicted; the lion crouches behind him, and in the distance is a stag.
-
-The penitent St. Jerome is not a good subject for sculpture; the
-undraped, meagre form, and the abasement of suffering, are disagreeable
-in this treatment: yet such representations are constantly met with in
-churches. The famous colossal statue by Torrigiano, now in the Museum
-at Seville, represents St. Jerome kneeling on a rock, a stone in one
-hand, a crucifix in the other. At Venice, in the Frari, there is a
-statue of St. Jerome, standing, with the stone in his hand and the lion
-at his feet; too majestic for the Penitent. There are several other
-statues of St. Jerome at Venice, from the Liberi and Lombardi schools,
-all fine as statues; but the penitent saint is idealised into the
-patron-saint of penitents.
-
-When figures of St. Jerome as penitent are introduced in Madonna
-pictures, or in the Passion of Christ, then such figures are
-devotional, and symbolical, in a general sense, of Christian repentance.
-
-There is an early picture of the Crucifixion, by Raphael,[261] in
-which he has placed St. Jerome at the foot of the cross, beating his
-breast with a stone(86).
-
-[Illustration: 86 St. Jerome, as Penitent, in a Crucifixion (Raphael)]
-
-The pictures from the life of St. Jerome comprise a variety of
-subjects:—1. ‘He receives the cardinal’s hat from the Virgin:’
-sometimes it is the Infant Christ, seated in the lap of the Virgin,
-who presents it to him. 2. ‘He disputes with the Jewish doctors on
-the truth of the Christian religion;’ in a curious picture by Juan
-de Valdes.[262] He stands on one side of a table in an attitude of
-authority: the rabbis, each of whom has a demon looking over his
-shoulder, are searching their books for arguments against him. 3. ‘St.
-Jerome, while studying Hebrew in the solitude of Chalcida, hears in a
-vision the sound of the last trumpet, calling men to judgment.’ This is
-a common subject, and styled ‘The Vision of St. Jerome.’ I have met
-with no example earlier than the fifteenth century. In general he is
-lying on the ground, and an angel sounds the trumpet from above. In a
-composition by Ribera he holds a pen in one hand and a penknife in the
-other: he seems to have been arrested in the very act of mending his
-pen by the blast of the trumpet: the figure of the saint, wasted even
-to skin and bone, and his look of petrified amazement, are very fine,
-notwithstanding the commonplace action. In a picture by Subleyras, in
-the Louvre, St. Jerome is gazing upwards, with an astonished look;
-three archangels sound their trumpets from above. In a picture by
-Antonio Pereda, at Madrid, St. Jerome not only hears in his vision
-the sound of the last trump, he _sees_ the dead arise from their
-graves around him. Lastly, by way of climax, I may mention a picture
-in the Louvre, by a modern French painter, Sigalon: St. Jerome is in
-a convulsive fit, and the three angels, blowing their trumpets in his
-ears, are like furies sent to torment and madden the sinner, rather
-than to rouse the saint.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-While doing penance in the desert, St. Jerome was sometimes haunted by
-temptations, as well as amazed by terrors.
-
-4. Domenichino, in one of the frescoes in St. Onofrio, represents the
-particular kind of temptation by which the saint was in imagination
-assailed: while he is fervently praying and beating his breast, a
-circle of beautiful nymphs, seen in the background, weave a graceful
-dance. Vasari has had the bad taste to give us a penitent St. Jerome
-with Venus and Cupids in the background: one arch little Cupid takes
-aim at him;—an offensive instance of the extent to which, in the
-sixteenth century, classical ideas had mingled with and depraved
-Christian Art.[263]
-
-5. Guido. ‘St. Jerome translating the Scriptures while an angel
-dictates:’ life size and very fine (except the angel, who is weak, and
-reminds one of a water-nymph[264]); in his pale manner.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-6. Domenichino. ‘St. Jerome is flagellated by an angel for preferring
-Cicero to the Hebrew writings:’ also in the St. Onofrio. The Cicero,
-torn from his hand, lies at his feet. Here the saint is a young man,
-and the whole scene is represented as a vision.
-
-7. But St. Jerome was comforted by visions of glory, as well as haunted
-by terrors and temptations. In the picture by Parmigiano, in our
-National Gallery, St. Jerome is sleeping in the background, while St.
-John the Baptist points upwards to a celestial vision of the Virgin
-and Child, seen in the opening heavens above: the upper part of this
-picture is beautiful, and full of dignity; but the saint is lying
-stretched on the earth in an attitude so uneasy and distorted, that it
-would seem as if he were condemned to do penance even in his sleep; and
-the St. John has always appeared to me mannered and theatrical.
-
-[Illustration: 87 St. Jerome and the Lion (Coll’ Antonio da Fiore)
-Naples]
-
-8. The story of the lion is often represented. St. Jerome is seated in
-his cell, attired in the monk’s habit and cowl; the lion approaches,
-and lays his paw upon his knee; a cardinal’s hat and books are lying
-near him; and, to express the self-denial of the saint, a mouse is
-peeping into an empty cup (87).[265]
-
-In another example, by Vittore Carpaccio, the lion enters the cell, and
-three monks, attendants on St. Jerome, flee in terror.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-9. The Last Communion of St. Jerome is the subject of one of the most
-celebrated pictures in the world,—the St. Jerome of Domenichino, which
-has been thought worthy of being placed opposite to the Transfiguration
-of Raphael, in the Vatican. The aged saint—feeble, emaciated, dying—is
-borne in the arms of his disciples to the chapel of his monastery,
-and placed within the porch. A young priest sustains him; St. Paula,
-kneeling, kisses one of his thin bony hands; the saint fixes his eager
-eyes on the countenance of the priest, who is about to administer the
-sacrament,—a noble dignified figure in a rich ecclesiastical dress;
-a deacon holds the cup, and an attendant priest the book and taper;
-the lion droops his head with an expression of grief; the eyes and
-attention of all are on the dying saint, while four angels, hovering
-above, look down upon the scene.
-
-Agostino Caracci, in a grand picture now in the Bologna Gallery, had
-previously treated the same subject with much feeling and dramatic
-power: but here the saint is not so wasted and so feeble; St. Paula is
-not present, and the lion is tenderly licking his feet.
-
-Older than either, and very beautiful and solemn, is a picture by
-Vittore Carpaccio, in which the saint is kneeling in the porch of a
-church, surrounded by his disciples, and the lion is seen outside.
-
-10. ‘The Death of St. Jerome.’ In the picture by Starnina he is giving
-his last instructions to his disciples, and the expression of solemn
-grief in the old heads around is very fine. In a Spanish picture he is
-extended on a couch, made of hurdles, and expires in the arms of his
-monks.
-
-In a very fine anonymous print, dated 1614, St. Jerome is dying alone
-in his cell (this version of the subject is contrary to all authority
-and precedent): he presses to his bosom the Gospel and the crucifix;
-the lion looks up in his face roaring, and angels bear away his soul to
-heaven.
-
-11. ‘The Obsequies of St. Jerome.’ In the picture by Vittore Carpaccio,
-the saint is extended on the ground before the high altar, and the
-priests around are kneeling in various attitudes of grief or devotion.
-The lion is seen on one side.[266]
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-I will mention here some other pictures in which St. Jerome figures as
-the principal personage.
-
-St. Jerome introducing Charles V. into Paradise is the subject of a
-large fresco, by Luca Giordano, on the staircase of the Escurial.
-
-St. Jerome conversing with two nuns, probably intended for St. Paula
-and St. Marcella.[267]
-
-The sleep of St. Jerome. He is watched by two angels, one of whom, with
-his finger on his lip, commands silence.[268]
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-It is worth remarking, that in the old Venetian pictures St. Jerome
-does not wear the proper habit and hat of a cardinal, but an ample
-scarlet robe, part of which is thrown over his head as a hood (88).
-
-[Illustration: 88 Venetian St. Jerome]
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The history of St. Jerome, in a series, is often found in the churches
-and convents of the Jeronymites, and generally consists of the
-following subjects, of which the fourth and sixth are often omitted:—
-
-1. He is baptized. 2. He receives the cardinal’s hat from the Virgin.
-3. He does penance in the desert, beating his breast with a stone.
-4. He meets St. Augustine. 5. He is studying or writing in a cell.
-6. He builds the convent at Bethlehem. 7. He heals the wounded lion.
-8. He receives the Last Sacrament. 9. He dies in the presence of his
-disciples. 10. He is buried.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Considering that St. Jerome has ever been venerated as one of the great
-lights of the Church, it is singular that so few churches are dedicated
-to him. There is one at Rome, erected, according to tradition, on the
-very spot where stood the house of Santa Paula, where she entertained
-St. Jerome during his sojourn at Rome in 382. For the high altar of
-this church, Domenichino painted his masterpiece of the Communion of
-St. Jerome already described. The embarkation of Saint Paula, to follow
-her spiritual teacher St. Jerome to the Holy Land, is the subject of
-one of Claude’s most beautiful sea pieces, now in the collection of the
-Duke of Wellington; another picture of this subject, the figures as
-large as life, is in the Brera, by a clever Cremonese painter, Giuseppe
-Bottoni.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-St. Jerome has detained its long; the other Fathers are, as subjects of
-Art, much less interesting.
-
-
-                             ST. AMBROSE.
-
-   _Lat._ S. Ambrosius. _Ital._ Sant’ Ambrogio. _Fr._ St. Ambroise.
-  _Ger._ Der Heilige Ambrosius. Patron Saint of Milan. (April 4, A.D.
-                                 397.)
-
-We can hardly imagine a greater contrast than between the stern,
-enthusiastic, dreaming, ascetic Jerome, and the statesman-like,
-practical, somewhat despotic AMBROSE. This extraordinary man, in
-whose person the priestly character assumed an importance and dignity
-till then unknown, was the son of a prefect of Gaul, bearing the same
-name, and was born at Treves in the year 340. It is said that, when an
-infant in the cradle, a swarm of bees alighted on his mouth, without
-injuring him. The same story was told of Plato and of Archilochus, and
-considered prophetic of future eloquence. It is from this circumstance
-that St. Ambrose is represented with the bee-hive near him.
-
-Young Ambrose, after pursuing his studies at Rome with success, was
-appointed prefect of Æmilia and Liguria (Piedmont and Genoa), and took
-up his residence at Milan. Shortly afterwards the Bishop of Milan
-died, and the succession was hotly disputed between the Catholics and
-the Arians. Ambrose appeared in his character of prefect, to allay
-the tumult; he harangued the people with such persuasive eloquence
-that they were hushed into respectful silence; and in the midst a
-child’s voice was heard to exclaim, ‘Ambrose shall be bishop!’ The
-multitude took up the cry as though it had been a voice from heaven,
-and compelled him to assume the sacred office. He attempted to avoid
-the honour thus laid upon him by flight, by entreaties,—pleading that,
-though a professed Christian, he had never been baptized: in vain! the
-command of the emperor enforced the wishes of the people; and Ambrose,
-being baptized, was, within eight days afterwards, consecrated bishop
-of Milan. He has since been regarded as the patron saint of that city.
-
-He began by distributing all his worldly goods to the poor; he then
-set himself to study the sacred writings, and to render himself in all
-respects worthy of his high dignity. ‘The Old and the New Testament,’
-says Mr. Milman, ‘met in the person of Ambrose: the implacable
-hostility to idolatry, the abhorrence of every deviation from the
-established formulary of belief;—the wise and courageous benevolence,
-the generous and unselfish devotion to the great interests of humanity.’
-
-He was memorable for the grandeur and magnificence with which he
-invested the ceremonies of worship; they had never been so imposing. He
-particularly cultivated music, and introduced from the East the manner
-of chanting the service since called the Ambrosian chant.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Two things were especially remarkable in the life and character of
-St. Ambrose. The first was the enthusiasm with which he advocated
-celibacy in both sexes: on this topic, as we are assured, he was so
-persuasive, that mothers shut up their daughters lest they should be
-_seduced_ by their eloquent bishop into vows of chastity. The other
-was his determination to set the ecclesiastical above the sovereign
-or civil power: this principle, so abused in later times, was in the
-days of Ambrose the assertion of the might of Christianity, of mercy,
-of justice, of freedom, over heathenism, tyranny, cruelty, slavery.
-The dignity with which he refused to hold any communication with the
-Emperor Maximus, because he was stained with the blood of Gratian, and
-his resolute opposition to the Empress Justina, who interfered with
-his sacerdotal privileges, were two instances of this spirit. But the
-most celebrated incident of his life is his conduct with regard to
-the Emperor Theodosius, the last great emperor of Rome;—a man of an
-iron will, a despot, and a warrior. That _he_ should bend in trembling
-submission at the feet of an unarmed priest, and shrink before his
-rebuke, filled the whole world with an awful idea of the supremacy of
-the Church, and prepared the way for the Hildebrands, the Perettis, the
-Caraffas of later times. With regard to St. Ambrose, this assumption
-of moral power, this high prerogative of the priesthood, had hitherto
-been without precedent, and in this its first application it certainly
-commands our respect, our admiration, and our sympathy.
-
-Theodosius, with all his great qualities, was subject to fits of
-violent passion. A sedition, or rather a popular affray, had taken
-place in Thessalonica; one of his officers was ill-treated, and some
-lives lost. Theodosius, in the first moment of indignation, ordered an
-indiscriminate massacre of the inhabitants, and seven thousand human
-beings—men, women, and children—were sacrificed. The conduct of Ambrose
-on this occasion was worthy of a Christian prelate: he retired from
-the presence of the emperor, and wrote to him a letter, in which, in
-the name of Christ, of his Church, and of all the bishops over whom he
-had any influence, he denounced this inhuman act with the strongest
-expressions of abhorrence, and refused to allow the sovereign, thus
-stained with innocent blood, to participate in the sacraments of the
-Church;—in fact, excommunicated him. In vain the emperor threatened,
-supplicated; in vain he appeared with all his imperial state before the
-doors of the cathedral of Milan, and commanded and entreated entrance.
-The doors were closed; and even on Christmas-day, when he again as
-a suppliant presented himself, Ambrose appeared at the porch, and
-absolutely forbade his entrance, unless he should choose to pass into
-the sanctuary over the dead body of the intrepid bishop. At length,
-after eight months of interdict, Ambrose consented to relent, on two
-conditions: the first, that the emperor should publish an edict by
-which no capital punishment could be executed till thirty days after
-conviction of a crime; the second, that he should perform a public
-penance. The emperor submitted; and, clothed in sackcloth, grovelling
-on the earth, with dust and ashes on his head, lay the master of the
-world before the altar of Christ, because of innocent blood hastily
-and wrongfully shed. This was a great triumph, and one of incalculable
-results—some evil, some good.
-
-Another incident in the life of St. Ambrose should be recorded to his
-honour. In his time, ‘the first blood was judicially shed for religious
-opinion’—and the first man who suffered for heresy was Priscilian,
-a noble Spaniard: on this occasion, St. Ambrose and St. Martin of
-Tours raised their protest in the name of Christianity against this
-dreadful precedent; but the animosity of the Spanish bishops prevailed,
-and Priscilian was put to death; so early were bigotry and cruelty
-the characteristics of the Spanish hierarchy! Ambrose refused to
-communicate with the few bishops who had countenanced this transaction:
-the general voice of the Church was against it.
-
-The man who had thus raised himself above all worldly power was endued
-by popular enthusiasm with supernatural privileges: he performed cures;
-he saw visions. At the time of the consecration of the new cathedral
-at Milan, a miraculous dream revealed to him the martyrdom of two holy
-men, Gervasius and Protasius, and the place where their bodies reposed.
-The remains were disinterred, conveyed in solemn procession to the
-cathedral, and deposited beneath the high altar; and St. Gervasius and
-St. Protasius became, on the faith of a dream, distinguished saints in
-the Roman calendar. Ambrose died at Milan, in 397, in the attitude and
-the act of prayer.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-There were many poetical legends and apologues relating to St. Ambrose
-current in the middle ages.
-
-It is related that an obstinate heretic who went to hear him preach,
-only to confute and mock him, beheld an angel visible at his side, and
-prompting the words he uttered; on seeing which, the scoffer was of
-course converted; a subject represented in his church at Milan.
-
-One day, Ambrose went to the prefect Macedonius, to entreat favour for
-a poor condemned wretch; but the doors were shut against him, and he
-was refused access. Then he said, ‘Thou, even thou, shalt fly to the
-church for refuge, and shalt not enter!’ and a short time afterwards,
-Macedonius, being pursued by his enemies, fled for sanctuary to the
-church; but, though the doors were wide open, he could not find the
-entrance, but wandered around in blind perplexity till he was slain. Of
-this incident I have seen no picture.
-
-On another occasion, St. Ambrose, coming to the house of a nobleman of
-Tuscany, was hospitably received; and he inquired concerning the state
-of his host: the nobleman replied, ‘I have never known adversity; every
-day hath seen me increasing in fortune, in honours, in possessions. I
-have a numerous family of sons and daughters, who have never cost me a
-pang of sorrow; I have a multitude of slaves, to whom my word is law;
-and I have never suffered either sickness or pain.’ Then Ambrose rose
-hastily from table, and said to his companions, ‘Arise! fly from this
-roof, ere it fall upon us; for the Lord is not here!’ and scarcely had
-he left the house, when an earthquake shook the ground, and swallowed
-up the palace with all its inhabitants. I have seen this story in a
-miniature, but cannot at this moment refer to it.
-
-St. Ambrose falls asleep, or into a trance, while celebrating mass, and
-sees in the spirit the obsequies of St. Martin of Tours: the sacristan
-strikes him on the shoulder to wake him. This is the subject of a very
-old mosaic in his church at Milan.
-
-When St. Ambrose was on his death-bed, Christ visited him and comforted
-him; Honorat, bishop of Vercelli, was then in attendance on him, and
-having gone to sleep, an angel waked him, saying, ‘Arise, for he
-departs in this hour;’ and Honorat was just in time to administer the
-sacrament and see him expire. Others who were present beheld him ascend
-to heaven, borne in the arms of angels.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Devotional pictures of St. Ambrose alone as patron saint do not often
-occur. In general he wears the episcopal pallium with the mitre and
-crosier as bishop: the bee-hive is sometimes placed at his feet; but a
-more frequent attribute is the knotted scourge with three thongs. The
-scourge is a received emblem of the castigation of sin: in the hand
-of St. Ambrose it may signify the penance inflicted on the Emperor
-Theodosius; or, as others interpret it, the expulsion of the Arians
-from Italy, and the triumph of the Trinitarians. It has always this
-meaning, we may presume, when the scourge has three knots, or three
-thongs. I have seen figures of St. Ambrose holding two human bones in
-his hand. When this attribute occurs (as in a picture by _Vivarini_,
-_Venice Acad._), it alludes to the discovery of the relics of Gervasius
-and Protasius.
-
-Among the few representations of St. Ambrose as patron saint, the
-finest beyond all comparison is that which adorns his chapel in the
-Frari at Venice, painted conjointly by B. Vivarini and Basaiti (A.D.
-1498). He is seated on a throne, raised on several steps, attired in
-his episcopal robes and mitre, and bearing the triple scourge in his
-hand. He has a short grey beard, and looks straight out of the picture
-with an expression of stern power;—nothing here of the benignity and
-humility of the Christian teacher! Around his throne stands a glorious
-company of saints: on the right, St. George in complete armour; St.
-John the Baptist; a young saint, bearing a sword and palm, with long
-hair, and the most beautiful expression of mild serene faith, whom I
-suppose to be St. Theodore; St. Sebastian; and another figure behind,
-part of the head only seen. On the left, St. Maurice, armed; the three
-Doctors, St. Gregory, St. Augustine, St. Jerome, and two other saints
-partly seen behind, whose personality is doubtful. All these wait round
-St. Ambrose, as guards and counsellors round a sovereign; two lovely
-little angels sit on the lower step of the throne hymning his praise.
-The whole picture is wonderful for colour, depth, and expression, and
-shows to what a pitch of excellence the Vivarini family had attained in
-these characteristics of the Venetian school, long before it had become
-a school.
-
-Most of the single figures of St. Ambrose represent him in his most
-popular character, that of the stern adversary of the Arians. I
-remember (in the Frari at Venice) a picture in which St. Ambrose in
-his episcopal robes is mounted on a white charger, and flourishing on
-high his triple scourge. The Arians are trampled under his feet, or fly
-before him. I have seen an old print, in which he is represented with
-a short grey beard, stern countenance, and wearing the bishop’s mitre:
-underneath is the inscription ‘_Antiquis ejus imaginibus Mediolani olim
-depictis ad vivum expressa_;’ but it seems certain that no authentic
-portrait of him exists.
-
-His church at Milan, the Basilica of Sant’ Ambrogio Maggiore, one of
-the oldest and most interesting churches in Christendom, was founded
-by him in 387, and dedicated to all the Saints. Though rebuilt in
-the ninth century and restored in the seventeenth, it still retains
-the form of the primitive Christian churches (like some of those at
-Rome and Ravenna), and the doors of cypress wood are traditionally
-regarded as the very doors which St. Ambrose closed against the
-Emperor Theodosius, brought hither from the ancient cathedral. Within
-this venerable and solemn old church may be seen one of the most
-extraordinary and best-preserved specimens of Mediæval Art: it is the
-golden shrine or covering of the high altar, much older than the famous
-_pala d’ oro_ at Venice; and the work, or at least the design, of one
-man:[269] whereas the _pala_ is the work of several different artists
-at different periods. On the front of the altar, which is all of plates
-of gold, enamelled and set with precious stones, are represented in
-relief scenes from the life of our Saviour: on the sides, which are of
-silver-gilt, angels, archangels, and medallions of Milanese saints. On
-the back, also of silver-gilt, we have the whole life of St. Ambrose,
-in a series of small compartments, most curious and important as a
-record of costume and manners, as well as an example of the state of
-Art at that time. I have never seen any engraving of this monument, but
-I examined it carefully. In the centre stand the Archangels Michael and
-Gabriel, in the Byzantine style; and below them, St. Ambrose blesses
-the donor, Bishop Angelbertus, and the goldsmith Wolvinus. Around, in
-twelve compartments, we have the principal incidents of the life of St.
-Ambrose, the figures being, as nearly as I can recollect, about six
-inches high.
-
-1. Bees swarm round his head as he lies in his cradle. 2. He is
-appointed prefect of the Ligurian provinces. 3. He is elected Bishop
-of Milan in 375. 4. He is baptized. 5. He is ordained. 6. and 7. He
-sleeps, and beholds in a vision the obsequies of St. Martin of Tours.
-8. He preaches in the cathedral, inspired by angels. 9. He heals the
-sick and lame. 10. He is visited by Christ. 11. An angel wakes the
-bishop of Vercelli, and sends him to St. Ambrose. 12. Ambrose dies, and
-angels bear away his soul to heaven.
-
-I was surprised not to find in his church what we consider as the
-principal event of his life—his magnanimous resistance to the Emperor
-Theodosius. In fact, the grand scene between Ambrose and Theodosius
-has never been so popular as it deserves to be: considered merely as a
-subject of painting, it is full of splendid picturesque capabilities;
-for grouping, colour, contrast, background, all that could be desired.
-In the great picture by Rubens,[270] the scene is the porch of the
-church. On the left the emperor, surrounded by his guards, stands
-irresolute, and in a supplicatory attitude, on the steps; on the right
-and above, St. Ambrose is seen, attended by the ministering priests,
-and stretches out his hand to repel the intruder. There is a print,
-after Andrea del Sarto, representing Theodosius on his knees before the
-relenting prelate. In the Louvre is a small picture, by Subleyras, of
-the reconciliation of Ambrose and Theodosius. In our National Gallery
-is a small and beautiful copy, by Vandyck, of the great picture by
-Rubens.
-
-As joint patrons of Milan, St. Ambrose and St. Carlo Borromeo are
-sometimes represented together, but only in late pictures.
-
-There is a statue of St. Ambrose, by Falconet,[271] in the act of
-repelling Theodosius, which is mentioned by Diderot, with a commentary
-so characteristic of the French anti-religious feeling of that time,—a
-feeling as narrow and one-sided in its way as the most bigoted
-puritanism,—that I am tempted to extract it; only premising, that if,
-after the slaughter at Ismaël, Catherine of Russia had been placed
-under the ban of Christendom, the world would not have been the worse
-for such an exertion of the priestly power.
-
- C’est ce fougneux évêque qui osa fermer les portes de l’église a
- Théodose, et à qui un certain souverain de par le monde [Frederic of
- Prussia] qui dans la guerre passée avoit une si bonne envie de faire
- un tour dans la rue des prêtres, et une certaine souveraine [Catherine
- of Russia] qui vient de débarrasser son clergé de toute cette richesse
- inutile qui l’empêchoit d’être respectable, auroient fait couper la
- barbe et les oreilles, en lui disant: ‘Apprenez, monsieur l’abbé, que
- le temple de votre Dieu est sur mon domain, et que si mon prédécesseur
- vous a accordé par grâce les trois arpens de terrain qu’il occupe,
- je puis les reprendre et vous envoyer porter vos autels et votre
- fanatisme ailleurs. Ce lieu-ci est la maison du Père commun des
- hommes, bons ou méchans, et je veux entrer quand il me plaira. Je ne
- m’accuse point à vous; quand je daignerois vous consulter, vous n’en
- savez pas assez pour me conseiller sur ma conduite, et de quel front
- vous immiscez-veus d’en juger?’ Mais le plat empereur ne parla pas
- ainsi, et l’évêque savoit bien à qui il avoit à faire. Le statuaire
- nous l’a montré dans le moment de son insolent apostrophe.’
-
-In Diderot’s criticisms on Art, which are often quoted even now,
-there is in general a far better taste than prevailed in his time,
-and much good sense; but a low tone of sentiment when he had to deal
-with imaginative or religious Art, and an intolerable coarseness—‘most
-mischievous foul sin in chiding sin.’
-
-
-                            ST. AUGUSTINE.
-
- St. Austin. _Lat._ Sanctus Augustinus. _Ital._ Sant’ Agostino. _Fr._
-                  St. Augustin. (Aug. 28, A.D. 430.)
-
-St. Augustine, the third of the Doctors of the Church, was born
-at Tagaste, in Numidia, in 354. His father was a heathen; his
-mother, Monica, a Christian. Endowed with splendid talents, a vivid
-imagination, and strong passions, Augustine passed his restless youth
-in dissipated pleasures, in desultory studies, changing from one faith
-to another, dissatisfied with himself and unsettled in mind. His
-mother, Monica, wept and prayed for him, and, in the extremity of her
-anguish, repaired to the bishop of Carthage. After listening to her
-sorrows, he dismissed her with these words: ‘Go in peace; the son of so
-many tears will not perish!’ Augustine soon afterwards went to Rome,
-where he gained fame and riches by his eloquence at the bar; but he
-was still unhappy and restless, nowhere finding peace either in labour
-or in pleasure. From Rome he went to Milan; there, after listening for
-some time to the preaching of Ambrose, he was, after many struggles,
-converted to the faith, and was baptized by the bishop of Milan, in
-presence of his mother, Monica. On this occasion was composed the
-hymn called the ‘Te Deum,’ still in use in our Church; St. Ambrose
-and St. Augustine reciting the verses alternately as they advanced to
-the altar. Augustine, after some time spent in study, was ordained
-priest, and then bishop of Hippo, a small town and territory not far
-from Carthage. Once installed in his bishopric, he ever afterwards
-refused to leave the flock intrusted to his care, or to accept of
-any higher dignity. His life was passed in the practice of every
-virtue: all that he possessed was spent in hospitality and charity,
-and his time was devoted to the instruction of his flock, either by
-preaching or writing. In 430, after he had presided over his diocese
-for thirty-five years, the city of Hippo was besieged by the Vandals;
-in the midst of the horrors that ensued, Augustine refused to leave
-his people, and died during the siege, being then in his seventy-sixth
-year. It is said that his remains were afterwards removed from Africa
-to Pavia, by Luitprand, king of the Lombards. His writings in defence
-of Christianity are numerous and celebrated; and he is regarded as the
-patron saint of theologians and learned men.
-
-Of his glorious tomb, in the Cathedral of Pavia, I can only say that
-its beauty as a work of art astonished me. I had not been prepared for
-anything so rich, so elegant in taste, and so elaborate in invention.
-It is of the finest florid Gothic, worked in white marble, scarcely
-discoloured by time. Augustine lies upon a bier, and angels of
-exquisite grace are folding his shroud around him. The basso-relievos
-represent the events of his life; the statues of the evangelists,
-apostles, and other saints connected with the history of the Church,
-are full of dignity and character. It comprises in all 290 figures.
-This magnificent shrine is attributed by Cicognara to the Jacobelli
-of Venice, and by Vasari to the two brothers Agostino and Agnolo of
-Siena; but he does not speak with certainty, and the date 1362 seems to
-justify the supposition of Cicognara, the Sienese brothers being then
-eighty or ninety years old.
-
-Single figures of St. Augustine are not common; and when grouped
-with others in devotional pictures, it is not easy to distinguish
-him from other bishops; for his proper attribute, the heart flaming
-or transpierced, to express the ardour of his piety or the poignancy
-of his repentance, is very seldom introduced: but when a bishop
-is standing with a book in his hand, or a pen, accompanied by St.
-Jerome, and with no particular attribute, we may suppose it to be
-St. Augustine; and when the title of one of his famous writings is
-inscribed on the book, it of course fixes the identity beyond a doubt.
-
-1. B. Vivarini. St. Augustine seated on a throne, as patron saint,
-mitred and robed; alone, stern, and majestic.[272]
-
-2. Dosso Dossi. St. Augustine throned as patron, attended by two
-angels; he looks like a jovial patriarch.[273]
-
-3. F. Filippo Lippi. St. Augustine writing in his chamber; no emblem,
-no mitre; yet the _personalité_ so marked, that one could not mistake
-him either for Ambrose or Jerome.[274]
-
-4. Andrea del Sarto. St. Augustine as doctor; before him stand St.
-Dominic and St. Peter Martyr; beside him St. Laurence, listening; in
-front kneel St. Sebastian and Mary Magdalen.[275]
-
-5. V. Carpaccio. St. Augustine standing; a fine, stern, majestic
-figure; he holds his book and scourge.[276]
-
-6. Paris Bordone. The Virgin and Child enthroned; the Virgin places
-on the head of St. Augustine, who kneels before her, the jewelled
-mitre.[277]
-
-7. Florigerio. St. Augustine, as bishop, and St. Monica, veiled, stand
-on each side of the Madonna.[278]
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-As a _series_ of subjects, the history of St. Augustine is not
-commonly met with; yet certain events in his life are of very frequent
-occurrence.
-
-I shall begin with the earliest.
-
-1. Monica brings her son to school; the master receives him; the
-scholars are sitting in a row conning their hornbooks. The names of
-Monica and Augustine are inscribed in the glories round their heads.
-This is a very curious little oval picture of the early part of the
-fourteenth century.[279]
-
-Benozzo Gozzoli has painted the same subject in a large fresco in
-the church of San Geminiano at Volterra (A.D. 1460). Monica presents
-her son to the schoolmaster, who caresses him; in the background a
-little boy is being whipped, precisely in the same attitude in which
-correction is administered to this day in some of our schools.
-
-2. St. Augustine under the fig-tree meditating, with the inscription,
-‘Dolores animæ salutem parturientes;’ and the same subject varied,
-with the inscription, _Tolle, lege_. He tells us in his Confessions,
-that while still unconverted and in deep communion with his friend
-Alypius on the subject of the Scriptures, the contest within his mind
-was such that he rushed from the presence of his friend and threw
-himself down beneath a fig-tree, pouring forth torrents of repentant
-tears; and he heard a voice, as it were the voice of a child, repeating
-several times, ‘_Tolle, lege_,’ ‘Take and read;’ and returning to the
-place where he had left his friend, and taking up the sacred volume,
-he opened it at the verse of St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, ‘Not
-in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in
-strife and envying; but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not
-provision for the flesh.’ Considering that this was the voice of God,
-he took up the religious profession, to the great joy of his mother and
-his friend.
-
-3. C. Procaccino. The Baptism of St. Augustine in the presence of St.
-Monica. This is a common subject in chapels dedicated to St. Augustine
-or St. Monica.[280]
-
-4. As the supposed founder of one of the four great religious
-communities, St. Augustine is sometimes represented as giving the rules
-to his Order: or in the act of writing them, while his monks stand
-around, as in a picture by Carletto Cagliari:[281] both are common
-subjects in the houses of the Augustine friars. The habit is black.[282]
-
-5. St. Augustine dispensing alms, generally in a black habit, and with
-a bishop’s mitre on his head.
-
-6. St. Augustine, washing the feet of the pilgrims, sees Christ descend
-from above to have his feet washed with the rest; a large picture in
-the Bologna Academy by Desubleo, a painter whose works, with this one
-exception, are unknown to me. The saint wears the black habit of an
-Augustine friar, and is attended by a monk with a napkin in his hand.
-I found the same subject in the Louvre, in a Spanish picture of the
-seventeenth century; above is seen a church (like the Pantheon) in
-a glory, and Christ is supposed to utter the words, ‘_Tibi commendo
-Ecclesiam meam_.’[283]
-
-7. St. Augustine, borne aloft by angels in an ecstatic vision, beholds
-Christ in the opening heavens above, St. Monica kneeling below. This
-fine picture, by Vandyck, is or was in the gallery of Lord Methuen
-at Corsham: and at Madrid there is another example, by Murillo: St.
-Augustine kneeling in an ecstasy sees a celestial vision; on one hand
-the Saviour crucified, on the other the Virgin and angels.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-[Illustration: 89 The Vision of St. Augustine (Murillo)]
-
-This, however, is not the famous subject called, in general, 8.
-‘The Vision of St. Augustine,’ which represents a dream or vision
-related by himself. He tells us that while busied in writing his
-Discourse on the Trinity, he wandered along the sea-shore lost in
-meditation. Suddenly he beheld a child, who, having dug a hole in
-the sand, appeared to be bringing water from the sea to fill it.
-Augustine inquired what was the object of his task? He replied, that he
-intended to empty into this cavity all the waters of the great deep.
-‘Impossible!’ exclaimed Augustine. ‘Not more impossible,’ replied the
-child, ‘than for thee, O Augustine! to explain the mystery on which
-thou art now meditating.’
-
-No subject from the history of St. Augustine has been so often treated,
-yet I do not remember any very early example. It was adopted as a
-favourite theme when Art became rather theological than religious, and
-more intent on illustrating the dogmas of churchmen than the teaching
-of Christ. During the 16th and 17th centuries we find it everywhere,
-and treated in every variety of style; but the _motif_ does not vary,
-and the same fault prevails too generally, of giving us a material
-fact, rather than a spiritual vision or revelation. Augustine, arrayed
-in his black habit or his episcopal robes, stands on the sea-shore,
-gazing with an astonished air on the Infant Christ, who pauses, and
-looks up from his task, holding a bowl, a cup, a ladle, or a shell
-in his hand. Thus we have it in Murillo’s picture—the most beautiful
-example I have seen: the child is heavenly, but not visionary,
-‘palpable to feeling as to sense.’
-
-In Garofalo’s picture of this subject, now in our National Gallery,
-Augustine is seated on a rock by the margin of the sea, habited in
-his episcopal robes, and with his books and writing implements near
-him; and while he gazes on the mysterious child, the Virgin appears
-amid a choir of angels above: behind Augustine stands St. Catherine,
-the patron saint of theologians and scholars: the little red figure
-in the background represents St. Stephen, whose life and actions are
-eloquently set forth in the homilies of St. Augustine: the introduction
-of St. Catherine, St. Stephen, and the whole court of heaven, gives
-the picture a visionary character. Rubens has painted this subject
-with all his powerful reality: here Augustine wears the black habit
-of his Order. Vandyck in his large grand picture has introduced St.
-Monica kneeling, thus giving at once the devotional or visionary
-character.[284] Albert Dürer has designed and engraved the same
-subject. The most singular treatment is the classical composition of
-Raphael, in one of the small chiaro-scuro pictures placed significantly
-under the ‘Dispute of the Sacrament.’ St. Augustine is in a Roman
-dress, bare-beaded, and on horseback; his horse starts and rears at the
-sight of the miraculous child.
-
-There is something at once picturesque and mystical in this subject,
-which has rendered it a favourite with artists and theologians; yet
-there is always, at least in every instance I can recollect, something
-prosaic and literal in the treatment which spoils the poetry of the
-conception.
-
-9. ‘St. Augustine and St. Stephen bury ‘Count Orgaz’—the masterpiece
-of Domenico el Greco, once in the Cathedral of Toledo, now in the
-Madrid Gallery. This Conde de Orgaz, as Mr. Ford tells us in his
-Handbook, lived in 1312, and had repaired a church in his lifetime,
-and _therefore_ St. Stephen and St. Augustine came down from heaven to
-lay him in his tomb, in presence of Christ, the Virgin, and all the
-court of heaven. ‘The black and gold armour of the dead Count is equal
-to Titian; the red brocades and copes of the saints are admirable;
-less good are the Virgin and celestial groups. I have before mentioned
-the reason why St. Augustine and St. Stephen are often represented in
-companionship.
-
-St. Monica is often introduced into pictures of her son, where she has,
-of course, the secondary place; her dress is usually a black robe, and
-a veil or coif, white or grey, resembling that of a nun or a widow.
-I have met with but one picture where she is supreme; it is in the
-Carmine at Florence. St. Monica is seated on a throne and attended by
-twelve holy women or female saints, six on each side. The very dark
-situation of this picture prevented me from distinguishing individually
-the saints around her, but Monica herself as well as the other figures
-have that _grandiose_ air which belongs to the painter—Filippo Lippi.
-
-I saw in the atelier of the painter Ary Scheffer, in 1845, an admirable
-picture of St. Augustine and his mother Monica. The two figures, not
-quite full length, are seated; she holds his hand in both hers, looking
-up to heaven with an expression of enthusiastic undoubting faith;—
-‘the son of so many tears cannot be cast away!’ He also is looking up
-with an ardent, eager, but anxious, doubtful expression, which seems
-to say, ‘Help thou my unbelief!’ For profound and truthful feeling and
-significance, I know few things in the compass of modern Art that can
-be compared to this picture.[285]
-
-
-                             ST. GREGORY.
-
- _Lat._ Sanctus Gregorius Magnus. _Ital._ San Gregorio Magno or Papa.
- _Fr._ St. Grégoire. _Ger._ Der Heilige Gregor. (March 12, A.D. 604.)
-
-The fourth Doctor of the Latin Church, St. Gregory, styled, and not
-without reason, Gregory the Great, was one of those extraordinary men
-whose influence is not only felt in their own time, but through long
-succeeding ages. The events of his troubled and splendid pontificate
-belong to history; and I shall merely throw together here such
-particulars of his life and character as may serve to render the
-multiplied representations of him both intelligible and interesting.
-He was born at Rome in the year 540. His father, Gordian, was of
-senatorial rank: his mother, Sylvia, who, in the history of St.
-Gregory, is almost as important as St. Monica in the story of St.
-Augustine, was a woman of rare endowments, and, during his childish
-years, the watchful instructress of her son. It is recorded that when
-he was still an infant she was favoured by a vision of St. Antony, in
-which he promised to her son the supreme dignity of the tiara. Gregory,
-however, commenced his career in life as a lawyer, and exercised during
-twelve years the office of prætor or chief magistrate of his native
-city; yet, while apparently engrossed by secular affairs, he became
-deeply imbued with the religious enthusiasm which was characteristic
-of his time and hereditary in his family. Immediately on the death
-of his father he devoted all the wealth he had inherited to pious
-and charitable purposes, converted his paternal home on the Celian
-Hill into a monastery and hospital for the poor, which he dedicated
-to St. Andrew: then, retiring to a little cell within it, he took
-the habit of the Benedictine Order, and gave up all his time to study
-and preparation for the duties to which he had devoted himself. On
-the occasion of a terrific plague which almost depopulated Rome, he
-fearlessly undertook the care of the poor and sick. Pope Pelagius
-having died at this time, the people with one voice called upon Gregory
-to succeed him: but he shrank from the high office, and wrote to the
-Emperor Maurice, entreating him not to ratify the choice of the people.
-The emperor sent an edict confirming his election, and thereupon
-Gregory fled from Rome, and bid himself in a cave. Those who went
-in search of him were directed to the place of his concealment by a
-celestial light, and the fugitive was discovered and brought back to
-Rome.
-
-No sooner had he assumed the tiara, thus forced upon him against his
-will, than he showed himself in all respects worthy of his elevation.
-While he asserted the dignity of his station, he was distinguished
-by his personal humility: he was the first pope who took the title
-of ‘Servant of the Servants of God;’ he abolished slavery throughout
-Christendom on religious grounds; though enthusiastic in making
-converts, he set himself against persecution; and when the Jews of
-Sardinia appealed to him, he commanded that the synagogues which had
-been taken from them, and converted into churches, should be restored.
-He was the first who sent missionaries to preach the Gospel in England,
-roused to pity by the sight of some British captives exposed for sale
-in the market at Rome. Shocked at the idea of an eternity of vengeance
-and torment, if he did not originate the belief in purgatory, he was
-at least the first who preached it publicly, and made it an article of
-faith. In his hatred of war, of persecution, of slavery, he stepped
-not only in advance of his own time, but of ours. He instituted the
-celibacy of the clergy, one of the boldest strokes of ecclesiastical
-power; he reformed the services of the Church; defined the model of
-the Roman liturgy, such as it has ever since remained—the offices
-of the priests, the variety and change of the sacerdotal garments;
-he arranged the music of the chants, and he himself trained the
-choristers. ‘Experience,’ says Gibbon, ‘had shown him the efficacy of
-these solemn and pompous rites to soothe the distress, to confirm the
-faith, to mitigate the fierceness, and to dispel the dark enthusiasm of
-the vulgar; and he readily forgave their tendency to promote the reign
-of priesthood and superstition.’ If, at a period when credulity and
-ignorance were universal, he showed himself in some instances credulous
-and ignorant, it seems hardly a reproach to one in other respects so
-good and so great.
-
-His charity was boundless, and his vigilance indefatigable: he
-considered himself responsible for every sheep of the flock intrusted
-to him; and when a beggar died of hunger in the streets of Rome,
-he laid himself under a sentence of penance and excommunication,
-and interdicted himself for several days from the exercise of his
-sacerdotal functions.
-
-Such was St. Gregory the Great, the last pope who was canonised:
-celestial honours and worldly titles have often been worse—seldom so
-well—bestowed.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-During the last two years of his life, his health, early impaired by
-fasts and vigils, failed entirely, and he was unable to rise from his
-couch. He died in 604, in the fourteenth year of his pontificate. They
-still preserve, in the church of the Lateran at Rome, his bed, and the
-little scourge with which he was wont to keep the choristers in order.
-
-The monastery of St. Andrew, which he founded on the Celian Hill, is
-now the church of San Gregorio. To stand on the summit of the majestic
-flight of steps which leads to the portal, and look across to the
-ruined palace of the Cæsars, makes the mind giddy with the rush of
-thoughts. _There_, before us, the Palatine Hill—pagan Rome in dust:
-_here_, the little cell, a few feet square, where slept in sackcloth
-the man who gave the last blow to the power of the Cæsars, and first
-set his foot as sovereign on the cradle and capital of their greatness.
-
-St. Gregory was in person tall and corpulent, and of a dark complexion,
-with black hair, and very little beard. He speaks in one of his
-epistles of his large size, contrasted with his weakness and painful
-infirmities. He presented to the monastery of St. Andrew his own
-portrait, and those of his father, and his mother St. Sylvia: they
-were still in existence 300 years after his death, and the portrait of
-Gregory probably furnished that particular type of physiognomy which we
-trace in all the best representations of him, in which he appears of a
-tall, large, and dignified person, with a broad full face, black hair
-and eyebrows, and little or no beard.
-
-As he was, next to St. Jerome, the most popular of the Four Doctors,
-single figures of him abound. They are variously treated: in general,
-he bears the tiara as pope, and the crosier with the double cross,
-in common with other papal saints; but his peculiar attribute is the
-dove, which in the old pictures is always close to his ear. He is
-often seated on a throne in the pontifical robes, wearing the tiara:
-one hand raised in benediction; in the other a book, which represents
-his homilies, and other famous works attributed to him: the dove
-either rests on his shoulder, or is hovering over his head. He is
-thus represented in the fine statue, designed, as it is said, by M.
-Angelo, and executed by Cordieri, in the chapel of St. Barbara, in
-San Gregorio, Rome; and in the picture over the altar-piece of his
-chapel, to the right of the high altar. In the Salviati Chapel, on the
-left, is the ‘St. Gregory in prayer,’ by Annibal Caracci. He is seen
-in front bareheaded, but arrayed in the pontifical habit, kneeling on
-a cushion, his hands outspread and uplifted; the dove descends from
-on high; the tiara is at his feet, and eight angels hover around:—a
-grand, finely-coloured, but, in sentiment, rather cold and mannered
-picture.[286]
-
-By Guercino, St. Gregory seated on a throne, looking upwards, his hand
-on an open book, in act to turn the leaves; the dove hovers at his
-shoulder: to the left stands St. Francis Xavier; on the right, and more
-in front, St. Ignatius Loyola. Behind St. Gregory is an angel playing
-on the viol, in allusion to his love and patronage of sacred music;
-in front an infant angel holds the tiara. The type usually adopted in
-figures of St. Gregory is here exaggerated into coarseness, and the
-picture altogether appears to me more remarkable for Guercino’s faults
-than for his beauties.[287]
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Several of the legends connected with the history of St. Gregory are of
-singular interest and beauty, and have afforded a number of picturesque
-themes for Art: they appear to have arisen out of his exceeding
-popularity. They are all expressive of the veneration in which he was
-held by the people; of the deep impression left on their minds by his
-eloquence, his sanctity, his charity; and of the authority imputed to
-his numerous writings, which commonly said to have been dictated by
-the Holy Spirit.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-1. John the deacon, his secretary, who has left a full account of his
-life, declares that he beheld the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove
-perched upon his shoulder while he was writing or dictating his famous
-homilies. This vision, or rather figure of speech, has been interpreted
-as a fact by the early painters. Thus, in a quaint old picture in the
-Bologna Gallery, we have St. Gregory seated on a throne writing, the
-celestial dove at his ear. A little behind is seen John the deacon,
-drawing aside a curtain, and looking into the room at his patron with
-an expression of the most naïve astonishment.
-
-2. The Archangel Michael, on the cessation of the pestilence, sheathes
-his sword on the summit of the Mole of Hadrian. I have never seen even
-a tolerable picture of this magnificent subject. There is a picture in
-the Vatican, in which Gregory and a procession of priests are singing
-litanies, and in the distance a little _Mola di Adriano_, with a little
-angel on the summit;—curious, but without merit of any kind.
-
-3. The Supper of St. Gregory. It is related that when Gregory was only
-a monk, in the Monastery of St. Andrew, a beggar presented himself at
-the gate, and requested alms: being relieved, he came again and again,
-and at length nothing was left for the charitable saint to bestow,
-but the silver porringer in which his mother, Sylvia, had sent him a
-_potage_; and he commanded that this should be given to the mendicant.
-It was his custom, when he became pope, to entertain every evening at
-his own table twelve poor men, in remembrance of the number of our
-Lord’s apostles. One night, as he sat at supper with his guests, he
-saw, to his surprise, not twelve, but thirteen seated at his table.
-And he called to his steward, and said to him, ‘Did I not command thee
-to invite twelve? and behold, there are thirteen!’ And the steward
-told them over, and replied, ‘Holy Father, there are surely twelve
-only!’ and Gregory held his peace; and after the meal, he called forth
-the unbidden guest, and asked him, ‘Who art thou?’ And he replied,
-‘I am the poor man whom thou didst formerly relieve; but my name is
-the Wonderful, and through me thou shalt obtain whatever thou shalt
-ask of God.’ Then Gregory knew that he had entertained an angel (or,
-according to another version of the story, our Lord himself). This
-legend has been a frequent subject in painting, under the title of
-‘The Supper of St. Gregory.’ In the fresco in his church at Rome, it
-is a winged angel who appears at the supper-table. In the fresco of
-Paul Veronese, one of his famous banquet-scenes, the stranger seated
-at the table is the Saviour habited as a pilgrim.[288] In the picture
-painted by Vasari, his masterpiece, now in the Bologna Gallery, he has
-introduced a great number of figures and portraits of distinguished
-personages of his own time, St. Gregory being represented under the
-likeness of Clement VII. The unbidden guest, or angel, bears the
-features of the Saviour.
-
-This is one of many beautiful mythic legends, founded on the words of
-St. Paul in which he so strongly recommends hospitality as one of the
-virtues: ‘Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some
-have entertained angels unawares.’ (Heb. xiii. 2.) Or, as Massinger has
-rendered the apostolic precept,—
-
-                        Learn all,
-    By this example, to look on the poor
-    With gentle eyes, for in such habits often
-    Angels desire an alms.
-
-4. The Mass of St. Gregory. On a certain occasion, when St. Gregory
-was officiating at the mass, one who was near him doubted the real
-presence; thereupon, at the prayer of the saint, a vision is suddenly
-revealed of the crucified Saviour himself, who descends upon the
-altar, surrounded by the instruments of his passion. This legend has
-been a popular subject of painting from the beginning of the fifteenth
-century, and is called ‘The Mass of St. Gregory.’ I have met with it
-in every variety of treatment and grouping; but, however treated, it
-is not a pleasing subject. St. Gregory is seen officiating at the
-altar, surrounded by his attendant clergy. Sometimes several saints are
-introduced in a poetical manner, as witnesses of the miracle: as in
-an old picture I saw in the gallery of Lord Northwick;—the crucified
-Saviour descends from the cross, and stands on the altar, or is
-upborne in the air by angels; while all the incidental circumstances
-and instruments of the Passion,—not merely the crown of thorns, the
-spear, the nails, but the kiss of Judas, the soldiers’ dice, the cock
-that crew to Peter,—are seen floating in the air. As a specimen of the
-utmost naïveté in this representation may be mentioned Albert Dürer’s
-woodcut.
-
-The least offensive and most elegant in treatment is the marble
-bas-relief in front of the altar in the Chapel of St. Gregory at Rome.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-5. The miracle of the Brandeum. The Empress Constantia sent to St.
-Gregory requesting some of the relics of St. Peter and St. Paul. He
-excused himself, saying that he dared not disturb their sacred remains
-for such a purpose, but he sent her part of a consecrated cloth
-(_Brandeum_) which had enfolded the body of St. John the Evangelist.
-The empress rejected this gift with contempt: whereupon Gregory, to
-show that such things are hallowed not so much in themselves as by
-the faith of believers, laid the Brandeum on the altar, and after
-praying he took up a knife and pierced it, and blood flowed as from a
-living body. This incident, called the ‘miracle _dei Brandei_,’ has
-also been painted. Andrea Sacchi has represented it in a grand picture
-now in the Vatican; the mosaic copy is over the altar of St. Gregory
-in St. Peter’s. Gregory holds up to view the bleeding cloth, and the
-expression of astonishment and conviction in the countenances of the
-assistants is very fine.
-
-6. St. Gregory releases the soul of the Emperor Trajan. In a little
-picture in the Bologna Academy, he is seen praying before a tomb, on
-which is inscribed TRAJANO IMPERADOR; beneath are two angels raising
-the soul of Trajan out of the flames. Such is the usual treatment of
-this curious and poetical legend, which is thus related in the Legenda
-Aurea:—‘It happened on a time, as Trajan was hastening to battle at
-the head of his legions, that a poor widow flung herself in his path,
-and cried aloud for justice, and the emperor stayed to listen to her;
-and she demanded vengeance for the innocent blood of her son, killed
-by the son of the emperor. Trajan promised to do her justice when he
-returned from his expedition. “But, Sire,” answered the widow, “should
-you be killed in battle, who then will do me justice?” “My successor,”
-replied Trajan. And she said, “What will it signify to you, great
-emperor, that any other than yourself should do me justice? Is it not
-better that you should do this good action yourself than leave another
-to do it?” And Trajan alighted, and having examined into the affair, he
-gave up his own son to her in place of him she had lost, and bestowed
-on her likewise a rich dowry. Now, it came to pass that as Gregory was
-one day meditating in his daily walk, this action of the Emperor Trajan
-came into his mind, and he wept bitterly to think that a man so just
-should be condemned as a heathen to eternal punishment. And entering
-into a church he prayed most fervently that the soul of the good
-emperor might be released from torment. And a voice said to him, “I
-have granted thy prayer, and I have spared the soul of Trajan for thy
-sake; but because thou hast supplicated for one whom the justice of God
-had already condemned, thou shalt choose one of two things: either thou
-shalt endure for two days the fires of purgatory, or thou shalt be sick
-and infirm for the remainder of thy life.” Gregory chose the latter,
-which sufficiently accounts for the grievous pains and infirmities to
-which this great and good man was subjected, even to the day of his
-death.’
-
-This story of Trajan was extremely popular in the middle ages: it
-is illustrative of the character of Gregory, and the feeling which
-gave rise to his doctrine of purgatory. Dante twice alludes to it;
-he describes it as one of the subjects sculptured on the walls of
-Purgatory, and takes occasion to relate the whole story:—
-
-            ... There was storied on the rock
-    Th’ exalted glory of the Roman prince,
-    Whose mighty worth moved Gregory to earn
-    His mighty conquest—Trajan the Emperor.
-    A widow at his bridle stood attired
-    In tears and mourning. Round about them troop’d
-    Full throng of knights: and overhead in gold
-    The eagles floated, struggling with the wind.
-    The wretch appear’d amid all these to say:
-    ‘Grant vengeance, Sire! for, woe beshrew this heart,
-    My son is murder’d!’ He, replying, seem’d:
-    ‘Wait now till I return.’ And she, as one
-    Made hasty by her grief: ‘O Sire, if thou
-    Dost not return?’—‘Where I am, who then is,
-    May right thee.’—‘What to thee is others’ good,
-    If thou neglect thy own?’—‘Now comfort thee,’
-    At length he answers. ‘It beseemeth well
-    My duty be perform’d, ere I move hence.
-    So justice wills; and pity bids me stay.’
-                                 Cary’s DANTE, _Purg._ x.
-
-It was through the efficacy of St. Gregory’s intercession that Dante
-afterwards finds Trajan in Paradise, seated between King David and King
-Hezekiah. (_Par._ xx.)
-
-As a subject of painting, the story of Trajan was sometimes selected as
-an appropriate ornament for a hall of justice. We find it sculptured
-on one of the capitals of the pillars of the Ducal Palace at Venice:
-there is the figure of the widow kneeling, somewhat stiff, but very
-simple and expressive, and over it in rude ancient letters—‘_Trajano
-Imperador, che die justizia a la Vedova_.’ In the Town Hall of Ceneda,
-near Belluna, are the three Judgments (_i tre Giudizi_), painted by
-Pompeo Amalteo: the Judgment of Solomon, the Judgment of Daniel, and
-the Judgment of Trajan. It is painted in the Town Hall of Brescia by
-Giulio Campi, one of a series of eight righteous judgments.
-
-I found the same subject in the church of St. Thomas of Canterbury at
-Verona. ‘The son of the Emperor Trajan trampling over the son of the
-widow’ is a most curious composition by Hans Schaufelein.[289]
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-7. There was a monk, who, in defiance of his vow of poverty,
-secreted in his cell three pieces of gold. Gregory, on learning
-this, excommunicated him, and shortly afterwards the monk died. When
-Gregory heard that the monk had perished in his sin, without receiving
-absolution, he was filled with grief and horror; and he wrote upon a
-parchment a prayer and a form of absolution, and gave it to one of
-his deacons, desiring him to go to the grave of the deceased and read
-it there: on the following night the monk appeared in a vision, and
-revealed to him his release from torment.
-
-This story is represented in the beautiful bas-relief in white marble
-in front of the altar of his chapel; it is the last compartment on the
-right. The obvious intention of this wild legend is to give effect to
-the doctrine of purgatory, and the efficacy of prayers for the dead.
-
-St. Gregory’s merciful doctrine of purgatory also suggested those
-pictures so often found in chapels dedicated to the service of the
-dead, in which he is represented in the attitude of supplication, while
-on one side, or in the background, angels are raising the tormented
-souls out of the flames.
-
-In ecclesiastical decoration I have seen the two popes, St. Gelasius,
-who reformed the calendar in 494, and St. Celestinus, who arranged the
-discipline of the monastic orders, added to the series of beatified
-Doctors of the Church.
-
-
-                      II. THE FOUR GREEK FATHERS.
-
-The Four Greek Fathers are St. John Chrysostom, St. Basil the Great,
-St. Athanasius, and St. Gregory Nazianzen. To these, in Greek pictures,
-a fifth is generally added, St. Cyril of Alexandria.
-
-From the time of the schism between the Eastern and Western Churches,
-these venerable personages, who once exercised such an influence over
-all Christendom, who preceded the Latin Fathers, and were in fact their
-teachers, have been almost banished from the religious representations
-of the west of Europe. When they are introduced collectively as a part
-of the decoration of an ecclesiastical edifice, we may conclude in
-general, that the work is Byzantine and executed under the influence of
-Greek artists.
-
-A signal example is the central dome of the baptistery of St. Mark’s at
-Venice, executed by Greek artists of the 12th and 13th centuries. In
-the four spandrils of the vault are the Greek Fathers seated, writing
-(if I well remember), and in the purest Byzantine style of art. They
-occupy the same places here that we find usually occupied by the Latin
-Doctors in church decoration: each has his name inscribed in Greek
-characters. We have exactly the same representation in the Cathedral
-of Monreale at Palermo. The Greek Fathers have no attributes to
-distinguish them, and the general custom in Byzantine Art of inscribing
-the names over each figure renders this unnecessary: in general, each
-holds a book, or, in some instances, a scroll, which represents his
-writings; while the right hand is raised in benediction, in the Greek
-manner, the first and second finger extended, and the thumb and third
-finger forming a cross. According to the formula published by M.
-Didron, each of the Greek Fathers bears on a scroll the first words
-of some remarkable passage from his works: thus, St. John Chrysostom
-has ‘God, our God, who hath given us for food the bread of life,’ &c.:
-St. Basil, ‘None of those who are in the bondage of fleshly desires are
-worthy,’ &c.: St. Athanasius, ‘Often, and anew, do we flee to thee, O
-God,’ &c.: St. Gregory Nazianzen, ‘God, the holy among the holies, the
-thrice holy,’ &c.: and St. Cyril, ‘Above all, a Virgin without sin or
-blemish,’ &c.
-
-[Illustration: _The five Greek Fathers._]
-
-The Greek bishops do not wear mitres; consequently, when in the Italian
-or German pictures St. Basil or any of his companions wear the mitre,
-it is a mistake arising from the ignorance of the artist.
-
-The Fathers of the Greek Church have been represented by Domenichino
-at Grotta Ferrata, placed over the cornice and under the evangelists,
-their proper place: they are majestic figures, with fine heads, and
-correctly draped according to the Greek ecclesiastical costume. They
-are placed here with peculiar propriety, because the convent originally
-belonged to the Greek order of St. Basil, and the founder, St. Nilus,
-was a Greek.[290]
-
-The etched outline, from a beautiful ancient Greek miniature, will give
-an accurate idea of the characteristic figures and habits of the Greek
-Fathers.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-As separate devotional and historical representations of these Fathers
-do sometimes, though rarely, occur, I shall say a few words of them
-individually.
-
-
-                         ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM.
-
- _Lat._ Sanctus Johannes Chrysostom. _Ital._ San Giovanni Crisostomo,
- San Giovanni Bocca d’ Oro. _Fr._ St. Jean Chrysostome. Died Sept. 14,
-   A.D. 407. His festival is celebrated by the Greeks on the 13th of
-       November, and by the Latin Church on the 27th of January.
-
-St. John, called CHRYSOSTOM, or OF THE GOLDEN MOUTH, because of his
-extraordinary eloquence, was born at Antioch in 344. His parents were
-illustrious, and the career opened to him was of arts and arms; but
-from his infancy the bent of his mind was peculiar. He lost his father
-when young; his mother Arthusia, still in the prime of her life,
-remained a widow for his sake, and superintended his education with
-care and intelligence. The remark of Sir James Mackintosh that ‘all
-distinguished men have had able mothers,’ appears especially true of
-the great churchmen and poets. The mother of St. John Chrysostom ranks
-with the Monicas and Sylvias, already described.
-
-John, at the age of twenty, was already a renowned pleader at the bar.
-At the age of twenty-six, the disposition to self-abnegation and the
-passion for solitude, which had distinguished him from boyhood, became
-so strong, that he wished to retire altogether from the world; his
-legal studies, his legal honours, had become hateful to him: he would
-turn hermit. For a time his mother’s tears and prayers restrained him.
-He has himself recorded the pathetic remonstrance in which she reminded
-him of all she had done and suffered in her state of widowhood for his
-sake, and besought him not to leave her. For the present he yielded:
-but two years later he fled from society, and passed five or six years
-in the wilderness near Antioch, devoting himself solely to the study of
-the Scriptures, to penance and prayer; feeding on the wild vegetables,
-and leading a life of such rigorous abstinence that his health sank
-under it, and he was obliged to return to Antioch.
-
-All this time he was not even an ordained priest; but shortly after
-he had emerged from the desert, Flavian, bishop of Antioch, ordained
-him, and appointed him preacher. At the moment of his consecration,
-according to the tradition, a white dove descended on his head, which
-was regarded as the sign of immediate inspiration. He then entered on
-his true vocation as a Christian orator, the greatest next to Paul.
-On one occasion, when the people of Antioch had offended the Emperor
-Theodosius, and were threatened with a punishment like that which had
-fallen on Thessalonica, the eloquence of St. John Chrysostom saved
-them: he was so adored by the people, that when he was appointed
-patriarch of Constantinople, it was necessary to kidnap him, and carry
-him off from Antioch by a force of armed soldiers, before the citizens
-had time to interfere.
-
-From the moment he entered on his high office at Constantinople,
-he became the model of a Christian bishop. Humble, self-denying,
-sleeping on a bare plank, content with a little bread and pulse, he
-entertained with hospitality the poor and strangers: indefatigable as
-a preacher, he used his great gift of eloquence to convert his hearers
-to what he believed to be the truth: he united the enthusiasm and the
-imagination of the poet, the elegant taste of the scholar, the logic
-of the pleader, with the inspired earnestness of one who had authority
-from above. He was, like St. Jerome, remarkable for his influence
-over women; and his correspondence with one of his female converts
-and friends, Olympias, is considered one of the finest of his works
-remaining to us: but, inexorable in his denunciations of vice, without
-regard to sex or station, he thundered against the irregularities
-of the monks, the luxury and profligacy of the Empress Eudosia, and
-the servility of her flatterers, and brought down upon himself the
-vengeance of that haughty woman, with whom the rest of his life was
-one long contest. He was banished: the voice of the people obliged
-the emperor to recall him. Persisting in the resolute defence of his
-church privileges, and his animadversions on the court and the clergy,
-he was again banished; and, on his way to his distant place of exile,
-sank under fatigue and the cruel treatment of his guards, who exposed
-him, bareheaded and bare-footed, to the burning sun of noon: and thus
-he perished, in the tenth year of his bishopric, and the sixty-third
-of his age. Gibbon adds, that, at the pious solicitation of the clergy
-and people of Constantinople, his relics, thirty years after his death,
-were transported from their obscure sepulchre to the royal city. The
-Emperor Theodosius advanced to receive them as far as Chalcedon, and,
-falling prostrate on the coffin, implored, in the name of his guilty
-parents, Arcadius and Eudosia, the forgiveness of the injured saint.‘
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-It is owing, I suppose, to the intercourse of Venice with the East,
-that one of her beautiful churches is dedicated to San Gian Grisostomo,
-as they call him there, in accents as soft and sonorous as his own
-Greek. Over the high altar is the grandest devotional picture in
-which I have seen this saint figure as a chief personage. It is the
-masterpiece of Sebastian del Piombo,[291] and represents St. John
-Chrysostom throned and in the act of writing in a great book; behind
-him, St. Paul. In front, to the right, stands St. John the Baptist, and
-behind him St. George as patron of Venice; to the left Mary Magdalene,
-with a beautiful Venetian face; behind her, St. Catherine, patroness of
-Venice: close to St. J. Chrysostom stands St. Lucia holding her lamp;
-she is here the type of celestial light or wisdom.[292] This picture
-was for a long time attributed to Giorgione. There was also a very
-fine majestic figure of this saint by Rubens, in the collection of M.
-Schamp: he is in the habit of a Greek bishop; in one hand he holds the
-sacramental cup, and the left hand rests on the Gospel: the celestial
-dove hovers near him, and two angels are in attendance.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-I cannot quit the history of St. John Chrysostom without alluding
-to a subject well known to collectors and amateurs, and popularly
-called ‘_La Pénitence de St. Jean Chrysostome_.’ It represents a woman
-undraped, seated in a cave, or wilderness, with an infant in her arms;
-or lying on the ground with a new-born infant beside her; in the
-distance is seen a man with a glory round his head, meagre, naked,
-bearded, crawling on his hands and knees in the most abject attitude;
-beneath, or at the top, is inscribed S. JOHANNES CRISOSTOMUS.
-
-For a long time this subject perplexed me exceedingly, as I was quite
-unable to trace it in any of the biographies of Chrysostom, ancient or
-modern: the kindness of a friend, learned in all the _byways_ as well
-as the _highways_ of Italian literature, at length assisted me to an
-explanation.
-
-[Illustration: 90 The Penance of St. Chrysostom (Albert Dürer)]
-
-The bitter enmity excited against St. John Chrysostom in his lifetime,
-and the furious vituperations of his adversary, Theophilus of
-Alexandria, who denounced him as one stained by every vice, ‘_hostem
-humanitatis, sacrilegorum principem, immundum dæmonem_,’ as a wretch
-who had absolutely delivered up his soul to Satan, were apparently
-disseminated by the monks. Jerome translated the abusive attack of
-Theophilus into Latin; and long after the slanders against Chrysostom
-had been silenced in the East, they survived in the West. To this
-may be added the slaughter of the Egyptian monks by the friends of
-Chrysostom in the streets of Constantinople; which, I suppose, was also
-retained in the traditions, and mixed up with the monkish fictions. It
-seems to have been forgotten who John Chrysostom really was; his name
-only survived in the popular ballads and legends as an epitome of every
-horrible crime; and to account for his being, notwithstanding all this,
-a _saint_, was a difficulty which in the old legend is surmounted after
-a very original, and, I must needs add, a very audacious fashion. ‘I
-have,’ writes my friend, ‘three editions of this legend in Italian,
-with the title _La Historia di San Giovanni Boccadoro_. It is in
-_ottava rima_, thirty-six stanzas in all, occupying two leaves of
-letter-press. It was originally composed in the fifteenth century,
-and reprinted again and again, like the ballads and tales hawked by
-itinerant ballad-mongers, from that day to this, and as well known to
-the lower orders as “Jack the Giant-killer” here. I will give you the
-story as succinctly and as properly as I can. A gentleman of the high
-roads, named Schitano, confesses his robberies and murders to a certain
-Frate, who absolves him, upon a solemn promise not to do three things—
-
-    Che tu non facci falso sacramento,
-    Nè homicidio, nè adulterare.
-
-Schitano thereupon takes possession of a cave, and turns _Romito_
-(Hermit) in the wilderness. A neighbouring king takes his daughter
-out hunting with him; a white deer starts across their path; the king
-dashes away in pursuit ten miles or more, forgetting his daughter;
-night comes on; the princess, left alone in the forest, wanders till
-she sees a light, and knocks for admittance at the cave of Schitano.
-He fancies at first that it must be the “Demonio,” but at length he
-admits her after long hesitation, and turns her horse out to graze.
-Her beauty tempts him to break one of his vows; the fear of discovery
-induces him to violate another by murdering her, and throwing her body
-into a cistern. The horse, however, is seen by one of the cavaliers of
-the court, who knocks and inquires if he has seen a certain “donzella”
-that way? The hermit swears that he has not beheld a Christian face
-for three years, thus breaking his third vow; but, reflecting on this
-three-fold sin with horror, he imposes on himself a most severe
-penance (“un’ aspra penitenza”), to wit—
-
-    Di stare sette anni nell’ aspro diserto.
-    Pane non mangerò nè berò vino,
-    Nè mai risguarderò il ciel scoperto,
-    Non parlerò Hebraico nè Latino,
-    Per fin che quel ch’ io dico non è certo,
-    Che un fantin di sei di porga favella,
-    “Perdonato t’ ha Dio; va alla tua cella.”
-
-That is, he swears that for seven years he will neither eat bread nor
-drink wine, nor look up in the face of heaven, nor speak either Hebrew
-or Latin, until it shall come to pass that an infant of seven days old
-shall open its mouth and say, “Heaven hath pardoned thee—go in peace.”
-So, stripping off his clothes, he crawls on hands and knees like the
-beasts of the field, eating grass and drinking water.
-
-‘Nor did his resolution fail him—he persists in this “aspra penitenza”
-for seven years—
-
-    Sette anni e sette giorni nel diserto;
-    Come le bestie andava lui carpone,
-    E mai non risguardò il ciel scoperto,
-    Peloso egli era a modo d’ un montone;
-    Spine e fango il suo letto era per certo,
-    Del suo peccato havea contrizione;
-    E ogni cosa facea con gran fervore,
-    Per purgar il suo fallo e grand’ errore.
-
-In the meantime it came into the king’s head to draw the covers where
-the hermit was leading this life. The dogs of course _found_, but
-neither they nor the king could make anything of this new species
-of animal, “_che pareva un orso_.” So they took him home in a chain
-and deposited him in their zoological collection, where he refused
-meat and bread, and persisted in grazing. On new year’s day the queen
-gives birth to a son, who, on the seventh day after he is born, says
-distinctly to the hermit,—
-
-                    Torna alla tua cella,
-    Che Dio t’ ha perdonato il tuo peccato,
-    Levati su, Romito! ova favella!
-
-But the hermit does not _speak_ as commanded; he makes signs that he
-will write. The king orders the inkstand to be brought, but there
-is no ink in it: so Schitano at once earns his surname of Boccadoro
-(Chrysostom) by a simple expedient: he puts the pen to his mouth, wets
-it with his saliva, and writes in letters of gold—
-
-    Onde la penna in bocca si metteva,
-    E a scrivere cominciò senza dimoro,
-    Col sputo, lettere che parevan d’ oro!
-
-‘After seven years and seven days, he opens his golden mouth in speech,
-and confesses his foul crimes to the king; cavaliers are despatched in
-search of the body of the princess; as they approach the cavern they
-hear celestial music, and in the end they bring the donzella out of
-the cistern alive and well, and very sorry to leave the blessed Virgin
-and the angels, with whom she had been passing her time most agreeably:
-she is restored to her parents with universal _festa e allegrezza_, and
-she announces to the hermit that he is pardoned and may return to his
-cell, which he does forthwith, and ends in leading the life of a saint,
-and being beatified. The “_discreti auditori_” are invited to take
-example—
-
-    Da questo Santo pien di leggiadria
-    Che Iddio sempre perdona a’ peccatori,
-
-and are finally informed that they may purchase this edifying history
-on easy terms, to wit, a halfpenny—
-
-    Due quattrini dia senza far più parole.
-
-The price, however, rose; for in the next century the line is altered
-thus:—
-
-    Pero ciascun che comperarne vuole,
-    Tre quattrini mi dia senza più parole.’
-
-The woodcuts prefixed to the ballad represent this saintly
-Nebuchadnezzar on all fours, surprised by the king with his huntsmen
-and dogs; but no female figure, as in the German prints, in which
-the German version of the legend has evidently been in the mind of
-the artists. It differs in some respects from the Italian ballad. I
-shall therefore give as much of it here as will explain the artistic
-treatment of the story.
-
- ‘When John Chrysostom was baptized, the Pope[293] stood godfather. At
- seven years old he went to school, but he was so dull and backward,
- that he became the laughing-stock of his schoolfellows. Unable to
- endure their mockery, he took refuge in a neighbouring church,
- and prayed to the Virgin; and a voice whispered, “Kiss me on the
- mouth, and thou shalt be endowed with all learning.” He did so, and,
- returning to the school, he surpassed all his companions, so that
- they remained in astonishment: as they looked, they saw a golden
- ring or streak round his mouth, and asked him how it came there?
- and when he told them, they wondered yet more. Thence he obtained
- the name of Chrysostom. John was much beloved by his godfather the
- Pope, who ordained him priest at a very early age; but the first time
- he offered the sacrifice of the mass, he was struck to the heart by
- his unworthiness, and resolved to seek his salvation in solitude;
- therefore, throwing off his priestly garments, he fled from the city,
- and made his dwelling in a cavern of the rock, and lived there a long
- while in prayer and meditation.
-
- ‘Now not far from the wilderness in which Chrysostom dwelt, was the
- capital of a great king; and it happened that one day, as the princess
- his daughter, who was young and very fair, was walking with her
- companions, there came a sudden and violent gust of wind, which lifted
- her up and carried her away, and set her down in the forest, far
- off; and she wandered about till she came to the cave of Chrysostom,
- and knocked at the door. He, fearing some temptation of the devil,
- would not let her in; but she entreated, and said, “I am no demon,
- but a Christian woman; and if thou leavest me here, the wild beasts
- will devour me!” So he yielded perforce, and arose and let her in.
- And he drew a line down the middle of his cell, and said, “That is
- your part, this is mine; and neither shall pass this line.” But this
- precaution was in vain, for passion and temptation overpowered his
- virtue; he over-stepped the line, and sinned. Both repented sorely;
- and Chrysostom, thinking that if the damsel remained longer in his
- cave it would only occasion further sin, carried her to a neighbouring
- precipice, and flung her down. When he had done this deed, he was
- seized with horror and remorse; and he departed and went to Rome to
- his godfather the Pope, and confessed all, and entreated absolution.
- But his godfather knew him not; and, being seized with horror, he
- drove him forth, and refused to absolve him. So the unhappy sinner
- fled to the wilderness, and made a solemn vow that he would never rise
- from the earth nor look up, but crawl on his hands and knees, until he
- had expiated his great sin and was absolved by Heaven.
-
- ‘When he had thus crawled on the earth for fifteen years, the queen
- brought forth a son; and when the Pope came to baptize the child, the
- infant opened its mouth and said, “I will not be baptized by thee,
- but by St. John;” and he repeated this three times: and none could
- understand this miracle; but the Pope was afraid to proceed. In the
- meantime, the king’s huntsmen had gone to the forest to bring home
- game for the christening feast: there, as they rode, they beheld a
- strange beast creeping on the ground; and not knowing what it might
- be, they threw a mantle over it and bound it in a chain and brought it
- to the palace. Many came to look on this strange beast, and with them
- came the nurse with the king’s son in her arms; and immediately the
- child opened its mouth and spake, “John, come thou and baptize me!” He
- answered, “If it be God’s will, speak again!” And the child spoke the
- same words a second and a third time. Then John stood up; and the hair
- and the moss fell from his body, and they brought him garments; and he
- took the child, and baptized him with great devotion.
-
- ‘When the king heard his confession, he thought, “Perhaps this was my
- daughter, who was lost and never found;” and he sent messengers into
- the forest to seek for the remains of his daughter, that her bones at
- least might rest in consecrated ground. When they came to the foot
- of the precipice, there they found a beautiful woman seated, naked,
- and holding a child in her arms; and John said to her, “Why sittest
- thou here alone in the wilderness?” And she said, “Dost thou not know
- me? I am the woman who came to thy cave by night, and whom thou didst
- hurl down this rock!” Then they brought her home with great joy to her
- parents.‘[294]
-
-This extravagant legend becomes interesting for two reasons: it
-shows the existence of the popular feeling and belief with regard to
-Chrysostom, long subsequent to those events which aroused the hatred of
-the early monks; and it has been, from its popular notoriety, embodied
-in some rare and valuable works of art, which all go under the name of
-‘the Penance or Penitence of Johannes Chrysostom or Crisostomos.’
-
-1. A rare print by Lucas Cranach, composed and engraved by himself.
-In the centre is an undraped woman reclining on the ground against a
-rock, and contemplating her sleeping infant, which is lying on her lap;
-a stag, a hind crouching, a pheasant feeding near her, express the
-solitude of her life; in the background is ‘the savage man’ on all
-fours, and browsing: here, he has no glory round his head. The whole
-composition is exceedingly picturesque.
-
-2. A rare and beautiful print by B. Beham, and repeated by Hans Sebald
-Beham, represents a woman lying on the ground with her back turned to
-the spectator; a child is near her; Chrysostom is seen crawling in the
-background, with the glory round his head.
-
-3. A small print by Albert Dürer, also exquisitely engraved (from which
-I give a sketch). Here the woman is sitting at the entrance of a rocky
-cave, feeding her child from her bosom: in the background the ‘savage
-man’ crawling on all fours, and a glory round his head. This subject
-has been called St. Geneviève of Brabant; but it is evidently the same
-as in the two last-named compositions.
-
-All these prints, being nearly contemporaneous, show that the legend
-must have been particularly popular about this time (1509-1520). There
-is also an old French version of the story which I have not seen.
-
-
-                         ST. BASIL THE GREAT.
-
-   _Lat._ St. Basilius Magnus. _Ital._ San Basilio Magno. _Fr._ St.
-                     Basile. (June 14, A.D. 380.)
-
-St. Basil, called the Great, was born at Cesarea in Cappadocia, in
-the year 328. He was one of a family of saints. His father St. Basil,
-his mother St. Emmelie, his two brothers St. Gregory of Nyssa and St.
-Peter of Sebaste, and his sister St. Macrina, were all distinguished
-for their sanctity, and renowned in the Greek calendar. The St.
-Basil who takes rank as the second luminary of the Eastern Church,
-and whose dogmatical and theological works influenced the faith of
-his own age, and consequently of ours, was the greatest of all. But,
-notwithstanding his importance in the Greek Church, he figures so
-seldom in the productions of Western Art, that I shall content myself
-with relating just so much of his life and actions as may render the
-few representations of him interesting and intelligible.
-
-He owed his first education to his grandmother St. Macrina the elder, a
-woman of singular capacity and attainments, to whom he has in various
-parts of his works acknowledged his obligations. For several years
-he pursued his studies in profane learning, philosophy, law, and
-eloquence, at Constantinople, and afterwards at Athens, where he had
-two companions and fellow-students of very opposite character: Gregory
-of Nazianzen, afterwards the _Saint_; and Julian, afterwards the
-_Apostate_.
-
-The success of the youthful Basil in all his studies, and the
-reputation he had obtained as an eloquent pleader, for a time swelled
-his heart with vanity, and would have endangered his salvation but
-for the influence of his sister, St. Macrina, who in this emergency
-preserved him from himself, and elevated his mind to far higher aims
-than those of mere worldly science and worldly distinction. From that
-period, and he was then not more than twenty-eight, Basil turned
-his thoughts solely to the edification of the Christian Church; but
-first he spent some years in retreat among the hermits of the desert,
-as was the fashion of that day, living, as they did, in abstinence,
-poverty, and abstracted study; acknowledging neither country, family,
-home, nor friends, nor fortune, nor worldly interests of any kind,
-but with his thoughts fixed solely on eternal life in another world.
-In these austerities he, as was also usual, consumed and ruined his
-bodily health; and remained to the end of his life a feeble wretched
-invalid,—a circumstance which was supposed to contribute greatly to
-his sanctity. He was ordained priest in 362, and bishop of Cesarea in
-370; his ordination on the 14th of June being kept as one of the great
-feasts of the Eastern Church.
-
-On the episcopal throne he led the same life of abstinence and humility
-as in a cavern of the desert; and contended for the doctrine of the
-Trinity against the Arians, but with less of vehemence, and more of
-charity, than the other Doctors engaged in the same controversy. The
-principal event of his life was his opposition to the Emperor Valens,
-who professed Arianism, and required that, in the Church of Cesarea,
-Basil should perform the rites according to the custom of the Arians.
-The bishop refused: he was threatened with exile, confiscation, death:
-he persisted. The emperor, fearing a tumult, resolved to appear in
-the church on the day of the Epiphany, but not to communicate. He
-came, hoping to overawe the impracticable bishop, surrounded by all
-his state, his courtiers, his guards. He found Basil so intent on his
-sacred office as to take not the slightest notice of him; those of
-the clergy around him continued to chant the service, keeping their
-eyes fixed in the profoundest awe and respect on the countenance of
-their bishop. Valens, in a situation new to him, became agitated: he
-had brought his oblation; he advanced with it; but the ministers at
-the altar, not knowing whether Basil would accept it, dared not take
-it from his hands. Valens stood there for a moment in sight of all
-the people, rejected before the altar,—he lost his presence of mind,
-trembled, swooned, and would have fallen to the earth, if one of the
-attendants had not received him in his arms. A conference afterwards
-took place between Basil and the emperor; but the latter remained
-unconverted, and some concessions to the Catholics was all that the
-bishop obtained.
-
-St. Basil died in 379, worn out by disease, and leaving behind him many
-theological writings. His epistles, above all, are celebrated, not only
-as models of orthodoxy, but of style.
-
-Of St. Basil, as of St. Gregory and St. John Chrysostom, we have
-the story of the Holy Ghost, in visible form as a dove of wonderful
-whiteness, perched on his shoulder, and inspiring his words when he
-preached. St. Basil is also celebrated as the founder of Monachism in
-the East. He was the first who enjoined the vows of poverty, chastity,
-and obedience; and his Rule became the model of all other monastic
-Orders. There is, in fact, no other Order in the Greek Church, and when
-either monks or nuns appear in a Greek or a Russian picture they must
-be Basilicans, and no other: the habit is a plain black tunic with
-a cowl, the tunic fastened round the waist with a girdle of cord or
-leather. Such is the dress of the Greek caloyer, and it never varies.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The devotional figures of St. Basil represent him, or ought to
-represent him, in the Greek pontificals, bareheaded, and with a thin
-worn countenance, as he appears in the etching of the Greek Fathers.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-‘The Emperor Valens in the church at Cesarea,’ an admirably picturesque
-subject, has received as little justice as the scene between Ambrose
-and Theodosius. When the French painter Subleyras was at Rome in
-1745, he raised himself to name and fame by his portrait of Benedict
-XIV.,[295] and received, through the interest of his friend Cardinal
-Valenti, the commission to paint a picture for one of the mosaics in
-St. Peter’s. The subject selected was the Emperor Valens fainting in
-presence of St. Basil. We have all the pomp of the scene:—the altar,
-the incense, the richly attired priests on one side; on the other,
-the Imperial court. It is not easy to find fault, for the picture is
-well drawn, well composed, in the mannered taste of that time; well
-coloured, rather tenderly than forcibly; and Lanzi is enthusiastic
-in his praise of the draperies; yet, as a whole, it leaves the mind
-unimpressed. As usual, the original sketch for this picture far excels
-the large composition.[296]
-
-The prayers of St. Basil were supposed by the Armenian Christians,
-partly from his sanctity, and partly from his intellectual endowments,
-to have a peculiar, almost resistless, power; so that he not only
-redeemed souls from purgatory, but even lost angels from the abyss of
-hell. ‘On the sixth day of the creation, when the rebellious angels
-fell from heaven through that opening in the firmament which the
-Armenians call Arocea, and we the Galaxy, one unlucky angel, who had
-no participation in their sin, but seems to have been entangled in
-the crowd, fell with them.’ (A moral, I presume, on the consequences
-of keeping bad company.) ‘And this unfortunate angel was not restored
-till he had obtained, it is not said how, the prayers of St. Basil. His
-condition meantime, from the sixth day of the creation to the fourth
-century of the Christian era, must have been even more uncomfortable
-than that of Klopstock’s repentant demon in “The Messiah.”’
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-There are many other beautiful legendary stories of St. Basil, but,
-as I have never met with them in any form of Art, I pass them over
-here. One of the most striking has been versified by Southey in his
-ballad-poem, ‘All for Love.’ It would afford a great variety of
-picturesque subjects.
-
-
-                            ST. ATHANASIUS.
-
- _Lat._ S. Athanasius, Pater Orthodoxiæ. _Ital._ Sant’ Atanasio. _Fr._
-                   St. Athanase. (May 2, A.D. 373.)
-
-St. Athanasius, whose famous Creed remains a stumbling-block in
-Christendom, was born at Alexandria, about the year 298; he was
-consequently the eldest of the Greek Fathers, though he does not in
-that Church take the first rank. He, like the others, began his career
-by the study of profane literature, science, and eloquence; but, seized
-by the religious spirit of the age, he, too, fled to the desert,
-and became, for a time, the pupil of St. Anthony. He returned to
-Alexandria, and was ordained deacon. His first appearance as a public
-character was at the celebrated council of Nice (A.D. 325), where he
-opposed Arius and his partisans with so much zeal and eloquence, that
-he was thenceforth regarded as the great pillar of orthodoxy. He became
-Bishop of Alexandria the following year; and the rest of his life was a
-perpetual contest with the Arians. The great schism of the early Church
-blazed at this time in the East and in the West, and Athanasius, by his
-invincible perseverance and intrepidity, procured the victory for the
-Catholic party. He died in 372, after having been Bishop of Alexandria
-forty-six years, of which twenty years had been spent in exile and
-tribulation.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-It is curious that, notwithstanding his fame and his importance in the
-Church, St. Athanasius should be, as a patron and a subject of Art,
-of all saints the most unpopular. He figures, of course, as one of
-the series of Greek Doctors; but I have never met with any separate
-representation of him, and I know not any church dedicated to him, nor
-any picture representing the vicissitudes of his unquiet life, fraught
-as it was with strange reverses and picturesque incidents. Such _may_
-exist, but in Western Art, at least, they have never been prominent.
-According to the Greek formula, he ought to be represented old,
-bald-headed, and with a long white beard, as in the etching.
-
-
-                        ST. GREGORY NAZIANZEN.
-
- _Gr._ St. Gregory Theologos. _Lat._ S. Gregorius Nazianzenus. _Ital._
-  San Gregorio Nazianzeno. _Fr._ St. Grégoire de Naziance. _Ger._ St.
-                Gregor von Nazianz. (May 9, A.D. 390.)
-
-This Doctor, like St. Basil, was one of a family of saints; his father,
-St. Gregory, having been bishop of Nazianzus before him; his mother,
-St. Nonna, famous for her piety; and two of his sisters, St. Gorgonia
-and St. Cesarea, also canonized. Gregory was born about the year 328;
-and his mother, who fondly believed that he had been granted to her
-prayers, watched over his early education, and guided his first steps
-in piety and literature. When a boy, he had a singular dream, which he
-has related himself. He beheld in his sleep two virgins of celestial
-beauty; they were clothed in white garments, and their faces shone
-upon him like two stars out of heaven: they took him in their arms and
-kissed him as if he had been their child. He, charmed by their virgin
-beauty and their caresses, asked who they were, and whence they came?
-One of them replied, ‘I am called Chastity, and my sister here is
-Temperance; we come to thee from Paradise, where we stand continually
-before the throne of Christ, and taste ineffable delights: come to us,
-my son, and dwell with us for ever;’ and having spoken thus, they left
-him and flew upwards to heaven. He followed them with longing eyes till
-they disappeared, and as he stretched his arms towards them he awoke.
-
-This dream—how natural in a boy educated between a tender mother, who
-had shielded him, as only mothers can, against all sinful temptations,
-and a lovely and saintly sister!—he regarded as a direct revelation
-from heaven: it decided his future life, and he made a vow of perpetual
-continence and temperance. Like the other Greek doctors, he began
-by the study of profane literature and rhetoric. He went to Athens,
-where he formed an enduring friendship with St. Basil, and pursued
-his studies with Julian, afterwards Cæsar and Apostate. After leaving
-Athens, in his thirtieth year, he was baptized; and, devoting himself
-solemnly to the service of God and the study of the Scriptures, like
-his friend Basil, he destroyed his health by his austerities and
-mortifications: he confesses that they were wholly repugnant to his
-nature —a nature sensitive, imaginative, poetical; but this of course
-only added to their merit and efficacy. His aged father withdrew
-him from his solitude, and ordained him as his coadjutor: in 362 he
-succeeded to the bishopric of Nazianzus: but great part of his time
-was still spent at Constantinople, whither he was invited to preach
-against the Arians. It was a strange spectacle to see, in the capital
-of the world, a man, from a distant province and an obscure town, of
-small shrunken stature, bald-headed, wrinkled, haggard with vigils and
-fasting, poor, ill-clothed, and in his address unpolished and abrupt,
-stand up to oppose himself to a luxurious court and prevalent sect.
-The people began by stoning him; but at length his earnestness and
-eloquence overcame all opposition.
-
-Religious disputes were the fashion at that time in Constantinople,
-not merely among the priesthood, but among the laity, the lawyers, and
-above all the women, who were heard, in assemblies and at feasts, at
-home and abroad, declaiming and arguing on the most abstruse mysteries
-of the evangelical doctrine, till they lost temper and modesty:—so
-true it is, that there is nothing new under the sun. This was in 378,
-and St. Gregory found more difficulty in silencing their squabbles
-than in healing the schisms of the Church. He was ordained Bishop of
-Constantinople by the favour of Theodosius; but, unable to endure the
-odious cabals and uncharitable contests which at that time distracted
-and disgraced Christianity, he resigned his sacred office, and retired
-to a small paternal estate, where he lived, with his usual self-denial
-and austerity, till his death. He composed in his retreat a number of
-beautiful poems in his native Greek: he was, in fact, the earliest
-Christian poet on record. These poems are not hymns only, but lyrics,
-in which he poured forth his soul, his aspirations, his temptations,
-his joys, his sufferings, his plaintive supplications to Christ, to
-aid him in his perpetual combats against a too vivid imagination, and
-feelings and passions which not even age and penance had subdued.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-St. Gregory Nazianzen ought to be represented as an old man wasted
-by fasting and vigils, with a bald head, a long beard of a reddish
-colour, and eyebrows the same. He is always the last in a series of
-the Four Greek Fathers, and, though often occurring in Greek Art,
-the popularity of St. Gregory the GREAT has completely banished St.
-Gregory the POET from Western Art.
-
-There remains, however, a very valuable and singular monument to the
-honour of St. Gregory Nazianzen, in the Greek MS. of his sermons
-preserved in the Imperial Library at Paris, and adorned with Byzantine
-miniatures, which must once have been beautiful and brilliant: ruined
-as they are, they present some of the most ancient examples which
-remain to us of the treatment of many sacred subjects from the Old and
-the New Testament, and give a high idea of the classic taste and the
-skill of the Byzantine limners of the ninth century. Besides the sacred
-subjects, we have numerous scenes interspersed from the life of Gregory
-himself, his friend St. Basil, and the Emperor Theodosius. As these are
-subjects which are exceptional, I need not describe them. Of the style
-of the miniatures I have already spoken, and given one example (_v._ p.
-75).
-
-
-                              ST. CYRIL.
-
- _Lat._ S. Cyrillus. _Ital._ San Cirillo. _Fr._ St. Cyrille. (Jan. 28,
-                              A.D. 444.)
-
-St. Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria from the year 412 to 444, was famous
-in his time as deeply engaged in all the contests which disturbed the
-early Christian Church. He has left a great number of theological
-writings, which are regarded as authority in matters of faith. He,
-appears to have been violent against the so-called heresies of that
-day, and opposed Nestorius with the same determined zeal and inexorable
-firmness with which Athanasius had opposed Arius. The ascendency of
-Cyril was disgraced by the death of the famous female mathematician and
-philosopher Hypatia, murdered with horrible cruelty, and within the
-walls of a church, by the fanatic followers of the Patriarch, if he
-did not himself connive at it. He is much more venerated in the Greek
-than in the Latin Church. In the Greek representations he is the only
-bishop who has his head covered; he wears a veil or hood, coming over
-his head, falling down on his shoulders, and the front embroidered with
-a cross, as in the illustration.
-
-With the Greek Fathers I conclude the list of those saints who are
-generally represented in their collective character, grouped, or in a
-series.
-
-
-
-
-   St. Mary Magdalene, St. Martha, St. Lazarus, St. Marímín, St.
-     Marcella, St. Mary of Egypt, and the Beatified Penitents.
-
-
-                          ST. MARY MAGDALENE.
-
- _Lat._ Sancta Maria Magdalena. _Ital._ Santa Maria Maddalena. _Fr._
- La Madeleine. La Sainte Demoiselle pécheresse. (July 22, A.D. 68.)
- Patroness of Provence, of Marseilles, and of frail and penitent women.
-
-Of all the personages who figure in history, in poetry, in art, Mary
-Magdalene is at once the most unreal and the most real:—the most
-_unreal_, if we attempt to fix her identity, which has been a subject
-of dispute for ages; the most _real_, if we consider her as having
-been, for ages, recognised and accepted in every Christian heart as the
-impersonation of the penitent sinner absolved through faith and love.
-In this, her mythic character, she has been surrounded by associations
-which have become fixed in the imagination, and which no reasoning,
-no array of facts, can dispel. This is not the place to enter into
-disputed points of biblical criticism; they are quite beside our
-present purpose. Whether Mary Magdalene, ‘out of whom Jesus cast seven
-devils,’ Mary of Bethany, and the ‘woman who was a sinner,’ be, as
-some authorities assert, three distinct persons, or, as others affirm,
-one and the same individual under different designations, remains a
-question open to dispute, nothing having been demonstrated on either
-side, from Scripture or from tradition; and I cannot presume even to
-give an opinion where doctors—and doctors of the Church, too—disagree;
-Origen and St. Chrysostom taking one side of the question, St. Clement
-and St. Gregory the other. Fleury, after citing the opinions of both
-sides, thus beautifully sums up the whole question:—‘Il importe de ne
-pas croire témérairement ce que l’Évangile ne dit point, et de ne pas
-mettre la religion à suivre aveuglement toutes les opinions populaires:
-_la foi est trop précieuse pour la prodiguer ainsi_; mais la charité
-l’est encore plus; et ce qui est le plus important, c’est d’éviter
-les disputes qui peuvent l’altérer tant soit peu.’ And this is most
-true;—in his time the fast hold which the Magdalene had taken of the
-affections of the people was not to be shaken by theological researches
-and doubts. Here critical accuracy was nothing less than profanation
-and scepticism, and to have attacked the sanctity of the Blessed Mary
-Magdalene would have embittered and alienated many kindly and many
-believing spirits. It is difficult to treat of Mary Magdalene; and
-this difficulty would be increased infinitely if it were absolutely
-necessary to enter on the much-vexed question of her scriptural
-character and identity: one thing only appeals certain,—that such a
-person, whatever might have been her veritable appellation, did exist.
-The woman who, under the name of Mary Magdalene,—whether that name be
-rightfully or wrongfully bestowed,—stands before us, sanctified in the
-imagination and in the faith of the people in her combined character
-of Sinner and of Saint, as the first-fruits of Christian penitence,—is
-a reality, and not a fiction. Even if we would, we cannot do away with
-the associations inseparably connected with her name and her image. Of
-all those to whom much has been forgiven, she was the first: of all
-the tears since ruefully shed at the foot of the cross of suffering,
-hers were the first: of all the hopes which the Resurrection has
-since diffused through nations and generations of men, hers were the
-first. To her sorrowful image how many have looked up through tears,
-and blessed the pardoning grace of which she was the symbol—or rather
-the impersonation! Of the female saints, some were the chosen patrons
-of certain virtues—others of certain vocations; but the accepted and
-glorified penitent threw her mantle over all, and more especially over
-those of her own sex, who, having gone astray, were recalled from error
-and from shame, and laid down their wrongs, their sorrows, and their
-sins in trembling humility at the feet of the Redeemer.
-
-Nor is it only the popularity of Mary Magdalene as the representative
-and the patroness of repentant sinners which has multiplied her image
-through all Christendom. As a subject for painting,
-
-    Whether the fair one sinner it or saint it,
-
-it is rich in picturesque capabilities. It combines all that can
-inspire, with all that can chasten the fancy; yet, when we review
-what has been done, how inadequate the result! In no class of subjects
-have the mistakes of the painters, even the most distinguished, been
-so conspicuous as in the representation of the penitent Magdalene;
-and it must be allowed that, with all its advantages and attractions,
-it is a subject full of perils and difficulties. Where the penitent
-prevails, the saint appears degraded; where the wasted, unclad form
-is seen attenuated by vigils and exposed in haggard unseemliness,
-it is a violation of that first great rule of Art which forbids the
-repulsive and the painful. And herein lies the fault of the earlier
-schools, and particularly of the old Greek and German painters;—their
-matter-of-fact ugliness would be intolerable, if not redeemed by the
-intention and sentiment. On the other hand, where sensual beauty has
-obviously been the paramount idea in the artist’s work, defeating its
-holiest purpose and perverting its high significance, the violation of
-the moral sentiment is yet more revolting. This is especially the fault
-of the later painters, more particularly of the schools of Venice and
-Bologna: while the French painters are yet worse, adding affectation to
-licentiousness of sentiment; the Abbé Mèry exclaims with reasonable and
-pious indignation against that ‘_air de galanterie_’ which in his time
-was regarded as characteristic of Mary Magdalene. The ‘larmoyantes’
-penitents of Greuze—Magdalenes _à la Pompadour_—are more objectionable
-to my taste than those of Rubens.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-I shall give the legend of the Magdalene here as it was accepted by the
-people, and embodied by the arts, of the middle ages, setting aside
-those Eastern traditions which represent the Mary of Bethany and the
-Magdalene as distinct personages, and place the death and burial-place
-of Mary Magdalene at Ephesus. Our business is with the Western legend,
-which has been the authority for Western Art. This legend, besides
-attributing to one individual, and blending into one narrative, the
-very few scattered notices in the Gospels, has added some other
-incidents, inconceivably wild and incredible, leaving her, however,
-the invariable attributes of the frail loving woman, the sorrowing
-penitent, and the devout enthusiastic saint.
-
-Mary Magdalene was of the district of Magdala, on the shores of the
-sea of Galilee, where stood her castle, called Magdalon; she was
-the sister of Lazarus and of Martha, and they were the children of
-parents reputed noble, or, as some say, of royal race. On the death
-of their father, Syrus, they inherited vast riches and possessions
-in land, which were equally divided between them. Lazarus betook
-himself to the military life; Martha ruled her possessions with great
-discretion, and was a model of virtue and propriety,— perhaps a little
-too much addicted to worldly cares: Mary, on the contrary, abandoned
-herself to luxurious pleasures, and became at length so notorious
-for her dissolute life, that she was known through all the country
-round only as ‘THE SINNER.’ Her discreet sister, Martha, frequently
-rebuked her for these disorders, and at length persuaded her to listen
-to the exhortations of Jesus, through which her heart was touched
-and converted. The seven demons which possessed her, and which were
-expelled by the power of the Lord, were the seven deadly sins to which
-she was given over before her conversion. On one occasion Martha
-entertained the Saviour in her house, and, being anxious to feast him
-worthily, she was ‘cumbered with much serving.’ Mary, meanwhile, sat
-at the feet of Jesus, and heard his words, which completed the good
-work of her conversion; and when, some time afterwards, he supped
-in the house of Simon the Pharisee, she followed him thither, ‘and
-she brought an alabaster box of ointment, and began to wash his feet
-with tears, and did wipe them with the hair of her head, and kissed
-his feet, and anointed them with ointment; and He said unto her, Thy
-sins are forgiven.’ She became afterwards one of the most devoted of
-his followers; ‘ministered to him of her substance;’ attended him to
-Calvary, and stood weeping at the foot of the cross. She, with the
-other Mary, watched by his tomb, and was the first to whom he appeared
-after the resurrection; her unfaltering faith, mingled as it was with
-the intensest grief and love, obtained for her this peculiar mark of
-favour. It is assumed by several commentators that our Saviour appeared
-first to Mary Magdalene because she, of all those whom he had left on
-earth, had most need of consolation:—‘_The disciples went away to their
-own home; but Mary stood without the sepulchre, weeping._’
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Thus far the notices in the Gospel and the suggestions of
-commentators: the old Provençal legend then continues the story. After
-the ascension, Lazarus with his two sisters, Martha and Mary; with
-Maximin, one of the seventy-two disciples, from whom they had received
-baptism; Cedon, the blind man whom our Saviour had restored to sight;
-and Marcella, the handmaiden who attended on the two sisters, were by
-the heathens set adrift in a vessel without sails, oars, or rudder;
-but, guided by Providence, they were safely borne over the sea till
-they landed in a certain harbour which proved to be Marseilles, in the
-country now called France. The people of the land were pagans, and
-refused to give the holy pilgrims food or shelter; so they were fain to
-take refuge under the porch of a temple; and Mary Magdalene preached to
-the people, reproaching them for their senseless worship of dumb idols;
-and though at first they would not listen, yet being after a time
-convinced by her eloquence, and by the miracles performed by her and by
-her sister, they were converted and baptized. And Lazarus became, after
-the death of the good Maximin, the first bishop of Marseilles.
-
-These things being accomplished, Mary Magdalene retired to a desert
-not far from the city. It was a frightful barren wilderness, in the
-midst of horrid rocks and caves: and here for thirty years she devoted
-herself to solitary penance for the sins of her past life, which she
-had never ceased to bewail bitterly. During this long seclusion, she
-was never seen or heard of, and it was supposed that she was dead.
-She fasted so rigorously, that but for the occasional visits of the
-angels, and the comfort bestowed by celestial visions, she must have
-perished. Every day during the last years of her penance, the angels
-came down from heaven and carried her up in their arms into regions
-where she was ravished by the sounds of unearthly harmony, and beheld
-the glory and the joy prepared for the sinner that repenteth. One day
-a certain hermit, who dwelt in a cell on one of those wild mountains,
-having wandered farther than usual from his home, beheld this wondrous
-vision—the Magdalene in the arms of ascending angels, who were singing
-songs of triumph as they bore her upwards; and the hermit, when he
-had a little recovered from his amazement, returned to the city of
-Marseilles, and reported what he had seen. According to some of the
-legends, Mary Magdalene died within the walls of the Christian church,
-after receiving the sacrament from the hand of St. Maximin; but the
-more popular accounts represent her as dying in her solitude, while
-angels watched over and ministered to her.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The middle of the thirteenth century was an era of religious excitement
-all over the south of Europe. A sudden fit of penitence—‘una subita
-compunzione,’ as an Italian author calls it—seized all hearts; relics
-and pilgrimages, and penances and monastic ordinances, filled all
-minds. About this period, certain remains, supposed to be those of Mary
-Magdalene and Lazarus, were discovered at a place since called St.
-Maximin, about twenty miles north of Toulon. The discovery strongly
-excited the devotion and enthusiasm of the people; and a church was
-founded on the spot by Charles, Count of Provence (the brother of
-St. Louis), as early as 1279. A few years afterwards, this prince
-was vanquished and taken prisoner by the king of Aragon, and when at
-length set free after a long captivity, he ascribed his deliverance
-particularly to the intercession of his chosen patroness, Mary
-Magdalene. This incident greatly extended her fame as a saint of power;
-and from this time we may date her popularity, and those sculptural
-and pictorial representations of her, under various aspects, which,
-from the fourteenth century to the present time, have so multiplied,
-that scarcely any Catholic place of worship is to be found without her
-image. In fact, it is difficult for us, in these days, to conceive,
-far more difficult to sympathise with, the passionate admiration and
-devotion with which she was regarded by her votaries in the middle
-ages. The imputed sinfulness of her life only brought her nearer to
-them. Those who did not dare to lift up their eyes to the more saintly
-models of purity and holiness,—to the martyrs who had suffered in
-the cause of chastity,—took courage to invoke her intercession. The
-extravagant titles bestowed upon her in the middle ages—‘_l’amante
-de Jésus-Christ_,’ ‘_la bien-aimée du Sauveur_,’ ‘_la très-saincte
-demoiselle pécheresse_,’—and others which I should hardly dare to
-transcribe, show the spirit in which she was worshipped, particularly
-in the south of France, and the kind of chivalrous sentiment which
-mingled with the devotion of her adorers. I found in an old French
-sermon a eulogium of Mary Magdalene, which for its eloquence and
-ingenuity seems to me without a parallel. The preacher, while
-acknowledging the excesses which brought her a penitent to the feet of
-Christ, is perfectly scandalised that she should be put on a par with
-common sinners of the same class, and that on the faith of a passage in
-St. Luke, ‘on a osé flétrir une des plus belles âmes qui soient jamais
-sorties des mains du Créateur!’ He rather glorifies her as a kind of
-Aspasia, to whom, indeed, he in a manner compares her.[297]
-
-The traditional scene of the penance of the Magdalene, a wild spot
-between Toulon and Marseilles, is the site of a famous convent called
-La Sainte Beaume (which in the Provençal tongue signifies _Holy Cave_),
-formerly a much frequented place of pilgrimage. It is built on the
-verge of a formidable precipice; near it is the grotto in which the
-saint resided; and to Mount Pilon, a rocky point about six hundred feet
-above the grotto, the angels bore her seven times a day to pray. This
-convent was destroyed and pillaged at the commencement of the French
-Revolution. It was filled with relics and works of art, referring to
-the life and the worship of the Magdalene.
-
-But the most sumptuous fane ever erected to her special honour is that
-which, of late years, has arisen in the city of Paris. The church, or
-rather the temple, of La Madeleine stands an excelling monument, if not
-of modern piety, at least of modern Art. It is built on the model of
-the temple of Jupiter at Athens:—
-
-    That noble type is realised again
-    In perfect form; and dedicate—to whom?
-    To a poor Syrian girl of lowliest name—
-    A hapless creature, pitiful and frail
-    As ever wore her life in sin and shame!
-                                      R. M. MILNES.
-
-The saint, whether she were ‘the lowly Syrian girl’ or the ‘Princess of
-Magdala,’ would be equally astonished to behold herself thus honoured
-with a sort of pagan magnificence in the midst of a luxurious capital,
-and by a people more remarkable for scoffing than for praying. Even in
-the successive vicissitudes of this splendid edifice there is something
-strange. That which is now the temple of the lowly penitent was, a few
-years ago, _Le Temple de la Gloire_.
-
-Let us now turn to those characteristic representations with which
-painting and sculpture have made us familiar, and for which both
-Scripture and legendary tradition have furnished the authority and the
-groundwork. These are so numerous and so infinitely varied that I find
-it necessary here, as in the case of St. Jerome, to arrange them under
-several heads.
-
-The devotional representations may be divided into two classes. 1.
-Those which represent the Magdalene as patron saint. 2. Those which
-represent her penitence in the desert.
-
-The historical subjects may also be divided into two classes. 1. Those
-scenes from Gospel story in which Mary Magdalene figures as a chief or
-conspicuous personage. 2. The scenes taken from her legendary life.
-
-In all these subjects the accompanying attribute is the alabaster box
-of ointment; which has a double significance: it may be the perfume
-which she poured over the feet of the Saviour, or the balm and spices
-which she had prepared to anoint his body. Sometimes she carries it in
-her hand, sometimes it stands at her feet, or near her; frequently, in
-later pictures, it is borne by an attendant angel. The shape varies
-with the fancy of the artist; it is a small vase, a casket, a box, a
-cup with a cover; more or less ornamented, more or less graceful in
-form; but always there—the symbol at once of her conversion and her
-love, and so peculiar that it can leave no doubt of her identity.
-
-Her drapery in the ancient pictures is usually red, to express the
-fervour of her love; in modern representations, and where she figures
-as penitent, it is either blue or violet; violet, the colour of
-mourning and penitence—blue, the colour of constancy. To express both
-the love and the sorrow, she sometimes wears a violet-coloured tunic
-and a red mantle. The luxuriant hair ought to be fair or golden.
-Dark-haired Magdalenes, as far as I can remember, belong exclusively to
-the Spanish school.
-
-1. When exhibited to us as the patron saint of repentant sinners, Mary
-Magdalene is sometimes a thin wasted figure with long dishevelled hair,
-of a pale golden hue, falling over her shoulders almost to the ground;
-sometimes a skin or a piece of linen is tied round her loins, but not
-seldom her sole drapery is her long redundant hair. The most ancient
-single figure of this character to which I can refer is an old picture
-in the Byzantine manner, as old perhaps as the thirteenth century, and
-now in the Academy at Florence. She is standing as patroness, covered
-only by her long hair, which falls in dark brown masses to her feet:
-the colour, I imagine, was originally much lighter. She is a meagre,
-haggard, grim-looking figure, and holds in her hand a scroll, on which
-is inscribed in ancient Gothic letters—
-
-    Ne despectetis
-    Vos qui peccare soletis
-    Exemplo meo
-    Vos reparate Deo.[298]
-
-Rude and unattractive as is this specimen of ancient Art, I could not
-look at it without thinking how often it must have spoken hope and
-peace to the soul of the trembling sinner, in days when it hung, not in
-a picture-gallery to be criticised, but in a shrine to be worshipped.
-Around this figure, in the manner of the old altar-pieces, are six
-small square compartments containing scenes from her life.
-
-[Illustration: 91 Mary Magdalene (Donatello)]
-
-The famous statue carved in wood by Donatello, in point of character
-may be referred to this class of subjects: she stands over her altar
-in the Baptistery at Florence, with clasped hands, the head raised
-in prayer; the form is very expressive of wasting grief and penance,
-but too meagre for beauty. ‘_Egli, la volle specchio alle penitenti,
-non incitamento alla cupidizia degli sguardi, come avenne ad altri
-artisti_,’ says Cicognara; and, allowing that beauty has been
-sacrificed to expression, he adds, ‘but if Donatello had done all,
-what would have remained for Canova?’ That which remained for Canova
-to do, he has done; he has made her as lovely as possible, and he has
-dramatised the sentiment: she is more the penitent than the patron
-saint. The display of the beautiful limbs is chastened by the humility
-of the attitude—half kneeling, half prostrate; by the expression of the
-drooping head—‘all sorrow’s softness charmed from its despair.’ Her
-eyes are fixed on the cross which lies extended on her knees; and she
-weeps—not so much her own past sins, as the sacrifice it has cost to
-redeem them. This is the prevailing sentiment, or, as the Germans would
-call it, the _motive_ of the representation, to which I should feel
-inclined to object as deficient in dignity and severity, and bordering
-too much on the _genre_ and dramatic style: but the execution is almost
-faultless. Very beautiful is another modern statue of the penitent
-Magdalene, executed in marble for the Count d’Espagnac, by M. Henri de
-Triqueti. She is half seated, half reclining on a fragment of rock, and
-pressing to her bosom a crown of thorns, at once the mourner and the
-penitent: the sorrow is not for herself alone.
-
-[Illustration: 92 Mary Magdalene (Lucas v. Leyden)]
-
-But, in her character of patron saint, Mary Magdalene was not always
-represented with the squalid or pathetic attributes of humiliation and
-penance. She became idealised as a noble dignified creature bearing no
-traces of sin or of sorrow on her beautiful face; her luxuriant hair
-bound in tresses round her head; her drapery rich and ample; the vase
-of ointment in her hand or at her feet, or borne by an angel near her.
-Not unfrequently she is attired with the utmost magnificence, either
-in reference to her former state of worldly prosperity, or rather,
-perhaps, that with the older painters, particularly those of the
-German school, it was a common custom to clothe all the ideal figures
-of female saints in rich habits. In the fourteenth and fifteenth
-centuries such representations of the Magdalene are usual both in
-Italian and German Art. A beautiful instance may be seen in a picture
-by Signorelli, in the Cathedral of Orvieto, where she is standing
-in a landscape, her head uncovered, and the rich golden hair partly
-braided, partly flowing over her shoulders; she wears a magnificent
-tunic embroidered with gold, over it a flowing mantle descending to her
-feet; she holds the vase with her left hand, and points to it with her
-right. If it were not for the saintly aureole encircling her head, this
-figure, and others similar to it, might be mistaken for Pandora. See,
-for example, the famous print by Lucas v. Leyden, where she stands on
-clouds with an embroidered coif and flowing mantle, holding the vase in
-her left hand, and lifting the cover with her right (in the sketch it
-is reversed): and in the half-length by Leonardo, or one of his school.
-The want of a religious sentiment gives such figures a very heathen
-and _Pandora_ look, so that the aureole alone fixes the identity. This
-is not the case with a noble Magdalene by Dennis Calvert, in the
-Manfrini Palace at Venice. She is standing in a fine bold landscape;
-one hand sustains her ample crimson drapery, the other holds her vase;
-her fair hair falls in masses over her shoulders, and she looks down
-on her worshippers with a serious dignified compassion. This is one of
-the finest pictures of the later Bologna school, finer and truer in
-sentiment than any of the Caracci and Guido Magdalenes.
-
-In this her wholly divine and ideal character of saint and intercessor,
-Mary Magdalene is often most beautifully introduced as standing near
-the throne of the Virgin, or as grouped with other saints. In two of
-the most famous pictures in the world she is thus represented. In the
-St. Cecilia of Raphael, she stands on the left, St. Paul being on
-the right of the principal figure; they are here significant of the
-conversion of the man through _power_, of the woman through _love_,
-from a state of reprobation to a state of reconcilement and grace. St.
-Paul leans in deep meditation on his sword. Mary Magdalene is habited
-in ample drapery of blue and violet, which she sustains with one hand,
-and bears the vase in the other. She looks out of the picture with
-a benign countenance and a particularly graceful turn of the head.
-Raphael’s original design for this picture (engraved by Marc Antonio)
-is, however, preferable in the sentiment given to the Magdalene: she
-does not look _out_ of the picture, but she looks _up_: _she_ also
-hears the divine music which has ravished St. Cecilia. In the picture
-she is either unconscious or inattentive.
-
-In the not less celebrated St. Jerome of Correggio she is on the
-left of the Madonna, bending down with an expression of the deepest
-adoration to kiss the feet of the infant Christ, while an angel behind
-holds up the vase of ointment: thus recalling to our minds, and
-shadowing forth in the most poetical manner, that memorable act of
-love and homage rendered at the feet of the Saviour. Parmigiano has
-represented her, in a Madonna picture, as standing on one side, and
-the prophet Isaiah on the other. Lord Ashburton has a fine picture by
-Correggio, in which we have the same ideal representation: she is here
-grouped with St. Peter, St. Margaret, and St. Leonardo.
-
-There are two classes of subjects in which Mary Magdalene is richly
-habited, and which must be carefully distinguished; those above
-described, in which she figures as patron saint, and those which
-represent her _before_ her conversion, as the votary of luxury and
-pleasure. In the same manner we must be careful to distinguish those
-figures of the penitent Magdalene which are wholly devotional in
-character and intention, and which have been described in the first
-class, from those which represent her in the act of doing penance, and
-which are rather dramatic and sentimental than devotional.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-2. The penance of the Magdalene is a subject which has become, like the
-penance of St. Jerome, a symbol of Christian penitence, but still more
-endeared to the popular imagination by more affecting and attractive
-associations, and even more eminently picturesque,—so tempting to the
-artists, that by their own predilection for it they have assisted in
-making it universal. In the display of luxuriant female forms, shadowed
-(not hidden) by redundant fair hair, and flung in all the _abandon_
-of solitude, amid the depth of leafy recesses, or relieved by the
-dark umbrageous rocks; in the association of love and beauty with the
-symbols of death and sorrow and utter humiliation; the painters had
-ample scope, ample material, for the exercise of their imagination, and
-the display of their skill: and what has been the result? They have
-abused these capabilities even to licence; they have exhausted the
-resources of Art in the attempt to vary the delineation; and yet how
-seldom has the ideal of this most exquisite subject been—I will not say
-realised—but even approached? We have Magdalenes who look as if they
-never could have sinned, and others who look as if they never could
-have repented; we have Venetian Magdalenes with the air of courtesans,
-and Florentine Magdalenes with the air of Ariadnes; and Bolognese
-Magdalenes like sentimental Niobes; and French Magdalenes, _moitié
-galantes_, _moitié dévotes_; and Dutch Magdalenes, who wring their
-hands like repentant washerwomen. The Magdalenes of Rubens remind us of
-nothing so much as of the ‘unfortunate Miss Bailey;’ and the Magdalenes
-of Van Dyck are fine ladies who have turned Methodists. But Mary
-Magdalene, such as we have conceived her, mournful yet hopeful,—tender
-yet dignified,—worn with grief and fasting, yet radiant with the glow
-of love and faith, and clothed with the beauty of holiness,—is an ideal
-which painting has not yet realised. Is it beyond the reach of Art? We
-might have answered this question, had Raphael attempted it;—but he has
-not. His Magdalene at the feet of Christ is yet unforgiven—the forlorn
-castaway, not the devout penitent.
-
-The Magdalene doing penance in her rocky desert first became a popular
-subject in the sixteenth century; in the seventeenth it was at the
-height of favour. There are two distinct versions of the subject,
-infinitely varied as to detail and sentiment: either she is represented
-as bewailing her sins, or as reconciled to Heaven.
-
-In the former treatment she lies prostrate on the earth, or she is
-standing or kneeling at the entrance of the cave (in some of the old
-illuminated missals the upper part of her body is seen emerging from a
-cave, or rather a hole in the ground), the hands clasped, or extended
-towards heaven; the eyes streaming with tears; the long yellow hair
-floating over the shoulders. The crucifix, the skull, and sometimes the
-scourge, are introduced as emblems of faith, mortality, and penance;
-weeping angels present a crown of thorns.
-
-In the latter treatment she is reading or meditating; the expression
-is serene or hopeful; a book lies beside the skull; angels present the
-palm, or scatter flowers; a vision of glory is seen in the skies.
-
-The alabaster box is in all cases the indispensable attribute. The eyes
-are usually raised, if not in grief, in supplication or in aspiration.
-The ‘uplifted eye’ as well as the ‘loose hair’ became a characteristic;
-but there are some exceptions. The conception of character and
-situation, which was at first simple, became more and more picturesque,
-and at length theatrical—a mere vehicle for sentiment and attitude.
-
-1. The earliest example I can remember of the Penitent Magdalene,
-_dramatically_ treated, remains as yet unsurpassed,—the reading
-Magdalene of Correggio, in the Dresden Gallery. This lovely creation
-has only one fault the virginal beauty is that of a Psyche or a
-Seraph. In Oelenschläger’s drama of ‘Correggio,’ there is a beautiful
-description of this far-famed picture; he calls it ‘Die Gottinn des
-Waldes Frömmigkeit,’—the goddess of the religious solitude. And in
-truth, if we could imagine Diana reading instead of hunting, she might
-have looked thus. Oelenschläger has made poetical use of the tradition
-that Correggio painted this Magdalene for a poor monk who was his
-confessor or physician; and thus he makes Silvestro comment on the
-work:—
-
-                    What a fair picture!—
-    This dark o’erhanging shade, the long fair hair,
-    The delicate white skin, the azure robe,
-    The full luxuriant life, the grim death’s head,
-    The tender womanhood, and the great book:—
-    These various contrasts have you cunningly
-    Brought into sweetest harmony.
-
-But truer, at least nobler in sentiment, is the Magdalene by the
-same painter (in the Manfrini Palace, Venice), of the same size and
-similarly draped in dark blue; but here _standing_ at the entrance of
-her cave. She leans her elbow on the book which lies on the rock, and
-appears to be meditating on its contents. The head, seen in front, is
-grand and earnest, with a mass of fair hair, a large wide brow, and
-deep, deep eyes full of mystery. The expression of power in this head
-pleases me especially, because true to the character, as I conceive it.
-
-    Doch ist es schön von einem Weibe, mein’ ich,
-    Einmal gefallen wieder sich zu heben;
-    Es gibt sehr wen’ge Männer, die das können!
-
-          Yes! it is good to see a hapless woman,
-    That once has fallen, redeem herself! In truth,
-    There be few men, methinks, could do as much.
-                                  _Correggio_, Act i. Scene 1.
-
-I do not know why this lovely Manfrini picture should be so much
-less celebrated than the Dresden Magdalene: while the latter has
-been multiplied by copies and engravings, I do not remember a single
-print after the Manfrini Magdalene. There is a bad feeble copy in the
-Louvre;[299] I know no other.
-
-2. There is a celebrated picture by Timoteo della Vite, in the Bologna
-Gallery. She is standing before the entrance of her cavern, arrayed
-in a crimson mantle; her long hair is seen beneath descending to her
-feet; the hands joined in prayer, the head declined on one side, and
-the whole expression that of girlish innocence and simplicity, with
-a touch of the pathetic. A mendicant, not a Magdalene, is the idea
-suggested; and, for myself, I confess that at the first glance I was
-reminded of the little Red-Riding-Hood, and could think of no sin
-that could have been attributed to such a face and figure, beyond the
-breaking of a pot of butter: yet the picture is very beautiful.
-
-[Illustration: 93 Mary Magdalene (Timoteo della Vite)]
-
-3. The Magdalene of Titian was so celebrated in his own time, that
-he painted at least five or six repetitions of it, and copies and
-engravings have since been multiplied. The eyes, swimming in tears,
-are raised to heaven; the long dishevelled hair floats over her
-shoulders; one hand is pressed on her bosom, the other rests on
-the skull; the forms are full and round, the colouring rich; a book
-and a box of ointment lie before her on a fragment of rock. She is
-sufficiently woeful, but seems rather to regret her past life than
-to repent of it, nor is there anything in the expression which can
-secure us against a relapse. Titian painted the original for Charles V.
-His idea of the _pose_ was borrowed, as we are told, from an antique
-statue, and his model was a young girl, who being fatigued with long
-standing, the tears ran down her face, and Titian attained the desired
-expression.’(!) His idea therefore of St. Mary Magdalene was the
-fusion of an antique statue and a girl taken out of the streets; and
-with all its beauties as a work of art—and very beautiful it is—this
-_chef-d’œuvre_ of Titian is, to my taste, most unsatisfactory.
-
-4. Cigoli’s Magdalene is seated on a rock, veiled _only_ by her long
-hair, which falls over the whole figure; the eyes, still wet with
-tears, are raised to heaven; one arm is round a skull, the right hand
-rests on a book which is on her knees.
-
-5. The Magdalene of Carlo Cignani, veiled in her dishevelled hair, and
-wringing her hands, is also most affecting for the fervent expression
-of sorrow; both these are in the Florence Gallery.[300]
-
-6. Guido, regarded as the painter of Magdalenes _par excellence_, has
-carried this mistake yet farther; he had ever the classical Niobe
-in his mind, and his saintly penitents, with all their exceeding
-loveliness, appear to me utterly devoid of that beauty which has been
-called ‘the beauty of holiness;’ the reproachful grandeur of the Niobe
-is diluted into voluptuous feebleness; the tearful face, with the loose
-golden hair and uplifted eyes, of which he has given us at least ten
-repetitions, however charming as art—as painting, are unsatisfactory
-as religious representations. I cannot except even the beautiful study
-in our National Gallery, nor the admired full-length in the Sciarra
-Palace, at Rome; the latter, when I saw it last, appeared to me poor
-and mannered, and the pale colouring not merely delicate, but vapid.
-A head of Mary Magdalene reading, apparently a study from life, is,
-however, in a grand style.[301]
-
-[Illustration: 94 Mary Magdalene (Murillo)]
-
-7. Murillo’s Magdalene, in the Louvre, kneeling, with hands crossed
-on her bosom, eyes upraised, and parted lips, has eager devout hope
-as well as sorrow in the countenance. 8. But turn to the Magdalene of
-Alonzo Cano, which hangs near: drooping, negligent of self; the very
-hands are nerveless, languid, dead.[302] Nothing but woe, guilt, and
-misery are in the face and attitude: _she_ has not yet looked into the
-face of Christ, nor sat at his feet, nor heard from his lips, ‘Woman,
-thy sins be forgiven thee,’ nor dared to hope; it is the penitent only:
-the whole head is faint, and the whole heart sick. 9. But the beautiful
-Magdalene of Annibal Caracci has heard the words of mercy; _she_ has
-memories which are not of sin only; angelic visions have already come
-to her in that wild solitude: she is seated at the foot of a tree;
-she leans her cheek on her right hand, the other rests on a skull;
-she is in deep contemplation; but her thoughts are not of death: the
-upward ardent look is full of hope, and faith, and love. The fault of
-this beautiful little picture lies in the sacrifice of the truth of
-the situation to the artistic feeling of beauty—the common fault of
-the school; the forms are large, round, full, untouched by grief and
-penance.
-
-[Illustration: 95 Mary Magdalene (Annibal Caracci)]
-
-10. Vandyck’s Magdalenes have the same fault as his Madonnas; they are
-not feeble nor voluptuous, but they are too elegant and ladylike. I
-remember, for example, a Deposition by Vandyck, and one of his finest
-pictures, in which Mary Magdalene kisses the hand of the Saviour
-quite with the air of a princess. The most beautiful of his penitent
-Magdalenes is the half-length figure with the face in profile,
-bending with clasped hands over the crucifix; the skull and knotted
-scourge lie on a shelf of rock behind; underneath is the inscription,
-‘_Fallit gratia, et vana est pulchritudo; mulier timens Dominum ipsa
-laudabitur_.’ (Prov. xxxi. 30.) 11. Rubens has given us thirteen
-Magdalenes, more or less coarse; in one picture[303] she is tearing her
-hair like a disappointed virago; in another, the expression of grief
-is overpowering, but it is that of a woman in the house of correction.
-From this sweeping condemnation I must make one exception; it is the
-picture known as ‘The Four Penitents.’[304] In front the Magdalene
-bows down her head on her clasped hands with such an expression of
-profound humility as Rubens only, when painting out of nature and
-his own heart, could give. Christ, with an air of tender yet sublime
-compassion, looks down upon her:—‘Thy sins be forgiven thee!’ Behind
-Christ and the Magdalene stand Peter, David, and Didymus, the penitent
-thief; the faces of these three, thrown into shadow to relieve the
-two principal figures, have a self-abased, mournful expression. I
-have never seen anything from the hand of Rubens at once so pure and
-pathetic in sentiment as this picture, while the force and truth of the
-painting are, as usual, wonderful. No one should judge Rubens who has
-not studied him in the Munich Gallery.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The HISTORICAL SUBJECTS from the life of Mary Magdalene are either
-scriptural or legendary; and the character of the Magdalene, as
-conceived by the greatest painters, is more distinctly expressed in
-those scriptural scenes in which she is an important figure, than in
-the single and ideal representations. The illuminated Gospels of the
-ninth century furnish the oldest type of Mary, the penitent and the
-sister of Lazarus, but it differs from the modern conception of the
-Magdalene. She is in such subjects a secondary scriptural personage,
-one of the accessories in the history of Christ, and nothing more: no
-attempt was made to give her importance, either by beauty, or dignity,
-or prominence of place, till the end of the thirteenth century.
-
-The sacred subjects in which she is introduced are the following:—
-
-1. Jesus at supper with Simon the Pharisee.—‘And she began to wash
-his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hair of her head, and
-kissed his feet, and anointed them with ointment.’ (Luke vii. 30.)
-
-2. Christ is in the house of Martha and Mary.—‘And she sat at Jesus’
-feet, and heard his words; but Martha was cumbered with much serving.’
-(Luke x. 39, 40.)
-
-3. The Raising of Lazarus.—‘Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother
-had not died.’ (John xi. 32.)
-
-4. The Crucifixion.—‘Now there stood by the cross Mary Magdalene.’
-(John xix. 25; Matt. xxvii. 56.)
-
-5. The Deposition from the Cross.—‘And Mary Magdalene, and the mother
-of Jesus, beheld where he was laid.’ (Mark xv. 47.)
-
-6. The Maries at the Sepulchre.—‘And there was Mary Magdalene and the
-other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre.’ (Matt. xxvii. 61.)
-
-7. Christ appears to Mary Magdalene in the Garden, called the _Noli me
-tangere_.—‘Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father.’ (John
-xx. 17.)
-
-In the first, second, and last of these subjects, the Magdalene is
-one of the two principal figures, and necessary to the action; in the
-others she is generally introduced, but in some instances omitted; and
-as all belong properly to the life of Christ, I shall confine myself
-now to a few remarks on the characteristic treatment of the Magdalene
-in each.
-
-1. The supper with Simon has been represented in every variety of
-style. The earliest and simplest I can call to mind is the fresco of
-Taddeo Gaddi in the Rinuccini Chapel at Florence. The Magdalene bends
-down prostrate on the feet of the Saviour; she is in a red dress, and
-her long yellow hair flows down her back; the seven devils by which
-she was possessed are seen above, flying out of the roof of the house
-in the shape of little black monsters. Raphael, when treating the same
-subject, thought only of the religious significance of the action, and
-how to express it with the utmost force and the utmost simplicity.
-There are few figures—our Saviour, the Pharisee, four apostles, and two
-attendants: Mary Magdalene, in front, bends over the feet of Christ,
-while her long hair half conceals her face and almost sweeps the
-ground; nothing can exceed the tenderness and humility of the attitude
-and the benign dignity of Christ. As an example of the most opposite
-treatment, let us turn to the gorgeous composition of Paul Veronese; we
-have a stately banquet-room, rich architecture, a crowd of about thirty
-figures; and the Magdalene is merely a beautiful female with loose
-robes, dishevelled tresses, and the bosom displayed: this gross fault
-of sentiment is more conspicuous in the large picture in the Durazzo
-Palace at Genoa than in the beautiful finished sketch in the collection
-of Mr. Rogers.[305] A fine sketch by the same painter, but quite
-different, is at Alton Towers. The composition of Rubens, of which a
-very fine sketch is in the Windsor collection, is exceedingly dramatic:
-the dignity of Christ and the veneration and humility of the Magdalene
-are admirably expressed; but the disdainful surprise of some of the
-assistants, and the open mockery of others,—the old man in spectacles
-peering over to convince himself of the truth,—disturb the solemnity of
-the feeling: and this fault is even more apparent in the composition
-of Philippe de Champagne, where a young man puts up his finger with
-no equivocal expression. In these two examples the moment chosen is
-not ‘_Thy sins are forgiven thee_,’ but the scepticism of the Pharisee
-becomes the leading idea: ‘_This man, if he were a prophet, would have
-known who and what manner of woman this is._’
-
-2. Christ in the house of Martha and Mary. Of this beautiful subject
-I have never seen a satisfactory version; in the fresco by Taddeo
-Gaddi in the Rinuccini Chapel the subject becomes legendary rather
-than scriptural. Mary Magdalene is seated at the feet of Christ in
-an attitude of attention; Martha seems to expostulate; three of
-the disciples are behind; a little out of the principal group, St.
-Marcella, also with a glory round her head, is seen cooking. At Hampton
-Court there is a curious picture of this subject by Hans Vries, which
-is an elaborate study of architecture: the rich decoration of the
-interior has been criticised; but, according to the legend, Martha
-and Mary lived in great splendour; and there is no impropriety in
-representing their dwelling as a palace, but a very great impropriety
-in rendering the decorations of the palace more important than the
-personages of the scene. In a picture by Old Bassano, Christ is seen
-entering the house; Mary Magdalene goes forward to meet him; Martha
-points to the table where Lazarus sits composedly cutting a slice of
-sausage, and in the corner St. Marcella is cooking at a fire. In a
-picture by Rubens, the treatment is similar. The holy sisters are like
-two Flemish farm servants, and Christ—but I dare not proceed:—in both
-these instances, the colouring, the expression, the painting of the
-accessories—the vegetables and fruit, the materials and implements for
-cooking a feast—are as animated and true to nature as the conception of
-the whole scene is trivial, vulgar, and, to a just taste, intolerably
-profane.
-
-One of the most modern compositions of this scene which has attracted
-attention is that of Overbeck, very simple and poetical, but deficient
-in individual expression.
-
-3. The raising of Lazarus was selected by the early Christians as an
-emblem, both of the general resurrection, and the resurrection of our
-Saviour, at a time that the resurrection of the Saviour in person
-was considered a subject much too solemn and mysterious to be dealt
-with by the imitative arts. In its primitive signification, as the
-received emblem of the resurrection of the dead, we find this subject
-abounding in the catacombs, and on the sarcophagi of the third and
-fourth centuries. The usual manner of representation shows the dead man
-swathed like a mummy, under the porch of a temple resembling a tomb,
-to which there is an ascent by a flight of steps. Christ stands before
-him, and touches him with a wand. Sometimes there are two figures only,
-but in general Mary Magdalene is kneeling by. There is one instance
-only in which Christ stands surrounded by the apostles, and the two
-sisters are kneeling at his feet:—‘Lord, hadst thou been here, my
-brother had not died.’[306]
-
-In more modern Art this subject loses its mystic signification, and
-becomes simply a scriptural incident. It is treated like a scene in a
-drama, and the painters have done their utmost to vary the treatment.
-But, however varied as regards the style of conception and the number
-of personages, Martha and Mary are always present, and, in general,
-Mary is at the feet of our Saviour. The incident is of course one of
-the most important in the life of Christ, and is never omitted in the
-series, nor yet in the miracles of our Saviour. But, from the beginning
-of the fourteenth century, it forms one of the scenes of the story of
-Mary Magdalene. The fresco of Giovanni da Milano at Assisi contains
-thirteen figures, and the two sisters kneeling at the feet of Christ
-have a grand and solemn simplicity; but Mary is not here in any respect
-distinguished from Martha, and both are attired in red.
-
-In the picture in our National Gallery, the kneeling figure of Mary
-looking up in the face of Jesus, with her grand severe beauty and
-earnest expression, is magnificent: but here, again, Mary of Bethany
-is not Mary Magdalene, nor the woman ‘who was a sinner;’ and I doubt
-whether Michael Angelo intended to represent her as such. On the
-other hand, the Caracci, Rubens, and the later painters are careful
-to point out the supposed identity, by the long fair hair, exposed
-and dishevelled, the superior beauty and the superior prominence and
-importance of the figure, while Martha stands by, veiled, and as a
-secondary personage.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-4. In the Crucifixion, where more than the three figures (the Redeemer,
-the Virgin, and St. John) are introduced, the Magdalene is almost
-always at the foot of the cross, and it is said that Giotto gave the
-first example. Sometimes she is embracing the cross, and looking up
-with all the abandonment of despairing grief, which is more picturesque
-than true in sentiment; finer in feeling is the expression of serene
-hope tempering the grief. In Rubens’ famous ‘Crucifixion’ at Antwerp,
-she has her arms round the cross, and is gazing at the executioner with
-a look of horror: this is very dramatic and striking, but the attention
-of the penitent ought to be fixed on the dying Saviour, to the
-exclusion of every other thought or object. In Vandyck’s ‘Crucifixion,’
-the face of the Magdalene seen in front is exquisite for its pathetic
-beauty. Sometimes the Virgin is fainting in her arms. The box of
-ointment is frequently placed near, to distinguish her from the other
-Maries present.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-5. In the Descent or Deposition from the Cross, and in the Entombment,
-Mary Magdalene is generally conspicuous. She is often supporting
-the feet or one of the hands of the Saviour; or she stands by
-weeping; or she sustains the Virgin; or (which is very usual in the
-earlier pictures) she is seen lamenting aloud, with her long tresses
-disordered, and her arms outspread in an ecstasy of grief and passion;
-or she bends down to embrace the feet of the Saviour, or to kiss his
-hand; or contemplates with a mournful look one of the nails, or the
-crown of thorns, which she holds in her hand.
-
-In the Pietà, of Fra Bartolomeo, in the Pitti Palace, the prostrate
-abandonment in the figure of the Magdalene, pressing the feet of Christ
-to her bosom, is full of pathetic expression; in the same gallery is
-the Pietà by Andrea del Sarto, where the Magdalene, kneeling, wrings
-her hands in mute sorrow. But in this, as in other instances, Raphael
-has shown himself supreme: there is a wonderful little drawing by him,
-in which Nicodemus and others sustain the body of the Saviour, while
-Mary Magdalene lies prostrate bending her head over his feet, which she
-embraces; the face is wholly concealed by the flowing hair, but never
-was the expression of overwhelming love and sorrow conveyed with such
-artless truth.
-
-6. The Maries at the Sepulchre. The women who carry the spices
-and perfumes to the tomb of Jesus are called, in Greek Art, the
-_Myrrhophores_, or myrrh-bearers: with us there are usually three,
-Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and John, and Mary Salome. In
-Matthew, two women are mentioned; in Mark, three; in Luke, the number
-is indefinite; and in John, only one is mentioned, Mary Magdalene.
-There is scarcely a more beautiful subject in the whole circle of
-Scripture story than this of the three desolate affectionate women
-standing before the tomb in the grey dawn, while the majestic angels
-are seen guarding the hallowed spot. I give, as one of the earliest
-examples, a sketch from the composition of Duccio: the rules of
-perspective were then unknown,—but what a beautiful simplicity in the
-group of women! how fine the seated angel!—‘The angel of the Lord
-descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door
-and sat upon it.’ I have seen one instance, and only one, in which the
-angel is in the act of descending; in general, the version according
-to St. John is followed, and the ‘two men in shining garments’ are
-seated within the tomb. There is a famous engraving, after a design by
-Michael Angelo, called ‘The three Maries going to the Sepulchre:’ it
-represents three old women veiled, and with their backs turned—very
-awful; but they might as well be called the three Fates, or the three
-Witches, as the three Maries. The subject has never been more happily
-treated than by Philip Veit, a modern German artist, in a print which
-has become popular; he has followed the version of Matthew: ‘As it
-began to dawn, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the
-sepulchre.’ The attitude of motionless sorrow; the anxious expectant
-looks, fixed on the tomb; the deep shadowy stillness; the morning light
-just breaking in the distance, are very truly and feelingly expressed.
-
-7. The ‘Noli me tangere’ is the subject of many pictures; they do not
-vary in the simplicity of the _motif_, which is fixed by tradition, and
-admits but of two persons. The composition of Duccio, as one of the
-series of the Passion of Christ, is extremely grand; and the figure
-of Mary, leaning forward as she kneels, with outstretched hands,
-full of expression. The old fresco of Taddeo Gaddi, in the Rinuccini
-Chapel,[307] is also exquisite. Two of the finest in conception and
-treatment are, notwithstanding, in striking contrast to each other.
-One is the Titian in the collection of Mr. Rogers:[308] the Magdalene,
-kneeling, bends forward with eager expression, and one hand extended to
-touch him: the Saviour, drawing his linen garment round him, shrinks
-back from her touch—yet with the softest expression of pity. Besides
-the beauty and truth of the expression, this picture is transcendent
-as a piece of colour and effect; while the rich landscape and the
-approach of morning over the blue distance are conceived with a sublime
-simplicity. Not less a miracle of Art, not less poetical, but in a
-far different style, is the Rembrandt in the Queen’s Gallery: at the
-entrance of the sepulchre the Saviour is seen in the habiliments of
-a gardener, and Mary Magdalene at his feet, adoring. This picture
-exhibits, in a striking degree, all the wild originality and peculiar
-feeling of Rembrandt: the forms and characters are common; but the
-deep shadow of the cavern tomb, the dimly-seen supernatural beings
-within it, the breaking of the dawn over the distant city, are awfully
-sublime, and worthy of the mysterious scene. Barroccio’s great
-altar-piece, which came to England with the Duke of Lucca’s pictures,
-once so famous, and well known from the fine engraving of Raphael
-Morghen, is poor compared with any of these: Christ is effeminate and
-commonplace,—Mary Magdalene all in a flutter.
-
-I now leave these scriptural incidents, to be more fully considered
-hereafter, and proceed to the fourth class of subjects pertaining to
-the life of the Magdalene—those which are taken from the wild Provençal
-legends of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
-
-1. ‘La Danse de la Madeleine’ is the title given to a very rare and
-beautiful print by Lucas v. Leyden. It represents Mary Magdalene
-abandoned to the pleasures of the world. The scene is a smiling and
-varied landscape; in the centre Mary Magdalene, with the anticipative
-glory round her head, is seen dancing along to the sound of a flute
-and tabor, while a man in a rich dress leads her by the hand: several
-groups of men and women are diverting themselves in the foreground; in
-the background, Mary Magdalene, with a number of gay companions, is
-chasing the stag; she is mounted on horseback, and has again the glory
-round her head: far in the distance she is seen borne upwards by the
-angels. This singular and suggestive composition is dated 1519. There
-is a fine impression in the British Museum.
-
-2. ‘Mary Magdalene rebuked by her sister Martha for her vanity and
-luxury.’ I believe I am the first to suggest that the famous picture
-in the Sciarra Palace, by Leonardo da Vinci, known as ‘Modesty and
-Vanity,’ is a version of this subject. When I saw it, this idea was
-suggested, and no other filled my mind. The subject is one often
-treated, and here treated in Leonardo’s peculiar manner. The attitude
-of the veiled figure is distinctly that of remonstrance and rebuke; the
-other, decked and smiling, looks out of the picture holding flowers in
-her hand, as yet unconvinced, unconverted: the vase of ointment stands
-near her. In other pictures there is no doubt as to the significance of
-the subject; it has been gracefully treated in a picture by Giovanni
-Lopicino, now in the gallery of the Belvedere at Vienna. She is seated
-at her toilette; her maid is binding her luxuriant hair; Martha,
-standing by, appears to be remonstrating with great fervour. There is
-a pretty picture by Elisabetta Sirani of the same scene, similarly
-treated.
-
-3. ‘Mary Magdalene conducted by her sister Martha to the feet of
-Jesus.’ Of this most beautiful subject, I know but one composition of
-distinguished merit. It is by Raphael, and exists only in the drawing,
-and the rare engraving by Marc Antonio. Christ sits within the porch
-of the Temple, teaching four of his disciples who stand near him.
-Martha and Mary are seen ascending the steps which lead to the portico:
-Martha, who is veiled, seems to encourage her sister, who looks down.
-I observe that Passavant and others are uncertain as to the subject of
-this charming design: it has been styled ‘The Virgin Mary presenting
-the Magdalene to Christ;’ but with any one who has carefully considered
-the legend, there can be no doubt as to the intention of the artist.
-‘Mary Magdalene listening to the preaching of our Saviour, with Martha
-seated by her side,’ is one of the subjects in the series by Gaudenzio
-Ferrari at Vercelli: it is partly destroyed. We have the same subject
-by F. Zucchero; Mary, in a rich dress, is kneeling at the feet of the
-Saviour, who is seated under a portico; Martha, veiled, stands near
-her, and there are numerous spectators and accessories.
-
-4. ‘The Magdalene renouncing the Vanities of the World’ is also a very
-attractive subject. In a picture by Guido she has partly divested
-herself of her rich ornaments, and is taking some pearls from her hair,
-while she looks up to heaven with tearful eyes. In a sketch by Rubens,
-in the Dulwich Gallery, she is seated in a forest solitude, still
-arrayed in her worldly finery, blue satin, pearls, &c., and wringing
-her hands with an expression of the bitterest grief. The treatment,
-as usual with him, is coarse, but effective. In his large picture at
-Vienna, with the figures life-size, Mary is spurning with her feet a
-casket of jewels, and throwing herself back with her hands clasped in
-an agony of penitence: while Martha sits behind, gazing on her with an
-expression so demurely triumphant as to be almost comic. There is an
-exquisite little picture by Gerard Douw in the Berlin Gallery, in which
-the Magdalene, in a magnificent robe of crimson and sables, is looking
-up to heaven with an expression of sorrow and penitence; the table
-before her is covered with gold and jewels. ‘Mary Magdalene renouncing
-the World,’ by Le Brun, is a famous picture, now in the Louvre. She
-looks up to heaven with tearful eyes, and is in the act of tearing
-off a rich mantle; a casket of jewels lies overturned at her feet.
-This picture is said to be the portrait of Madame de la Vallière, by
-whose order it was painted for the church of the Carmelites at Paris,
-where she had taken refuge from the court and from the world. It has
-that sort of theatrical grace and grandeur, that mannered mediocrity,
-characteristic of the painter and the time.[309] There is a Magdalene
-in the Gallery at Munich by Le Brun, which is to me far preferable;
-and this, and not the Paris one, I presume to be the portrait of the
-Duchesse de la Vallière. In a picture by Franceschini she has flung off
-her worldly ornaments, which lie scattered on the ground, and holds a
-scourge in her hand, with which she appears to have castigated herself:
-she sinks in the arms of one of her attendant maidens, while Martha,
-standing by, seems to speak of peace, and points towards heaven: the
-figures are life-size.[310] None of these pictures, with the exception
-of the precious Leonardo in the Sciarra Palace, have any remarkable
-merit as pictures. The scenes between Mary and Martha are capable of
-the most dramatic and effective illustration, but have never yet been
-worthily treated.
-
-5. ‘The embarkation of the Magdalene in Palestine, with Martha,
-Lazarus, and the others, cast forth by their enemies in a vessel
-without sails or rudder, but miraculously conducted by an angel,’ is
-another subject of which I have seen no adequate representation. There
-is a mediocre picture by Curradi in the Florence Gallery. Among the
-beautiful frescoes of Gaudenzio Ferrari in the Church of St. Cristoforo
-at Vercelli, is the voyage of the Magdalene and her companions, and
-their disembarkation at Marseilles.[311]
-
-6. ‘Mary Magdalene preaching to the inhabitants of Marseilles’ has been
-several times represented in the sculpture and stained glass of the old
-cathedrals in the south of France. In the Hôtel de Cluny there is a
-curious old picture in distemper attributed to King René of Provence,
-the father of our Margaret of Anjou, and famous for his skill as a
-limner. Mary Magdalene is standing on some steps, arrayed in loose
-white drapery, and a veil over her head. She is addressing earnestly a
-crowd of listeners, and among them we see King René and his wife Jeanne
-de Laval on thrones with crown and sceptre:—a trifling anachronism of
-about 1400 years, but it may be taken in a poetical and allegorical
-sense. The port of Marseilles is seen in the background. The same
-subject has been classically treated in a series of bas-reliefs in
-the porch of the Certosa at Pavia: there is a mistake, however, in
-exhibiting her as half naked, clothed only in a skin, and her long
-hair flowing down over her person: for she was at this time the
-missionary saint, and not yet the penitent of the desert.
-
-[Illustration: 96 The Assumption of the Magdalene (Albert Dürer)]
-
-7. ‘Mary Magdalene borne by angels above the summit of Mount Pilon,’
-called also ‘The Assumption of the Magdalene,’ is a charming subject
-when treated in the right spirit. Unfortunately, we are oftener
-reminded of a Pandora, sustained by a group of Cupids, or a Venus
-rising out of the sea, than of the ecstatic trance of the reconciled
-penitent. It was very early a popular theme. In the treatment we find
-little variety. She is seen carried upwards very slightly draped,
-and often with no other veil than her redundant hair, flowing over
-her whole person. She is in the arms of four, five, or six angels.
-Sometimes one of the angels bears the alabaster box of ointment; far
-below is a wild mountainous landscape, with a hermit looking up at the
-vision, as it is related in the legend. The illustration is from a fine
-woodcut of Albert Dürer (96).
-
-In a hymn to the Magdalene, by an old Provençal poet (Balthazar de la
-Burle) there is a passage describing her ascent in the arms of angels,
-which, from its vivid graphic naïveté, is worthy of being placed under
-this print of Albert Dürer:—
-
-    Ravengat lou jour los anges la portavan
-    Ben plus hault que lou roc.
-    Jamais per mauvais temps que fessa ne freddura,
-    Autre abit non avia que la sien cabellura,
-    Que como un mantel d’or tant eram bels e blonds
-    La couvria de la testa fin al bas des talons.
-
-The fresco by Giulio Romano, in which she is reclining amid clouds, and
-sustained by six angels, while her head is raised and her arms extended
-with the most ecstatic expression, was cut from the walls of a chapel
-in the Trinità di Monte, at Rome, and is now in our National Gallery.
-
-One of the finest pictures ever painted by Ribera is the Assumption
-of the Magdalene in the Louvre, both for beauty of expression and
-colour. She is here draped, and her drapery well managed. The Spanish
-painters never fell into the mistake of the Italians; they give us no
-Magdalenes which recall the idea of a Venus Meretrix. The rules of the
-Inquisition were here absolute, and held the painters in wholesome
-check, rendering such irreligious innovations inadmissible and unknown.
-In the Turin Gallery there is an Assumption of the Magdalene by
-Dennis Calvert, admirably painted, in which she is carried up by four
-Apollo-like angels, who, with their outstretched arms, form a sort of
-throne on which she is seated: she is herself most lovely, draped in
-the thin undress of a Venus; and the whole composition, at first view,
-brought to my fancy the idea of a Venus rising from the sea, throned in
-her shell and sustained by nymphs and cupids.
-
-In general, the early painters, Albert Dürer, Vivarini, Lorenzo di
-Credi, Benedetto Montagna, represent her in an upright position, with
-hands folded in prayer, or crossed over her bosom, and thus soaring
-upwards, without effort of will or apparent consciousness; while the
-painters of the seventeenth century (with whom this was a favourite
-subject) strained their imagination to render the form and attitude
-voluptuously graceful, and to vary the action of the attendant angels,
-until, in one or two instances, the representation became at once
-absurdly prosaic and offensively theatrical. F. Zucchero, Cambiasi,
-Lanfranco, Carlo Maratti, have all given us versions of this subject in
-a florid, mannered style.
-
-Over the high altar of the Madeleine, at Paris, is the same subject in
-a marble group, by Marochetti, rather above life-size. Two angels bear
-her up, while on each side an archangel kneels in adoration.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-8. The Last Communion of the Magdalene is represented in two different
-ways, according to the two different versions of the story: in the
-first, she expires in her cave, and angels administer the last
-sacraments; one holds a taper, another presents the cup, a third the
-wafer. This has been painted by Domenichino. In the other version,
-she receives the sacrament from the hand of St. Maximin, who wears
-the episcopal robes, and the Magdalene kneels before him, half-naked,
-emaciated, and sustained by angels: the scene is the porch of a church.
-
-9. The Magdalene dying in the Wilderness, extended on the bare earth,
-and pressing the crucifix to her bosom, is a frequent subject in the
-seventeenth century. One of the finest examples is the picture of
-Rustichino in the Florence Gallery. The well-known ‘Dying Magdalene’ of
-Canova has the same merits and defects as his Penitent Magdalene.
-
-I saw a picture at Bologna by Tiarini, of which the conception appeared
-to me very striking and poetical. The Virgin, ‘La Madre Addolorata,’
-is seated, and holds in her hand the crown of thorns, which she
-contemplates with a mournful expression; at a little distance kneels
-Mary Magdalene with long dishevelled hair, in all the abandonment of
-grief. St. John stands behind, with his hands clasped, and his eyes
-raised to heaven.
-
-When the Magdalene is introduced into pictures of the ‘Incredulity of
-Thomas,’ it is in allusion to a famous parallel in one of the Fathers,
-in which it is insisted, ‘that the faith of Mary Magdalene, and the
-doubts of Thomas, were equally serviceable to the cause of Christ.’
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Among the many miracles imputed to the Magdalene, one only has
-become popular as a subject of Art. Besides being extremely naïve
-and poetical, it is extremely curious as illustrating the manners of
-the time. It was probably fabricated in the fourteenth century, and
-intended as a kind of parable, to show that those who trusted in Mary
-Magdalene, and invoked her aid, might in all cases reckon upon her
-powerful intercession. It is thus related:—
-
-‘Soon after Mary Magdalene landed in Provence, a certain prince of
-that country arrived in the city of Marseilles with his wife, for the
-purpose of sacrificing to the gods; but they were dissuaded from doing
-so by the preaching of Mary Magdalene: and the prince one day said to
-the saint, “We greatly desire to have a son. Canst thou obtain for
-us that grace from the God whom thou preachest?” And the Magdalene
-replied, “If thy prayer be granted, wilt thou then believe?” And he
-answered, “Yes, I will believe.” But shortly afterwards, as he still
-doubted, he resolved to sail to Jerusalem to visit St. Peter, and to
-find out whether his preaching agreed with that of Mary Magdalene. His
-wife resolved to accompany him: but the husband said, “How shall that
-be possible, seeing that thou art with child, and the dangers of the
-sea are very great?” But she insisted, and, throwing herself at his
-feet, she obtained her desire. Then, having laden a vessel with all
-that was necessary, they set sail; and when a day and a night were
-come and gone, there arose a terrible storm. The poor woman was seized
-prematurely with the pains of childbirth; in the midst of the tempest
-she brought forth her first-born son, and then died. The miserable
-father, seeing his wife dead, and his child deprived of its natural
-solace, and crying for food, wrung his hands in despair, and knew not
-what to do. And the sailors said, “Let us throw this dead body into the
-sea, for as long as it remains on board the tempest will not abate.”
-But the prince, by his entreaties, and by giving them money, restrained
-them for a while. Just then, for so it pleased God, they arrived at a
-rocky island, and the prince laid the body of his wife on the shore,
-and, taking the infant in his arms, he wept greatly, and said, “O Mary
-Magdalene! to my grief and sorrow didst thou come to Marseilles! Why
-didst thou ask thy God to give me a son only that I might lose both
-son and wife together? O Mary Magdalene! have pity on my grief, and,
-if thy prayers may avail, save at least the life of my child!” Then he
-laid down the infant on the bosom of the mother, and covered them both
-with his cloak, and went on his way, weeping. And when the prince and
-his attendants had arrived at Jerusalem, St. Peter showed him all the
-places where our Saviour had performed his miracles, and the hill on
-which he had been crucified, and the spot from whence he had ascended
-into heaven. Having been instructed in the faith by St. Peter, at the
-end of two years the prince embarked to return to his own country, and
-passing near to the island in which he had left his wife, he landed in
-order to weep upon her grave.
-
-‘Now, wonderful to relate!—his infant child had been preserved alive
-by the prayers of the blessed Mary Magdalene; and he was accustomed
-to run about on the sands of the sea-shore, to gather up pebbles and
-shells; and when the child, who had never beheld a man, perceived the
-strangers, he was afraid, and ran and hid himself under the cloak which
-covered his dead mother; and the father, and all who were with him,
-were filled with astonishment; but their surprise was still greater
-when the woman opened her eyes, and stretched out her arms to her
-husband. Then they offered up thanks, and all returned together to
-Marseilles, where they fell at the feet of Mary Magdalene, and received
-baptism. From that time forth, all the people of Marseilles and the
-surrounding country became Christians.’
-
-The picturesque capabilities of this extravagant but beautiful legend
-will immediately suggest themselves to the fancy;—the wild sea-shore
-—the lovely naked infant wandering on the beach—the mother, slumbering
-the sleep of death, covered with the mysterious drapery—the arrival
-of the mariners—what opportunity for scenery and grouping, colour
-and expression! It was popular in the Giotto school, which arose and
-flourished just about the period when the enthusiasm for Mary Magdalene
-was at its height; but later painters have avoided it, or, rather, it
-was not sufficiently accredited for a Church legend; and I have met
-with no example later than the end of the fourteenth century.
-
-The old fresco of Taddeo Gaddi in the S. Croce at Florence will give
-some idea of the manner in which the subject was usually treated.
-In the foreground is a space representing an island; water flowing
-round it, the water being indicated by many strange fishes. On the
-island a woman lies extended with her hands crossed upon her bosom;
-an infant lifts up the mantle, and seems to show her to a man bending
-over her; the father on his knees, with hands joined, looks devoutly
-up to heaven; four others stand behind expressing astonishment or
-fixed attention. In the distance is a ship, in which sits a man with a
-long white beard, in red drapery; beside him another in dark drapery:
-beyond is a view of a port with a lighthouse, intended, I presume,
-for Marseilles. The story is here told in a sort of Chinese manner as
-regards the drawing, composition, and perspective; but the figures and
-heads are expressive and significant.
-
-In the Chapel of the Magdalene at Assisi, the same subject is given
-with some variation. The bark containing the pilgrims is guided by
-an angel, and the infant is seated by the head of the mother, as if
-watching her.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The life of Mary Magdalene in a series of subjects, mingling the
-scriptural and legendary incidents, may often be found in the old
-French and Italian churches, more especially in the chapels dedicated
-to her: and I should think that among the remains of ancient painting
-now in course of discovery in our own sacred edifices they cannot fail
-to occur.[312] In the mural frescoes, in the altar-pieces, the stained
-glass, and the sculpture of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries,
-such a series perpetually presents itself; and, well or ill executed,
-will in general be found to comprise the following scenes:—
-
-1. Her conversion at the feet of the Saviour. 2. Christ entertained
-in the house of Martha: Mary sits at his feet to hear his words. 3.
-The raising of Lazarus. 4. Mary Magdalene and her companions embark
-in a vessel without sails, oars, or rudder. 6. Steered by an angel,
-they land at Marseilles. 6. Mary Magdalene preaches to the people. 7.
-The miracle of the mother and child. 8. The penance of the Magdalene
-in a desert cave. 9. She is carried up in the arms of angels. 10. She
-receives the sacraments from the hands of an angel or from St. Maximin.
-11. She dies, and angels bear her spirit to heaven.[313]
-
-The subjects vary of course in number and in treatment, but, with some
-attention to the foregoing legend, they will easily be understood
-and discriminated. Such a series was painted by Giotto in the Chapel
-of the Bargello at Florence (where the portrait of Dante was lately
-discovered), but they are nearly obliterated; the miracle of the
-mother and child is, however, to be distinguished on the left near the
-entrance. The treatment of the whole has been imitated by Taddeo Gaddi
-in the Rinuccini Chapel at Florence, and by Giovanni da Milano and
-Giottino in the Chapel of the Magdalene at Assisi; on the windows of
-the Cathedrals of Chartres and Bourges; and in a series of bas-reliefs
-round the porch of the Certosa of Pavia, executed in the classical
-style of the sixteenth century.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-On reviewing generally the infinite variety which has been given to
-these favourite subjects, the life and penance of the Magdalene, I
-must end where I began; in how few instances has the result been
-satisfactory to mind or heart, or soul or sense! Many have well
-represented the particular situation, the appropriate sentiment, the
-sorrow, the hope, the devotion: but who has given us the _character_?
-A noble creature, with strong sympathies, and a strong will, with
-powerful faculties of every kind, working for good or evil such a woman
-Mary Magdalene must have been, even in her humiliation; and the feeble,
-girlish, commonplace, and even vulgar women who appear to have been
-usually selected as models by the artists, turned into Magdalenes by
-throwing up their eyes and letting down their hair, ill represent the
-enthusiastic convert or the majestic patroness.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-I must not quit the subject of the Magdalene without some allusion to
-those wild legends which suppose a tender attachment (but of course
-wholly pure and Platonic) to have existed between her and St. John the
-Evangelist.[314] In the enthusiasm which Mary Magdalene excited in
-the thirteenth century, no supposition that tended to exalt her was
-deemed too extravagant: some of her panegyrists go so far as to insist
-that the marriage at Cana, which our Saviour and his mother honoured
-by their presence, was the marriage of St. John with the Magdalene;
-and that Christ repaired to the wedding-feast on purpose to prevent
-the accomplishment of the marriage, having destined both to a state of
-greater perfection. This fable was never accepted by the Church; and
-among the works of art consecrated to religious purposes I have never
-met with any which placed St. John and the Magdalene in particular
-relation to each other, except when they are seen together at the
-foot of the cross, or lamenting with the Virgin over the body of
-the Saviour: but such was the popularity of these extraordinary
-legends towards the end of the thirteenth and in the beginning of the
-fourteenth century, that I think it possible such may exist, and, for
-want of this key, may appear hopelessly enigmatical.
-
-[Illustration: _Martha presents her sister Mary to our Lord._]
-
-In a series of eight subjects which exhibit the life of St. John
-prefixed to a copy of the Revelation,[315] there is one which I
-think admits of this interpretation. The scene is the interior of
-a splendid building sustained by pillars. St. John is baptizing a
-beautiful woman, who is sitting in a tub; she has long golden hair.
-On the outside of the building seven men are endeavouring to see what
-is going forward: one peeps through the key-hole; one has thrown
-himself flat on the ground, and has his eye to an aperture; a third,
-mounted on the shoulders of another, is trying to look in at a window;
-a fifth, who cannot get near enough, tears his hair in an agony of
-impatience; and another is bawling into the ear of a deaf and blind
-comrade a description of what he has seen. The execution is French, of
-the fourteenth century; the taste, it will be said, is also _French_;
-the figures are drawn with a pen and slightly tinted: the design is
-incorrect; but the vivacity of gesture and expression, though verging
-on caricature, is so true, and so comically dramatic, and the whole
-composition so absurd, that it is impossible to look at it without a
-smile.
-
-
-                              ST. MARTHA.
-
-  _Ital._ Santa Marta, Vergine, Albergatrice di Cristo. _Fr._ Sainte
- Marthe, la Travailleuse. Patroness of cooks and housewives. (June 29,
-                               A.D. 84.)
-
-Martha has shared in the veneration paid to her sister. The important
-part assigned to her in the history of Mary has already been adverted
-to; she is always represented as the instrument through whom Mary was
-converted, the one who led her first to the feet of the Saviour. ‘Which
-thing,’ says the story, should not be accounted as the least of her
-merits, seeing that Martha was a chaste and prudent virgin, and the
-other publicly contemned for her evil life; notwithstanding which,
-Martha did not despise her, nor reject her as a sister, but wept for
-her shame and admonished her gently and with persuasive words; and
-reminded her of her noble birth, to which she was a disgrace, and that
-Lazarus, their brother, being a soldier, would certainly get into
-trouble on her account. So she prevailed, and conducted her sister to
-the presence of Christ, and afterwards, as it is well known, she lodged
-and entertained the Saviour in her own house.‘[316]
-
-According to the Provençal legend, while Mary Magdalene converted the
-people of Marseilles, Martha preached to the people of Aix and its
-vicinity. In those days the country was ravaged by a fearful dragon,
-called the _Tarasque_, which during the day lay concealed in the river
-Rhone. Martha overcame this monster by sprinkling him with holy water,
-and having bound him with her girdle (or, as others say, her garter),
-the people speedily put an end to him. The scene of this legend is now
-the city of _Tarascon_, where there is, or was, a magnificent church,
-dedicated to St. Martha, and richly endowed by Louis XI.
-
-The same legends assure us that St. Martha was the first who founded a
-monastery for women; the first, after the blessed Mother of Christ, who
-vowed her virginity to God; and that when she had passed many years in
-prayer and good works, feeling that her end was near, she desired to
-be carried to a spot where she could see the glorious sun in heaven,
-and that they should read to her the history of the passion of Christ;
-and when they came to the words, ‘Father, into thy hands I commend my
-spirit,’ she died.
-
-As Mary Magdalene is the patroness of repentant frailty, so Martha is
-the especial patroness of female discretion and good housekeeping. In
-this character, she is often represented with a skimmer or ladle in her
-hand, or a large bunch of keys is attached to her girdle. For example,
-in a beautiful old German altar-piece attributed to Albert Dürer,[317]
-she is standing in a magnificent dress, a jewelled turban, and holding
-a well-known implement of cookery in her hand. In a missal of Henry
-VIII.,[318] she is represented with the same utensil, and her name
-is inscribed beneath. In general, however, her dress is not rich but
-homely, and her usual attributes as patron saint are the pot of holy
-water, the asperge in her hand, and a dragon bound at her feet. In the
-chapels dedicated to the Magdalene, she finds her appropriate place
-as pendant to her sister, generally distinguished by her close coif
-and by being draped in blue or dark brown or grey; while the Magdalene
-is usually habited in red. When attended by her dragon, St. Martha is
-sometimes confounded with St. Margaret, who is also accompanied by a
-dragon: but it must be remembered that St. Margaret bears a crucifix or
-palm, and St. Martha the pot of holy water; and in general the early
-painters have been careful to distinguish these attributes.
-
-St. Martha, besides being a model of female discretion, sobriety, and
-chastity, and the patroness of good housewives, was, according to
-the old legends, the same woman who was healed by Christ, and who in
-gratitude erected to his honour a bronze statue, which statue is said
-to have existed in the time of Eusebius, and to have been thrown down
-by Julian the Apostate.[319]
-
-When Martha and Mary stand together as patronesses, one represents the
-_active_, the other the _contemplative_, Christian life.
-
-Martha is generally introduced among the holy women who attend the
-crucifixion and entombment of our Lord. In a most beautiful Entombment
-by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Martha kisses the hand of the Saviour, while
-Mary Magdalene is seen behind with outspread arms: Lazarus and Maximin
-stand at the head of the Saviour.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary, is revered as the first
-bishop and patron saint of Marseilles, and is generally represented
-with the mitre and stole. There are at least fifty saints who wear
-the same attire; but when a figure in episcopal robes is introduced
-into the same picture, or the same series, with Martha and Mary, it
-may be presumed, if not otherwise distinguished, to be St. Lazarus:
-sometimes, but rarely, the introduction of a bier, or his resurrection,
-in the background, serves to fix the identity. Grouped with these
-three saints, we occasionally find St. Marcella (or Martilla), who
-accompanied them from the East, but who is not distinguished by any
-attribute; nor is anything particular related of her, except that she
-wrote the life of Martha, and preached the Gospel in Sclavonia.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-There are beautiful full-length figures of Mary, Martha, Lazarus, and
-Marcella, in the Brera at Milan, painted by one of the Luini school,
-and treated in a very classical and noble style; draped, and standing
-in niches to represent statues. At Munich are the separate figures of
-Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, by Grünewald: Lazarus is seen standing by
-his bier; Mary, in the rich costume of a German lady of rank, presents
-her vase; and Martha is habited like a German _hausfrau_, with her
-dragon at her feet. They are much larger than life, admirably painted,
-and full of character, though somewhat grotesque in treatment.
-
-Over the altar of the church ‘La Major’ at Marseilles, stands Lazarus
-as bishop; Mary on the right, and Martha on the left: underneath these
-three statues runs a series of bas-reliefs containing the history of
-Lazarus. 1. He is recalled to life. 2. Seated on the edge of his tomb,
-he addresses the spectators. 3. He entertains Christ. 4. The arrival at
-Marseilles. 5. He preaches to the people. 6. He is consecrated bishop.
-7. He suffers martyrdom.
-
-In a tabernacle or triptica by Nicolò Frumenti (A.D. 1461),[320] the
-central compartment represents the raising of Lazarus, who has the
-truest and most horrid expression of death and dawning life I ever
-beheld. On the volet to the right is the supper in the house of Levi,
-and the Magdalene anointing the feet of the Saviour; on the left volet,
-Martha meets him on his arrival at Bethany: ‘Lord, if thou hadst been
-here, my brother had not died.’
-
-In the chapel of Mary Magdalene at Assisi, we find, besides the history
-of her life, full-length figures of Mary, Martha, Lazarus, and Maximin.
-Mary, a beautiful dignified figure, as usual in rich red drapery,
-stands to the right of the altar, holding out her hand to a kneeling
-Franciscan: on the left Martha stands in grey drapery with a close
-hood: Lazarus and Maximin as bishops.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-This will give an idea of the manner in which these personages are
-either grouped together or placed in connection with each other.
-
-
-                          ST. MARY OF EGYPT.
-
-      _Ital._ Santa Maria Egiziaca Penitente. _Fr._ Sainte Marie
-    l’Égyptienne, La Gipesienne, La Jussienne. (April 2, A.D. 433.)
-
-I place the story of St. Mary of Egypt here, for though she had no real
-connection with the Magdalene, in works of art they are perpetually
-associated as _les bienheureuses pécheresses_, and in their personal
-and pictorial attributes not unfrequently confounded. The legend of
-Mary _Egyptiaca_ is long anterior to that of Mary Magdalene. It was
-current in a written form so early as the sixth century, being then
-received as a true history; but it appears to have been originally one
-of those instructive parables or religious romances which, in the early
-ages of the Church, were composed and circulated for the edification
-of the pious. In considering the manners of that time, we may easily
-believe that it may have had some foundation in fact. That a female
-anchoret of the name of Mary lived and died in a desert of Palestine
-near the river Jordan—that she there bewailed her sins in solitude
-for a long course of years, and was accidentally discovered—is a very
-ancient tradition, supported by contemporary evidence. The picturesque,
-miraculous, and romantic incidents with which the story has been
-adorned, appear to have been added to enhance the interest; and, in its
-present form, the legend is attributed to St. Jerome.
-
-‘Towards the year of our Lord 365, there dwelt in Alexandria a woman
-whose name was Mary, and who in the infamy of her life far exceeded
-Mary Magdalene. After passing seventeen years in every species of vice,
-it happened that one day, while roving along the sea-shore, she beheld
-a ship ready to sail, and a large company preparing to embark. She
-inquired whither they were going? They replied that they were going
-up to Jerusalem, to celebrate the feast of the true cross. She was
-seized with a sudden desire to accompany them; but having no money,
-she paid the price of her passage by selling herself to the sailors
-and pilgrims, whom she allured to sin by every means in her power.
-On their arrival at Jerusalem, she joined the crowds of worshippers
-who had assembled to enter the church; but all her attempts to pass
-the threshold were in vain; whenever she thought to enter the porch,
-a supernatural power drove her back in shame, in terror, in despair.
-Struck by the remembrance of her sins, and filled with repentance, she
-humbled herself and prayed for help; the interdiction was removed, and
-she entered the church of God, crawling on her knees. Thenceforward she
-renounced her wicked and shameful life, and, buying at a baker’s three
-small loaves, she wandered forth into solitude, and never stopped or
-reposed till she had penetrated into the deserts beyond the Jordan,
-where she remained in severest penance, living on roots and fruits,
-and drinking water only; her garments dropped away in rags piecemeal,
-leaving her unclothed; and she prayed fervently not to be left thus
-exposed: suddenly her hair grew so long as to form a covering for
-her whole person (or, according to another version, an angel brought
-her a garment, from heaven). Thus she dwelt in the wilderness, in
-prayer and penance, supported only by her three small loaves, which,
-like the widow’s meal, failed her not, until, after the lapse of
-forty-seven years, she was discovered by a priest named Zosimus. Of
-him she requested silence, and that he would return at the end of a
-year, and bring with him the elements of the holy sacrament, that she
-might confess and communicate, before she was released from earth. And
-Zosimus obeyed her, and returned after a year; but not being able to
-pass the Jordan, the penitent, supernaturally assisted, passed over
-the water to him; and, having received the sacrament with tears, she
-desired the priest to leave her once more to her solitude, and to
-return in a year from that time. And when he returned he found her
-dead, her hands crossed on her bosom. And he wept greatly; and, looking
-round, he saw written in the sand these words:—“O Father Zosimus, bury
-the body of the poor sinner, Mary of Egypt! Give earth to earth, and
-dust to dust, for Christ’s sake!” He endeavoured to obey this last
-command, but being full of years, and troubled and weak, his strength
-failed him, and a lion came out of the wood and aided him, digging with
-his paws till the grave was sufficiently large to receive the body of
-the saint, which being committed to the earth, the lion retired gently,
-and the old man returned home, praising God, who had shown mercy to the
-penitent.’
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-In single figures and devotional pictures, Mary of Egypt is portrayed
-as a meagre, wasted, aged woman, with long hair, and holding in her
-hand three small loaves. Sometimes she is united with Mary Magdalene,
-as joint emblems of female penitence; and not in painting only, but in
-poetry,—
-
-                Like redeemed Magdalene,
-    Or that Egyptian penitent, whose tears
-    Fretted the rock, and moisten’d round her cave
-    The thirsty desert.
-
-Thus they stand together in a little rare print by Marc’ Antonio,
-the one distinguished by her vase, the other by her three loaves.
-Sometimes, when they stand together, Mary Magdalene is young,
-beautiful, richly dressed; and Mary of Egypt, a squalid, meagre, old
-woman, covered with rags: as in a rare and curious print by Israel von
-Mecken.[321]
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Pictures from her life are not common. The earliest I have met with
-is the series painted on the walls of the Chapel of the Bargello, at
-Florence, above the life of Mary Magdalene: they had been whitewashed
-over. In seeking for the portrait of Dante, this whitewash has been in
-part removed; and it is only just possible for those acquainted with
-the legend to trace in several compartments the history of Mary of
-Egypt.
-
-1. Detached subjects are sometimes met with. In the church of San
-Pietro-in-Pò, at Cremona, they preserve relics said to be those of Mary
-of Egypt: and over the altar there is a large picture by Malosso,
-representing the saint at the door of the Temple at Jerusalem,
-and repulsed by a miraculous power. She is richly dressed, with a
-broad-brimmed hat, and stands on the step, as one endeavouring to
-enter, while several persons look on,—some amazed, others mocking.
-
-2. Mary of Egypt doing penance in the desert is easily confounded with
-the penitent Magdalene. Where there is no skull, no vase of ointment,
-no crucifix near her, where the penitent is aged, or at least not young
-and beautiful, with little or no drapery, and black or grey hair,
-the picture may be presumed to represent Mary of Egypt, and not the
-Magdalene, however like in situation and sentiment. There is a large
-fine picture of this subject at Alton Towers.
-
-3. The first meeting of Mary and the hermit Zosimus has been painted by
-Ribera: in this picture her hair is grey and short, her skin dark and
-sunburnt, and she is clothed in rags.
-
-4. In another picture by the same painter she is passing over the
-Jordan by the help of angels; she is seen floating in the air with her
-hands clasped, and Zosimus is kneeling by. This subject might easily
-be confounded with the Assumption of the Magdalene, but the sentiment
-ought to distinguish them; for, instead of the ecstatic trance of the
-Magdalene, we have merely a miraculous incident: the figure is but
-little raised above the waters, and the hermit is kneeling on the
-shore.[322]
-
-5. St. Mary receives the last communion from the hands of Zosimus. I
-have known this subject to be confounded with the last communion of the
-Magdalene. The circumstances of the scene, as well as the character,
-should be attended to. Mary of Egypt receives the sacrament in the
-desert; a river is generally in the background: Zosimus is an aged
-monk. Where the Magdalene receives the sacrament from the hands of
-Maximin, the scene is a portico or chapel with rich architecture, and
-Maximin wears the habit of a bishop.
-
-6. The death of Mary of Egypt. Zosimus is kneeling beside her, and the
-lion is licking her feet or digging her grave. The presence of the lion
-distinguishes this subject from the death of Mary Magdalene.
-
-[Illustration: 97 The Death of Mary of Egypt]
-
-St. Mary of Egypt was early a popular saint in France, and particularly
-venerated by the Parisians, till eclipsed by the increasing celebrity
-of the Magdalene. She was styled, familiarly, La Gipesienne (the
-Gipsy), softened by time into La Jussienne. The street in which stood
-a convent of reformed women, dedicated to her, is still _la Rue
-Jussienne_.
-
-We find her whole story in one of the richly painted windows of the
-cathedral of Chartres; and again in the ‘Vitraux de Bourges,’ where the
-inscription underneath is written ‘Segiptiaca.’
-
-Among the best modern frescoes which I saw at Paris, was the decoration
-of a chapel in the church of St. Merry, dedicated to Ste. Marie
-l’Égyptienne: the religious sentiment and manner of middle-age Art are
-as usual imitated, but with a certain unexpected originality in the
-conception of some of the subjects which pleased me. 1. On the wall,
-to the right, she stands leaning on the pedestal of the statue of the
-Madonna in a meditative attitude, and having the dress and the dark
-complexion of an Egyptian dancing-girl; a crowd of people are seen
-behind entering the gates of the Temple, at which she alone has been
-repulsed. 2. She receives the communion from the hand of Zosimus, and
-is buried by a lion.
-
-On the left-hand wall. 3. Her apotheosis. She is borne aloft by many
-angels, two of whom swing censers, and below is seen the empty grave
-watched by a lion. 4. Underneath is a group of hermits, to whom the
-aged Zosimus is relating the story of the penitence and death of St.
-Mary of Egypt.
-
-I do not in general accept modern representations as authorities, nor
-quote them as examples; but this resuscitation of Mary of Egypt in a
-city where she was so long a favourite saint, appears to me a curious
-fact. Her real existence is doubted even by the writers of that Church
-which, for fourteen centuries, has celebrated her conversion and
-glorified her name. Yet the poetical, the moral significance of her
-story remains; and, as I have reason to know, can still impress the
-fancy, and, through the fancy, waken the conscience and touch the heart.
-
-There were several other legends current in the early ages of
-Christianity, promulgated, it should seem, with the distinct purpose of
-calling the frail and shining woman to repentance. If these were not
-pure inventions, if the names of these beatified penitents retained in
-the offices of the Church must be taken as evidence that they _did_
-exist, it is not less certain that the prototype in all these cases
-was the reclaimed woman of the Scriptures, and that it was the pitying
-charity of Christ which first taught men and angels to rejoice over the
-sinner that repenteth.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The legend of MARY, the niece of the hermit Abraham[323] must not be
-confounded with that of Mary of Egypt. The scene of this story is
-placed in the deserts of Syria. The anchoret Abraham had a brother,
-who lived in the world and possessed great riches, and when he died,
-leaving an only daughter, she was brought to her uncle Abraham,
-apparently because of his great reputation for holiness, to be brought
-up as he should think fit. The ideas of this holy man, with regard
-to education, seem to have been those entertained by many wise and
-religious people since his time; but there was this difference, that
-he did not show her the steep and thorny way to heaven, and choose for
-himself ‘the primrose path of dalliance.’ Instead of applying to his
-charge a code of morality as distinct as possible from his own, he,
-more just, only brought up his niece in the same ascetic principles
-which he deemed necessary for the salvation of all men.
-
-Mary, therefore, being brought to her uncle when she was only seven
-years old, he built a cell close to his own, in which he shut her
-up; and, through a little window, which opened between their cells,
-he taught her to say her prayers, to recite the Psalter, to sing
-hymns, and dedicated her to a life of holiness and solitude, praying
-continually that she might be delivered from the snares of the
-arch-enemy, and keeping her far, as he thought, from all possibility of
-temptation; while he daily instructed her to despise and hate all the
-pleasures and vanities of the world.
-
-Thus Mary grew up in her cell till she was twenty years old: then it
-happened that a certain youth, who had turned hermit and dwelt in that
-desert, came to visit Abraham to receive his instructions; and he
-beheld through the window the face of the maiden as she prayed in her
-cell, and heard her voice as she sang the morning and the evening hymn;
-and he was inflamed with desire of her beauty, till his whole heart
-became as a furnace for the love of her; and forgetting his religious
-vocation, and moved thereto by the devil, he tempted Mary, and she
-fell. When she came to herself, her heart was troubled; she beat her
-breast and wept bitterly, thinking of what she had been, what she had
-now become; and she despaired, and said in her heart, ‘For me there is
-no hope, no return; shame is my portion evermore!’ So she fled, not
-daring to meet the face of her uncle, and went to a distant place, and
-lived a life of sin and shame for two years.
-
-Now, on the same night that she fled from her cell, Abraham had a
-dream; and he saw in his dream a monstrous dragon, who came to his
-cell, and finding there a beautiful white dove, devoured it, and
-returned to his den. When the hermit awoke from his dream he was
-perplexed, and knew not what it might portend; but again he dreamt, and
-he saw the same dragon, and he put his foot on its head, and crushed
-it, and took from its maw the beautiful dove, and put it in his bosom,
-and it came to life again, and spread its wings and flew towards heaven.
-
-Then the old man knew that this must relate to his niece Mary; so
-he took up his staff, and went forth through the world seeking her
-everywhere. At length he found her, and seeing her overpowered with
-shame and despair, he exhorted her to take courage, and comforted her,
-and promised to take her sin and her penance on himself. She wept and
-embraced his knees, and said, ‘O my father! if thou thinkest there is
-hope for me, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest, and kiss
-thy footsteps which lead me out of this gulf of sin and death!’ So he
-prayed with her, and reminded her that God did not desire the death of
-a sinner, but rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live;
-and she was comforted. And the next morning Abraham rose up and took
-his niece by the hand, leaving behind them her gay attire and jewels
-and ill-gotten wealth. And they returned together to the cell in the
-wilderness.
-
-From this time did Mary lead a life of penitence and of great humility,
-ministering to her aged uncle, who died glorifying God: after his
-death, she lived on many years, praising God, and doing good in
-humbleness and singleness of heart, and having favour with the people;
-so that from all the country round they brought the sick, and those who
-were possessed, and she healed them,—such virtue was in her prayers,
-although she had been a sinner! Nay, it is written, that even the touch
-of her garment restored health to the afflicted. At length she died,
-and the angels carried her spirit out of the shadow and the cloud of
-sin, into the glory and the joy of heaven.
-
-Although the legend of Mary the Penitent is accepted by the Church,
-which celebrates her conversion on the 29th of October, effigies of
-her must be rare; I have never met with any devotional representation
-of her. A print attributed to Albert Dürer represents the hermit
-Abraham bringing back his penitent niece to his cell.[324]
-
-In the Louvre are two large landscapes by Philippe de Champagne, which
-in poetry and grandeur of conception come near to those of Niccolò
-Poussin; both represent scenes from the life of Mary the Penitent. In
-the first, amid a wild and rocky landscape, is the cell of Abraham, and
-Mary, sitting within it, is visited by the young hermit who tempted
-her to sin: in the second, we have the same wilderness, under another
-aspect; Mary, in a rude secluded hut, embowered in trees, is visited
-by pilgrims and votaries, who bring to her on their shoulders and on
-litters, the sick and the afflicted, to be healed by her prayers. The
-daughter of Champagne, whom he tenderly loved, was a nun at Port-Royal,
-and I think it probable that these pictures (like others of his works)
-were painted for that celebrated convent.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-St. Thais, a renowned Greek saint, is another of these ‘_bienheureuses
-pécheresses_,’ not the same who sat at Alexander’s feast, and fired
-Persepolis, but a firebrand in her own way. St. Pelagia, called
-_Pelagia Meretrix_ and _Pelagia Mima_ (for she was also an actress), is
-another. These I pass over without further notice, because I have never
-seen nor read of any representation of them in Western Art.
-
-St. Afra, who sealed her conversion with her blood, will be found among
-the Martyrs.
-
-Poets have sung, and moralists and sages have taught, that for the
-frail woman there was nothing left but to die; or if more remained
-for her to suffer, there was at least nothing left for her to be or
-do: no choice between sackcloth and ashes and the livery of sin. The
-beatified penitents of the early Christian Church spoke another lesson;
-spoke divinely of hope for the fallen, hope without self-abasement or
-defiance. We, in these days, acknowledge no such saints: we have even
-done our best to dethrone Mary Magdalene; but we have martyrs,—‘by the
-pang without the palm,’—and _one_ at least among these who has not
-died without lifting up a voice of eloquent and solemn warning; who
-has borne her palm on earth, and whose starry crown may be seen on high
-even now, amid the constellations of Genius.
-
-
-[Illustration]
-
-
-                          LONDON: PRINTED BY
-                SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE
-                         AND PARLIAMENT STREET
-
-
-                              FOOTNOTES:
-
-[1] Milman, Hist. of Christianity, iii. 540.
-
-[2] Venice; SS. Giovanni e Paolo.
-
-[3] Siena; San Domenico.
-
-[4] Rome; Vatican.
-
-[5] Dresden Gal.
-
-[6] The Saints who do not appear in these volumes will be found in the
-‘Legends of the Monastic Orders.’
-
-[7] ‘Avant le 5me siècle le nimbe chrétien ne se voit pas sur les
-monuments _authentiques_.’ (Didron, Iconographie, p. 101.)
-
-[8] A metal circle, like a round plate, was fastened on the head of
-those statues placed in the open air, to defend them from the rain or
-dust. Some of the ancient glories are very like those plates, but I do
-not think they are derived from them.
-
-[9] I believe these coloured glories to be symbolical, but am not
-sure of the application of the colours. Among the miniatures of the
-_Hortus Deliciarum_, painted in 1180, is a representation of the
-celestial paradise, in which the virgins, the apostles, the martyrs,
-and confessors wear the golden nimbus; the prophets and the patriarchs,
-the white or silver nimbus; the saints who strove with temptation, the
-red nimbus; those who were married have the nimbus green, while the
-beatified penitents have theirs of a yellowish white, somewhat shaded.
-(Didron, Iconographie Chrétienne, p. 168.)
-
-[10] In the example of St. Jerome, a lion may have originally typified
-any hinderance in the way of study or of duty; in allusion to the text,
-‘The slothful man saith, There is a lion by the way.’ Prov. xxvi. 13.
-
-[11] _Vide_ ‘Legends of the Madonna.’
-
-[12] In the Spanish schools the colour of our Saviour’s mantle is
-generally a deep rich violet.
-
-[13] Bologna Gal.
-
-[14] 2 Sam. xiv. 17.
-
-[15] Gen. xxxii. 1, 2; Ps. ciii. 21; 1 Kings xxii. 19; Job i. 6.
-
-[16] Gen. xxii. 11; Exod. xiv. 19; Num. xx. 16; Gen. xxi. 17; Judg.
-xiii. 3; 2 Kings i. 3; Ps. xxxiv. 7; Judith xiii. 20.
-
-[17] 2 Sam. xxiv. 16; 2 Kings xix. 35; Gen: xviii. 8; Num. xxii. 31; 1
-Chron. xxi. 16; Gen. xix. 13.
-
-[18] Calmet.
-
-[19] Matt. xxvi. 53; Heb. xii. 22; Matt. xxii. 30; Luke xx. 36; Matt.
-xix. 24; Luke i. 11; Acts v. 19, _et passim_; Luke xv. 10; 1 Peter i.
-12; Luke xvi. 22; Heb. i. 14; 1 Cor. xi. 10; Matt. i. 20, xvi. 27, xxv.
-31.
-
-[20] Rom. viii. 38; Col. i. 16; Ephes. i. 21.
-
-[21] I know not whether it be necessary to observe here, that in
-early Art the souls of the blessed are not represented as angels, nor
-regarded as belonging to this order of spiritual beings, though I
-believe it is a very common notion that we are to rise from the dead
-with the angelic attributes as well as the angelic nature. For this
-belief there is no warrant in Scripture, unless Mark xii. 25 be so
-interpreted.
-
-[22] Now in the Collection of Prince Wallerstein at Kensington Palace.
-
-[23] Vasari, p. 648. Fl. edit.
-
-[24] I saw in the palace of the Bishop of Norwich an elegant little
-bas-relief in alabaster, exhibiting the nine choirs, each represented
-by a single angel. The first (the Seraphim) hold the sacramental cup;
-the Cherubim, a book; the Thrones, a throne; the Principalities, a
-bunch of lilies; the Archangels are armed. The other attributes are not
-clearly made out.
-
-The figures have been ornamented with painting and gilding, now
-partially worn off, and the style is of the early part of the fifteenth
-century. It appeared to me to have formed one of the compartments of an
-altar-piece.
-
-[25] As in the picture in our National Gallery, No. 10.
-
-[26] Vatican: Raphael’s fresco.
-
-[27] _v._ Purg. c. viii.; Par. c. xxxi.; Purg. c. xxiv.
-
-[28] The Cherubim in the upper lights of the painted windows at
-St. Michael’s, Coventry, and at Cirencester, are represented each
-standing on a white wheel with eight spokes. They have six wings, of
-peacocks’ feathers, of a rich yellow colour. A white cross surmounts
-the forehead, and both arms and legs are covered with short plumage.
-The extremities are human and bare. At Cirencester the Cherubim hold a
-book; at Coventry a scroll.
-
-[29] In the sacristy of the Vatican.
-
-[30] In the Louvre.
-
-[31] In the Cathedral at Orvieto.
-
-[32] In the _Frari_ at Venice.
-
-[33] Gen. xviii., xlviii. 16.
-
-[34] Purg. c. viii.
-
-[35] 1 Kings vi. 23.
-
-[36] MS. 10th century. Paris, Bibl. Nationale.
-
-[37] MS. 13th century, Breviaire de St. Louis.
-
-[38] Paris. Bibl. Nat., No. 510. G. MS.
-
-[39] As in the legend of Prometheus. (Plato, Protag. p. 320.)
-
-[40] Sutherland Gallery.
-
-[41] As in Raphael’s fresco in the Vatican.
-
-[42] As in the picture by Allston, painted for Lord Egremont, and now
-at Petworth.
-
-[43] As in a picture by F. Bol.
-
-[44] See ‘Legends of the Madonna,’ p. 180.
-
-[45] For several curious and interesting particulars relative to these
-subjects, see the ‘Legends of the Madonna,’ pp. 247, 256.
-
-[46] The picture is, I suspect, not by Poussin, but by Stella. There is
-another, similar, by Guido; Louvre, 1057.
-
-[47] Ciampini, p. 131, A.D. 394.
-
-[48] Greek MS. A.D. 867.
-
-[49] Paris, Bib. Nat., No. 510.
-
-[50] In the Academy at Florence: they must have formed the side wings
-to an enthroned Madonna and Child.
-
-[51] Gallery of the Vatican.
-
-[52] S. Maria del Popolo, Rome.
-
-[53] The mosaics in the dome of the Chigi chapel are so ill lighted
-that it is difficult to observe them in detail, but they have lately
-been rendered cheaply accessible in the fine set of engravings by
-Gruner, an artist who in our day has revived the pure and correct
-design and elegant execution of Marc Antonio.
-
-[54] As in the fresco in the Vatican.
-
-[55] See the engraving under this title by Marc Antonio; it is properly
-St. Cecilia, and not St. Félicité.
-
-[56] It is now in the Lanti chapel in the church of the Lateran.
-
-[57] Mr. Ruskin remarks very truly, that in early Christian art there
-is a certain confidence, in the way in which angels trust to their
-wings, very characteristic of a period of bold and simple conception.
-Modern science has taught us that a wing cannot be anatomically joined
-to a shoulder; and in proportion as painters approach more and more to
-the scientific as distinguished from the contemplative state of mind,
-they put the wings of their angels on more timidly, and dwell with
-greater emphasis on the human form with less upon the wings, until
-these last become a species of decorative appendage, a mere _sign_ of
-an angel. But in Giotto’s time an angel was a complete creature, as
-much believed in as a bird, and the way in which it would or might
-cast itself into the air and lean hither and thither on its plumes,
-was as naturally apprehended as the manner of flight of a chough or a
-starling. Hence Dante’s simple and most exquisite synonym for angel,
-“Bird of God;” and hence also a variety and picturesqueness in the
-expression of the movements of the heavenly hierarchies by the earlier
-painters, ill replaced by the powers of foreshortening and throwing
-naked limbs into fantastic positions, which appear in the cherubic
-groups of later times.’ The angels from the Campo Santo at Pisa,
-numbered 12, 21, and 32, are instances of this bird-like form. They are
-_Uccelli di Dio_. Those numbered 27, 28, and 37 are examples of the
-later treatment.
-
-[58] A.D. 1352. Florence, S. Maria Novella.
-
-[59] Greek mosaic, A.D. 1174.
-
-[60] MS. of the Book of Revelation, fourteenth century. Trinity
-College, Dublin.
-
-[61] Coll. of the Duke of Sutherland.
-
-[62] Hôtel de Cluny, 399.
-
-[63] _v._ Il perfetto Legendario. 1659.
-
-[64] The Gnostics taught that the universe was created by the Seven
-Great Angels, who ranked next to the _Eons_, or direct emanations from
-God: ‘and when a distribution was afterwards made of things, the chief
-of the creating angels had the people of the Jews particularly to his
-share; a doctrine which in the main was received by many ancients.’—See
-Lardner’s ‘History of the Early Heresies.’ I have alluded to the angel
-pictured as the agent in creation (p. 39), but the Seven creating
-Angels I have not met with in art. This was one of the Gnostic fancies
-condemned by the early Church.
-
-[65] Le Livre des Angeles de Dieu, MS. Paris Bibl. Nat.
-
-[66] Dr. Arnold has some characteristic remarks on the half-human
-effigies of Satan; he objects to the Miltonic representation:—‘By
-giving a human likeness, and representing him as a bad man, you
-necessarily get some image of what is good, as well as of what is bad,
-for no man is entirely evil.’—‘The hoofs, the horns, the tail, were
-all useful in this way, as giving you an image of something altogether
-disgusting; and so Mephistophiles, and the utterly contemptible and
-hateful character of the Little Master in Sintram, are far more true
-than the Paradise Lost.’—_Life_, vol. ii.
-
-[67] Vatican MSS., No. 1613, A.D. 989.
-
-[68] A.D. 1365. Eremitani. Padua.
-
-[69] Greek Apocalypse MS. Paris Bibl. Nat.
-
-[70] Siena Acad.
-
-[71] By Marco di Ravenna. Bartsch, xiv. 106.
-
-[72] Brescia. S. Maria delle Grazie.
-
-[73] Milan, Brera.
-
-[74] Boisserée Gallery.
-
-[75] A.D. 1400. Engraved in Lusinio’s ‘Early Florentine Masters.’
-
-[76] Milan. Brera.
-
-[77] Psalter of St. Louis. Bib. de l’Arsenal, Paris.
-
-[78] See ante, p. 111, for the figure of St. Michael.
-
-[79] St. Ephrem, Bib. Orient. tom. i. p. 78. De Beausobre, vol. ii. p.
-17.
-
-[80] Didron, Manuel grec., p. 101.
-
-[81] Judges vi. 11.
-
-[82] 2 Sam. xxiv. 16.
-
-[83] Calmet.
-
-[84] De Oratione, cap. xii.
-
-[85] Bottari, Tab. xxii. On the early Christian sarcophagi, as I have
-already observed, there are no winged angels. In the oft-repeated
-subject of the ‘Three Children in the burning fiery furnace,’ the
-fourth figure, when introduced, may represent _a_ son of God,—i.e. an
-angel; or _the_ Son of God, i.e. Christ, as it has been interpreted in
-both senses.
-
-[86] Bel and the Dragon, 26.
-
-[87] Bottari, 15, 49, 84.
-
-[88] See ‘Legends of the Madonna.’
-
-[89] ‘The stone on which stood the angel Gabriel when he announced to
-the most Blessed Virgin the great mystery of the Incarnation,’ is among
-the relies enumerated as existing in the church of the Santa Croce at
-Rome.
-
-[90] In Paradise he sings for ever the famous salutation:—
-
-    Cantando _Ave Maria gratia plena_
-    Dinanzi a lei le sue ali distese.
-
-    DANTE, _Par._ 32.
-
-
-[91] See the Ursuline Manual. ‘When an angel anciently appeared to
-the patriarchs or prophets, he was received with due honour as being
-exalted above them, both by nature and grace; but when an archangel
-visited Mary, he was struck with her superior dignity and pre-eminence,
-and, approaching, saluted her with admiration and respect. Though
-accustomed to the lustre of the highest heavenly spirits, yet he was
-dazzled and amazed at the dignity and spiritual glory of her whom he
-came to salute Mother of God, while the attention of the whole heavenly
-court was with rapture fixed upon her.’
-
-[92] The Annunciation and the Death of the Virgin, and the office and
-character of the announcing angel in both subjects, are fully treated
-and illustrated in the ‘Legends of the Madonna,’ pp. 179, 334.
-
-[93] As in a very curious print by ‘Le Graveur de 1466;’ and there are
-other instances.
-
-[94] Chants Royaux. Paris Bibl. Nat. MS. No. 6,989.
-
-[95] Mr. Stirling entitles this picture ‘An Angel appearing to a Bishop
-at his prayers.’
-
-[96] In the church of S. Marziale, Venice.
-
-[97] Passavant’s Rafael, vol. ii. pp. 6, 150.
-
-[98] Madrid Gallery.
-
-[99] Louvre, No. 358.
-
-[100] In our National Gallery.
-
-[101] Rupertus, Commentar. in Apocal. c. 4. Mark xvi. 16.
-
-[102] Fl. Acad.
-
-[103] There is a small and beautiful picture by Giulio Romano in the
-Belvedere at Vienna, representing the emblems of the Four Evangelists
-grouped in a picturesque manner, which was probably suggested by
-Raphael’s celebrated picture, which is in the Pitti palace at Florence.
-
-[104] Grosvenor Gallery.
-
-[105] Dresden Gallery. No. 828.
-
-[106] Paris, Bib. du Roi, No. 510.
-
-[107] A.D. 1377. Eng. in Rossini, pl. 24.
-
-[108] Designed by Titian, and executed by F. Zuccati.
-
-[109] It is so like Giorgione in sentiment and colour that it has
-been attributed to him. For this expressive votive group, see the
-frontispiece to vol. ii., and the legends of the four patron saints
-above mentioned.
-
-[110] Beneath the monument of Nicolò Orsini, in the SS.
-Giovanni-e-Paolo at Venice. A very remarkable and beautiful picture
-of this class is in the Berlin Gallery (No. 316). St. Mark, enthroned
-and holding his gospel open on his knees, is instructing three of the
-_Procuradori di San Marco_, who kneel before him in their rich crimson
-dresses, and listen reverently.
-
-[111] Venice Ducal Palace.
-
-[112] Fl. Gal.
-
-[113] Venice Acad.
-
-[114] Brera, Milan.
-
-[115] Brera, Milan.
-
-[116] A.D. 1500. Scuola di S. Marco, Venice.
-
-[117] Fl. Gal.
-
-[118] The _Procuradori_ had the charge of the church and the treasury
-of St. Mark.
-
-[119] Sanuto, Vite de’ Duci Veneti.
-
-[120] Acad. Venice.
-
-[121] Acad. Venice.
-
-[122] Ibid.
-
-[123] Venice, Ducal Palace.
-
-[124] The little black Virgin of the Monte della Guardia, near Bologna,
-I saw carried in grand procession through the streets of that city,
-in May 1847. The following inscription is engraved on a tablet in
-the church of San Domenico and San Sisto at Rome: ‘Here at the high
-altar is preserved that image of the most blessed Mary, which, being
-delineated by St. Luke the Evangelist, received its colours and
-form divinely. This is that image with which St. Gregory the Great
-(according to St. Antonine), as a suppliant, purified Rome; and
-the pestilence being dispelled, the angel messenger of peace, from
-the summit of the castle of Adrian, commanding the Queen of Heaven
-to rejoice, restored health to the city.’ A Virgin in the Ara Cœli
-pretends to the same honour: both these are black and ugly, while that
-in the S. Maria in Cosmedino is of uncommon dignity and beauty. See
-‘Legends of the Madonna,’ Introduction, p. xli.
-
-[125] MS. A.D. 1500. Paris, Bib. Imp.
-
-[126] F. Rizi. A.D. 1660.
-
-[127] As in the Missal of Henry VIII. Bodleian, Oxford.
-
-[128] Both among the fine lithographs of the Boisserée Gallery. (_v._
-Nos. 5, 15, 25.)
-
-[129] Acad. Bologna.
-
-[130] Musée, Marseilles.
-
-[131] Leigh Court, Gal. of Mr. Miles.
-
-[132] Petersburg, Gal. of Prince Narishken. Eng. by Müller.
-
-[133] Munich Gal.
-
-[134] Westmin. Abbey.
-
-[135] Rome, S. Maria-sopra-Minerva.
-
-[136] _v._ ‘Legends of the Madonna.’
-
-[137] Brera, Milan.
-
-[138] We find among the relics exhibited on great occasions in the
-church of the S. Croce at Rome ‘the cup in which St. John, the apostle
-and evangelist, by command of Domitian the emperor, drank poison
-without receiving any injury; which afterwards being tasted by his
-attendants, on the instant they fell dead.’
-
-[139] Vatican MSS., tenth century.
-
-[140] MSS., ninth century. Paris Nat. Library.
-
-[141] Vatican, Christian Museum.
-
-[142] Johannis Brompton Cronicon, 955.
-
-[143] Dart’s Hist. of Westminster.
-
-[144] _v._ Legend of St. Edward the Confessor in the ‘Legends of the
-Monastic Orders,’ p. 99.
-
-[145] Rome. S. M. in Trastevere. S. Prassede. S. Clemente. S. Cecilia.
-
-[146] Bottari, Tab. xxviii.
-
-[147] The churches in the eastern provinces of France, particularly in
-Champagne, exhibit marked traces of the influence of Greek Art in the
-eleventh and twelfth centuries.
-
-[148] A.D. 451. Ciampini, Vet. Mon. p. 1, c. iv.
-
-[149] Matt. xix. 28; and Luke xxii. 30.
-
-[150] I must refer the reader to Mr. Cockerell’s illustrations and
-restorations of the rich and multifarious and significant sculpture of
-Wells Cathedral.
-
-[151] Luke xxii. 30.
-
-[152] Venice Acad., fourteenth century.
-
-[153] Rosini, vol. iii. p. 75.
-
-[154] Convent of Chilandari, Mount Athos.
-
-[155] Vatican, Sala del Pozzo.
-
-[156] Vatican.
-
-[157] Greek MS., ninth century. Paris, Bibl. du Roi, No. 510.
-
-[158] A set of martyrdoms is in the Frankfort Museum; another is
-mentioned in Bartsch, viii. 22.
-
-[159] Eusebius says that _all_ the Apostles suffered martyrdom; but
-this is not borne out by any ancient testimony.—_Lardner’s Cred. of
-Gospel Hist._ vol. viii. p. 81.
-
-[160] They were fortunately engraved for D’Agincourt’s _Histoire de
-l’Art_, before they were destroyed by fire.
-
-[161] St. Guthlac’s Book. Ethelwold’s Benedictional.
-
-[162] As in the mosaic on the tomb of Otho II. (Lateran Mus.).
-
-[163] Bottari, Tab. xxv.
-
-[164] One of the finest I have ever seen is the ‘Saint Pierre au
-Donateur,’ by Gaudenzio Ferrari; holding his keys (both of gold), he
-presents a kneeling votary, a man of middle age, who probably bore
-his name. The head of St. Peter is very characteristic, and has an
-energetic pleading expression, almost _demanding_ what he requires for
-his votary. The whole picture is extremely fine. (_Turin Gallery_, No.
-19.)
-
-[165] Milan, Brera (No. 189).
-
-[166] What St. Clement says is to this purpose: that St. Peter’s
-hearers at Rome were desirous of having his sermons writ down for their
-use; that they made their request to Mark to leave them a written
-memorial of the doctrine they had received by word of mouth; that they
-did not desist from their entreaties till they had prevailed upon him;
-and St. Peter confirmed that writing by his authority, that it might be
-read in the churches.’—LARDNER, _Cred._, vol. i. p. 250.
-
-[167] Fl. Gal.
-
-[168] Brera, Milan.
-
-[169] Gian Bellini: Venice. S. M. de’ Frari.
-
-[170] Vienna Gal.
-
-[171] Bartsch, vi. 92.
-
-[172] ‘Le Christ à la Colonne.’ _Louvre_, No. 550.
-
-[173] Tab. xxi.
-
-[174] Hampton Court.
-
-[175] Madrid Gal., No. 114.
-
-[176] Bridgewater Gal.
-
-[177] Cathedral at Malines.
-
-[178] Gal. of the Hague.
-
-[179] This picture, formerly in the Brera, is now in England, in the
-gallery of Lord Ward. It is the finest and most characteristic specimen
-of the master I have ever seen.
-
-[180] It is signed MẼDULAÉ, and attributed to Giulio della Mendula; a
-painter (except through this picture) unknown to me.
-
-[181] Brancacci Chapel, Florence.
-
-[182] Berlin Gal., No. 313.
-
-[183] Louvre, No. 685.
-
-[184] As in the Greek mosaics in the Cathedral of Monreale, near
-Palermo.
-
-[185] Several such pictures are in the royal collections at Windsor and
-Hampton Court.
-
-[186] Moore makes a characteristic remark on this fresco; he is
-_amazed_ at the self-denial of the painter who could cross this fine
-group with the black iron bars which represent the prison.
-
-[187] Some Protestant writers have set aside St. Peter’s ministry at
-Rome, as altogether apocryphal; but Gieseler, an author by no means
-credulous, considers that the historical evidence is in favour of the
-tradition (_v._ Text-book of Eccles. Hist. p. 53). This is the more
-satisfactory because, even to Protestants, it is not agreeable to be at
-Rome and to be obliged to reject certain associations which add to the
-poetical, as well as to the religious, interest of the place.
-
-[188] He represented her as a resuscitation of the famous Helen of
-Troy, which is said to have suggested to Goethe the resuscitation of
-Helena in the second part of ‘Faust.’
-
-[189] MS., Vatican, No. 6409. 10th century.
-
-[190] In the sacristy of the Vatican.
-
-[191] In the Brancacci Chapel at Florence.
-
-[192] In the Gallery of the Vatican.
-
-[193] Vatican. Capella Paolina.
-
-[194] _v._ Il perfetto Legendario.
-
-[195] There was an oratory in the church of the Franciscans at
-Varallo, in which they celebrated a yearly festival in honour of St.
-Petronilla. While Gaudenzio Ferrari was painting there the series
-of frescoes in the chapel of the crucifixion on the Sacro Monte, he
-promised to paint for the festival an effigy of the saint. The eve of
-the day arrived, and still it was not begun: the people murmured, and
-reproached him, which he affected to treat jestingly; but he arose in
-the night, and with no other light than the beams of the full moon,
-executed a charming figure of St. Petronilla, which still exists. She
-stands holding a book, a white veil over her head, and a yellow mantle
-falling in rich folds: she has no distinctive emblem. ‘Gaudenzio, che
-in una bella notte d’estate dipinse fra ruvide muraglie una Santa
-tutta grazia e pudore mentre un pallido raggio di luna sbucato dalla
-frondosa chioma d’albero dolcemente gl’irradia la fronte calva e la
-barba rossiccia, presenta un non so che di ideale e di romanzesco che
-veramente rapisce.’—Opere di Gaudenzio Ferrari, No. 21. (Maggi, Turin.
-It is to be regretted that in this valuable work neither the pages nor
-the plates are numbered.)
-
-[196] Second or third century. Bosio, p. 519.
-
-[197] _v._ Münter’s Sinnbilder, p. 35.
-
-[198] _v._ Zani. Enc. delle Belle Arti.
-
-[199] In the gallery of Mr. Miles, at Leigh Court.
-
-[200] Those who consult the engravings by Santi Bartoli and Landon
-must bear in mind that almost all the references are erroneous. See
-Passavant’s ‘Rafael,’ ii. 245.
-
-[201] The clergy who permitted Sir James Thornhill to paint the cupola
-of St. Paul’s with Scripture scenes, refused to admit any other
-paintings into the church. Perhaps they were justified; but not by the
-plea of Bishop Terrick—the fear of idolatry.
-
-[202] This series, the most important work of the painter, Hans
-Schaufelein, is not mentioned in Kugler’s Handbook. It is engraved in
-outline in the ‘New Florence Gallery,’ published in 1837.
-
-[203] ‘St. Paul prevents his jailor from killing himself’ (Acts xvi.)
-has been lately painted by Claude Hallé, and is now in the Louvre.
-(École française, No. 283.)
-
-[204] In the Dresden Gal., No. 821.
-
-[205] Bartsch, vii. 79.
-
-[206] Théologie des Peintres.
-
-[207] In several ancient pictures and bas-reliefs the cross has the
-usual form, but he is not nailed—always bound with cords, as in the
-ancient bas-relief over the portal of his church at Vercelli.
-
-[208] Gallery of the Vatican.
-
-[209] Munich, 363.
-
-[210] In the collection of Mr. Miles at Leigh Court.
-
-[211] Hermogenes was the name of a famous Gnostic teacher and
-philosopher; thence, I suppose, adopted into this legend.
-
-[212] _v._ Southey, ‘Pilgrim of Compostella.’
-
-[213] Passavant’s Rafael, I. 508.
-
-[214] Duomo, Siena.
-
-[215] Belvedere, Vienna.
-
-[216] Venice Acad.
-
-[217] Rome, S. Maria-in-Trastevere. A.D. 1397.
-
-[218] Stirling’s ‘Artists of Spain,’ ii. p. 753.
-
-[219] Legenda Aurea.
-
-[220] Gallery of Antwerp.
-
-[221] Passavant’s Rafael, II. 116.
-
-[222] Eng. by Audran.
-
-[223] Gal. Vatican.
-
-[224] Fl. Acad.
-
-[225] Fl. Gal.
-
-[226] Florence, Casa Ruccellai.
-
-[227] The romantic Legend of the _sacratissima cintola_, ‘the most
-sacred girdle of the Virgin,’ is given at length in the ‘Legends of the
-Madonna,’ p. 344.
-
-[228] ‘Very soon after the Lord was risen, he went to James, and showed
-himself to him. For James had solemnly sworn that he would eat no bread
-from the time that he had drunk the cup of the Lord till he should see
-him risen from among them that sleep. “Bring,” saith the Lord, “a table
-and bread.” He took bread, and blessed and brake it, and then gave it
-to James the Just, and said to him, “My brother, eat thy bread; for the
-Son of man is risen from among them that sleep.”’—St. Jerome, as quoted
-in Lardner, _Lives of the Apostles_, chap. xvi.
-
-[229] Matt. xiii. 55; Mark xv. 40.
-
-[230] Fl. Gal.
-
-[231] Fl. Acad.
-
-[232] See Ford’s ‘Handbook of Spain;’ also Goethe’s ‘Theory of
-Colours,’ translated by Sir C. Eastlake. ‘When a yellow colour is
-communicated to dull and coarse surfaces, such as common cloth,
-felt, or the like, on which it does not appear with full energy, the
-disagreeable effect alluded to is apparent. By a slight and scarcely
-perceptible change, the beautiful impression of fire and gold is
-transformed into one not undeserving the epithet foul, and the colour
-of honour and joy reversed to that of ignominy and aversion. To this
-impression, the yellow hats of bankrupts, and the yellow circles on the
-mantles of Jews, may have owed their origin.’ (P. 308.)
-
-[233] Fl. Gal.
-
-[234] Manfrini P., Venice.
-
-[235] Fl. Acad.
-
-[236] In the gallery of Lord Charlemont, Dublin.
-
-[237] MS., No. 7206. Bib. du Roi.
-
-[238] Florence, S. Maria Novella. It is clear that the extravagant
-legends which refer to Judas Iscariot were the inventions of the
-middle ages, and are as little countenanced by the writings of the
-early fathers as by the Gospels. Eusebius says, that ‘Christ gave like
-gifts to Judas with the other apostles; that once our Saviour had good
-hopes of him on account of the power of the free will, for Judas was
-not of such a nature as rendered his salvation impossible; like the
-other apostles, he might have been instructed by the Son of God, and
-might have been a sincere and good disciple.’ (Quoted in Lardner, vol.
-viii. p. 77.) The Mahometans believe that Christ did not die, that
-he ascended alive into heaven, and that Judas was crucified in his
-likeness. (Curzon, p. 185.)
-
-[239] The Greek expression, ‘leaning on his bosom, or on his lap,’
-is not, I believe, to be taken literally, being used to signify an
-intimate and affectionate intercourse.
-
-[240] Florence Acad.
-
-[241] In the series of compositions from the life of Christ, now in the
-Academy at Florence; beautifully and faithfully engraved by P. Nocchi.
-
-[242] This is also observable in the Last Supper by Nicolò Petri in the
-San Francesco at Pisa.
-
-[243] For a signal example, see Stirling’s ‘Artists of Spain,’ p. 493.
-
-[244] For some remarks on the subject of the Pentecost, _v._ ‘Legends
-of the Madonna,’ p. 325.
-
-[245] Acad. Venice. Giovanni ed Antonio da Murano. 1440.
-
-[246] As I have frequent occasion to refer to pictures painted for
-the _Scuole_ of Venice, it may be as well to observe that the word
-_scuola_, which we translate _school_, is not a place of education, but
-a confraternity for charitable purposes,—visiting the sick, providing
-hospitals, adopting orphans, redeeming prisoners and captives, &c.
-In the days of the republic these schools were richly supported and
-endowed, and the halls, churches, and chapels attached to them were
-often galleries of art: such were the schools of St. Mark, St. Ursula,
-St. Roch, the Carità and others. Unhappily, they exist no longer; the
-French seized on their funds, and Austria does not like confraternities
-of any kind. The Scuola della Carità is now the Academy of Arts.
-
-[247] Acad. Venice. Gio. da Udine.
-
-[248] Frankfort Museum.
-
-[249] We missed the opportunity, now never more to be recalled, of
-obtaining this admirable picture when it was sold out of the Fesch
-collection.
-
-[250] I believe the figure called St. Bonaventura, to represent St.
-Jerome, because, in accordance with the usual scheme of ecclesiastical
-decoration, the greatest of the four Latin Fathers would take the first
-place, and the cardinal’s hat and the long flowing beard are his proper
-attribute; whereas there is no example of a St. Bonaventura with a
-beard, or wearing the monastic habit without the Franciscan cord. The
-Arundel Society have engraved this fine figure under the name of St.
-Bonaventura.
-
-[251] Dresden Gal.
-
-[252] Imp. Gal., St. Petersburg.
-
-[253] Vienna Gal.
-
-[254] In the catalogue, St. Cunegunda is styled _St. Elizabeth Queen of
-Hungary_, and St. Elizabeth of Hungary is styled _St. Elizabeth Queen
-of Portugal_.
-
-[255] Irish Bishop of Würtzburg, and Patron, A.D. 689.
-
-[256] ‘In this picture we recognise the master to whom Albert Dürer was
-indebted for his education; indeed, Wohlgemuth here surpasses his great
-scholar in the expression of gentleness and simplicity, particularly in
-the heads of some of the female saints.’—_Handbook of Painting: German,
-Flemish, and Dutch Schools_, p. 111.
-
-[257] Florence, Ogni Santi.
-
-[258] Bologna, S. Maria Maggiore.
-
-[259] The picture, originally at Naples, was purchased or appropriated
-by Philip IV. for the Church of the Escurial, which belonged to the
-Jeronymites.
-
-[260] Milan, Brera.
-
-[261] Collection of Lord Ward.
-
-[262] Louvre, Sp. Gal.
-
-[263] P. Pitti, Florence.
-
-[264] Lichtenstein Gal.
-
-[265] Kugler pronounces this to be a Flemish picture (_v._ ‘Handbook,’
-p. 190).
-
-[266] The three frescoes by Carpaccio are in the Church of San Giorgio
-de’ Schiavoni at Venice.
-
-[267] It was in the Standish Gal. in the Louvre.
-
-[268] Engraved by Loli.
-
-[269] Wolvinus, A.D. 832. ‘His name seems to indicate that he was of
-Teutonic race—a circumstance which has excited much controversy amongst
-the modern Italian antiquaries.’—_Murray’s Handbook._
-
-[270] Belvedere Gal., Vienna.
-
-[271] Paris, Invalides.
-
-[272] SS. Giovan e Paolo, Venice.
-
-[273] Brera, Milan.
-
-[274] Fl. Gal.
-
-[275] Pitti Pal. This fine picture was painted for the Agostini.
-
-[276] Brera, Milan.
-
-[277] Berlin Gal.
-
-[278] Acad., Venice.
-
-[279] Vatican, Christian Museum.
-
-[280] Cremona.
-
-[281] Belvedere, Vienna.
-
-[282] _v._ ‘Legends of the Monastic Orders,’ p. 191.
-
-[283] I believe this picture was afterwards in the possession of Mr.
-Dennistoun, of Dennistoun. Mr. Stirling mentions it as a fine specimen
-of Murillo’s second style.
-
-[284] Once in Lord Methuen’s Gallery at Corsham.
-
-[285] It was in the possession of Her Majesty the Ex-Queen of the
-French, who paid for it 25,000f.
-
-[286] There is a duplicate in the Bridgewater Gallery.
-
-[287] Sutherland Gal.
-
-[288] Vicenza. S. Maria del Monte.
-
-[289] Bartsch, _Le Peintre Graveur_, vii. 264.
-
-[290] For an account of St. Nilus, and the foundation of Grotta
-Ferrata, see the ‘Legends of the Monastic Orders.’
-
-[291] According to Sansovino, begun by Giorgione and finished by
-Sebastian.
-
-[292] Dante, _Inf._ c. xi.
-
-[293] The Greek word _Papa_, here translated _der Papst_ (the Pope),
-betrays the Eastern origin of the story. It is the general title of the
-Greek priesthood, and means simply a priest, elevated in the German
-legend into ‘the Pope.’
-
-[294] Koburgher, ‘Legendensammlung,’ 1488, p. 325. Heller’s ‘Leben und
-Werke Albrecht Dürer’s,’ p. 440.
-
-[295] Sutherland Gal.
-
-[296] ‘_La Messe de saint Basile._’ Louvre, École française, No. 508.
-
-[297] ‘Pour vous ramener à des idées plus favorables à la Madeleine,
-vous transportant au temps et aux circonstances où vécut cette célèbre
-Israélite, je pourrais vous dire, MESSIEURS, que l’antiquité, ne
-jugeant pas équitable d’exiger plus de vertu du sexe réputé pour
-le plus faible, ne croyait pas les femmes déshonorées de ce qui ne
-déshonorait pas les hommes à ses yeux; qu’elle a d’ailleurs toujours
-été bien moins sévère à des sentiments qui, naissant avec nous, lui
-paraissaient une partie de nous-mêmes, et qu’elle n’attacha jamais
-aucune idée flétrissante aux suites d’une passion qu’elle trouvait
-presque aussi pardonnable que naturelle. Les grâces de la beauté
-étaient alors regardées comme les autres talents; et l’art de plaire,
-aussi autorisé que les autres arts, loin d’inspirer de l’éloignement,’
-&c.
-
-After describing, in glowing terms, her splendid position in the world,
-her illustrious rank, her understanding, ‘_droit, solide, et délicat_,’
-her ‘_grâce_,’ her ‘_esprit_,’ her wondrous beauty, particularly
-her superb hair, ‘_cultivé avec tant de soin, arrangé avec tant
-d’art_;’—and lamenting that a creature thus nobly gifted should have
-been cast away upon the same rock which had shipwrecked the greatest,
-the most illustrious, of her _compatriotes, ‘le fort Samson, le preux
-David, le sage Salomon_;’ he goes on to describe, with real eloquence,
-and in a less offensive strain of panegyric, her devotion at the foot
-of the cross, her pious visit to the tomb by break of day, braving the
-fury of the guards, the cruelty of the Jews, and taking the place of
-the apostles, who were dispersed or fled. And thus he winds up with a
-moral, most extraordinary when we recollect that it was preached from a
-pulpit by a grave doctor in theology:—
-
-‘Jeunes personnes qui vivez encore dans l’innocence! apprenez donc
-de la Madeleine combien grands sont les périls de la jeunesse, de la
-beauté, de tous les dons purement naturels; souvenez-vous que le désir
-excessif de plaire est toujours dangereux, rarement innocent, et qu’il
-est bien difficile de donner beaucoup de sentiments, sans en prendre
-soi-même. A la vue des faiblesses de la jeune Israélite, comprenez de
-quelle importance est, pour vous, la garde de votre cœur; et à quels
-désordres il vous expose, si vous ne vous accoutumez à le contrarier
-sans cesse, en tous ses penchants.
-
-‘Femmes mondaines, et peut-être voluptueuses! apprenez de la
-Madeleine à revenir de vos écarts; ils ont été, dans vous, le fruit
-de la faiblesse humaine; que votre retour soit le fruit de votre
-correspondance à la grâce. Et pourriez-vous ou vous proposer un modèle
-plus digne d’être suivi que celui que vous présente Madeleine, ou
-trouver ailleurs un motif plus puissant de le suivre?
-
-‘Et vous qui, fières d’une réserve que vous ne devez peut-être qu’à
-votre insensibilité, vous en faites un rempart, à l’abri duquel vous
-croyez pouvoir mépriser toute la terre, et dont la mondanité de
-Madeleine elle-même a peut-être scandalisé la précieuse vertu! femmes
-plus vaines que sages! apprenez de notre Sainte, qu’il n’y a que la
-grâce de Dieu et une attention continuelle sur nous-mêmes qui puissent
-nous aider constamment contre la pente qui nous précipite vers le
-mal; et craignez qu’on ne puisse vous dire, à son sujet, ce quo Saint
-Augustin disait à une dévote de votre caractère, pleine d’elle-même et
-médisante: “Plût à Dieu que vous eussiez donné dans les mêmes excès
-dont vous croyez si volontiers les autres capables! vous seriez moins
-éloignée du royaume de Dieu; du moins vous auriez de l’humanité!”’
-
-Le Brun’s Magdalene is just the Magdalene described by this preacher:
-both one and the other are as like the Magdalene of Scripture as Leo X.
-was like St. Peter.
-
-[298] The original Latin distich runs thus:—
-
-    Ne desperetis vos qui peccare soletis,
-    Exemploque meo vos reparate Deo.
-
-
-[299] It was in the Standish Gallery belonging to Louis-Philippe, and
-now dispersed.
-
-[300] There is a beautiful half-length female figure, attributed to
-Correggio, and engraved under the title of ‘Gismunda’ weeping over
-the heart of her lover, in the collection of the Duke of Newcastle.
-The duplicate in the Belvedere Gallery at Vienna is there styled a
-Magdalene, and attributed correctly to Francesco Furini.
-
-[301] Lichtenstein Gal.
-
-[302] These two pictures were sold out of the Louvre with King
-Louis-Philippe’s pictures.
-
-[303] Turin Gallery.
-
-[304] Munich Gallery, No. 266. There is an inferior repetition in the
-Royal Gallery at Turin.
-
-[305] The great picture formerly in the Durazzo Palace is now in the
-Royal Gallery at Turin. It is wonderful for life and colour, and
-dramatic feeling—a masterpiece of the painter in his characteristic
-style.
-
-[306] Bottari, Tab. xxx.
-
-[307] Santa Croce, Florence.
-
-[308] This beautiful and valuable picture has been bequeathed by the
-poet to the National Gallery.
-
-[309] The print by Edelinck is considered as the masterpiece of that
-celebrated engraver.
-
-[310] Dresden Gal.
-
-[311] See p. 379, _note_.
-
-[312] There are about 150 churches in England dedicated in honour of
-Mary Magdalene.
-
-[313] There is a fine series of frescoes from the life of Mary
-Magdalene by Gaudenzio Ferrari, in the church of St. Cristoforo at
-Vercelli. 1. Mary and Martha are seated, with a crowd of others,
-listening to Christ, who is preaching in a pulpit. Martha is veiled and
-thoughtful: Mary, richly dressed, looks up eagerly.—Half destroyed. 2.
-Mary anoints the feet of the Saviour: she lays her head down on his
-foot with a tender humiliation: in the background the Maries at the
-sepulchre and the _Noli me tangere_.—This also in great part ruined.
-3. The legend of the Prince of Provence and his wife, who are kneeling
-before Lazarus and Mary. Martha is to the left, and Marcella behind. In
-the background are the various scenes of the legend:—the embarkation;
-the scene on the island; the arrival at Jerusalem; the return to
-Marseilles with the child. This is one of the best preserved, and the
-heads are remarkably fine. 4. Mary Magdalene sustained by angels,
-her feet resting between the wings of one of them, is borne upwards.
-All the upper part of the figure is destroyed. In the background are
-the last communion and burial of the Magdalene. I saw these frescoes
-in October 1855. They suffered greatly from the siege in 1638, when
-several bombs shattered this part of the wall, and will soon cease to
-exist. They are engraved in their present state in Pianazzi’s ‘Opere di
-Gaudenzio Ferrari,’ No. 19.
-
-[314] Bayle, Dict. Hist.; Molanus, lib. iv., de Hist. Sacrar. S. Mag.,
-cap. xx. p. 428; Thomasium, prefat. 78. The authority usually cited is
-Abdius, a writer who pretended to have lived in the first century, and
-whom Bayle styles ‘the most impudent of legendary impostors.’
-
-[315] Paris, Bibliothèque du Roi, MS. 7013, fourteenth century.
-
-[316] Il Perfetto Legendario.
-
-[317] Queen’s Gal.
-
-[318] Bodleian MSS., Oxford.
-
-[319] It is perhaps in reference to this tradition that St. Martha
-has become the patroness of an order of charitable women, who serve
-in the hospitals, particularly the military hospitals, in France and
-elsewhere,—her brother Lazarus having been a soldier.
-
-[320] Fl. Gal.
-
-[321] B. Museum.
-
-[322] It was in the Sp. Gal. in the Louvre, now dispersed.
-
-[323] Santa Maria Penitente.
-
-[324] ‘Leben und Werke Von Albrecht Dürer,’ No. 2067.
-
-
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-<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Sacred and Legendary Art, Volume I (of 2), by Mrs. Jameson</p>
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
-most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
-of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online
-at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you
-are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the
-country where you are located before using this eBook.
-</div>
-
-<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Sacred and Legendary Art, Volume I (of 2)</p>
-<p style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:1em;'>Containing legends of the angels and archangels, the evangelists, the Apostles, the doctors of the church, and St. Mary magdalene, as represented in the fine arts.</p>
-<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Mrs. Jameson</p>
-<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: December 19, 2022 [eBook #69581]</p>
-<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p>
-  <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Jane Robins, Les Galloway and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)</p>
-<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SACRED AND LEGENDARY ART, VOLUME I (OF 2) ***</div>
-
-<div class="transnote">
-<h3> Transcriber’s Notes</h3>
-
-<p>Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations
-in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other
-spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.</p>
-
-<p> The woodcut number 48, The Symbol of St. Matthew. <i>Mosaic.</i>,
-does not exist.</p>
-
-<p>The cover was prepared by the transcriber and is placed in the public
-domain.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-
-
-<p class="half-title">Sacred<br />
-
-<small>AND</small><br />
-
-Legendary Art.<br />
-
-<span class="center fs4">VOL. I.</span></p>
-
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<div class="box">
-<p class="center">THE LATEST EDITIONS OF MRS. JAMESON’S WORKS ON<br />
-SACRED AND LEGENDARY CHRISTIAN ART.</p>
-
-
-<p class="center">The Fifth Edition, in 2 vols. square crown 8vo. with 19
-Etchings on Copper and 187 Woodcuts, price 31<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i></p>
-
-<p>LEGENDS of the SAINTS and MARTYRS <span class="fs2"> as
-represented in the Fine Arts, forming the <span class="smcap">First Series</span> of ‘Sacred
-and Legendary Art.’ By Mrs. <span class="smcap">Jameson</span>.</span></p>
-
-<p>II. LEGENDS of the MONASTIC ORDERS.<span class="fs2"> Third
-Edition, with 11 Etchings and 88 Woodcuts. 1 vol. 21<i>s.</i></span></p>
-
-<p>III. LEGENDS of the MADONNA. <span class="fs2">Third Edition,
-with 27 Etchings and 165 Woodcuts. 1 vol. 21<i>s.</i></span></p>
-
-<p>IV. HISTORY of OUR LORD <span class="fs2">as exemplified in Works
-of Art. By Mrs. <span class="smcap">Jameson</span> and Lady <span class="smcap">Eastlake</span>. Second Edition, with
-31 Etchings and 281 Woodcuts. 2 vols. 42<i>s.</i></span></p>
-
-<p>⁂ <span class="fs2">Of these 312 Illustrations, all prepared specially for the ‘History
-of Our Lord,’ nearly one-third of the whole number have now been
-engraved for the first time.</span></p>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p><span class="fs2">‘We have in these volumes,
-penned in a truth-seeking spirit and
-illustrated with a copious generosity
-which at once elucidates and adorns
-each section of the subject, contributions
-to the literature of <span class="smcap">Christian
-Art</span>, for which every artist and every
-student of theology will confess
-debt of private gratitude. To thoughtful
-inquirers, richest mines are here
-opened for meditation. To minds
-prepared for deeper draughts to
-quench the thirst for knowledge, wells
-are dug and fountains are made to
-flow even in the desert tracks of time
-where pilgrim’s foot seldom attempts
-to tread. We think that Lady <span class="smcap">Eastlake</span>
-has done special service in
-bringing into popular view recondite
-stores which have hitherto been
-sealed for public use. She has, by
-appeal to the early heads of Christ in
-the Catacombs, by reference to Christian
-sarcophagi of the fourth century,
-to ivories as old as the sixth century,
-and Greek MSS. and Byzantine
-miniatures of the ninth century,
-enabled the art-student to tract the
-history of types and antetypes, and to
-analyse the rudimentary germs which,
-from age to age accumulating strength
-and growing in comeliness, at length
-issued forth in perfected pictorial
-form. <i>It is to this, the infancy of art,
-that at the present moment peculiar
-interest attaches.</i>’</span></p>
-
-<p class="psig">
-<span class="smcap fs2">Blackwood’s Magazine.</span>
-</p>
-</div></div>
-
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_000" style="max-width: 81.25em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_000.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><i>The Assumption of the Magdalena</i>.</div>
-</div>
-
-
-<h1>
-Sacred<br />
-
-<small>AND</small><br />
-
-Legendary Art.</h1>
-
-<p class="center fs4"> BY MRS. JAMESON.</p>
-
-<p class="center">VOLUME I.<br />
-
-<span class="fs2">CONTAINING<br />
-
-LEGENDS OF THE ANGELS AND ARCHANGELS, THE EVANGELISTS,<br />
-THE APOSTLES, THE DOCTORS OF THE CHURCH,<br />
-AND ST. MARY MAGDALENE,</span></p>
-
-<p class="center fs3">AS REPRESENTED IN THE FINE ARTS.</p>
-
-<p class="center spaced fs3"><i>SIXTH EDITION.</i></p>
-
-<p class="center">
-LONDON:<br />
-LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.<br />
-1870.</p>
-
-
-<p class="center fs2 spaced">
-LONDON: PRINTED BY<br />
-SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE<br />
-AND PARLIAMENT STREET</p>
-
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="PREFACE_third">PREFACE<br />
-
-
-<span class="smcap fs2">To</span><br />
-
-<small>THE THIRD EDITION</small>.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p>The Author ventures to hope that, on comparing this Third Edition of
-‘Sacred and Legendary Art’ with the two preceding, it will be found
-greatly improved, and rendered more worthy of the kind approbation and
-sympathy with which it has been received. The whole has been carefully
-revised; the references to the pictures and other works of Art corrected
-from the latest authorities, and many new examples have been added. All
-the Illustrations, which were formerly etched on copper, have been newly
-etched on steel; two have been omitted, and three others, as more interesting
-and appropriate, have been substituted; and twelve new woodcuts have
-been introduced. In a work so multifarious in its nature, and comprising
-so many hundred subjects and references, there may remain some errors and
-omissions, but they have not occurred from want of care; and I must not
-omit to express due thanks for the observations and corrections which have
-been forwarded to me from time to time, and which have been in this
-Edition carefully attended to.</p>
-
-<p class="psig">
-A. J.</p>
-
-<p><span class="fs2"><i>January 1857.</i></span></p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="PREFACE">PREFACE<br />
-
-
-<span class="smcap fs2">To</span><br />
-
-<small>THE FIRST EDITION.<br />
-
-(1848.)</small></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p>This book was begun six years ago, in 1842. It has since been often laid
-aside, and again resumed. In this long interval, many useful and delightful
-works have been written on the same subject, but still the particular ground
-I had chosen remained unoccupied; and, amid many difficulties, and the consciousness
-of many deficiencies, I was encouraged to proceed, partly by the
-pleasure I took in a task so congenial—partly by the conviction that such a
-work has long been wanted by those who are not contented with a mere
-manual of reference, or a mere catalogue of names. This book is intended
-not only to be consulted, but to be read—if it be found worth reading. It
-has been written for those who are, like myself, unlearned; yet less, certainly,
-with the idea of instructing, than from a wish to share with others those
-pleasurable associations, those ever new and ever various aspects of character
-and sentiment, as exhibited in Art, which have been a source of such vivid
-enjoyment to myself.</p>
-
-<p>This is the utmost limit of my ambition; and, knowing that I cannot escape
-criticism, I am at least anxious that there should be no mistake as to purpose
-and intention. I hope it will be clearly understood that I have taken
-throughout the æsthetic and not the religious view of those productions of
-Art which, in as far as they are informed with a true and earnest feeling, and
-steeped in that beauty which emanates from genius inspired by faith, may
-cease to be Religion, but cannot cease to be Poetry; and as poetry only I
-have considered them.</p>
-
-<p>The difficulty of selection and compression has been the greatest of all my
-difficulties; there is not a chapter in this book which might not have been
-more easily extended to a volume than compressed into a few pages. Every<span class="pagenum" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</span>
-reader, however, who is interested in the subject, may supply the omissions,
-follow out the suggestions, and enjoy the pleasure of discovering new exceptions,
-new analogies, for himself. With regard to the arrangement, I am
-afraid it will be found liable to objections; but it is the best that, after long
-consideration and many changes, I could fix upon. It is not formal, nor
-technical, like that of a catalogue or a calendar, but intended to lead the fancy
-naturally from subject to subject as one opened upon another, with just sufficient
-order to keep the mind unperplexed and the attention unfatigued amid
-a great diversity of objects, scenes, stories, and characters.</p>
-
-<p>The authorities for the legends have been the <i>Legenda Aurea</i> of Voragine,
-in the old French and English translations; the <i>Flos Sanctorum</i> of Ribadeneira,
-in the old French translation; the <i>Perfetto Legendario</i>, editions of
-Rome and Venice; the <i>Legende delle Sante Vergini</i>, Florence and Venice;
-the large work of Baillet, <i>Les Vies des Saints</i>, in thirty-two volumes, most
-useful for the historical authorities; and Alban Butler’s <i>Lives of the Saints</i>.
-All these have been consulted for such particulars of circumstance and character
-as might illustrate the various representations, and then compressed
-into a narrative as clear as I could render it. Where one authority only has
-been followed, it is usually placed in the margin.</p>
-
-<p>The First Part contains the legends of the scriptural personages and the
-primitive fathers.</p>
-
-<p>The Second Part contains those sainted personages who lived, or are supposed
-to have lived, in the first ages of Christianity, and whose real history,
-founded on fact or tradition, has been so disguised by poetical embroidery,
-that they have in some sort the air of ideal beings. As I could not undertake
-to go through the whole calendar, nor yet to make my book a catalogue of
-pictures and statues, I have confined myself to the saints most interesting and
-important, and (with very few exceptions) to those works of Art of which I
-could speak from my own knowledge.</p>
-
-<p>The legends of the monastic orders, and the history of the Franciscans and
-Dominicans, considered merely in their connexion with the revival and development
-of the Fine Arts in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, open so
-wide a range of speculation,—the characteristics of these religious enthusiasts
-of both sexes are so full of interest and beauty as artistic conceptions, and as
-psychological and philosophical studies so extraordinary, that I could not, in
-conscience, compress them into a few pages: they form a volume complete in
-itself, entitled ‘Legends of the Monastic Orders.’</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</span></p>
-
-<p>The little sketches and woodcuts are trifling as illustrations, and can only
-assist the memory and the fancy of the reader but I regret this the less,
-inasmuch as those who take an interest in the subject can easily illustrate the
-book for themselves. To collect a portfolio of prints, including those works
-of art which are cited under each head as examples, with a selection from the
-hundreds of others which are not cited, and arrange them in the same order—with
-reference, not to schools, or styles, or dates, but to subject merely—would
-be an amusing, and I think not a profitless, occupation. It could not
-be done in the right spirit without leading the mind far beyond the mere
-pleasure of comparison and criticism, to ‘thoughts more elevate and reasonings
-high’ of things celestial and terrestrial, as shadowed forth in form by
-the wit and the hand of man.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp40" id="i_000a" style="max-width: 25em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_000a.jpg" alt="an angel" />
-</div>
-
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_x">[Pg x]</span></p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xi">[Pg xi]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS<br />
-
-<span class="fs3">OF</span><br />
-
-<small>THE FIRST VOLUME.</small></h2>
-</div>
-
-<table class="autotable">
-<tr>
-<td></td><td class="tdr"><small>PAGE</small></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">Preface</span></td>
-<td class="tdrb">v</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">Introduction</span>:</td><td></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="allsmcap">I.</span> Of the Origin and general Significance of the Legends represented in Art</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="allsmcap">II.</span> Of the Distinction to be drawn between Devotional and Historical Subjects</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_11">11</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="allsmcap">III.</span> Of the Patron Saints of particular Countries, Cities, and Localities</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_18">18</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="allsmcap">IV.</span> Of certain Emblems and Attributes of general Application</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_23">23</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="allsmcap">V.</span> Of the Significance of Colours. Conclusion</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_35">35</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdc" colspan="2">OF ANGELS AND ARCHANGELS.</td>
-</tr>
-
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">Of Angels.</span> Antiquity of the Belief in Angels. Early Notions respecting them.
-How represented in the Old Testament. In the New Testament. Angelic
-Hierarchies. The Nine Choirs. Seraphim, Cherubim. General Characteristics
-in Painting. Infant Angels. Wings. Angels of Dante. Angels
-as Messengers, Choristers, Guardians. As Ministers of Wrath. As Agents
-in the Creation. Manner in which the principal Painters have set forth the
-Angelic Forms and Attributes</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_41">41</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">The Archangels.</span> The Seven Archangels. The Four Archangels. The Three
-Archangels</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_87">87</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">St. Michael</span></td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_94">94</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">St. Gabriel</span></td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_118">118</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">St. Raphael</span></td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_126">126</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh">Additional Notes on Angels</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_131">131</a>
-<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xii">[Pg xii]</span></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdc" colspan="2">THE FOUR EVANGELISTS.</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh">The earliest Types: as Four Books; as Four Rivers; as the Four Mysterious
-Animals; the Human and Animal Forms combined; with Wings; as Men</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_132">132</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">St. Matthew.</span> His Legend. His Attributes. Pictures from his Life not
-common</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_143">143</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">St. Mark.</span> His Legend. Devotional Pictures: as Evangelist; as the Disciple
-of Peter; as the Patron Saint of Venice. The Legend of the Fisherman.
-The Legend of the Christian Slave. The Translation of the Body of St.
-Mark</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_147">147</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">St. Luke.</span> His Legend. Devotional Figures. Attributes: as Evangelist and
-Painter. St. Luke painting the Virgin</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_154">154</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">St. John.</span> His Legend. Devotional Pictures: as Evangelist; as Apostle; as
-Prophet. Subjects from his Life; Legend of St. John and the Robber; of
-the two Young Men; of Drusiana; of the Huntsman and the Partridge. The
-Martyrdom of St. John. Legend of the Death of St. John. Legend of
-Galla Placidia. Of King Edward the Confessor</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_157">157</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh">The Six Writers of the Canonical Epistles, as a series</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_172">172</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdc" colspan="2">THE TWELVE APOSTLES.</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh">Ancient Types: as Twelve Sheep; as Twelve Doves; as Twelve Men. How
-grouped in Ecclesiastical Decoration. In the Old Mosaics; their proper
-place. Examples from various Painters. Historical Subjects relating to the
-Twelve Apostles: the Pentecost; the Separation of the Twelve Apostles to
-preach the Gospel; the Twelve Baptisms; the Twelve Martyrdoms</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_173">173</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">St. Peter</span> and <span class="smcap">St. Paul</span>. The Ancient Greek Types. Examples of the early
-Treatment of these two Apostles: in the old Mosaics; in early Sculpture;
-in Pictures</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_185">185</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">St. Peter.</span> His peculiar Attributes: as Apostle and Patron Saint; as the Head
-and Founder of the Roman Church; St. Peter as Pope. Subjects from the
-Scriptural Life of St. Peter. Legendary Stories connected with St. Peter.
-The Legend of Simon Magus; of the ‘<i>Domine, quo vadis?</i>’ of Processus and Martinian. The Martyrdom of St. Peter. St. Peter as Keeper of the
-Gates of Paradise. The Legend of St. Petronilla. The Life of St. Peter in
-a Series of Subjects</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_193">193</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">St. Paul.</span> Earliest Type. Attributes of St. Paul: the Sword. Subjects from
-his Life. Stoning of Stephen. Conversion of St. Paul. The Vision of St.
-Paul. Miracles of St. Paul. His Martyrdom. The Legend of Plautilla.
-The Life of St. Paul in a Series of Subjects</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_212">212</a>
-<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xiii">[Pg xiii]</span></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">St. Andrew.</span> The Legend. Attributes. Historical Subjects from the Life of
-St. Andrew. Flagellation. Adoration of the Cross. Martyrdom as represented
-by Guido, Domenichino, and Murillo</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_226">226</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">St. James Major.</span> Story and Character as represented in Scripture. St.
-James as Patron of Spain. The Legend of Santiago. The Battle of Clavijo.
-The Pilgrims of Compostella. The Devotional Figures and Attributes of
-St. James the Apostle. As Tutelar Saint of Spain. Pictures from his
-Legend</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_230">230</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">St. Philip.</span> The Legend of the Idol and the Serpent. Devotional Pictures and
-Attributes. Subjects from his Legend. Distinction between St. Philip the
-Apostle and St. Philip the Deacon</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_241">241</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">St. Bartholomew.</span> The Legend. The Attributes. Martyrdom</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_244">244</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">St. Thomas.</span> Origin of his peculiar Attribute. The Legend of King Gondoforus.
-The Incredulity of St. Thomas. The Legend of the ‘<i>Madonna della Cintola</i>.’
-Martyrdom of St. Thomas</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_245">245</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">St. James Minor.</span> First Bishop of Jerusalem. Attributes. Resemblance to
-Christ. Subjects from his Life. Martyrdom. Frescoes at Padua</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_250">250</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">St. Simon and St. Jude.</span> Legend and Attributes. Represented as Children</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_252">252</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">St. Matthias.</span> Attributes</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_254">254</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">Judas Iscariot.</span> Scriptural Character. Legends relating to him; how represented
-in various Subjects</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_255">255</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">The Last Supper.</span> Its importance as a Sacred Subject. Devotional when it
-represents the Institution of the Eucharist. Historical when it represents
-the Detection of Judas. Various Examples. Giotto. Duccio of Siena.
-Angelico da Fiesole. Luca Signorelli. Ghirlandajo. Albert Dürer.
-Leonardo da Vinci. Raphael. Andrea del Sarto. Titian. Poussin.</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_261">261</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh">Faults and Mistakes committed by Painters in representing the Last Supper</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_273">273</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">St. Barnabas.</span> His Legend. Popular at Venice as Kinsman of St. Mark. Represented
-with the Gospel of St. Matthew</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_278">278</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdc" colspan="2">THE DOCTORS OF THE CHURCH.</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">The Four Latin Fathers.</span> Their Particular Attributes. Their proper place
-in Ecclesiastical Decoration. Subjects in which they are introduced
-together</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_280">280</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">St. Jerome.</span> History and Character. Influence over the Roman Women.
-Origin of his Attributes. Legend of the Wounded Lion. Devotional
-Figures of St. Jerome: as Patron Saint; as Translator of the Scriptures; as
-Penitent. Subjects from the Life of St. Jerome. The Communion of
-St. Jerome</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_285">285</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xiv">[Pg xiv]</span></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">St. Ambrose.</span> Story and Character of St. Ambrose. The Emperor Theodosius.
-The Discovery of the Martyrs St. Protasius and St. Gervasius. Legends
-relating to St. Ambrose. The Prefect Macedonius. The Nobleman of
-Tuscany. Devotional Figures of St. Ambrose. His peculiar Attributes.
-His Church at Milan; his Life as represented on the Altar. Statue of St.
-Ambrose</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_300">300</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">St. Augustine.</span> Character of St. Augustine. His Shrine at Pavia, and Bassorelievos
-representing his Life. Devotional Figures of St. Augustine. Represented
-with his Mother, Monica. Various Subjects from his Life. The
-Vision of St. Augustine</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_308">308</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">St. Gregory.</span> His Story and Character. His Popularity. Legends connected
-with his Life. Origin of his Attribute, the Dove. The Supper of St.
-Gregory. The Mass of St. Gregory. The Miracle of the Brandeum. St.
-Gregory releases the Soul of the Emperor Trajan. The Legend as represented
-in Pictures. The Legend of the Monk. St. Gregory’s Doctrine of
-Purgatory. How represented</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_315">315</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">The Four Greek Fathers.</span> How represented in the Greek Pictures, and by
-the Latin Artists</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_324">324</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">St. John Chrysostom.</span> Singular Legends with regard to him. The Penance
-of St. Chrysostom. As represented in the German Prints. By Lucas
-Cranach. By Beham. By Albert Dürer</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_325">325</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">St. Basil the Great.</span> His Character. How represented. Story of the Emperor
-Valens. Legends which refer to St. Basil</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_335">335</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">St. Athanasius.</span> How represented. Unpopular as a Subject of Art</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_339">339</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">St. Gregory Nazianzen.</span> His History and Character. His celebrity as a Poet.
-Beautiful Miniatures relative to his Life</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_340">340</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">St. Cyril.</span> How represented</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_342">342</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh">ST. MARY MAGDALENE, ST. MARTHA, ST. LAZARUS, ST. MAXIMIN,
-ST. MARCELLA, ST. MARY OF EGYPT, AND THE BEATIFIED
-PENITENTS.</td><td></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh">Character of Mary Magdalene. Disputes concerning her Identity. The Popular
-and Scriptural Legend. The old Provençal Legend. The Devotional Representations:
-as Patron Saint; as Penitent. Sacred Subjects in which she
-is introduced. Legendary Subjects. La Danse de la Madeleine. The Assumption<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xv">[Pg xv]</span>
-of the Magdalene. The Legend of the Mother and Child. Her
-Life in a Series of Subjects. Legends of Mary Magdalene and St. John the
-Evangelist</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_343">343</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">St. Martha.</span> Her Character. Legends of St. Martha. How represented.
-Where introduced</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_381">381</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">St. Lazarus</span></td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_383">383</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">St. Mary of Egypt.</span> The Legend. Distinction between St. Mary of Egypt and
-Mary Magdalene. Proper Attributes of Mary of Egypt. Stories and
-Pictures from her Life</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_385">385</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">Mary the Penitent</span>, not to be confounded with Mary of Egypt. Her Story.
-Landscapes of Philippe de Champagne</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_390">390</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="smcap">St. Thais.</span> <span class="smcap">St. Pelagia</span></td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_393">393</a></td>
-</tr>
-</table>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xvi">[Pg xvi]</span></p>
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xvii">[Pg xvii]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS">LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS<br />
-
-
-<span class="fs2">IN</span><br />
-
-<small>THE FIRST VOLUME.</small></h2>
-</div>
- <hr class="small" />
-
-<p class="center fs4">
-Woodcuts.</p>
-
-<ul>
-<li><a href="#c1">1</a>. Laus Deo. <i>Liberale di Verona.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c2">2</a>. Angel. <i>Gaudenzio Ferrari.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#i_041">3</a>. Angels singing ‘Gloria in Excelsis Deo.’ <i>Perugino.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c4">4</a>. Seraph. <i>Greek Emblem, 9th Century.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c5">5</a>. Cherubim. <i>Italian, 14th Century.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c6">6</a>. Cherubim. <i>Pinturicchio.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c7">7</a>. Cherubim. <i>Liberale di Verona.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c8">8</a>. Part of a Glory of Angels. <i>Ambrogio Borgognone.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c9">9</a>. Winged Genius. <i>Egyptian.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c10">10</a>. Winged Figure. <i>Nineveh Marbles.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c11">11</a>. Seraph. <i>Ancient Greek Mosaic.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c12">12</a>. Angels. <i>Orcagna.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c13">13</a>. Fiery Cherub. <i>Raphael.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c14">14</a>. Angel, hymning the Virgin. <i>Francia.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c15">15</a>. Piping Angel. <i>Gian Bellini.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c16">16</a>. Greek Angel bearing the Moon.</li>
-<li><a href="#c17">17</a>. Angels on Horseback. <i>Cathedral of Auxerre.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c18">18</a>. Angels expelling Adam and Eve. <i>N. Pisano.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c19">19</a>. Angels who visit Abraham. <i>Raphael.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c20">20</a>. Plan of the Riccardi Chapel. <i>Florence.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c21">21</a>. Lamenting Angel. <i>Campo Santo.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c22">22</a>. The Angel wrestles with Jacob. <i>Greek Miniature.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c23">23</a>. Greek Angel. <i>Miniature.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c24">24</a>. Greek Angels. <i>Mosaic.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c25">25</a>. Angels. <i>F. Granacci.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c26">26</a>. Angel in a Crucifixion. <i>Albert Dürer.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c27">27</a>. Angels of the 17th Century.</li>
-<li><a href="#c28">28</a>. Angel. <i>Poussin.</i><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xviii">[Pg xviii]</span></li>
-<li><a href="#c29">29</a>. Angels rejoicing. <i>W. Blake.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c30">30</a>. Two Archangels. <i>Cimabue.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c31">31</a>. The Archangels Michael and Raphael. <i>Campo Santo.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c32">32</a>. Angels bearing the Instruments of the Passion. <i>Campo Santo.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c33">33</a>. The Three Archangels bear the Infant Christ.</li>
-<li><a href="#c34">34</a>. St. Michael as Patron Saint. <i>Angelico da Fiesole.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c35">35</a>. Early Symbol of St. Michael and the Dragon. <i>Bas-relief.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c36">36</a>. St. Michael overcomes the Demon. <i>Martin Schoen.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c37">37</a>. The same subject. <i>Raphael.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c38">38</a>. St. Michael as Patron Saint. <i>Mabuse.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c39">39</a>. St. Michael as Angel of Judgment and Lord of Souls. <i>Justus of Ghent.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c40">40</a>. St. Michael as Lord of Souls. <i>Luca Signorelli.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c41">41</a>. Egyptian Symbol.</li>
-<li><a href="#c42">42</a>. St. Gabriel. <i>Lorenzo of Monaco.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c43">43</a>. St. Gabriel. <i>Wilhelm of Cologne.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c44">44</a>. Angel announcing the Death of the Virgin. <i>Filippo Lippi.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c45">45</a>. St. Gabriel. <i>Van Eyck.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c46">46</a>. St. Raphael. <i>Murillo.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c47">47</a>. St. Raphael. <i>Rembrandt.</i></li>
-<li>48. The Symbol of St. Matthew. <i>Mosaic.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c49">49</a>. The Tetramorph. <i>Greek.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c50">50</a>. Symbol of St. Luke. <i>Mosaic.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c51">51</a>. Symbol of St. Luke. <i>Mosaic.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c52">52</a>. Symbol of St. John. <i>Mosaic.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c53">53</a>. Symbol of St. Mark. <i>Mosaic.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c54">54</a>. Symbol of St. John. <i>Miniature.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c55">55</a>. Symbol of St. Mark. <i>Sculpture.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c56">56</a>. Mystical Figures of the Four Evangelists. <i>Angelico da Fiesole.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c57">57</a>. Figure from Nineveh. <i>British Museum.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c58">58</a>. Winged St. Mark. <i>Hans Beham.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c59">59</a>. St. Matthew. <i>Raphael.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c60">60</a>. St. John. <i>Hans Hemling.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c61">61</a>. St. John with the Eagle. <i>Raphael.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c62">62</a>. St. John as Prophet. <i>Raphael.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c63">63</a>. St. John in the Island of Patmos. <i>Lucas van Leyden.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c64">64</a>. The Twelve Apostles, as Sheep. <i>Mosaic.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c65">65</a>. St. Philip. <i>Orcagna.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c66">66</a>. St. Peter and St. Paul. <i>Carlo Crivelli.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c67">67</a>. St. Peter. <i>Greek Type.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c68">68</a>. St. Peter with one Key. <i>Taddeo Gaddi.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c69">69</a>. St. Paul. <i>Greek Type.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c70">70</a>. St. Peter as Pope. <i>Cola dell’ Amatrice.</i><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xix">[Pg xix]</span></li>
-<li><a href="#c71">71</a>. Repentance of Peter. <i>Bas-relief, 3rd Century.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c72">72</a>. Crucifixion of Peter. <i>Giotto.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c73">73</a>. St. Peter, as Keeper of the Gates of Paradise. <i>Simone Memmi.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c74">74</a>. St. Andrew. <i>Peter Vischer.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c75">75</a>. St. James Major. <i>Giovanni Santi.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c76">76</a>. Santiago slaying the Moors. <i>Carreño de Miranda.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c77">77</a>. St. James Major as Patron. <i>Andrea del Sarto.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c78">78</a>. The Miracle of the Fowls. <i>Lo Spagna.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c79">79</a>. St. Philip. <i>Albert Dürer.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c80">80</a>. St. Bartholomew. <i>Giotto.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c81">81</a>. St. Thomas. <i>Raphael.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c82">82</a>. St. James Minor. <i>L. van Leyden.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c83">83</a>. St. Matthias. <i>Raphael.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c84">84</a>. Angel swinging the Censer. <i>Albert Dürer.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c85">85</a>. St. Jerome doing Penance. <i>Titian.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c86">86</a>. St. Jerome. <i>Raphael.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c87">87</a>. St. Jerome healing the Lion. <i>Coll’ Antonio da Fiore.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c88">88</a>. Venetian St. Jerome.</li>
-<li><a href="#c89">89</a>. The Vision of St. Augustine. <i>Murillo.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c90">90</a>. ‘La Pénitence de St. Jean Chrysostome.’ <i>Albert Dürer.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c91">91</a>. St. Mary Magdalene. Statue. <i>Donatello.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c92">92</a>. St. Mary Magdalene. <i>L. van Leyden.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c93">93</a>. St. Mary Magdalene. <i>Timoteo della Vite.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c94">94</a>. St. Mary Magdalene. <i>Murillo.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c95">95</a>. St. Mary Magdalene. <i>Annibale Caracci.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c96">96</a>. The Assumption of the Magdalene. <i>Albert Dürer.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#c97">97</a>. St. Mary of Egypt dying. <i>Pietro da Cortona.</i></li>
-<li><a href="#i_394">98</a>. Angel. <i>Raphael.</i></li>
-</ul>
-
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xx">[Pg xx]</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<p class="center fs4">Etchings.</p>
-
-<table class="autotable">
-<tr>
-<td></td><td class="tdl"><span class="fs2">PAGE</span></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="allsmcap">I.</span> The Assumption of the Magdalene. <i>After Giulio Romano.</i> The Original
-Fresco, which is in our National Gallery, was cut from the wall of the
-Church of the Trinità de’ Monti, at Rome</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><i>Title</i></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="allsmcap">II.</span> A Venetian Votive Picture in commemoration of a Pestilence (probably
-the pestilence of 1512, in which Giorgione perished). St. Mark, enthroned
-as the Patron Saint of Venice, holds his Gospel; on the right
-St. Sebastian and St. Roch, Protectors against the Plague; on the left,
-St. Cosmo and St. Damian, Patron Saints of the Healing Art. <i>Sketch
-after Titian.</i> The Original Picture, remarkable for beauty of expression,
-and splendour and harmony of colour, in the Church of S. Maria della
-Salute, at Venice</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_22">22</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="allsmcap">III.</span> Angels of the Planets. <i>Raphael. From the fine set of Engravings by
-L. Gruner, after the Frescoes in the Cappella Chigiana at Rome</i></td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_80">80</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="allsmcap">IV.</span> 1. St. Luke painting the Virgin. <i>After the Picture in the Academy of St.
-Luke attributed to Raphael.</i> 2. St. Mark attended by St. Gregory.
-<i>After Correggio</i></td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_156">156</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="allsmcap">V.</span> The Madonna della Cintola. The Virgin, as she ascends to heaven, presents
-her girdle to St. Thomas; who kneels by the tomb, which is
-full of roses. On the other side, the Archangel Michael, in reference to
-the Legend. <i>From a Picture by Francesco Granacci in the Florence
-Gallery</i></td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_249">248</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="allsmcap">VI.</span> The Last Supper. 1. <i>After Giotto.</i> 2. <i>After Leonardo da Vinci.</i> 3. <i>After
-Raphael.</i> (For this etching I am indebted to Mr. George Scharf.)</td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_261">261</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="allsmcap">VII.</span> The Four Latin Fathers. <i>From a Picture by Antonio Vivarini, in the
-Academy at Venice</i></td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_280">280</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="allsmcap">VIII.</span> The Five Greek Fathers. <i>Drawing from an Ancient Greek Picture in the
-Vatican</i></td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_324">324</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh"><span class="allsmcap">IX.</span> Martha conducts her Sister Mary Magdalene to the Presence of our Lord.
-<i>From the Engraving by Marc’ Antonio, after Raphael</i></td>
-<td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_381">381</a></td>
-</tr>
-</table>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</span></p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_001" style="max-width: 75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_001.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c1"></a>1 Laus Deo!</div>
-</div>
-
-
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="Introduction">Introduction.</h2>
-
-<h3> <span class="smcap">I. Of the Origin and General Significance of the
-Legends represented in Art.</span></h3>
-</div>
-
-<p>We cannot look round a picture gallery—we cannot turn over a
-portfolio of prints after the old masters, nor even the modern engravings
-which pour upon us daily, from Paris, Munich, or Berlin—without
-perceiving how many of the most celebrated productions of
-Art, more particularly those which have descended to us from the early
-Italian and German schools, represent incidents and characters taken
-from the once popular legends of the Catholic Church. This form
-of ‘<i>Hero-Worship</i>’ has become, since the Reformation, strange to us—as
-far removed from our sympathies and associations as if it were
-antecedent to the fall of Babylon and related to the religion of Zoroaster,
-instead of being left but two or three centuries behind us and
-closely connected with the faith of our forefathers and the history of
-civilisation and Christianity. Of late years, with a growing passion
-for the works of Art of the Middle Ages, there has arisen among us a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</span>
-desire to comprehend the state of feeling which produced them, and
-the legends and traditions on which they are founded;—a desire to
-understand, and to bring to some surer critical test, representations
-which have become familiar without being intelligible. To enable us
-to do this, we must pause for a moment at the outset; and, before we
-plunge into the midst of things, ascend to higher ground, and command
-a far wider range of illustration than has yet been attempted, in order
-to take cognizance of principles and results which, if not new, must
-be contemplated in a new relation to each other.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The Legendary Art of the Middle Ages sprang out of the legendary
-literature of the preceding ages. For three centuries at least, this
-literature, the only literature which existed at the time, formed the sole
-mental and moral nourishment of the <i>people</i> of Europe. The romances
-of Chivalry, which long afterwards succeeded, were confined to particular
-classes, and left no impress on Art, beyond the miniature illuminations
-of a few manuscripts. This legendary literature, on the
-contrary, which had worked itself into the life of the people, became,
-like the antique mythology, as a living soul diffused through the
-loveliest forms of Art, still vivid and vivifying, even when the old faith
-in its mystical significance was lost or forgotten. And it is a mistake to
-suppose that these legends had their sole origin in the brains of dreaming
-monks. The wildest of them had some basis of truth to rest on, and the
-forms which they gradually assumed were but the necessary result of
-the age which produced them. They became the intense expression of
-that inner life, which revolted against the desolation and emptiness of
-the outward existence; of those crushed and outraged sympathies which
-cried aloud for rest, and refuge, and solace, and could nowhere find them.
-It will be said, ‘In the purer doctrine of the <span class="smcap">Gospel</span>.’ But where was
-that to be found? The Gospel was not then the heritage of the poor:
-Christ, as a comforter, walked not among men. His own blessed
-teaching was inaccessible except to the learned: it was shut up in rare
-manuscripts; it was perverted and sophisticated by the passions and the
-blindness of those few to whom it <i>was</i> accessible. The bitter disputes
-in the early Church relative to the nature of the Godhead, the subtle
-distinctions and incomprehensible arguments of the theologians, the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</span>
-dread entertained by the predominant church of any heterodox opinions
-concerning the divinity of the Redeemer, had all conspired to remove
-<i>Him</i>, in his personal character of Teacher and Saviour, far away from
-the hearts of the benighted and miserable people—far, far away into
-regions speculative, mysterious, spiritual, whither they could not, dared
-not follow Him. In this state of things, as it has been remarked by a
-distinguished writer, ‘Christ became the object of a remoter, a more
-awful adoration. The mind began, therefore, to seek out, or eagerly to
-seize, some other more material beings in closer alliance with human
-sympathies.’ And the same author, after tracing in vivid and beautiful
-language the dangerous but natural consequences of this feeling, thus
-sums up the result: ‘During the perilous and gloomy days of persecution,
-the reverence for those who endured martyrdom for the religion
-of Christ had grown up out of the best feelings of man’s improved
-nature. Reverence gradually grew into veneration, worship, adoration:
-and although the more rigid theology maintained a marked distinction
-between the honour shown to the martyrs, and that addressed to the
-Redeemer and the Supreme Being, the line was too fine and invisible
-not to be transgressed by excited popular feeling.’<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>‘We live,’ says the poet, ‘through admiration, hope, and love.’
-Out of these vital aspirations—not indeed always ‘well or wisely
-placed,’ but never, as in the heathen mythology, degraded to vicious
-and contemptible objects—arose and spread the universal passion for
-the traditional histories of the saints and martyrs,—personages endeared
-and sanctified in all hearts, partly as examples of the loftiest
-virtue, partly as benign intercessors between suffering humanity and
-that Deity who, in every other light than as a God of Vengeance, had
-been veiled from their eyes by the perversities of schoolmen and
-fanatics, till He had receded beyond their reach, almost beyond their
-comprehension. Of the prevalence and of the incalculable influence of
-this legendary literature from the seventh to the tenth century, that is,
-just about the period when Modern Art was struggling into existence,
-we have a most striking picture in Guizot’s ‘Histoire de la Civilisation.’<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</span>
-‘As after the siege of Troy (says this philosophical and
-eloquent writer) there were found, in every city of Greece, men who
-collected the traditions and adventures of heroes, and sung them for the
-recreation of the people, till these recitals became a national passion, a
-national poetry, so, at the time of which we speak, the traditions of what
-may be called the heroic ages of Christianity had the same interest for
-the nations of Europe. There were men who made it their business to
-collect them, to transcribe them, to read or recite them aloud, for the
-edification and delight of the people. And this was the only literature,
-properly so called, of that time.‘</p>
-
-<p>Now, if we go back to the <i>authentic</i> histories of the sufferings and
-heroism of the early martyrs, we shall find enough there, both of the
-wonderful and the affecting, to justify the credulity and enthusiasm of
-the unlettered people, who saw no reason why they should not believe
-in one miracle as well as in another. In these universally diffused
-legends, we may recognise the means, at least one of the means, by
-which a merciful Providence, working through its own immutable
-laws, had provided against the utter depravation, almost extinction, of
-society. Of the ‘Dark Ages,’ emphatically so called, the period to
-which I allude was perhaps the darkest; it was ‘of Night’s black arch
-the key-stone.’ At a time when men were given over to the direst
-evils that can afflict humanity,—ignorance, idleness, wickedness, misery;
-at a time when the every-day incidents of life were a violation of all
-the moral instincts of mankind; at a time when all things seemed
-abandoned to a blind chance, or the brutal law of force; when there
-was no repose, no refuge, no safety anywhere; when the powerful inflicted,
-and the weak endured, whatever we can conceive of most revolting
-and intolerable; when slavery was recognised by law throughout
-Europe; when men fled to cloisters, to shut themselves from oppression,
-and women to shield themselves from outrage; when the manners were
-harsh, the language gross; when all the softer social sentiments, as
-pity, reverence, tenderness, found no resting-place in the actual relations
-of life; when for the higher ranks there was only the fierce excitement
-of war, and on the humbler classes lay the weary, dreary monotony of
-a stagnant existence, poor in pleasures of every kind, without aim,
-without hope; <i>then</i>—wondrous reaction of the ineffaceable instincts of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</span>
-good implanted within us!—arose a literature which reversed the outward
-order of things, which asserted and kept alive in the hearts of men
-those pure principles of Christianity which were outraged in their daily
-actions; a literature in which peace was represented as better than war,
-and sufferance more dignified than resistance; which exhibited poverty
-and toil as honourable, and charity as the first of virtues; which held
-up to imitation and emulation, self-sacrifice in the cause of good and
-contempt of death for conscience’ sake: a literature, in which the
-tenderness, the chastity, the heroism of woman, played a conspicuous
-part; which distinctly protested against slavery, against violence, against
-impurity in word and deed; which refreshed the fevered and darkened
-spirit with images of moral beauty and truth; revealed bright glimpses
-of a better land, where ‘the wicked cease from troubling,’ and brought
-down the angels of God with shining wings and bearing crowns of
-glory, to do battle with the demons of darkness, to catch the fleeting
-soul of the triumphant martyr, and carry it at once into a paradise of
-eternal blessedness and peace!</p>
-
-<p>Now the Legendary Art of the three centuries which comprise the
-revival of learning, was, as I have said, the reflection of this literature,
-of this teaching. Considered in this point of view, can we easily overrate
-its interest and importance?</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>When, after the long period of darkness which followed upon the
-decline of the Roman Empire, the Fine Arts began to revive, the first,
-and for several ages the only, impress they received was that of the religious
-spirit of the time. Painting, Sculpture, Music, and Architecture,
-as they emerged one after another from the ‘formless void,’ were
-pressed into the service of the Church. But it is a mistake to suppose
-that in adroitly adapting the reviving Arts to her purposes, in that
-magnificent spirit of calculation which at all times characterised her, the
-Church from the beginning selected the subjects, or dictated the use
-that was to be made of them. We find, on the contrary, edicts and
-councils <i>repressing</i> the popular extravagances in this respect, and
-denouncing those apocryphal versions of sacred events and traditions
-which had become the delight of the people. But vain were councils
-and edicts; the tide was too strong to be so checked. The Church<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</span>
-found herself obliged to accept and mould to her own objects the exotic
-elements she could not eradicate. She <i>absorbed</i>, so to speak, the evils
-and errors she could not expel. There seems to have been at this time
-a sort of compromise between the popular legends, with all their wild
-mixture of northern and classical superstitions, and the Church legends
-properly so called. The first great object to which reviving Art was
-destined, was to render the Christian places of worship a theatre of
-instruction and improvement for the people, to attract and to interest
-them by representations of scenes, events, and personages, already so
-familiar as to require no explanation, appealing; at once to their intelligence
-and their sympathies; embodying in beautiful shapes (beautiful
-at least in their eyes) associations and feelings and memories deep-rooted
-in their very hearts, and which had influenced, in no slight degree, the
-progress of civilisation, the development of mind. Upon these creations
-of ancient Art we cannot look as <i>those</i> did for whom they were created;
-we cannot annihilate the centuries which lie between us and them; we
-cannot, in simplicity of heart, forget the artist in the image he has
-placed before us, nor supply what may be deficient in his work, through
-a reverentially excited fancy. We are critical, not credulous. We no
-longer accept this polytheistic form of Christianity; and there is little
-danger, I suppose, of our falling again into the strange excesses of
-superstition to which it led. But if we have not much sympathy with
-modern imitations of Mediæval Art, still less should we sympathise
-with that narrow puritanical jealousy which holds the monuments of a
-real and earnest faith in contempt. All that God has permitted once to
-exist in the past should be considered as the possession of the present;
-sacred for example or warning, and held as the foundation on which to
-build up what is better and purer. It should seem an established fact,
-that all revolutions in religion, in government, and in art, which begin
-in the spirit of scorn, and in a sweeping destruction of the antecedent
-condition, only tend to a reaction. Our puritanical ancestors chopped
-off the heads of Madonnas and Saints, and paid vagabonds to smash the
-storied windows of our cathedrals;—<i>now</i>, are these rejected and outraged
-shapes of beauty coming back to us, or are we not rather going
-back to them? As a Protestant, I might fear lest in doing so we confound
-the eternal spirit of Christianity with the mutable forms in which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</span>
-it has deigned to speak to the hearts of men, forms which must of
-necessity vary with the degree of social civilisation, and bear the impress
-of the feelings and fashions of the age which produced them; but I
-must also feel that we ought to comprehend, and to hold in due reverence,
-that which has once been consecrated to holiest aims, which has
-shown us what a magnificent use has been made of Art, and how it may
-still be adapted to good and glorious purposes, if, while we respect these
-time-consecrated images and types, we do not allow them to fetter us,
-but trust in the progressive spirit of Christianity to furnish us with new
-impersonations of the good—new combinations of the beautiful. I hate
-the destructive as I revere the progressive spirit. We must laugh if
-any one were to try and persuade us that the sun was guided along his
-blazing path by a ‘fair-haired god who touched a golden lyre;’ but
-shall we therefore cease to adore in the Apollo Belvedere the majestic
-symbol of light, the most divine impersonation of intellectual power and
-beauty? So of the corresponding Christian symbols:—may that time
-never come, when we shall look up to the effigy of the winged and
-radiant angel trampling down the brute-fiend, without a glow of faith
-in the perpetual supremacy and final triumph of good over evil!</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>It is about a hundred years since the passion, or the fashion, for collecting
-works of Art, began to be generally diffused among the rich and
-the noble of this land; and it is amusing to look back and to consider
-the perversions and affectations of the would-be connoisseurship during
-this period;—the very small stock of ideas on which people set up a
-pretension to taste—the false notions, the mixture of pedantry and
-ignorance, which everywhere prevailed. The publication of Richardson’s
-book, and Sir Joshua Reynolds’s Discourses, had this advantage,—that
-they, to a certain degree, diffused a more elevated idea of Art
-as <i>Art</i>, and that they placed connoisseurship on a better and truer basis.
-In those days we had Inquiries into the Principles of Taste, Treatises
-on the Sublime and Beautiful, Anecdotes of Painting; and we abounded
-in Antiquarian Essays on disputed Pictures and mutilated Statues:
-but then, and up to a late period, any inquiry into the true spirit and
-significance of works of Art, as connected with the history of Religion
-and Civilisation, would have appeared ridiculous—or perhaps<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</span>
-dangerous:—we should have had another cry of ‘No Popery,’ and
-acts of parliament forbidding the importation of Saints and Madonnas.
-It was fortunate, perhaps, that connoisseurs meddled not with such
-high matters. They talked volubly and harmlessly of ‘hands,’ and
-‘masters,’ and ‘schools,’—of ‘draperies,’ of ‘tints,’ of ‘handling,’—of
-‘fine heads,’ ‘fine compositions;’ of ‘the grace of Raphael,’ and
-of the ‘Correggiosity of Correggio.’ The very manner in which the
-names of the painters were pedantically used instead of the name of
-the subject, is indicative of this factitious feeling; the only question
-at issue was, whether such a picture was a genuine ‘Raphael?’ such
-another a genuine ‘Titian?’ The spirit of the work—whether <i>that</i>
-was genuine; how far it was influenced by the faith and the condition
-of the age which produced it; whether the conception was properly
-characteristic, and of <i>what</i> it was characteristic—of the subject? or of
-the school? or of the time?—whether the treatment corresponded to
-the idea within our own souls, or was modified by the individuality of
-the artist, or by received conventionalisms of all kinds?—these were
-questions which had not then occurred to any one; and I am not sure
-that we are much wiser even now: yet, setting aside all higher considerations,
-how can we do common justice to the artist, unless we can
-bring his work to the test of truth? and how can we do this, unless we
-know what to look for, what was <i>intended</i> as to incident, expression,
-character? One result of our ignorance has been the admiration
-wasted on the flimsy mannerists of the later ages of Art; men who
-apparently had no definite <i>intention</i> in anything they did, except a
-dashing outline, or a delicate finish, or a striking and attractive management
-of colour.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>It is curious, this general ignorance with regard to the subjects of
-Mediæval Art, more particularly now that it has become a reigning
-fashion among us. We find no such ignorance with regard to the
-subjects of Classical Art, because the associations connected with them
-form a part of every liberal education. Do we hear any one say, in
-looking at Annibal Caracci’s picture in the National Gallery, ‘Which
-is Silenus, and which is Apollo?’ Who ever confounds a Venus with
-a Minerva, or a Vestal with an Amazon; or would endure an undraped<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</span>
-Juno, or a beardless Jupiter? Even the gardener in Zeluco knew
-Neptune by his ‘fork,’ and Vulcan by his ‘lame leg.’ We are indeed
-so accustomed, in visiting the churches and the galleries abroad, and
-the collections at home, to the predominance of sacred subjects, that it
-has become a mere matter of course, and excites no particular interest
-and attention. We have heard it all accounted for by the fact that the
-Church and churchmen were the first, and for a long time the only,
-patrons of Art. In every sacred edifice, and in every public or private
-collection enriched from the plunder of sacred edifices, we look for the
-usual proportion of melancholy martyrdoms and fictitious miracles,—for
-the predominance of Madonnas and Magdalenes, St. Catherines
-and St. Jeromes: but why these should predominate, why certain
-events and characters from the Old and the New Testament should
-be continually repeated, and others comparatively neglected; whence
-the predilection for certain legendary personages, who seemed to be
-multiplied to infinity, and the rarity of others; of this we know
-nothing.</p>
-
-<p>We have learned, perhaps, after running through half the galleries
-and churches in Europe, to distinguish a few of the attributes and
-characteristic figures which meet us at every turn, yet without any
-clear idea of their meaning, derivation, or relative propriety. The
-palm of victory, we know, designates the martyr triumphant in death.
-We so far emulate the critical sagacity of the gardener in Zeluco that
-we have learned to distinguish St. Laurence by his gridiron, and
-St. Catherine by her wheel. We are not at a loss to recognise the
-Magdalene’s ‘loose hair and lifted eye,’ even when without her skull
-and her vase of ointment. We learn to know St. Francis by his brown
-habit and shaven crown and wasted ardent features; but do we
-distinguish him from St. Anthony, or St. Dominick? As for St.
-George and the dragon—from the St. George of the Louvre,—Raphael’s,—who
-sits his horse with the elegant tranquillity of one
-assured of celestial aid, down to him ‘who swings on a sign post at
-mine hostess’s door,’—he is our familiar acquaintance. But who is
-that lovely being in the first blush of youth, who, bearing aloft the
-symbolic cross, stands with one foot on the vanquished dragon? ‘That
-is a copy after Raphael.’ And who is that majestic creature holding<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</span>
-her palm branch, while the unicorn crouches at her feet? ‘That is the
-famous Moretto at Vienna.’ Are we satisfied?—not in the least! but
-we try to look wiser, and pass on.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>In the old times the painters of these legendary scenes and subjects
-could always reckon securely on certain associations and certain sympathies
-in the minds of the spectators. We have outgrown these
-associations, we repudiate these sympathies. We have taken these
-works from their consecrated localities, in which they once held each
-their dedicated place, and we have hung them in our drawing-rooms
-and our dressing-rooms, over our pianos and our side-boards—and now
-what do they say to us? That Magdalene, weeping amid her hair,
-who once spoke comfort to the soul of the fallen sinner—that Sebastian,
-arrow-pierced, whose upward ardent glance spoke of courage and
-hope to the tyrant-ridden serf,—that poor tortured slave, to whose aid
-St. Mark comes sweeping down from above,—can they speak to <i>us</i> of
-nothing save flowing lines and correct drawing and gorgeous colour?
-must we be told that one is a Titian, the other a Guido, the third a
-Tintoret, before we dare to melt in compassion or admiration?—or the
-moment we refer to their ancient religious signification and influence,
-must it be with disdain or with pity? This, as it appears to me, is to
-take not a rational, but rather a most irrational as well as a most irreverent,
-view of the question; it is to confine the pleasure and improvement
-to be derived from works of Art within very narrow bounds; it
-is to seal up a fountain of the richest poetry, and to shut out a thousand
-ennobling and inspiring thoughts. Happily there is a growing appreciation
-of these larger principles of criticism as applied to the study of
-Art. People look at the pictures which hang round their walls, and
-have an awakening suspicion that there is more in them than meets the
-eye—more than mere connoisseurship can interpret; and that they
-have another, a deeper, significance than has been dreamed of by picture
-dealers and picture collectors, or even picture critics.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</span></p>
-
-
-<h3>II. <span class="smcap">Of the Distinction to be drawn between the Devotional
-and the Historical Subjects.</span></h3>
-
-<p>At first, when entering on a subject so boundless and so diversified, we
-are at a loss for some leading classification which shall be distinct and
-intelligible, without being mechanical. It appears to me, that all sacred
-representations, in as far as they appeal to sentiment and imagination,
-resolve themselves into two great classes, which I shall call the <span class="allsmcap">DEVOTIONAL</span>
-and the <span class="allsmcap">HISTORICAL</span>.</p>
-
-<p>Devotional pictures are those which portray the objects of our veneration
-with reference only to their sacred character, whether standing
-singly or in company with others. They place before us no action or
-event, real or supposed. They are neither portrait nor history. A
-group of sacred personages where no action is represented, is called in
-Italian a ‘<i>sacra conversazione</i>:’ the word <i>conversazione</i>, which signifies
-a society in which there is communion, being here, as it appears
-to me, used with peculiar propriety. All subjects, then, which exhibit
-to us sacred personages, alone or in groups, simply in the character of
-superior beings, must be considered as <i>devotionally</i> treated.</p>
-
-<p>But a sacred subject, without losing wholly its religious import,
-becomes historical the moment it represents any story, incident, or
-action, real or imagined. All pictures which exhibit the events of
-Scripture story, all those which express the actions, miracles, and martyrdoms
-of saints, come under this class; and to this distinction I must
-call the attention of the reader, requesting that it may be borne in mind
-throughout this work.</p>
-
-<p>We must also recollect that a story, action, or fact may be so represented
-as to become a symbol expressive of an abstract idea: and some
-scriptural and some legendary subjects may be devotional, or historical,
-according to the sentiment conveyed: for example, the Crucifixion and
-the Last Supper may be so represented as either to exhibit an event, or
-to express a symbol of our Redemption. The raising of Lazarus exhibits,
-in the catacombs, a mystical emblem of the general resurrection;
-in the grand picture by Sebastian del Piombo, in our National Gallery,
-it is a scene from the life of our Saviour. Among the legendary<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</span>
-subjects, the penance of the Magdalene, and St. Martin dividing his
-cloak, may be merely incidents, or they may be symbolical, the first of
-penitence, the latter of charity, in the general sense. And, again, there
-are some subjects which, though expressing a scene or an action, are
-<i>wholly</i> mystical and devotional in their import; as the vision of St.
-Augustine, and the marriage of St. Catherine.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Among the grandest of the devotional subjects, we may reckon those
-compositions which represent the whole celestial hierarchy; the divine
-personages of the Trinity, the angels and archangels, and the beatified
-spirits of the just. Such is the subject called the ‘Paradiso,’ so often
-met with in pictures and ecclesiastical decoration, where Christ is enthroned
-in glory: such is also the Coronation of the Virgin, that ancient
-and popular symbol of the triumph of Religion or the Church; the
-Adoration of the Lamb; and the Last Judgment, from the Apocalypse.
-The order of precedence in these sacred assemblages was early settled
-by ecclesiastical authority, and was almost as absolute as that of a
-modern code of honour. First after the Trinity, the Virgin Mary, as
-<i>Regina Angelorum</i>, and St. John the Baptist: then, in order, the
-Evangelists; the Patriarchs; the Prophets; the Apostles; the Fathers;
-the Bishops; the Martyrs; the Hermits; the Virgins; the Monks,
-Nuns, and Confessors.</p>
-
-<p>As examples, I may cite the Paradiso of Angelico, in the Florence
-Academy; the Coronation of the Virgin by Hans Memling, in the
-Wallerstein collection, which contains not less than fifty-two figures, all
-individualised with their proper attributes; and which, if it were possible,
-should be considered in contrast with the Coronation by Angelico.
-The Flemish painter seems to have carried his intense impression of
-earthly and individual life into the regions of heaven; the Italian,
-through a purer inspiration, seems to have brought all Paradise down
-before us upon earth. In the Adoration of the Lamb by Van Eyck,
-there are not fewer than two hundred figures. For the Last Judgment,
-the grand compositions of Orcagna in the Campo Santo,—of
-Luca Signorelli and Angelico at Orvieto,—and the fresco of Michael
-Angelo in the Sistine Chapel, may be consulted.</p>
-
-<p>Where the usual order is varied, there is generally some reason for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</span>
-it; for instance, in the exaltation of a favourite saint, as we sometimes
-find St. Dominick and St. Francis by the side of St. Peter and St.
-Paul: and among the miniatures of that extraordinary MS., the Hortus
-Deliciarum, now at Strasbourg, painted for a virgin abbess, there is a
-‘Paradiso’ in which the painter, either by her command or in compliment
-to her, has placed the virgins immediately after the angels.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The representation of the Virgin and Child with saints grouped
-around them, is a devotional subject familiar to us from its constant recurrence.
-It also frequently happens that the tutelary saint of the
-locality, or the patron saint of the votary, is represented as seated on a
-raised throne in the centre; and other saints, though under every other
-circumstance taking a superior rank, become here accessories, and are
-placed on each side or lower down in the picture: for example, where
-St. Augustine is enthroned, and St. Peter and St. Paul stand on each
-side, as in a picture by B. Vivarini,<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> or where St. Barbara is enthroned,
-and Mary Magdalene and St. Catherine stand on each side, as in a
-picture by Matteo di Siena.<a id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p>
-
-<p>In such pictures, the votary or donor is often introduced kneeling at
-the feet of his patron, either alone or accompanied by his wife and other
-members of his family: and to express the excess of his humility, he is
-sometimes so diminutive in proportion to the colossal object of his veneration,
-as to be almost lost to sight; we have frequent examples of this
-<i>naïveté</i> of sentiment in the old mosaics and votive altar-pieces; for
-instance, in a beautiful old fresco at Assisi, where the Magdalene, a
-majestic figure about six feet high, holds out her hand in benediction to
-a little Franciscan friar about a foot in height: but it was abandoned
-as barbarous in the later schools of Art, and the votary, when retained,
-appears of the natural size; as in the <i>Madonna del Donatore</i> of Raphael<a id="FNanchor_4" href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a>,
-where Sigismond Conti is almost the finest and most striking part of
-that inestimable picture: and in the <i>Madonna</i> of the Meyer family by
-Holbein.<a id="FNanchor_5" href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p>
-
-<p>When a bishop is introduced into a group of saints kneeling, while all<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</span>
-the others are standing, he may be supposed to be the <i>Donatore</i> or
-<i>Divoto</i>, the person who presents the picture. When he is standing, he
-is one of the bishop-patrons or bishop-martyrs, of whom there are some
-hundreds, and who are more difficult to discriminate than any other
-pictured saints.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>And this leads me to the subject of the so-called <i>anachronisms</i> in
-devotional subjects, where personages who lived at different and distant
-periods of time are found grouped together. It is curious to find the
-critics of the last century treating with pity and ridicule, as the result
-of ignorance or a barbarous unformed taste, the noblest and most spiritual
-conceptions of poetic art. Even Sir Joshua Reynolds had so
-little idea of the true object and feeling of such representations, that he
-thinks it necessary to apologise for the error of the painter, or the mistaken
-piety of his employer. We must remember that the personages
-here brought together in their sacred character belong no more to our
-earth, but to heaven and eternity: for them there is no longer time or
-place; they are here assembled together in the perpetual ‘communion
-of saints,’—immortal contemporaries in that kingdom where the Angel
-of the Apocalypse proclaimed ‘that there should be time no longer.’</p>
-
-<p>Such groups are sometimes arranged with an artless solemnity, all the
-personages standing and looking straight out of the picture at the worshipper.
-Sometimes there is a touch of dramatic sentiment, which,
-without interfering with the solemn devotional feeling, lights up the
-whole with the charm of a purpose: as in the Correggio at Parma,
-where St. Jerome presents his translation of the Scriptures to the infant
-Christ, while an angel turns the leaves, and Mary Magdalene, symbol
-of redemption and reconciliation, bends to kiss the feet of the Saviour.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Our ancestors of the middle ages were not particular in drawing that
-strong line of demarcation between the classical, Jewish and Christian
-periods of history, that we do. They saw only Christendom every
-where; they regarded the past only in relation to Christianity. Hence
-we find in the early ecclesiastical monuments and edifices such a strange
-assemblage of pagan, scriptural, and Christian worthies; as, Hector of
-Troy, Alexander the Great, King David, Judas Maccabeus, King<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</span>
-Arthur, St. George, Godfrey of Boulogne, Lucretia, Virginia, Judith,
-St. Elizabeth, St. Bridget (as in the Cross of Nuremburg). In the
-curious Manual of Greek Art, published by Didron, we find the Greek
-philosophers and poets entering into a scheme of ecclesiastical decoration,
-as in the carved stalls in the Cathedral of Ulm, where Solon,
-Apollonius, Plutarch, Plato, Sophocles, are represented, holding each
-a scroll, on which is inscribed a passage from their works, interpreted
-into an allusion to the coming of Christ: and I have seen a picture of
-the Nativity in which the sibyls are dancing hand-in-hand around the
-cradle of the new-born Saviour. This may appear profane to some, but
-the comprehension of the whole universe within the pale of Christianity
-strikes me as being in the most catholic, as well as in the most poetical,
-spirit.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>It is in devotional subjects that we commonly find those anthropomorphic
-representations of the Divinity which shock devout people; and
-which no excuse or argument can render endurable to those who see in
-them only ignorant irreverence, or intentional profaneness. It might
-be pleaded that the profaneness is not intentional; that emblems and
-forms are, in the imitative arts, what figures of speech are in language;
-that only through a figure of speech can any attempt be made to place
-the idea of Almighty Power before us. Familiar expressions, consecrated
-by Scripture usage, represent the Deity as reposing, waking,
-stretching forth his hand, sitting on a throne; as pleased, angry,
-vengeful, repentant; and the ancient painters, speaking the language
-proper to their art, appear to have turned these emblematical words into
-emblematical pictures. I forbear to say more on this point, because I
-have taken throughout the poetical and not the religious view of Art,
-and this is an objection which must be left, as a matter of feeling, to the
-amount of candour and knowledge in the critical reader.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>In the sacred subjects, properly called <span class="allsmcap">HISTORICAL</span>, we must be
-careful to distinguish between those which are <i>Scriptural</i>, representing
-scenes from the Old or New Testament; and those which are <i>Legendary</i>.</p>
-
-<p>Of the first, for the present; I do not speak, as they will be fully
-treated hereafter.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</span></p>
-
-<p>The historical subjects from the lives of the saints consist principally
-of <i>Miracles</i> and <i>Martyrdoms</i>.</p>
-
-<p>In the first, it is worth remarking that we have no pictured miracle
-which is not imitated from the Old or the New Testament (unless it be
-an obvious emblem, as where the saint carries his own head). There is
-no act of supernatural power related of any saint which is not recorded
-of some great scriptural personage. The object was to represent the
-favourite patron as a copy of the great universal type of beneficence,
-<span class="smcap">Christ our Redeemer</span>. And they were not satisfied that the
-resemblance should lie in character only; but should emulate the
-power of Christ in his visible actions. We must remember that the
-common people of the middle ages did not, and could not, distinguish
-between miracles accredited by the testimony of Scripture, and those
-which were fabrications, or at least exaggerations. All miracles related
-as divine interposition were to them equally possible, equally credible.
-If a more extended knowledge of the natural laws renders us in these
-days less credulous, it also shows us that many things were possible,
-under particular conditions, which were long deemed supernatural.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>We find in the legendary pictures, that the birth of several saints is
-announced by an angel, or in a dream, as in the stories of St. Catherine,
-St. Roch, &amp;c. They exhibit precocious piety and wisdom, as in the
-story of St. Nicholas, who also calms a tempest, and guides the storm-tossed
-vessel safe to land. They walk on the water, as in the stories of
-St. Raymond and St. Hyacinth; or a river divides, to let them pass, as
-in the story of St. Alban. Saints are fed and comforted miraculously,
-or delivered from prison by angels; or resist fire, like the ‘Three
-Children.’ The multiplication of bread, and the transformation of
-water into wine, are standing miracles. But those which most frequently
-occur in pictures, are the healing of the sick, the lame, the
-blind; the casting out of demons, the restoration of the dead, or some
-other manifestation of compassionate and beneficent power.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Some of the pictured legends are partly scriptural, partly historical,
-as the story of St. Peter; others are clearly religious apologues
-founded on fact or tradition, as those of St. Mary of Egypt and St.
-Christopher; others are obviously and purely allegorical, as the Greek<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</span>
-story of St. Sophia (i. e. Heavenly Wisdom, ΣΟΦΙΑ) and her celestial
-progeny, St. Faith, St. Hope, and St. Charity, all martyred by the
-blind and cruel Pagans. The names sound as if borrowed from the
-‘Pilgrim’s Progress;’ and it is curious to find Bunyan’s allegorical
-legend, the favourite picture-book of the people, appearing just at
-the time when the legends and pictures of the saints became objects
-of puritanical horror, and supplying their place in the popular
-imagination.</p>
-
-<p>Martyrdoms are only too common: they present to us Christianity
-under its most mystical aspect—the deification of suffering; but to
-render these representations effective, they should be pathetic without
-being terrible, they should speak to us</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent0">Of melancholy fear subdued by faith,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Of blessed consolations in distress;</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class="pnind">but not of the horrid cruelty of man towards man. It has been well
-remarked by my friend M. Rio, (to whose charming and eloquent
-exposition of Christian Art I refer with ever-new delight,) that the
-early painters of Western Christendom avoided these subjects, and that
-their prevalence in ecclesiastical decoration marked the decline of
-religious feeling, and the degeneracy of Art. But this remark does not
-apply to Byzantine Art; for we find from the exact description of a
-picture of the martyrdom of St. Euphemia (both the picture and the
-description dating from the third century), that such representations
-were then common, and were appealed to in the same manner as now,
-to excite the feelings of the people.</p>
-
-<p>The martyrdoms generally met with are those of St. Peter and St.
-Paul, St. Stephen Protomartyr, St. Laurence, St. Catherine, and St.
-Sebastian. These we find everywhere, in all countries and localities.
-Where the patron of the church or chapel is a martyr, his martyrdom
-holds a conspicuous place, often over the high altar, and accompanied
-by all the moving circumstances which can excite the pity, or horror,
-or enthusiasm of the pious votaries; but in the best examples we find
-the saint preparing for his death, not suffering the torments actually
-inflicted; so that the mind is elevated by the sentiment of his courage,
-not disturbed and disgusted by the spectacle of his agonies.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</span></p>
-
-
-<h3>III. <span class="smcap">Of certain Patron Saints</span>,<br />
-
-<small>WHO ARE COMMONLY GROUPED TOGETHER IN WORKS OF ART, OR WHO BELONG TO
-PARTICULAR COUNTRIES, CITIES, OR LOCALITIES.</small></h3>
-
-<p>While such assemblages of holy persons as are found grouped
-together in devotional pictures are to be considered as quite independent
-of chronology, we shall find that the selection has been neither
-capricious nor arbitrary, and, with a little consideration, we shall
-discover the leading idea in the mind of the artist that, at least, which
-was intended to be conveyed to the mind of the spectator, and which
-was much more intelligible in former times than it is now.</p>
-
-<p>Sometimes we find certain saints placed in companionship, because
-they are the joint patrons and protectors of the city or locality for
-which the picture was painted. Thus in the Bologna pictures we
-constantly find the bishop St. Petronius, St. Eloy, St. Dominick, and
-the warrior St. Proculus; while in the Venetian pictures we have
-perpetual St. Marks, St. Georges, and St. Catherines.</p>
-
-<p>Or, secondly, they are connected by kindred powers and attributes.
-Thus we find St. Sebastian, the patron against pestilence, in company
-with St. Roch, who ministered to the sick of the plague. Thus St.
-Catherine and St. Jerome, the two patrons of school theology, are often
-found in companionship. Where St. Catherine and St. Barbara are
-found together, the first figures as patroness of the ecclesiastical, and
-the second of the military, power—or they represent respectively the
-contemplative and the active life.</p>
-
-<p>Or, thirdly, they are combined in the fancy by some inevitable
-association; as St. Augustine and St. Stephen are often in the same
-picture, because St. Augustine dedicated some of his most eloquent
-works to the glory of the martyr.</p>
-
-<p>Or they were friends on earth, for which reason St. Cyprian and St.
-Cornelius are placed together.</p>
-
-<p>Or their relics repose in the same spot; whence St. Stephen and
-St. Laurence have become almost inseparable. When St. Vincent and
-St. Laurence are placed together, (as in a lovely composition of
-Parmigiana where they sit reading out of the same book,) it is because<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</span>
-of the similarity of their fate, and that the popular tradition supposed
-them to be brothers.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>A point of more general importance, and capable of more definite
-explanation, is the predominance of certain sacred personages in particular
-schools of Art. St. Cosmo and St. Damian, for instance, are
-perpetually recurring in the Florentine pictures as the patron saints of
-the Medici family. In the Lombard pictures St. Ambrose is often
-found without his compeers—not as doctor of the Church, but as bishop
-of Milan. In the Siena pictures, we may look for the nun St. Catherine
-of Siena, and St. Ansano, the apostle of the Sienese, holding his
-banner and palm. And in the Augustine chapels and churches, St.
-Augustine figures, not as doctor of the Church, but as patriarch of the
-Order.</p>
-
-<p>A bishop-martyr, holding his palm, and not otherwise designated
-either by name or attribute, would be—in one if Perugino’s pictures,
-St. Ercolano or St. Costanzo; in a Florentine picture, St. Donato or
-St. Romulo; if the picture were painted in the March of Ancona, it
-would probably be St. Apollinaris of Ravenna; at Naples it would be
-St. Januarius; at Paris, or in a picture painted for a French church,
-of which there are many in Italy, it would be St. Denis; and in
-German prints, St. Boniface or St. Lambert. I need not further
-multiply examples.</p>
-
-<p>If the locality from which the picture came will sometimes determine
-the names of the personages, so the personages represented will often
-explain the purpose and intended situation of the picture. There is in
-Lord Ashburton’s gallery a noble group representing together St.
-Peter, St. Leonard, St. Martha, and Mary Magdalene. Such a combination
-points it out at once as intended for a charitable institution,
-and, on enquiry, we find that it was painted for the chapel of a brotherhood
-associated to redeem prisoners, to ransom slaves, to work for the
-poor, and to convert the sinner to repentance. Many such interesting
-and instructive analogies will be pointed out in the course of the
-following pages, and the observer of works of Art will discover others
-for himself.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</span></p>
-
-<p>I add here, in alphabetical order, those countries and localities of
-which the patron saints are distinguished in works of Art.<a id="FNanchor_6" href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p>
-
-<ul>
-<li><span class="smcap">Ancona</span>: St. Cyriacus, <i>Bishop</i>; and his mother Anna, <i>Martyr</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Arezzo</span>: St. Donato, <i>Bishop</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Asti</span>, <span class="smcap">Novara</span>, and all through the cities of <span class="smcap">Piedmont</span> and the north of
-Italy, we find the <i>Warrior</i>, St. Maurice, and his companions St. Secundus,
-St. Alexander, and the other Martyrs of the Theban Legion.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Augsburg</span>: St. Ulrich, <i>Bishop</i>; St. Afra, <i>Martyr</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Austria</span>: St. Leopold, St. Stephen, St. Maximilian, St. Coloman.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Bamberg</span>: St. Henry and St. Cunegunda, <i>Emperor</i> and <i>Empress</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Barcelona</span>: St. Eulalia, <i>Martyr</i>. (In Spanish pictures only.)</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Bavaria</span>: St. George, <i>Martyr</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Bergamo</span>: St. Alexander, <i>Warrior</i>; St. Grata, <i>Widow</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Bohemia</span>: St. John Nepomuck, <i>Priest</i>; St. Wenceslaus, <i>King</i>; St. Ludmilla,
-<i>Queen</i>; St. Vitus, <i>young Martyr</i>; St. Procopius, <i>Hermit</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Bologna</span>: St. Petronius, <i>Bishop</i>; St. Dominick, <i>Friar</i>; St. Proculus, <i>Warrior
-Martyr</i>; St. Eloy (Eligio), <i>Bishop</i> and <i>Smith</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Brescia</span>: St. Faustinus and Jovita; St. Julia, St. Afra, <i>Martyrs</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Bruges</span>: St. John the Baptist.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Burgundy</span>: St. Andrew, <i>Apostle</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Cologne</span>: The Three Kings; St. Ursula, <i>Virgin Martyr</i>; St. Gereon,
-<i>Warrior Martyr</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Como</span>: St. Abbondio, <i>Bishop</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Cortona</span>: St. Margaret, <i>Nun</i> and <i>Penitent</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Cremona</span>: St. Omobuono, <i>Secular Habit</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Ferrara</span>: St. Geminiano, <i>Bishop</i>; St. George, <i>Martyr</i>; St. Barbara,
-<i>Martyr</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Fiesole</span>: St. Romolo, <i>Bishop</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Florence</span>: St. John the Baptist; St. Zenobio, St. Antonino, <i>Bishops</i>;
-St. Reparata, <i>Virgin Martyr</i>; St. Cosmo and Damian (the Apothecary Saints,
-especial patrons of the Medici family); St. Verdiana, <i>Nun</i>; St. Miniato,
-<i>Warrior</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">France</span>: St. Michael, <i>Angel</i>; St. Dionysius (Denis), <i>Bishop</i>; St. Geneviève,
-<i>Virgin</i>; St. Martin, <i>Bishop</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Genoa</span>: St. George, St. Laurence, <i>Martyrs</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Ghent</span>: St. Bavon, <i>Prince</i> and <i>Hermit</i>.
-<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</span></li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Grenoble</span>: St. Hugh the Carthusian.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Ireland</span>: St. Patrick, <i>Bishop</i>; St. Bridget, <i>Abbess</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Lucca</span>: St. Martin, <i>Bishop</i>; St. Frediano, <i>Priest</i>; St. Zita, <i>Virgin</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Liege</span>: St. Hubert, <i>Bishop</i> and <i>Huntsman</i>; St. Lambert, <i>Bishop</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Madrid</span>: St. Isidore, <i>Labourer</i>; St. Dominick, <i>Friar</i>; (Patron of the Escurial,
-St. Laurence).</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Mantua</span>: St. Andrew; St. Barbara; St. George and St. Longinus, <i>Warrior
-Saints</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Marseilles</span> and all <span class="smcap">Provence</span>: St. Lazarus; St. Mary Magdalen; St. Martha;
-St. Marcella.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Messina</span>: St. Agatha, <i>Martyr</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Milan</span>: St. Ambrose, <i>Bishop</i> and <i>Doctor</i>; St. Gervasius and St. Protasius,
-<i>Martyrs</i>; St. Maurice, St. Victor, <i>Warriors</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Modena</span>: St. Geminiano, <i>Bishop</i>. (In Pictures of the Correggio School.)</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Naples</span>: St. Januarius, <i>Martyr</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Novara</span>: St. Gaudenzio, <i>Bishop</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Nuremburg</span>: St. Laurence, <i>Martyr</i>; St. Sebald, <i>Pilgrim</i> and <i>Hermit</i>.
-(The latter an important person in pictures and prints of the Albert Dürer
-school.)</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Padua</span>: St. Anthony of Padua, <i>Friar</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Paris</span>: St. Geneviève, <i>Virgin</i>; St. Germain, <i>Bishop</i>; St. Hippolitus,
-<i>Martyr</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Parma</span>: St. John, B.; St. Thomas the Apostle; St. Bernard, <i>Monk</i>; St.
-Hilary (Ilario), <i>Bishop</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Perugia</span>: St. Ercolano and St. Costanzo, <i>Bishops</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Piacenza</span>: St. Justina, <i>Martyr</i>; St. Antoninus, <i>Warrior</i> (Theban Legion).</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Piedmont</span> and <span class="smcap">Savoy</span>: St. John, B.; St. Maurice and St. George, <i>Warriors</i>;
-St. Amadeus, <i>King</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Pisa</span>: St. Ranieri, <i>Hermit</i>; St. Torpé, <i>Warrior</i>; St. Ephesus and St. Potita,
-<i>Warriors</i>. (These only in the ancient Pisan school.)</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Ravenna</span>: St. Appolinaris, <i>Bishop</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Rimini</span>: St. Juliana, <i>Martyr</i>. (A young saint, popular all through the north
-and down the east coast of Italy.)</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Seville</span>: St. Leander, <i>Bishop</i>; St. Justina, St. Rufina, <i>Sisters</i> and <i>Martyrs</i>.
-(These are only found in Spanish pictures.)</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Sicily</span>: St. Vitus, <i>Martyr</i>; St. Rosalia, <i>Recluse</i> (Palermo); St. Agatha
-(Messina), St. Lucia (Syracuse), <i>Martyrs</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Siena</span>: St. Ansano, <i>Martyr</i>; St. Catherine of Siena, <i>Nun</i>; St. Bernardino,
-<i>Friar</i>.
-<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</span></li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Thuringia</span> and all that part of <span class="smcap">Saxony</span>: St. Elizabeth of Hungary; St. Boniface,
-<i>Bishop</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Toledo</span>: St. Ildefonso, <i>Bishop</i>; and St. Leocadia, <i>Martyr</i>. (Only in Spanish
-pictures.)</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Treviso</span>: St. Liberale, <i>Warrior</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Turin</span>: St. John the Baptist; St. Maurice, <i>Warrior</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Umbria</span>: All through this region and the eastern coast of Italy, very important
-in respect to Art, the favourite saints are—St. Nicholas, <i>Bishop</i>; St.
-Francis of Assisi, <i>Friar</i>; St. Clara, <i>Nun</i>; St. Julian, <i>Martyr</i>; and St.
-Catherine, <i>Virgin Martyr</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Valencia</span>: St. Vincent, <i>Martyr</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Venice</span>: St. Mark, <i>Apostle</i>; St. George, St. Theodore, <i>Warriors</i>; St.
-Nicholas, <i>Bishop</i>; St. Catherine, St. Christina, <i>Virgin Martyrs</i>.</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Vercelli</span>: St. Eusebius, <i>Bishop</i>; St. Thronestus, <i>Warrior</i> (Theban Legion).</li>
-
-<li><span class="smcap">Verona</span>: St. Zeno, <i>Bishop</i>; St. Fermo, <i>Martyr</i>; St. Euphemia, <i>Martyr</i>.</li>
-</ul>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">Votive Pictures</span> are those which have been dedicated in certain
-religious edifices, in fulfilment of vows; either as the expression of
-thanksgiving for blessings which have been vouchsafed, or propitiative
-against calamities to be averted. The far greater number of these
-pictures commemorate an escape from danger, sickness, death; and
-more especially, some visitation of the plague, that terrible and frequent
-scourge of the middle ages. The significance of such pictures is
-generally indicated by the presence of St. Sebastian or St. Roch, the
-patrons against the plague; or St. Cosmo and St. Damian, the healing
-and medical saints; accompanied by the patron saints of the country or
-locality, if it be a public act of devotion; or, if dedicated by private or
-individual piety, the donor kneels, presented by his own patron saint.
-In general, though not always, this expressive group is arranged in
-attendance on the enthroned Madonna and her divine Son, as the
-universal protectors from all evil. Such pictures are among the most
-interesting and remarkable of the works of sacred Art which remain to
-us, and have often a pathetic and poetical beauty, and an historical
-significance, which it is a chief purpose of these volumes to interpret
-and illustrate.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_022" style="max-width: 75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_022.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><i>A Venetian votive picture against the plague.</i><br />
-<i>S<sup>t</sup>. Damian.</i>      <i>S<sup>t</sup>. Mark.</i>      <i>S<sup>t</sup>. Roch.</i> <i>A. J. fecit</i><br />
-<i>S<sup>t</sup>. Cosmo.</i>      <i>S<sup>t</sup>. Sebastian.</i>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</span></p>
-
-<h3>IV. <span class="smcap">Of certain Emblems and Attributes.</span></h3>
-
-<p>To know something of the attributes and emblems of general application,
-as well as those proper to each saint, is absolutely necessary;
-but it will also greatly assist the fancy and the memory to <i>understand</i>
-their origin and significance. For this reason I will add a few words
-of explanation.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The <span class="allsmcap">GLORY</span>, <span class="allsmcap">NIMBUS</span>, or <span class="allsmcap">AUREOLE</span>—the Christian attribute of
-sanctity, and used generally to distinguish all holy personages—is of
-pagan origin. It expressed the luminous nebula (Homer, <i>Il.</i> xxiii.
-205), supposed to emanate from, and surround, the Divine Essence,
-which stood, ‘a shade in midst of its own brightness.’ Images of the
-gods were decorated with a crown of rays, or with stars; and when the
-Roman emperors assumed the honours due to divinity, they appeared
-in public crowned with golden radii. The colossal statue of Nero wore
-a circle of rays, imitating the glory of the sun. This ornament became
-customary; and not only the first Cæsars, but the Christian emperors,
-adopted the same divine insignia; and it became at length so common
-that we find it on some medals, round the heads of the consuls of the
-later empire. Considered in the East as <i>the attribute of power only</i>,
-whether good or evil, we find, wherever early Art has been developed
-under Byzantine influences, the nimbus thus applied. Satan, in many
-Greek, Saxon, and French miniatures, from the ninth to the thirteenth
-century, wears a glory. In a psalter of the twelfth century, the Beast
-of the Apocalypse with seven heads has six heads surrounded by the
-nimbus; the seventh, wounded and drooping, is without the sign of
-power.</p>
-
-<p>But in Western Art the associations with this attribute were not
-merely those of dignity, but of something divine and consecrated. It
-was for a long time avoided in the Christian representations as being
-appropriated by false gods or heathen pride; and when first adopted
-does not seem clear.<a id="FNanchor_7" href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> The earliest example cited is a gem of St. Martin<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</span>
-of the early part of the sixth century, in which the glory round his head
-seems to represent his apotheosis: and in all instances it is evidently
-intended to represent divine glory and beatitude.</p>
-
-<p>The glory round the head is properly the nimbus or aureole. The
-oblong glory surrounding the whole person, called in Latin the <i>vesica
-piscis</i>, and in Italian the <i>mandorla</i> (almond), from its form, is confined
-to figures of Christ and the Virgin, or saints who are in the act of
-ascending into heaven. When used to distinguish one of the three
-divine persons of the Trinity the glory is often cruciform or triangular.
-The square nimbus designates a person living at the time the work was
-executed. In the frescoes of Giotto at Assisi, the allegorical personages
-are in some instances distinguished by the hexagonal nimbus. In other
-instances it is circular. From the fifth to the twelfth century the
-nimbus had the form of a disc or plate over the head.<a id="FNanchor_8" href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> From the
-twelfth to the fifteenth century, it was a broad golden band, round, or
-rather behind, the head, composed of circle within circle, often adorned
-with precious stones, and sometimes having the name of the saint inscribed
-within it. From the fifteenth century it was a bright fillet
-over the head, and in the seventeenth century it disappeared altogether.
-In pictures the glory is always golden, the colour of light; in miniatures
-and stained glass I have seen glories of various colours, red, blue, or
-green.<a id="FNanchor_9" href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The <span class="smcap">Fish</span> was the earliest, the most universal, of the Christian
-emblems, partly as the symbol of water and the rite of baptism, and
-also because the five Greek letters which express the word Fish form
-the anagram of the name of Jesus Christ. In this sense we find the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</span>
-fish as a general symbol of the Christian faith upon the sarcophagi of
-the early Christians; on the tombs of the martyrs in the catacombs;
-on rings, coins, lamps, and other utensils; and as an ornament in early
-Christian architecture. It is usually a dolphin, which among the
-Pagans had also a sacred significance.</p>
-
-<p>The passage in the Gospel, ‘Follow me, and I will make ye fishers
-of men,’ is supposed to have originated the use of this symbol; and I
-may observe here, that the fish placed in the hands of St. Peter has
-probably a double or treble signification, alluding to his former occupation
-as a fisherman, his conversion to Christianity, and his vocation
-as a Christian apostle, i. e. a fisher of men, in the sense used by Christ;
-and in the same sense we find it given as an attribute to bishops who
-were famous for converting and baptising, as St. Zeno of Verona, and
-Gregory of Tours.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The <span class="smcap">Cross</span>.—About the tenth century the Fish disappeared, and the
-Cross—symbol of our redemption, from the apostolic times—became
-the sole and universal emblem of the Christian faith. The cross
-placed in the hand of a saint is usually the Latin cross (1), the form
-ascribed to the cross on which our Saviour suffered. Other crosses are
-used as emblems or ornaments, but still having the same signification;
-as the Greek cross (2), in which the arms are all of the same length;
-the transverse cross, on which St. Andrew is supposed to have suffered,
-in this form (3); the Egyptian cross, sometimes placed in the hands of
-St. Philip the apostle, and it was also the form of the crutch of St.
-Anthony, and embroidered on his cope or robe—hence it is called
-St. Anthony’s cross (4). There is also the Maltese cross, and various
-ornamental crosses. The double cross on the top of a staff, instead of
-the crosier, is borne by the Pope only; the staff with a single cross, by
-the Greek bishops.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_025" style="max-width: 62.5em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_025.jpg" alt="The four crosses" />
-</div>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</span></p>
-
-<p>At first the cross was a sign only. When formed of gold or silver,
-the five wounds of Christ were signified by a ruby or carbuncle at
-each extremity, and one in the centre. It was not till the sixth
-century that the cross became a <span class="smcap">Crucifix</span>, no longer an emblem but an
-<i>image</i>.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The <span class="smcap">Lamb</span>, in Christian Art, is the peculiar symbol of the Redeemer
-as the sacrifice without blemish: in this sense it is given as an attribute
-to John the Baptist. The lamb is also the general emblem of innocence,
-meekness, modesty; in this sense it is given to St. Agnes, of
-whom Massillon said so beautifully, ‘peu de pudeur, où il n’y a pas de
-religion; peu de religion, où il n’y a pas de pudeur.’</p>
-
-<p>The <span class="smcap">Pelican</span>, tearing open her breast to feed her young with her
-own blood, was an early symbol of our redemption through Christ.</p>
-
-<p>One or both of these emblems are frequently found in ancient crosses
-and crucifixes; the lamb at the foot, the pelican at the top, of the
-cross.</p>
-
-<p>The <span class="smcap">Dragon</span> is the emblem of sin in general, and of the sin of
-idolatry in particular; and the dragon slain or vanquished by the power
-of the cross, is the perpetually recurring myth, which, varied in a
-thousand ways, we find running through all the old Christian legends:
-not subject to misapprehension in the earliest times; but, as the cloud
-of ignorance darkened and deepened, the symbol was translated into a
-fact. It has been suggested that the dragon, which is to us a phantasm
-and an allegory, which in the middle ages was the visible shape of the
-demon adversary of all truth and goodness, might have been, as regards
-form, originally <i>a fact</i>: for wherever we have dragon legends, whether
-the scene be laid in Asia, Africa, or Europe, the imputed circumstances
-and the form are little varied. The dragons introduced into early
-painting and sculpture so invariably represent a gigantic winged
-crocodile, that it is presumed there must have been some common
-origin for the type chosen as if by common consent; and that this
-common type may have been some fossil remains of the Saurian species,
-or even some far-off dim tradition of one of these tremendous reptiles
-surviving in Heaven knows what vast desolate morass or inland lake,
-and spreading horror and devastation along its shores. At Aix, a huge<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</span>
-fossilised head of one of the Sauri was for a long time preserved as the
-head of the identical dragon subdued by St. Martha; and St. Jerome
-relates that he had himself beheld at Tyre the bones of the sea monster
-to which Andromeda had been exposed—probably some fossil remains
-which in the popular imagination were thus accounted for. Professor
-Owen told me that the head of a dragon in one of the legendary pictures
-he had seen in Italy closely resembled in form that of the Deinotherium
-Giganteum. These observations have reference only to the type
-adopted when the old Scripture allegory took form and shape. The
-dragon of Holy Writ is the same as the serpent, i. e., personified sin, the
-spiritual enemy of mankind.</p>
-
-<p>The scriptural phrase of the ‘jaws of hell’ is literally rendered in
-the ancient works of Art by the huge jaws of a dragon, wide open and
-emitting flames, into which the souls of sinners are tumbled headlong.
-In pictures, sin is also typified by a serpent or snake; in this form it is
-placed under the feet of the Madonna, sometimes with an apple in its
-mouth; sometimes, but only in late pictures of the seventeenth century,
-winding its green scaly length round and round a globe, significant of
-the subjugation of the whole earth to the power of sin till delivered by
-the Redeemer. On this subject I shall have much more to say when
-treating of the pictures of the Fall of Man, and the subjects taken from
-the Apocalypse: for the present we need only bear in mind the various
-significations of the popular Dragon myth, which may shadow forth the
-conquest over sin, as in the legends of St. Michael and St. Margaret;
-or over paganism, as in the legends of St. Sylvester and St. George;
-or sometimes a destroying flood, as in the legend of St. Martha, where
-the inundation of the Rhone is figured by a dragon emerging from the
-waters and spreading around death and pestilence,—like the Python of
-the Grecian myth.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The <span class="smcap">Lion</span>, as an ancient Christian symbol, is of frequent recurrence,
-more particularly in architectural decoration. Antiquaries are not
-agreed as to the exact meaning attached to the mystical lions placed in
-the porches of so many old Lombard churches; sometimes with an
-animal, sometimes with a man, in their paws. But we find that the
-lion was an ancient symbol of the Redeemer, ‘the Lion of the tribe of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</span>
-Judah:’ also of the resurrection of the Redeemer; because, according
-to an oriental fable, the lion’s cub was born dead, and in three days its
-sire licked it into life. In this sense it occurs in the windows of the
-cathedral at Bourges. In either sense it may probably have been
-adopted as a frequent ornament in the church utensils, and in ecclesiastical
-decoration, supporting the pillars in front, or the carved
-thrones, &amp;c.</p>
-
-<p>The lion also typifies solitude—the wilderness; and, in this sense, is
-placed near St. Jerome and other saints who did penance, or lived as
-hermits in the desert; as in the legends of St. Paul the hermit, St.
-Mary of Egypt, St. Onofrio. Further, the lion as an attribute denoted
-death in the amphitheatre, and with this signification is placed near
-certain martyrs, as St. Ignatius and St. Euphemia. The lion, as the
-type of fortitude and resolution, was placed at the feet of those martyrs
-who had suffered with singular courage, as St. Adrian and St. Natalia.<a id="FNanchor_10" href="#Footnote_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a></p>
-
-<p>When other wild beasts, as wolves and bears, are placed at the feet
-of a saint attired as abbot or bishop, it signifies that he cleared waste
-land, out down forests, and substituted Christian culture and civilisation
-for paganism and the lawless hunter’s life: such is the significance in
-pictures of St. Magnus, St. Florentius and St. Germain of Auxerre.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The <span class="smcap">Hart</span> or <span class="smcap">Hind</span> was also an emblem of double signification. It
-was a type of solitude and of purity of life, and was also a type of piety
-and religious aspiration, adopted from the forty-second Psalm, ‘Like
-as the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul for thee,
-O God!’</p>
-
-<p>When the original meaning of the lion, the hart, and other emblems,
-was no longer present to the popular mind, legends were invented to
-account for them; and that which had been a symbol, became an incident,
-or an historical attribute,—as in the stories of the lion healed by
-St. Jerome, or digging the grave of St. Paul; the miraculous stag which
-appeared to St. Eustace and St. Hubert; the wounded doe in the legend
-of St. Giles; and the hind which spoke to St. Julian.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</span></p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The <span class="smcap">Peacock</span>, the bird of Juno, was an ancient pagan symbol, signifying
-the apotheosis of an empress, as we find from many of the old
-Roman coins and medals. The early Christians, accustomed to this interpretation,
-adopted it as a general emblem of the mortal exchanged for
-the immortal existence; and, with this signification, we find the peacock
-with outspread train on the walls and ceilings of catacombs, the tombs
-of the martyrs, and many of the sarcophagi, down to the fourth and fifth
-centuries. It is only in modern times that the peacock has become the
-emblem of worldly pride.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The <span class="smcap">Crown</span>, as introduced in Christian Art, is either an emblem or
-an attribute. It has been the emblem from all antiquity of victory, and
-of recompense due to superior power or virtue. In this sense the word
-and the image are used in Scripture in many passages: for example,
-‘Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of glory.’ And in this
-sense, as the recompense of those who had fought the good fight to the
-end, and conquered, the crown became the especial symbol of the glory
-of martyrdom. In very ancient pictures, a hand is seen coming out of
-heaven holding a wreath or circlet; afterwards it is an angel who
-descends with a crown, which is sometimes a coronet of gold and
-jewels, sometimes a wreath of palm or myrtle. In general only the
-female martyrs wear the symbolical crown of glory; martyrs of the
-other sex hold the crown in their hands, or it is borne by an angel.
-Hence we may presume that the crown, which among the Jews was the
-especial ornament of a bride, signified the bride or spouse of Christ—one
-dedicated to virginity for his sake; and in this sense, down to the
-present time, the crown is placed on the head of a nun at the moment of
-consecration. Therefore in the old pictures of female martyrs we may
-interpret the crown in this double sense, as signifying at once the bride
-and the martyr.</p>
-
-<p>But it is necessary also to distinguish between the <i>symbol</i> and the
-<i>attribute</i>: thus, where St. Cecilia and St. Barbara wear the crown, it is
-the symbol of their glorious martyrdom; when St. Catherine and St.
-Ursula wear the crown, it is at once as the symbol of martyrdom and
-the attribute of their royal rank as princesses.</p>
-
-<p>The crown is also the symbol of sovereignty. When it is placed on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</span>
-the head of the Virgin, it is as Queen of Heaven, and also as the
-‘Spouse’ of Scripture allegory.</p>
-
-<p>But the crown is also an attribute, and frequently, when worn by a
-saint or placed at his feet, signifies that he was royal or of princely
-birth: as in the pictures of Louis of France, St. William, St. Elizabeth,
-St. Helena, and many others.</p>
-
-<p>The crowns in the Italian pictures are generally a wreath, or a simple
-circle of gold and jewels, or a coronet radiated with a few points. But
-in the old German pictures the crown is often of most magnificent
-workmanship, blazing with jewels.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_030" style="max-width: 75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_030.png" alt="Ffour crowns" />
-</div>
-
-<p>I have seen a real silver crown placed on the figures of certain
-popular saints, but as a votive tribute, not an emblem.</p>
-
-
-<p class="p2">The <span class="smcap">Sword</span> is also either a symbol or an attribute. As a symbol it
-signifies generally martyrdom by any violent death, and, in this sense,
-is given to many saints who did not die by the sword. As an attribute
-it signifies the particular death suffered, and that the martyr in whose
-hand or at whose feet it is placed was beheaded: in this sense it is given
-to St. Paul, St. Catherine, and many others. It is given also to the
-warrior-martyrs, as the attribute of their military profession. Other
-symbols of martyrdom are the <span class="smcap">Axe</span>, the <span class="smcap">Lance</span>, and the <span class="smcap">Club</span>.</p>
-
-
-<p class="p2"><span class="smcap">Arrows</span>, which are attributes, St. Ursula, St. Christina, and St.
-Sebastian.</p>
-
-
-<p class="p2">The <span class="smcap">Poniard</span>, given to St. Lucia.</p>
-
-
-<p class="p2">The <span class="smcap">Cauldron</span>, given to St. John the Evangelist and St. Cecilia.</p>
-
-
-<p class="p2">The <span class="smcap">Pincers</span> and <span class="smcap">Shears</span>, St. Apollonia and St. Agatha.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</span></p>
-
-
-<p class="p2">The <span class="smcap">Wheels</span>, St. Catherine.</p>
-
-
-<p class="p2"><span class="smcap">Fire</span> and <span class="smcap">Flames</span> are sometimes an emblem of martyrdom and
-punishment, and sometimes of religious fervour.</p>
-
-
-<p class="p2">A <span class="smcap">Bell</span> was supposed to have power to exorcise demons, and for
-this reason is given to the haunted St. Anthony.</p>
-
-
-<p class="p2">The <span class="smcap">Shell</span> signifies pilgrimage.</p>
-
-
-<p class="p2">The <span class="smcap">Skull</span>, penance.</p>
-
-
-<p class="p2">The <span class="smcap">Anvil</span>, as an attribute of martyrdom, belongs to St. Adrian
-only.</p>
-
-
-<p class="p2">The <span class="smcap">Palm</span>, the ancient classical symbol of victory and triumph, was
-early assumed by the Christians as the universal symbol of martyrdom,
-and for this adaptation of a pagan ornament they found warrant in
-Scripture: Rev. vii. 9, ‘And after this I beheld, and, lo, a great
-multitude stood before the throne clothed with white robes and with
-palms in their hands.‘... ‘And he said to me, These are they which
-came out of great tribulation.’ Hence in pictures of martyrdoms an
-angel descends with the palm; hence it is figured on the tombs of early
-martyrs, and placed in the hands of those who suffered in the cause of
-truth, as expressing their final victory over the powers of sin and death.</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent0">The sensual think with reverence of the palm</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Which the chaste votary wields.</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_031" style="max-width: 69.125em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_031.jpg" alt="Four palm fronds" />
-</div>
-
-<p>The palm varies in form from a small leaf to the size of a palm branch,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</span>
-almost a tree. It is very small in the early Italian pictures, very large
-in the Spanish pictures. In the Siena pictures it has a bunch of dates
-depending from it. It is only in late pictures that the palm, with a
-total disregard to the sacredness of its original signification, is placed on
-the ground, or under the feet of the saint.</p>
-
-
-<p>The <span class="smcap">Standard</span>, or banner, is also the symbol of victory, the spiritual
-victory over sin, death, and idolatry. It is borne by our Saviour after
-his resurrection, and is placed in the hands of St. George, St. Maurice,
-and other military saints; in the hands of some victorious martyrs, as
-St. Julian, St. Ansano, and of those who preached the Gospel among
-infidels; also in the hands of St. Ursula and St. Reparata, the only
-female saints, I believe, who bear this attribute.</p>
-
-
-<p class="p2">The <span class="smcap">Olive</span>, as the well-known emblem of peace and reconciliation,
-is figured on the tombs of the early martyrs; sometimes with, sometimes
-without, the dove. The olive is borne as the attribute of peace
-by the angel Gabriel, by St. Agnes, and by St. Pantaleon; sometimes
-also by the angels in a Nativity, who announce ‘peace on earth.’</p>
-
-
-<p class="p2">The <span class="smcap">Dove</span> in Christian Art is the emblem of the Holy Ghost; and,
-besides its introduction into various subjects from the New Testament,
-as the Annunciation, the Baptism, the Pentecost, it is placed near
-certain saints who are supposed to have been particularly inspired, as
-St. Gregory, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Hilarius, and others.</p>
-
-<p>The dove is also a symbol of simplicity and purity of heart, and as
-such it is introduced into pictures of female saints, and especially of the
-Madonna and Child.</p>
-
-<p>It is also the emblem of the soul; in this sense it is seen issuing from
-the lips of dying martyrs, and is found in pictures of St. Eulalia of
-Merida, and St. Scholastica the sister of St. Benedict.</p>
-
-
-<p>The <span class="smcap">Lily</span> is another symbol of purity, of very general application.
-We find it in pictures of the Virgin, and particularly in pictures of the
-Annunciation. It is placed significantly in the hand of St. Joseph,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</span>
-the husband of the Virgin Mary, his staff, according to the legend,
-having put forth lilies; it is given, as an emblem merely, to St.
-Francis, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Dominick, and St. Catherine of
-Siena, to express the particular purity of their lives.</p>
-
-
-<p class="p2">The <span class="smcap">Unicorn</span> is another ancient symbol of purity, in allusion to the
-fable that it could never be captured except by a virgin stainless in
-mind and life; it has become in consequence the emblem peculiarly of
-<i>female</i> chastity, but in Christian Art is appropriate only to the Virgin
-Mary and St. Justina.</p>
-
-
-<p class="p2">The <span class="smcap">Flaming Heart</span> expresses fervent piety and love: in early
-pictures it is given to St. Augustine, merely in allusion to a famous
-passage in his ‘Confessions;’ but in the later schools of Art it has become
-a general and rather vulgar emblem of spiritual love: in this sense
-it is given to St. Theresa; St. Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi, a Florentine
-nun; and some of the Jesuit saints.</p>
-
-
-<p class="p2">The <span class="smcap">Book</span> in the hands of the Evangelists and the Apostles is an
-attribute, and represents the Gospel. In the hand of St. Stephen it is
-the Old Testament; in the hand of any other saint it may be the
-Gospel, but it may also be an emblem only, signifying that the saint
-was famous for his learning or his writings; it has this sense in pictures
-of St. Catherine, the Doctors of the Church, St. Thomas Aquinas, and
-St. Bonaventura.</p>
-
-
-<p class="p2">A <span class="smcap">Church</span> placed in the hands of a saint signifies that he was the
-founder of some particular church: in this sense St. Henry bears the
-cathedral of Bamberg; or, that he was the protector and first bishop of
-the church, as St. Petronius bears the cathedral of Bologna. I must
-except the single instance of St. Jerome; the church in his hands
-signifies no particular edifice, but, in a general sense, the Catholic
-Church, of which he was the great support and one of the primitive
-fathers; to render the symbol more expressive, rays of light are seen
-proceeding from the portal.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</span></p>
-
-
-<p class="p2">The <span class="smcap">Scourge</span> in the hand of a saint, or at his feet, signifies the
-penances he inflicted upon himself; but in the hand of St. Ambrose, it
-signifies the penance he inflicted upon others.</p>
-
-
-<p class="p2">The <span class="smcap">Chalice</span>, or Sacramental Cup, with the Host, signifies Faith;
-it is given to St. Barbara. The Cup, with the Serpent, is the attribute
-of St. John.</p>
-
-
-<p class="p2">The <span class="smcap">Ship</span>.—The Ark of Noah, floating safe amid the Deluge, in
-which all things else were overwhelmed, was an obvious symbol of the
-Church of Christ. Subsequently the <i>Ark</i> became a ship. St. Ambrose
-likens the Church of God to a ship, and the Cross to the mast set in
-the midst of it. ‘<i>Arbor quædam in nari est crux in ecclesia.</i>’ The
-Bark of St. Peter tossed in the storm, and by the Redeemer guided safe
-to land, was also considered as symbolical. These mingled associations
-combined to give to the emblem of the ship a sacred significance. Every
-one who has been at Rome will remember the famous mosaic of the ship
-tossed by the storms, and assailed by demons, called <span class="smcap">The Navicella</span>,
-which was executed by Giotto for the old Basilica of St. Peter’s, and
-is now under the Portico, opposite to the principal door. I believe that
-in the pictures of St. Nicholas and St. Ursula the ship had originally a
-sacred and symbolical significance, and that the legends were afterwards
-invented or modified to explain the emblem, as in so many other
-instances.</p>
-
-
-<p>The <span class="smcap">Anchor</span> is the Christian symbol of immovable firmness, hope,
-and patience; and in this sense we find it very frequently in the catacombs,
-and on the ancient Christian gems. It was given to several of
-the early saints as a symbol. Subsequently a legend was invented to
-account for the symbol, turning it into an attribute, as was the case
-with the lion and the stag. For example: to St. Clement the anchor
-was first given as the symbol of his constancy in Christian hope, and
-thence we find, subsequently invented, the story of his being thrown
-into the sea with the anchor round his neck. On the vane of the Church
-of St. Clement in the Strand, the anchor, the parish device, was
-anciently placed; and as in the English fancy no anchor can be well<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</span>
-separated from a ship, they have lately placed a ship on the other side,—the
-original signification of the anchor, as applied to St. Clement the
-martyr, being unknown or forgotten.</p>
-
-
-<p class="p2">The <span class="smcap">Lamp</span>, <span class="smcap">Lantern</span>, or <span class="smcap">Taper</span>, is the old emblem of piety: ‘Let
-your light so shine before men:’—and it also signifies wisdom. In the
-first sense we find this attribute in the hand of St. Gudula, St. Geneviève
-of Paris, and St. Bridget; while the lamp in the hand of St. Lucia
-signifies celestial light or wisdom.</p>
-
-
-<p class="p2"><span class="smcap">Flowers</span> and <span class="smcap">Fruits</span>, often so beautifully introduced into ecclesiastical
-works of Art, may be merely ornamental; Crivelli, and some of
-the Venetian and Lombard painters, were fond of rich festoons of fruit,
-and backgrounds of foliage and roses. But in some instances they have
-a definite significance. Roses are symbolical in pictures of the Madonna,
-who is the ‘<i>Rose of Sharon</i>.’<a id="FNanchor_11" href="#Footnote_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> The wreath of roses on the brow of
-St. Cecilia, the roses and fruits borne by St. Dorothea, are explained
-by the legends.</p>
-
-<p>The apple was the received emblem of the Fall of Man and original
-sin. Placed in pictures of the Madonna and Child, either in the hand
-of the Infant Christ, or presented by an angel, it signified Redemption
-from the consequences of the Fall. The pomegranate, bursting open,
-and the seeds visible, was an emblem of the future—of hope in immortality.
-When an apple, a pear, or a pomegranate is placed in the hand
-of St. Catherine as the mystical <i>Sposa</i> of Christ, which continually
-occurs, particularly in the German pictures, the allusion is to be taken
-in the scriptural sense: ‘The <i>fruit</i> of the Spirit is love, joy, peace.’</p>
-
-
-<h3>V. <span class="smcap">Of the Significance of Colours.</span></h3>
-
-<p>In very early Art we find colours used in a symbolical or mystic
-sense, and, until the ancient principles and traditions were wholly worn
-out of memory or set aside by the later painters, certain colours were
-appropriate to certain subjects and personages, and could not arbitrarily<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</span>
-be applied or misapplied. In the old specimens of stained glass we find
-these significations scrupulously attended to. Thus:—</p>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">White</span>, represented by the diamond or silver, was the emblem of
-light, religious purity, innocence, virginity, faith, joy, and life. Our
-Saviour wears white after his resurrection. In the judge it indicated
-integrity; in the rich man humility; in the woman chastity. It was
-the colour consecrated to the Virgin, who, however, never wears white
-except in pictures of the Assumption.</p>
-
-
-<p class="p2"><span class="smcap">Red</span>, the ruby, signified fire, divine love, the Holy Spirit, heat, or
-the creative power, and royalty. White and red roses expressed love
-and innocence, or love and wisdom, as in the garland with which the
-angel crowns St. Cecilia. In a bad sense, red signified blood, war,
-hatred, and punishment. Red and black combined were the colours of
-purgatory and the Devil.</p>
-
-
-<p class="p2"><span class="smcap">Blue</span>, or the sapphire, expressed heaven, the firmament, truth,
-constancy, fidelity. Christ and the Virgin wear the red tunic and the
-blue mantle, as signifying heavenly love and heavenly truth.<a id="FNanchor_12" href="#Footnote_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> The
-same colours were given to St. John the evangelist, with this difference,—that
-he wore the blue tunic and the red mantle; in later pictures the
-colours are sometimes red and green.</p>
-
-
-<p class="p2"><span class="smcap">Yellow</span>, or gold, was the symbol of the sun; of the goodness of
-God; initiation, or marriage; faith, or fruitfulness. St. Joseph, the
-husband of the Virgin, wears yellow. In pictures of the apostles, St.
-Peter wears a yellow mantle over a blue tunic. In a bad sense, yellow
-signifies inconstancy, jealousy, deceit; in this sense it is given to the
-traitor Judas, who is generally habited in dirty yellow.</p>
-
-
-<p class="p2"><span class="smcap">Green</span>, the emerald, is the colour of spring; of hope, particularly
-hope in immortality; and of victory, as the colour of the palm and
-the laurel.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</span></p>
-
-
-<p class="p2"><span class="smcap">Violet</span>, the amethyst, signified love and truth: or, passion and
-suffering. Hence it is the colour often worn by the martyrs. In some
-instances our Saviour, after his resurrection, is habited in a violet
-instead of a blue mantle. The Virgin also wears violet after the
-crucifixion. Mary Magdalene, who as patron saint wears the red robe,
-as penitent wears violet and blue, the colours of sorrow and of
-constancy. In the devotional representation of her by Timoteo della
-Vite,<a id="FNanchor_13" href="#Footnote_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> she wears red and green, the colours of love and hope.</p>
-
-
-<p class="p2"><span class="smcap">Grey</span>, the colour of ashes, signified mourning, humility, and innocence
-accused; hence adopted as the dress of the Franciscans (the
-Grey Friars); but it has since been changed for a dark rusty brown.</p>
-
-
-<p class="p2"><span class="smcap">Black</span> expressed the earth, darkness, mourning, wickedness, negation,
-death; and was appropriate to the Prince of Darkness. In some
-old illuminated MSS., Jesus, in the Temptation, wears a black robe.
-White and black together signified purity of life, and mourning or
-humiliation; hence adopted by the Dominicans and the Carmelites.</p>
-
-<p class="p2">The mystical application of attributes and colours was more particularly
-attended to in that class of subjects I have distinguished as
-<i>devotional</i>. In the sacred historical pictures we find that the attributes
-are usually omitted as superfluous, and characteristic propriety of colour
-often sacrificed to the general effect.</p>
-
-
-<p class="p2">These introductory observations and explanations will be found
-illustrated in a variety of forms as we proceed; and readers will be led
-to make comparisons and discover analogies and exceptions for themselves.
-I must stop here;—yet one word more.</p>
-
-<p>All the productions of Art, from the time it has been directed and
-developed by Christian influences, may be regarded under three
-different aspects. 1. The purely religious aspect, which belongs to one
-mode of faith; 2. The poetical aspect, which belongs to all; 3. The
-artistic, which is the individual point of view, and has reference only to
-the action of the intellect on the means and material employed. There
-is pleasure, intense pleasure, merely in the consideration of Art as <i>Art</i>;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</span>
-in the faculties of comparison and nice discrimination, brought to bear
-on objects of beauty; in the exercise of a cultivated and refined taste
-on the productions of mind in any form whatever. But a three-fold, or
-rather a thousand-fold, pleasure is theirs who to a sense of the poetical
-unite a sympathy with the spiritual in Art, and who combine with
-delicacy of perception, and technical knowledge, more elevated sources
-of pleasure, more variety of association, habits of more excursive
-thought. Let none imagine, however, that, in placing before the uninitiated
-these unpretending volumes, I assume any such superiority as
-is here implied. Like a child that has sprung on a little way before its
-playmates, and caught a glimpse through an opening portal of some
-varied Eden within, all gay with flowers, and musical with birds, and
-haunted by divine shapes which beckon onward; and, after one
-rapturous survey, runs back and catches its companions by the hand and
-hurries them forwards to share the new-found pleasure, the yet unexplored
-region of delight; even so it is with me:—I am on the outside,
-not the inside, of the door I open.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp50" id="i_038" style="max-width: 68.625em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_038.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c2"></a>2 After Gaudenzio Ferrari, at Saronno</div>
-</div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</span></p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</span></p>
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="PART_I">PART I.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent0">Ye too must fly before a chasing hand,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Angels and saints in every hamlet mourned!</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Ah! if the old idolatry be spurn’d,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Let not your radiant shapes desert the land!</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Her adoration was not your demand,—</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">The fond heart proffer’d it,—the servile heart,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">And therefore are ye summon’d to depart;</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Michael, and thou St. George, whose flaming brand</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">The Dragon quell’d; and valiant Margaret,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Whose rival sword a like opponent slew;</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">And rapt Cecilia, seraph-haunted queen</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Of harmony; and weeping Magdalene,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Who in the penitential desert met</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Gales sweet as those that over Eden blew!</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Wordsworth.</span></div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p>‘I can just remember,’ says a theologian of the last century, ‘when the women first
-taught me to say my prayers, I used to have an idea of a venerable old man, of a composed,
-benign countenance, with his own hair, clad in a morning gown of a grave-coloured flowered
-damask, sitting in an elbow-chair.’ And he proceeds to say that, in looking back to these
-beginnings, he is in no way disturbed at the grossness of his infant theology. The image
-thus shaped by the imagination of the child was, in truth, merely one example of the various
-forms and conceptions fitted to divers states and seasons, and orders and degrees, of the
-religious mind, whether infant or adult, which represent the several approximations such
-minds at such seasons can respectively make to the completeness of faith. These imperfect
-ideas should be held to be reconciled and comprehended in that completeness, not rejected
-by it; and the nearest approximation which the greatest of human minds can accomplish is
-surely to be regarded as much nearer to the imperfection of an infantine notion than to the
-fulness of truth. The gown of flowered damask and the elbow-chair may disappear; the
-anthropomorphism of childhood may give place to the divine incarnation of the Second
-Person in after-years; and we may come to conceive of the Deity as Milton did when his
-epithets were most abstract:—</p>
-
-<p class="center">
-‘So spake the <span class="smcap">Sovran Presence</span>.’<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>But after all, these are but different grades of imperfection in the forms of doctrinal faith;
-and if there be a devouter love on the part of the child for what is pictured in his imagination
-as a venerable old man, than in the philosophic poet for the ‘Sovran Presence,’ the child’s
-faith has more of the efficacy of religious truth in it than the poet’s and philosopher’s. (<i>Vide</i>
-‘Notes on Life,’ by <span class="smcap">Henry Taylor</span>, p. 136.)</p>
-</div>
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</span></p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_041" style="max-width: 90.0625em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_041.jpg" alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Gloria in excelsis Deo!</div>
-</div>
-
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="Of_Angels_and_Archangels"><span class="hid">Of Angels and Archangels.</span></h2>
-<div class="figcenter illowe28" id="t_065">
-  <img src="images/t_065.png" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption">Of Angels and Archangels.</div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-
-<h3><span class="allsmcap">I.</span> <span class="smcap">The Angels.</span></h3>
-
-<p>There is something so very attractive and poetical, as well as soothing
-to our helpless finite nature, in all the superstitions connected with the
-popular notion of Angels, that we cannot wonder at their prevalence in
-the early ages of the world. Those nations who acknowledged one
-Almighty Creator, and repudiated with horror the idea of a plurality
-of Gods, were the most willing to accept, the most enthusiastic in
-accepting, these objects of an intermediate homage; and gladly placed
-between their humanity and the awful supremacy of an unseen God,
-the ministering spirits who were the agents of his will, the witnesses of
-his glory, the partakers of his bliss, and who in their preternatural
-attributes of love and knowledge filled up that vast space in the created
-universe which intervened between mortal man and the infinite, omnipotent
-<span class="smcap">Lord of All</span>.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</span></p>
-
-<p>The belief in these superior beings, dating from immemorial antiquity,
-interwoven as it should seem with our very nature, and authorised
-by a variety of passages in Scripture, has descended to our time. Although
-the bodily forms assigned to them are allowed to be impossible,
-and merely allegorical, although their supposed functions as rulers of
-the stars and elements have long been set aside by a knowledge of the
-natural laws, still the coexistence of many orders of beings superior in
-nature to ourselves, benignly interested in our welfare, and contending
-for us against the powers of evil, remains an article of faith. Perhaps
-the belief itself, and the feeling it excites in the tender and contemplative
-mind, were never more beautifully expressed than by our
-own Spenser:—</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent0">And is there care in heaven? And is there love</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">In heavenly spirits to these creatures base,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">That may compassion of their evils move?</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">There is!—else much more wretched were the case</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Of men than beasts! But O th’ exceeding grace</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Of highest God that loves his creatures so,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">And all his works with mercy doth embrace,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">That blessed angels he sends to and fro</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">To serve to wicked man, to serve his wicked foe</div>
-  </div>
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent0">How oft do they their silver bowers leave,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">And come to succour us that succour want?</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">How oft do they with golden pinions cleave</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">The flitting skies, like flying pursuivant,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Against foul fiends, to aid us militant?</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">They for its fight, they watch, and duly ward,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">And their bright squadrons round about us plant,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">And all for love, and nothing for reward!</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Oh why should heavenly God to men have such regard!</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>It is this feeling, expressed or unexpressed, lurking at the very core
-of all hearts, which renders the usual representations of angels, spite
-of all incongruities of form, so pleasing to the fancy: we overlook the
-anatomical solecisms, and become mindful only of that emblematical
-significance which through its humanity connects it with us, and through
-its supernatural appendages connects <i>us</i> with heaven.</p>
-
-<p>But it is necessary to give a brief summary of the scriptural and
-theological authorities, relative to the nature and functions of angels,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</span>
-before we can judge of the manner in which these ideas have been
-attended to and carried out in the artistic similitudes. Thus angels are
-represented in the Old Testament—</p>
-
-<p>1. As beings of a higher nature than men, and gifted with superior
-intelligence and righteousness.<a id="FNanchor_14" href="#Footnote_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></p>
-
-<p>2. As a host of attendants surrounding the throne of God, and as a
-kind of celestial court or council.<a id="FNanchor_15" href="#Footnote_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a></p>
-
-<p>3. As messengers of his will conveyed from heaven to earth: or as
-sent to guide, to correct, to instruct, to reprove, to console.</p>
-
-<p>4. As protecting the pious.</p>
-
-<p>5. As punishing by command of the Most High the wicked and disobedient.<a id="FNanchor_16" href="#Footnote_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a></p>
-
-<p>6. As having the form of men; as eating and drinking.</p>
-
-<p>7. As wielding a sword.</p>
-
-<p>8. As having power to slay.<a id="FNanchor_17" href="#Footnote_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a></p>
-
-<p>I do not recollect any instance in which angels are represented in
-Scripture as instigated by human passions; they are merely the agents
-of the mercy or the wrath of the Almighty.</p>
-
-<p>After the period of the Captivity, the Jewish ideas concerning angels
-were considerably extended and modified by an admixture of the
-Chaldaic belief, and of the doctrines taught by Zoroaster.<a id="FNanchor_18" href="#Footnote_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> It is then
-that we first hear of good and bad angels, and of a fallen angel or impersonation
-of evil, busy in working mischief on earth and counteracting
-good; also of archangels, who are alluded to by name; and of guardian
-angels assigned to nations and individuals; and these foreign ideas
-concerning the spiritual world, accepted and promulgated by the
-Jewish doctors, pervade the whole of the New Testament, in which
-angels are far more familiar to us as agents, more frequently alluded to,
-and more distinctly brought before us, than in the Old Testament.
-For example: they are represented—</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</span></p>
-
-<p>1. As countless.</p>
-
-<p>2. As superior to all human wants and weaknesses.</p>
-
-<p>3. As the deputed messengers of God.</p>
-
-<p>4. They rejoice over the repentant sinner. They take deep interest
-in the mission of Christ.</p>
-
-<p>5. They are present with those who pray; they bear the souls of the
-just to heaven.</p>
-
-<p>6. They minister to Christ on earth, and will be present at his
-second coming.<a id="FNanchor_19" href="#Footnote_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a></p>
-
-<p>In the Gospel of St. John, which is usually regarded as the fullest
-and most correct exposition of the doctrines of Christ, angels are only
-three times mentioned, and in none of these instances does the word
-angel fall from the lips of Christ. On the other hand, the writings of
-St. Paul, who was deeply versed in all the learning and philosophy of
-the Jews, abound in allusions to angels, and, according to the usual
-interpretation of certain passages, he shows them divided into several
-classes.<a id="FNanchor_20" href="#Footnote_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> St. Luke, who was the friend and disciple of St. Paul, some
-say his convert, is more direct and explicit on the subject of angels than
-any of the other Evangelists, and his allusions to them much more
-frequent.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The worship of angels, which the Jews brought from Chaldea, was
-early introduced into the Christian Church. In the fourth century the
-council of Laodicea published a decree against places of worship
-dedicated to angels under names which the Church did not recognise.
-But neither warning nor council seems to have had power to modify the
-popular creed, countenanced as it was by high authority. All the
-Fathers are unanimous as to the existence of angels good and evil.
-They hold that it is evermore the allotted task of good angels to defend
-us against evil angels, and to carry on a daily and hourly combat against
-our spiritual foes: they teach that the good angels are worthy of all
-reverence as the ministers of God and as the protectors of the human<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</span>
-race; that their intercession is to be invoked, and their perpetual,
-invisible presence to be regarded as an incitement to good and a
-preventive to evil.</p>
-
-<p>This, however, was not enough. Taking for their foundation a few
-Scripture texts, and in particular the classification of St. Paul, the
-imaginative theologians of the middle ages ran into all kinds of extravagant
-subtleties regarding the being, the nature, and the functions of
-the different orders of angels. Except as far as they have been taken
-as authorities in Art, I shall set aside these fanciful disquisitions, of
-which a mere abstract would fill volumes. For our present purpose it
-is sufficient to bear in mind that the great theologians divide the angelic
-host into three hierarchies, and these again into nine choirs, three in
-each hierarchy: according to Dionysius the Areopagite, in the following
-order: 1. Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones. 2. Dominations, Virtues,
-Powers. 3. Princedoms, Archangels, Angels. The order of these
-denominations is not the same in all authorities: according to the Greek
-formula, St. Bernard, and the Legenda Aurea, the Cherubim precede
-the Seraphim, and in the hymn of St. Ambrose they have also the precedence—<i>To
-Thee, Cherubim and Seraphim continually do cry</i>, &amp;c.;
-but the authority of St. Dionysius seems to be admitted as paramount,
-for according to the legend he was the convert and intimate friend of
-St. Paul, and St. Paul, who had been transported to the seventh
-heaven, had made him acquainted with all he had there beheld.</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent20">Desire</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">In Dionysius so intensely wrought</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">That he, as I have done, ranged them, and named</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Their orders, marshall’d in his thought;</div>
-    <div class="verse indent12">... For he had learn’d</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Both this and much beside of these our orbs</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">From an eye-witness to Heaven’s mysteries.</div>
-    <div class="verse indent20"> <span class="smcap">Dante</span>, <i>Par.</i> 28.</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The first three choirs receive their glory immediately from God, and
-transmit it to the second; the second illuminate the third; the third are
-placed in relation to the created universe and man. The first Hierarchy
-are as councillors; the second as governors; the third as ministers.
-The Seraphim are absorbed in perpetual love and adoration immediately
-round the throne of God. The Cherubim know and worship. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</span>
-Thrones sustain the seat of the Most High. The Dominations, Virtues,
-Powers, are the Regents of stars and elements. The three last orders,
-Princedoms, Archangels, and Angels, are the protectors of the great
-Monarchies on earth, and the executors of the will of God throughout
-the universe.</p>
-
-<p>The term angels is properly applied to all these celestial beings; but
-it belongs especially to the two last orders, who are brought into immediate
-communication with the human race. The word angel, Greek in
-its origin, signifies a messenger, or more literally <i>a bringer of tidings</i>.</p>
-
-<p>In this sense the Greeks entitle Christ ‘The great Angel of the will
-of God;’ and I have seen Greek representations of Christ with wings
-to his shoulders. John the Baptist is also an angel in this sense; likewise
-the Evangelists; all of whom, as I shall show hereafter, bear, as
-celestial messengers, the angel-wings.</p>
-<div class="figleft illowp35" id="i_046" style="max-width: 31.25em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_046.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c4"></a>4 Greek Seraph; wings of gold
- and crimson (Ninth century)
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>In ancient pictures and illuminations which exhibit the glorification
-of the Trinity, Christ, or the Virgin, the
-hierarchies of angels are represented in circles
-around them, orb within orb. This is called a
-glory of angels. In pictures it is seldom complete:
-instead of nine circles, the painters
-content themselves with one or two circles only.
-The innermost circles, the Seraphim and the
-Cherubim, are in general represented as <i>heads</i>
-merely, with two or four or six wings, and of
-a bright-red or blue colour; sometimes with
-variegated wings, green, yellow, violet, &amp;c.
-This emblem—intended to shadow forth to
-human comprehension a pure spirit glowing
-with love and intelligence, in which all that is
-bodily is put away, and only the head, the seat
-of soul, and wings, the attribute of spirit and
-swiftness, retained—is of Greek origin. When
-first adopted I do not know, but I have met
-with it in Greek MSS. of the ninth century. Down to the eleventh
-century the faces were human, but not childish; the infant head was afterwards
-adopted to express innocence in addition to love and intelligence.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</span></p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp80" id="i_047a" style="max-width: 75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_047a.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c5"></a>5 Cherubim, Italian (Fourteenth century)</div>
-</div>
-
-<div class="figleft illowp60" id="i_049_2" style="max-width: 31.25em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_047b.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c6"></a>6 Cherub Heads</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Such was the expressive and poetical symbol which degenerated
-in the later periods of Art into
-those little fat baby heads, with
-curly hair and small wings under
-the chin, which the more they resemble
-nature in colour, feature,
-and detail, the more absurd they
-become, the original meaning being
-wholly lost or perverted.</p>
-
-<p>In painting, where a glory of angels is placed round the Divine
-Being or the glorified Virgin, those forming the innermost circles are or
-ought to be of a glowing red, the colour of fire, that is, of love; the
-next circle is painted blue, the colour of the firmament, or light, that
-is, of knowledge. Now as the word seraph is derived from a Hebrew
-root signifying love, and the word cherub from a Hebrew root signifying
-to know, should not this distinction fix the proper place and name of
-the first two orders? It is admitted that the spirits which <i>love</i> are
-nearer to God than those which <i>know</i>, since we cannot know that which
-we do not first love: that Love and Knowledge, ‘the two halves of a
-divided world,’ constitute in their union the perfection of the angelic
-nature; but the Seraphim, according to the derivation of their name,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</span>
-should <i>love</i> most; their whole being is fused, as it were, in a glow of
-adoration; therefore they should take the precedence, and their proper
-colour is red. The Cherubim, ‘the lords of those that know,’ come
-next, and are to be painted blue.</p>
-
-<p>Thus it should seem that, in considering the religious pictures of the
-early ages of Art, we have to get rid of certain associations as to colour
-and form, derived from the phraseology of later poets and the representations
-of later painters. ‘Blue-eyed Seraphim,’ and the ‘blue
-depth of Seraph’s eyes,’ are not to be thought of any more than
-smiling Cherubim.’ The Seraphim, where distinguished by colour,
-are red; the Cherubim blue: the proper character, where character is
-attended to, is, in the Seraph, adoration; in the Cherub, contemplation.
-So Milton—</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent10">With thee bring</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Him who soars on golden wing,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">The Cherub, Contemplation.</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>I remember a little Triptyca, a genuine work of Fiesole, in which one
-of the lateral compartments represents his favourite subject, the souls
-of the blessed received into Paradise. They are moving from the lower
-part of the picture towards the top, along an ascent paved with flowers,
-all in white garments and crowned with roses. At one side, low down,
-stands a blue Cherub robed in drapery spangled with golden stars, who
-seems to encourage the blessed group. Above are the gates of heaven.
-Christ welcomes to his kingdom the beatified spirits, and on each side
-stands a Seraph, all of a glowing red, in spangled drapery. The figures
-are not here merely heads and wings, but full length, having all that
-soft peculiar grace which belongs to the painter.<a id="FNanchor_21" href="#Footnote_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a></p>
-
-<p>In a Coronation of the Virgin,<a id="FNanchor_22" href="#Footnote_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> a glory of Seraphim over-arches the
-principal group. Here the angelic beings are wholly of a bright red
-colour: they are human to the waist, with hands clasped in devotion:
-the bodies and arms covered with plumage, but the forms terminating<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</span>
-in wings; all uniformly red. In the same collection is a small Greek
-picture of Christ receiving the soul of the Virgin; over his head hovers
-a large, fiery-red, six-winged Seraph; and on each side a Seraph with
-hair and face and limbs of glowing red, and with white draperies.
-Vasari mentions an Adoration of the Magi by Liberale of Verona, in
-which a group of angels, all of a red colour, stand as a celestial guard
-round the Virgin and her divine Infant.<a id="FNanchor_23" href="#Footnote_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a></p>
-
-<div class="figleft illowp60" id="i_049" style="max-width: 31.25em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_049.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c7"></a>7 Cherubim (Liberale di Verona)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The distinction of hue in the red and blue angels we find wholly
-omitted towards the end of the fifteenth century. Cherubim with blue,
-red, green, and variegated wings we
-find in the pictures of Perugino and
-other masters in the beginning of the
-sixteenth century, also in early pictures
-of Raphael. Liberale di Verona
-has given us, in a Madonna picture,
-Cherub heads without wings, and of
-a blue colour, emerging from golden
-clouds. And in Raphael’s Madonna di
-San Sisto the whole background is
-formed of Cherubim and Seraphim of
-a uniform delicate bluish tinge, as if
-composed of air, and melting away
-into an abyss of golden glory, the principal
-figures standing relieved against
-this flood of living love and light—beautiful!
-So are the Cherubim with many-coloured wings which float
-in the firmament in Perugino’s Coronation of the Virgin; but none of
-these can be regarded as so theologically correct as the fiery-red and
-bright-blue Seraphim and Cherubim, of which are formed the hierarchies
-and glories which figure in the early pictures, the stained glass, the
-painted sculpture, and the illuminated MSS. from the tenth to the
-sixteenth century.</p>
-
-<p>The next five choirs of angels, the Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms,
-Virtues, Powers, though classed and described with great exactitude by
-the theologians, have not been very accurately discriminated in Art. In<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</span>
-some examples the Thrones have green wings, a fiery aureole, and bear
-a throne in their hands. The Dominations, Virtues, and Powers
-sometimes bear a globe and a long sceptre surmounted by a cross. The
-Principalities, according to the Greek formula, should bear a branch of
-lily. The Archangels are figured as warriors, and carry a sword with
-the point upwards. The angels are robed as deacons, and carry a wand.
-In one of the ancient frescoes in the Cathedral at Orvieto, there is a
-complete hierarchy of angels, so arranged as to symbolise the Trinity,
-each of the nine choirs being composed of three angels, but the Seraphim<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</span>
-only are distinguished by their red colour and priority of place. In the
-south porch of the Cathedral of Chartres, each of the nine orders is represented
-by two angels: in other instances, one angel only represents
-the order to which he belongs, and nine angels represent the whole
-hierarchy.<a id="FNanchor_24" href="#Footnote_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> Where, however, we meet with groups or rows of angels,
-as in the Greek mosaics and the earliest frescoes all alike, all with the
-tiara, the long sceptre-like wands, and the orb of sovereignty, I believe
-these to represent the Powers and Princedoms of Heaven. The Archangels
-alone, as we shall see presently, have distinct individual names
-and attributes assigned to them.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp90" id="i_050" style="max-width: 81.25em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_050.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c8"></a>8 Part of a Glory of Angels surrounding the figure of Christ in a picture by Ambrogio Borgognone</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The angels, generally, have the human form; are winged; and are
-endowed with immutable happiness and perpetual youth, because they
-are ever in the presence of Him with whom there is no change and no
-time. They are direct emanations of the beauty of the Eternal mind,
-therefore beautiful; created, therefore not eternal, but created perfect,
-and immortal in their perfection: they are always supposed to be masculine;
-perhaps for the reason so beautifully assigned by Madame de
-Staël, ‘because the union of power with purity (<i>la force avec la pureté</i>)
-constitutes all that we mortals can imagine of perfection.’ There is no
-such thing as an old angel, and therefore there ought to be no such
-thing as an infant angel. The introduction of infant angels seems to
-have arisen from the custom of representing the regenerate souls of men
-as new-born infants, and perhaps also from the words of our Saviour,
-when speaking of children: ‘I say unto you, their angels do always
-behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.’ Such representations,
-when religiously and poetically treated as spirits of love, intelligence,
-and innocence, are of exquisite beauty, and have a significance
-which charms and elevates the fancy; but from this, the true and
-religious conception, the Italian <i>putti</i> and <i>puttini</i>, and the rosy chubby
-babies of the Flemish school, are equally remote.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</span></p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp60" id="i_052" style="max-width: 62.5em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_052.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c9"></a>9 Egyptian winged genius (Louvre)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>In early Art, the angels in the bloom of adolescence are always amply
-draped: at first, in the classical tunic and pallium; afterwards in long
-linen vestments with the alba and stole, as levites or deacons; or as
-princes, with embroidered robes and sandals, and jewelled crowns or
-fillets. Such figures are common in the Byzantine mosaics and pictures.
-The expression, in these early representations, is usually calm and impassive.
-Angels partially draped in loose, fluttering, meretricious attire,
-poised in attitudes upon clouds, or with features animated by human
-passion, or limbs strained by human effort, are the innovations of more
-modern Art. White is, or ought to be, the prevailing colour in angelic
-draperies, but red and blue of various shades are more frequent: green
-often occurs; and in the Venetian pictures, yellow, or rather saffron-coloured,
-robes are not unfrequent. In the best examples of Italian
-Art the tints, though varied, are tender and delicate: all dark heavy
-colours and violent contrasts of colour are avoided. On the contrary, in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</span>
-the early German school, the angels have rich heavy voluminous
-draperies of the most intense and vivid colours, often jewelled and embroidered
-with gold. Flight, in such garments, seems as difficult as it
-would be to swim in coronation robes.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp50" id="i_053" style="max-width: 65.25em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_053.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c10"></a>10 Winged figure from Nineveh</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>But, whatever be the treatment as to character, lineaments, or dress,
-wings are almost invariably the attribute of the angelic form. As emblematical
-appendages, these are not merely significant of the character
-of celestial messengers, for, from time immemorial, wings have been the
-Oriental and Egyptian symbol of power, as well as of swiftness; of the
-spiritual and aerial, in contradistinction to the human and the earthly.
-Thus, with the Egyptians, the winged globe signified power and eternity,
-that is, the Godhead; a bird, with a human head, signified the
-soul; and nondescript creatures, with wings, abound not only in the
-Egyptian paintings and hieroglyphics, but also in the Chaldaic and
-Babylonian remains, in the Lycian and Nineveh marbles, and on the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</span>
-gems and other relics of the Gnostics. I have seen on the Gnostic
-gems figures with four wings, two springing from the shoulders and two
-from the loins. This portentous figure, from the ruins of Nineveh, is
-similarly constructed. (10.)</p>
-
-<p>In Etruscan Art all their divinities are winged; and where Venus is
-represented with wings, as in many of the antique gems (and by Correggio
-in imitation of them),<a id="FNanchor_25" href="#Footnote_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> these brilliant wings are not, as some have
-supposed, emblematical of the <i>transitoriness</i>, but of the might, the
-majesty, and the essential divinity of beauty. In Scripture, the first
-mention of Cherubim with wings is immediately after the departure of
-the Israelites from Egypt (Exod. xxxi. 2). Bezaleel, the first artist
-whose name is recorded in the world’s history, and who appears to have
-been, like the greatest artists of modern times, at once architect,
-sculptor, and painter, probably derived his figures of Cherubim with
-outstretched wings, guarding the mercy-seat, from those Egyptian works
-of Art with which the Israelites must have been familiarised. Clement
-of Alexandria is so aware of the relative similitude, that he supposes the
-Egyptians to have borrowed from the Israelites, which is obviously the
-reverse of the truth. How far the Cherubim, which figure in the
-Biblical pictures of the present day, resemble the carved Cherubim of
-Bezaleel we cannot tell, but probably the idea and the leading forms are
-the same: for the ark, we know, was carried into Palestine; these original
-Cherubim were the pattern of those which adorned the temple of
-Solomon, and these, again, were the prototype after which the imagery
-of the second temple was fashioned. Although in Scripture the shape
-under which the celestial ministers appeared to man is nowhere described,
-except in the visions of the prophets (Dan. x. 5), and there
-with a sort of dreamy incoherent splendour, rendering it most perilous
-to clothe the image placed before the fancy in definite forms, still the
-idea of wings, as the angelic appendages, is conveyed in many places
-distinctly, and occasionally with a picturesque vividness which inspires
-and assists the artist. For instance, in Daniel, ch. vii., ‘they had wings
-like a fowl.’ In Ezekiel, ch.i., ‘their wings were stretched upward when
-they flew; when they stood, they let down their wings:’ ‘I heard the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</span>
-noise of their wings as the noise of great
-waters:’ and in Zechariah, ch. v., ‘I
-looked, and behold there came out two
-women, and the wind was in their wings,
-for they had wings like the wings of a
-stork.’ And Isaiah, ch. vi., in the description
-of the Seraphim, ‘Each one had six
-wings; with twain he covered his face, and
-with twain he covered his feet, and with
-twain he did fly.’ By the early artists this
-description was followed out in a manner
-more conscientious and reverential than
-poetical.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp40" id="i_055" style="max-width: 31.25em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_055.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c11"></a>11 Seraph<br />
-(Greek mosaic, Cathedral of Monreale)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>They were content with a symbol. But
-mark how Milton, more daring, could paint
-from the same original:—</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent0">A seraph wing’d; six wings he wore to shade</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">His lineaments divine: the pair that clad</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Each shoulder broad, came mantling o’er his breast</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">With regal ornament; the middle pair</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Girt like a starry zone his waist, and round</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Skirted his loins and thighs with downy gold</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">And colours dipp’d in heaven; the third his feet</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Shadow’d from either heel with feather’d mail,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Sky-tinctured grain.</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>I have sometimes thought that Milton, in his descriptions of angels,
-was not indebted merely to the notions of the old theological writers,
-interpreted and embellished by his own fancy: may he not, in his wanderings
-through Italy, have beheld with kindling sympathy some of
-those glorious creations of Italian Art, which, when I saw them, made
-me break out into his own divine language as the only fit utterance to
-express those forms in words?—But, to return—Is it not a mistake to
-make the wings, the feathered appendages of the angelic form, as like as
-possible to real wings—the wings of storks, or the wings of swans, or
-herons, borrowed for the occasion? Some modern painters, anxious to
-make wings look ‘natural,’ have done this; Delaroche, for instance,
-in his St. Cecilia. Infinitely more beautiful and consistent are the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</span>
-nondescript wings which the early painters gave their angels:—large—so
-large, that when the glorious creature is represented as at rest,
-they droop from the shoulders to the ground; with long slender
-feathers, eyed sometimes like the peacock’s train, bedropped with gold
-like the pheasant’s breast, tinted with azure and violet and crimson,
-‘colours dipp’d in heaven,’—they are really angel-wings, not bird-wings.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp90" id="i_056a" style="max-width: 81.25em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_056a.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c12"></a>12 Angels (Orcagna)</div>
-</div>
-
-<div class="figleft illowp30" id="i_056b" style="max-width: 40.625em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_056b.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c13"></a>13 Fiery Cherub (Raphael)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Orcagna’s angels in the Campo Santo are, in this respect, peculiarly
-poetical. Their extremities are wings instead of limbs; and in a few
-of the old Italian and German painters of the fifteenth century we find
-angels whose extremities are formed of light waving folds of pale rose-coloured
-or azure drapery, or of a sort of vapoury cloud, or, in some
-instances, of flames. The cherubim and seraphim which surround the
-similitude of Jehovah when He appears to Moses in the burning bush,<a id="FNanchor_26" href="#Footnote_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a>
-are an example of the sublime and poetical
-significance which may be given to
-this kind of treatment. They have heads
-and human features marvellous for intelligence
-and beauty; their hair, their
-wings, their limbs, end in lambent fires;
-they are ‘celestial Ardours bright,’ which
-seem to have being without shape.</p>
-
-<p>Dante’s angels have less of dramatic
-reality, less of the aggrandised and idealised
-human presence, than Milton’s. They
-are wondrous creatures. Some of them have the quaint fantastic picturesqueness<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</span>
-of old Italian Art and the Albert Dürer school; for
-instance, those in the Purgatorio, with their wings of a bright green,
-and their green draperies, ‘verde come fogliette,’ kept in a perpetual
-state of undulation by the breeze created by the fanning of their wings,
-with features too dazzling to be distinguished:</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza"><div lang="it">
-    <div class="verse indent0">Ben discerneva in lor la testa bionda,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Ma nelle facce l’ occhio si smarria</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Come virtù ch’ a troppo si confonda.<a id="FNanchor_27" href="#Footnote_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a></div>
-  </div></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>And the Shape, glowing red as in a furnace, with an air from the fanning
-of its wings, ‘fresh as the first breath of wind in a May morning, and
-fragrant as all its flowers.’ That these and other passages scattered
-through the Purgatorio and the Paradiso assisted the fancy of the earlier
-painters, in portraying their angelic Glories and winged Beatitudes,
-I have little doubt; but, on the other hand, the sublime angel in the
-Inferno—he who comes speeding over the waters with vast pinions like
-sails, sweeping the evil spirits in heaps before him, ‘like frogs before a
-serpent,’ and with a touch of his wand making the gates of the city of
-Dis fly open; then, with a countenance solemn and majestic, and quite
-unmindful of his worshipper, as one occupied by higher matters, turning
-and soaring away—this is quite in the sentiment of the grand old
-Greek and Italian mosaics, which preceded Dante by some centuries.<a id="FNanchor_28" href="#Footnote_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></p>
-
-<p>But besides being the winged messengers of God to man, the deputed
-regents of the stars, the rulers of the elements, and the dispensers of the
-fate of nations, angels have another function in which we love to contemplate
-them. They are the choristers of heaven. Theirs is the privilege
-to sound that hymn of praise which goes up from this boundless
-and harmonious universe of suns and stars and worlds and rejoicing
-creatures, towards the God who created them: theirs is the music of
-the spheres—</p>
-
-<p class="center">
-They sing, and singing in their glory move;<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>they tune divine instruments, named after those of earth’s harmonies—</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</span></p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent8">The harp, the solemn pipe</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">And dulcimer, all organs of sweet stop,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">All sounds on fret by string or golden wire,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent14">... And with songs</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">And choral symphonies, day without night,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Circle his throne rejoicing.</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>There is nothing more beautiful, more attractive, in Art than the representations
-of angels in this character. Sometimes they form a chorus
-round the glorified Saviour, when, after his sorrow and sacrifice on earth,
-he takes his throne in heaven; or, when the crown is placed on the head
-of the Maternal Virgin in glory, pour forth their triumphant song, and
-sound their silver clarions on high: sometimes they stand or kneel before
-the Madonna and Child, or sit upon the steps of her throne, singing,—with
-such sweet earnest faces! or playing on their golden lutes, or
-piping celestial symphonies; or they bend in a choir from the opening
-heavens above, and welcome, with triumphant songs, the liberated soul
-of the saint or martyr; or join in St. Cecilia’s hymn of praise: but
-whatever the scene, in these and similar representations, they appear in
-their natural place and vocation, and harmonise enchantingly with all
-our feelings and fancies relative to these angelic beings, made up of love
-and music.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_058" style="max-width: 81.25em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_058.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><span class="gap4r"><a id="c14"></a>14 Angel (Francia)</span> <a id="c15"></a>15 Piping Angel (Gian Bellini)
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Most beautiful examples of this treatment occur both in early painting
-and sculpture; and no one who has wandered through churches
-and galleries, with feeling and observation awake, can fail to remember<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</span>
-such. It struck me as characteristic of the Venetian school, that the
-love of music seemed to combine with the sense of harmony in colour;
-nowhere have I seen musical angels so frequently and so beautifully introduced:
-and whereas the angelic choirs of Fiesole, Ghirlandajo, and
-Raphael, seem to be playing as an act of homage for the delight of the
-Divine Personages, those of Vivarini and Bellini and Palma appear as if
-enchanted by their own music; and both together are united in the
-grand and beautiful angels of Melozzo da Forli, particularly in one who
-is bending over a lute, and another who with a triumphant and ecstatic
-expression strikes the cymbals.<a id="FNanchor_29" href="#Footnote_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> Compare the cherubic host who are
-pouring forth their hymns of triumph, blowing their uplifted trumpets,
-and touching immortal harps and viols in Angelico’s ‘Coronation,’<a id="FNanchor_30" href="#Footnote_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> or
-in Signorelli’s ‘Paradiso,’<a id="FNanchor_31" href="#Footnote_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> with those lovely Venetian choristers, the
-piping boys, myrtle-crowned, who are hymning Bellini’s Madonna,<a id="FNanchor_32" href="#Footnote_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> or
-those who are touching the lute to the praise and glory of St. Ambrose
-in Vivarini’s most beautiful picture; you will feel immediately the distinction
-in point of sentiment.</p>
-
-<p>The procession of chanting angels which once surmounted the organ
-in the Duomo of Florence is a perfect example of musical angels applied
-to the purpose of decoration. Perhaps it was well to remove this exquisite
-work of art to a place of safety, where it can be admired and
-studied as a work of art; but the removal has taken from it the appropriate
-expression. How they sing!—when the tones of the organ burst
-forth, we might have fancied we heard their divine voices through the
-stream of sound! The exquisite little bronze choristers round the high
-altar of St. Antonio in Padua are another example; Florentine in
-elegance of form, Venetian in sentiment, intent upon their own sweet
-song!</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>There is a third function ascribed to these angelic natures, which
-brings them even nearer to our sympathies; they are the deputed
-guardians of the just and innocent. St. Raphael, whose story I shall
-presently relate, is the prince of the guardian angels. The Jews held
-that the angels deputed to Lot were his guardian angels.<a id="FNanchor_33" href="#Footnote_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> The fathers
-of the Christian Church taught that every human being, from the hour<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</span>
-of his birth to that of his death, is accompanied by an angel appointed
-to watch over him. The Mahometans give to each of us a good and an
-evil angel; but the early Christians supposed us to be attended each by
-a good angel only, who undertakes that office, not merely from duty to
-God, and out of obedience and great humility, but as inspired by exceeding
-charity and love towards his human charge. It would require
-the tongues of angels themselves to recite all that we owe to these
-benign and vigilant guardians. They watch by the cradle of the new-born
-babe, and spread their celestial wings round the tottering steps of
-infancy. If the path of life be difficult and thorny, and evil spirits work
-its shame and woe, they sustain us; they bear the voice of our complaining,
-of our supplication, of our repentance, up to the foot of God’s
-throne, and bring us back in return a pitying benediction, to strengthen
-and to cheer. When passion and temptation strive for the mastery,
-they encourage us to resist; when we conquer, they crown us; when
-we falter and fail, they compassionate and grieve over us; when we are
-obstinate in polluting our own souls, and perverted not only in act but
-in will, they leave us—and woe to them that are so left! But the good
-angel does not quit his charge until his protection is despised, rejected,
-and utterly repudiated. Wonderful the fervour of their love—wonderful
-their meekness and patience— who endure from day to day the
-spectacle of the unveiled human heart with all its miserable weaknesses
-and vanities, its inordinate desires and selfish purposes! Constant to us
-in death, they contend against the powers of darkness for the emancipated
-spirit: they even visit the suffering sinner in purgatory; they
-keep alive in the tormented spirit faith and hope, and remind him that
-the term of expiation will end at last. So Dante<a id="FNanchor_34" href="#Footnote_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> represents the souls
-in purgatory as comforted in their misery; and (which has always
-seemed to me a touch of sublime truth and tenderness) as rejoicing over
-those who were on earth conspicuous for the very virtues wherein
-themselves were deficient. When at length the repentant soul is sufficiently
-purified, the guardian angel bears it to the bosom of the Saviour.</p>
-
-<p>The earlier painters and sculptors did not, apparently, make the same
-use of guardian angels that we so often meet with in works of Modern
-Art. Poetical allegories of angels guiding the steps of childhood,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</span>
-extending a shield over innocence, watching by a sick bed, do not, I
-think, occur before the seventeenth century; at least I have not met with
-such. The ancient masters, who really believed in the personal agency
-of our angelic guardians, beheld them with awe and reverence, and reserved
-their presence for great and solemn occasions. The angel who
-presents the pious votary to Christ or the Virgin, who crowns St.
-Cecilia and St. Valerian after their conquest over human weakness;
-the angel who cleaves the air with flight precipitant’ to break the
-implements of torture, or to extend the palm to the dying martyr, victorious
-over pain; the angels who assist and carry in their arms the
-souls of the just; are, in these and all similar examples, representations
-of guardian angels.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Such, then, are the three great functions of the angelic host: they
-are Messengers, Choristers, and Guardians. But angels, without reference
-to their individuality or their ministry—with regard only to
-their species and their form, as the most beautiful and the most elevated
-of created essences, as intermediate between heaven and earth—are
-introduced into all works of art which have a sacred purpose or character,
-and must be considered not merely as decorative accessories, but
-as a kind of presence, as attendant witnesses; and, like the chorus in
-the Greek tragedies, looking on where they are not actors. In architectural
-decoration, the cherubim with which Solomon adorned his
-temple have been the authority and example.<a id="FNanchor_35" href="#Footnote_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> ‘Within the oracle he
-made two cherubims, each ten cubits high, and with wings five cubits in
-length’ (the angels in the old Christian churches on each side of the
-altar correspond with these cherubim), ‘and he overlaid the cherubims
-with gold, and carved all the walls of the house with carved figures of
-cherubims, and he made doors of olive tree, and he carved on them
-figures of cherubims.’ So, in Christian art and architecture, angels,
-with their beautiful cinctured heads and outstretched wings and flowing
-draperies, fill up every space. The instances are so numerous that they
-will occur to every one who has given a thought to the subject. I may
-mention the frieze of angels in Henry the Seventh’s Chapel, merely as
-an example at hand, and which can be referred to at any moment; also<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</span>
-the angels round the choir of Lincoln Cathedral, of which there are fine
-casts in the Crystal Palace at Sydenham; and in some of the old
-churches in Saxony which clearly exhibit the influence of Byzantine Art—for
-instance, at Freyberg, Merseburg, Naumburg—angels with outspread
-wings fill up the spandrils of the arches along the nave.</p>
-
-<p>But, in the best ages of Art, angels were not merely employed as
-decorative accessories; they had their appropriate place and a solemn
-significance as a part of that theological system which the edifice, as a
-whole, represented.</p>
-
-<p>As a celestial host, surrounding the throne of the Trinity; or of
-Christ, as redeemer or as a judge; or of the Virgin in glory; or the
-throned Madonna and Child; their place is immediately next to the
-Divine Personages, and before the Evangelists.</p>
-
-<div class="figleft illowp35" id="i_062" style="max-width: 31.25em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_062.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c16"></a>16 Angel bearing the Moon<br />
-(Greek, 12th century)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>In what is called a Liturgy of Angels, they figure in procession On
-each side of the choir, so as to have the appearance
-of approaching the altar: they wear
-the stole and alba as deacons, and bear the
-implements of the mass. In the Cathedral
-of Rheims there is a range of colossal angels
-as a grand procession along the vaults of
-the nave, who appear as approaching the
-altar: these bear not only the gospel, the
-missal, the sacramental cup, the ewer, the
-taper, the cross, &amp;c., but also the attributes
-of sovereignty, celestial and terrestrial: one
-carries the sun, another the moon, a third the
-kingly sceptre, a fourth the globe, a fifth the
-sword; and all these, as they approach the
-sanctuary, they seem about to place at the
-feet of Christ, who stands there as priest and
-king in glory. Statues of angels in an attitude
-of worship on each side of the altar,
-as if adoring the sacrifice—or bearing in
-triumph the instruments of Christ’s passion, the cross, the nails, the
-spear, the crown of thorns—or carrying tapers—are more common,
-and must be regarded not merely as decoration, but as a <i>presence</i> in the
-high solemnity.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</span></p>
-
-<p>In the Cathedral of Auxerre may be seen angels attending on the
-triumphant coming of Christ; and, which is most singular, they, as well
-as Christ, are on horseback (17).</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp80" id="i_063a" style="max-width: 75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_063a.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c17"></a>17</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>When, in subjects from Scripture history, angels figure not merely
-as attendants and spectators, but as personages necessary to the action,
-they are either ministers of the divine wrath, or of the divine mercy;
-agents of destruction, or agents of help and good counsel. As all these
-instances belong to the historical scenes of the Old or the New Testament,
-they will be considered separately, and I shall confine myself
-here to a few remarks on the introduction and treatment of angels in
-some subjects of peculiar interest.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<div class="figleft illowp50" id="i_063b" style="max-width: 62.5em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_063b.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c18"></a>18 Adam and Eve expelled (N. Pisano)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>In relating ‘the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise,’ it is
-not said that an angel was the immediate
-agent of the divine wrath,
-but it is so represented in works of
-Art. In the most ancient treatment
-I have met with,<a id="FNanchor_36" href="#Footnote_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> a majestic armed
-angel drives forth the delinquents,
-and a cherub with six wings stands
-as guard before the gate. I found
-the same <i>motif</i> in the sculptures on
-the façade of the Duomo at Orvieto,
-by Niccolò Pisano. In another
-instance, an ancient Saxon
-miniature, the angel is represented
-not as driving them forth, but closing the door against them. But these<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</span>
-are exceptions to the usual mode of treatment, which seldom varies;
-the angel is not represented in wrath, but calm, and stretches forth a
-sword which is often (literally rendering the text) a waving lambent
-flame. I remember an instance in which the preternatural sword,
-‘turning every way,’ as the form of a wheel of flames.</p>
-
-<p>An angel is expressly introduced as a minister of wrath in the story
-of Balaam, in which I have seen no deviation from the obvious prosaic
-treatment, rendering the text literally, ‘and the ass saw the angel of
-the Lord standing in the way and his sword drawn in his hand.’</p>
-
-<p>‘The destroying angel, leaning from heaven, presents to David three
-arrows, from which to choose—war, pestilence, or famine.’ I have
-found this subject beautifully executed in several MSS., for instance, in
-the ‘Heures d’Anne de Bretagne;’ also in pictures and in prints.</p>
-
-<p>‘The destroying angel sent to chastise the arrogance of David, is
-beheld standing between heaven and earth with his sword stretched
-over Jerusalem to destroy it.’ Of this sublime vision I have never seen
-any but the meanest representations; none of the great masters have
-treated it; perhaps Rembrandt might have given us the terrible and
-glorious angel standing like a shadow in the midst of his own intense
-irradiation. David fallen on his face, and the sons of Ornan hiding
-themselves by their rude threshing-floor, with that wild mixture of the
-familiar and the unearthly in which he alone has succeeded.</p>
-
-<p>‘The Chastisement of Heliodorus’ has given occasion to the
-sublimest composition in which human genius ever attempted to embody
-the conception of the supernatural—Raphael’s fresco in the
-Vatican. St. Michael, the protecting angel of the Hebrew nation, is
-supposed to have been the minister of divine wrath on this occasion;
-but Raphael, in omitting the wings, and all exaggeration or alteration
-of the human figure, has shown how unnecessary it was for <i>him</i> to have
-recourse to the prodigious and impossible in form, in order to give the
-supernatural in sentiment. The unearthly warrior and his unearthly
-steed—the weapon in his hand, which is not a sword to pierce, nor a
-club to strike, but a sort of mace, of which, as it seems, a touch would
-annihilate; the two attendant spirits, who come gliding above the
-marble floor, with their hair streaming back with the rapidity of their
-aërial motion—are in the very spirit of Dante, and, as conceptions of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</span>
-superhuman power, superior to anything in pictured form which Art
-has bequeathed to us.</p>
-
-<p>In calling to mind the various representations of the angels of the
-Apocalypse let loose for destruction, one is tempted to exclaim, ‘O for
-a warning voice!’ When the Muse of Milton quailed, and fell ten
-thousand fathom deep into Bathos, what could be expected from human
-invention? In general, where this subject is attempted in pictures, we
-find the angels animated, like those of Milton in the war of heaven, with
-‘fierce desire of battle,’ breathing vengeance, wrath, and fury. So
-Albert Dürer, in those wonderful scenes of his ‘Apocalypse,’ has exhibited
-them; but some of the early Italians show them merely impassive,
-conquering almost without effort, punishing without anger.
-The immediate instruments of the wrath of God in the day of judgment
-are not angels, but devils or demons, generally represented by the old
-painters with every possible exaggeration of hideousness, and as taking
-a horrible and grotesque delight in their task. The demons are fallen
-angels, their deformity a consequence of their fall. Thus, in some very
-ancient representations of the expulsion of Lucifer and his rebel host,
-the degradation of the form increases with their distance from heaven.<a id="FNanchor_37" href="#Footnote_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a>
-Those who are uppermost are still angels; they bear the aureole, the
-wings, and the tunic; they have not yet lost all their original brightness:
-those below them begin to assume the bestial form: the fingers
-become talons, the heads become horned; and at last, as they touch the
-confines of the gulf of hell, the transformation is seen complete, from
-the luminous angel into the abominable and monstrous devil, with
-serpent tail, claws, bristles, and tusks. This gradual transformation, as
-they descend into the gulf of sin, has a striking allegorical significance
-which cannot escape the reader. In a Greek MS. of the ninth
-century,<a id="FNanchor_38" href="#Footnote_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> bearing singular traces of antique classical art in the conception
-and attributes of the figures, I found both angels and demons treated
-in a style quite peculiar and poetical. The angels are here gigantic,
-majestic, Jove-like figures, with great wings. The demons are also
-majestic graceful winged figures, but painted of a dusky grey colour
-(it may originally have been black). In one scene, where Julian the
-Apostate goes to seek the heathen divinities, they are thus represented,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</span>
-that is, as <i>black angels</i>; showing that the painter had here assumed the
-devils or demons to be the discrowned and fallen gods of the antique
-world.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>These are a few of the most striking instances of angels employed as
-ministers of wrath. Angels, as ministers of divine grace and mercy,</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent0">Of all those arts which Deity supreme</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Doth ease its heart of love in.</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class="pnind">occur much more frequently.</p>
-
-<p>The ancient heresy that God made use of the agency of angels in the
-creation of the world, and of mankind, I must notice here, because it
-has found its way into Art; for example, in an old miniature which represents
-an angel having before him a lump of clay, a kind of <i>ébauche</i>
-of humanity, which he appears to be moulding with his hands, while
-the Almighty stands by directing the work.<a id="FNanchor_39" href="#Footnote_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> This idea, absurd as it
-may appear, is not perhaps more absurd than the notion of those who
-would represent the Great First Cause as always busied in fashioning
-or altering the forms in his visible creation, like a potter or any other
-mechanic. But as we are occupied at present with the scriptural, not
-the legendary subjects, I return to the Old Testament. The first time
-that we read of an angel sent as a messenger of mercy, it is for the
-comfort of poor Hagar; when he found her weeping by the spring of
-water in the wilderness, because her mistress had afflicted her: and
-again, when she was cast forth and her boy fainted for thirst. In the
-representation of these subjects, I do not know a single instance in which
-the usual angelic form has not been adhered to. In the sacrifice of
-Isaac, ‘the angel of the Lord calls to Abraham out of heaven.’ This
-subject, as the received type of the sacrifice of the Son of God, was one
-of the earliest in Christian Art. We find it on the sarcophagi of the
-third and fourth centuries; but in one of the latest only have I seen a
-personage introduced as staying the hand of Abraham, and this personage
-is without wings. In painting, the angel is sometimes in the act of
-taking the sword out of Abraham’s hand, which expresses the nature of
-his message: or he lays one hand on his arm, and with the other points
-to the ram which was to replace the sacrifice, or brings the ram in his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</span>
-arms to the altar; but, whatever the action, the form of the angelic
-messenger has never varied from the sixth century.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp80" id="i_067" style="max-width: 81.25em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_067.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c19"></a>19 The Angels who visit Abraham (Raphael)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>In the visit of the angels to Abraham, there has been a variety caused
-by the wording of the text. It is not said that three <i>angels</i> visited
-Abraham, yet in most of the ancient representations the three celestial
-guests are, winged angels. I need hardly observe that these three
-angels are assumed to be a figure of the Trinity, and in some old illuminations
-the interpretation is not left doubtful, the angels being
-characterised as the three persons of the Trinity, wearing each the
-cruciform nimbus: two of them, young and beardless, stand behind;
-the third, representing the Father, has a beard, and, before <i>Him</i>,
-Abraham is prostrated. Beautiful for grace and simplicity is the
-winged group by Ghiberti, in which the three seem to step and move
-together as one. More modern artists have given us the celestial
-visitants merely as men. Pre-eminent in this style of conception are
-the pictures of Raphael and Murillo. Raphael here, as elsewhere, a
-true poet, has succeeded in conveying, with exquisite felicity, the sentiment<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</span>
-of power, of a heavenly presence, and of a mysterious significance.
-The three youths, who stand linked together hand in hand before the
-Patriarch, with such an air of benign and superior grace, want no
-wings to show us that they belong to the courts of heaven, and have
-but just descended to earth—</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent21">So lively shines</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">In them divine resemblance, and such grace</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">The hand that form’d them on their shape hath pour’d.</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Murillo, on the contrary, gives us merely three young men, travellers,
-and has set aside wholly both the angelic and the mystic character of
-the visitants.<a id="FNanchor_40" href="#Footnote_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a></p>
-
-<p>The angels who descend and ascend the ladder in Jacob’s dream are
-in almost every instance represented in the usual form; sometimes a
-few<a id="FNanchor_41" href="#Footnote_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a>—sometimes in multitudes<a id="FNanchor_42" href="#Footnote_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a>—sometimes as one only, who turns to
-bless the sleeper before he ascends;<a id="FNanchor_43" href="#Footnote_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> and the ladder is sometimes a
-flight, or a series of flights, of steps ascending from earth to the
-empyrean. But here it is Rembrandt who has shown himself the poet;
-the ladder is a slanting stream of light; the angels are mysterious bird-like
-luminous forms, which emerge one after another from a dazzling
-fount of glory, and go floating up and down,—so like a dream made
-visible!—In Middle-Age Art this vision of Jacob occurs very rarely.
-I shall have to return to it when treating of the subjects from the Old
-Testament.</p>
-
-<p>In the New Testament angels are much more frequently alluded to
-than in the Old; more as a reality, less as a vision; in fact, there is no
-important event throughout the Gospels and Acts in which angels do
-not appear, either as immediate agents, or as visible and present; and
-in scenes where they are not distinctly said to be visibly present, they
-are assumed to be so invisibly, St. Paul having said expressly that
-‘their ministry is continual.’ It is therefore with undeniable propriety
-that, in works of Art representing the incidents of the Gospels, angels
-should figure as a perpetual presence, made visible under such forms as
-custom and tradition have consecrated.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</span></p>
-
-<p>I pass over, for the present, the grandest, the most important mission
-of an angel, the announcement brought by Gabriel to the blessed
-Virgin. I shall have to treat it fully hereafter.<a id="FNanchor_44" href="#Footnote_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> The angel who appears
-to Joseph in a dream, and the angel who commands him to flee into
-Egypt, was in both cases probably the same angel who hailed Mary as
-blessed above all women; but we are not told so; and according to
-some commentators it was the guardian angel of Joseph who appeared
-to him. In these and other scenes of the New Testament, in which
-angels are described as direct agents, or merely as a chorus of ministering
-attendants, they have the usual form, enhanced by as much beauty,
-and benignity, and aërial grace as the fancy of the artist could bestow
-on them. In the Nativity they are seen hovering on high, pouring
-forth their song of triumph; they hold a scroll in their hands on which
-their song is written: in general there are three angels; the first sings,
-<i>Gloria in excelsis Deo!</i> the second, <i>Et in terra pax!</i> the third, <i>Hominibus
-bonæ voluntatis!</i> but in some pictures the three angels are replaced
-by a numerous choir, who raise the song of triumph in the skies,
-while others are seen kneeling round and adoring the Divine Infant.</p>
-
-<p>The happiest, the most beautiful, instance I can remember of this
-particular treatment is the little chapel in the Riccardi Palace at
-Florence. This chapel is in the form of a Greek cross, and the frescoes
-are thus disposed:—</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_069" style="max-width: 50em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_069.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c20"></a>20</div>
-</div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</span></p>
-
-<p>The walls 1, 2, and 3, are painted with the journey of the Wise Men,
-who, with a long train of attendants mounted on horseback and gorgeously
-apparelled, are seen travelling over hill and dale led by the
-guiding star. Over the altar was the Nativity (now removed); on
-each side (4, 5) is seen a choir of angels, perhaps fifty in number,
-rejoicing over the birth of the Redeemer: some kneel in adoration, with
-arms folded over the bosom, others offer flowers; some come dancing
-forward with flowers in their hands or in the lap of their robe; others
-sing and make celestial music: they have glories round their heads, all
-inscribed alike, ‘Gloria in excelsis Deo!’ The naïve grace, the beautiful
-devout expression, the airy movements of these lovely beings, melt
-the soul to harmony and joy. The chapel having been long shut up,
-and its existence scarcely remembered, these paintings are in excellent
-preservation; and I saw nothing in Italy that more impressed me with
-admiration of the genuine feeling and piety of the old masters. The
-choral angels of Angelico da Fiesole already described are not more
-pure in sentiment, and are far less animated, than these.<a id="FNanchor_45" href="#Footnote_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a></p>
-
-<p>But how different from both is the ministry of the angels in some of
-the pictures of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, both German and
-Italian! The Virgin Mary is washing her Divine Infant; angels dry
-the clothes, or pour out water: Joseph is planing a board, and angels
-assist the Infant Saviour in sweeping up the chips. In a beautiful
-little Madonna and Child, in Prince Wallerstein’s collection, an angel
-is playing with the Divine Infant, is literally his <i>play-fellow</i>; a very
-graceful idea, of which I have seen but this one instance.</p>
-
-<p>In the Flight into Egypt, an angel often leads the ass. In the Riposo,
-a subject rare before the fifteenth century, angels offer fruit and
-flowers, or bend down the branches of the date tree, that Joseph may
-gather the fruit; or weave the choral dance, hand in hand, for the
-delight of the Infant Christ, while others make celestial music—as in
-Vandyck’s beautiful picture in Lord Ashburton’s collection. After the
-Temptation, they minister to the Saviour in the wilderness, and spread
-for him a table of refreshment—</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent14">... celestial food divine,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Ambrosial fruit, fetch’d from the tree of life,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">And from the fount of life ambrosial drink.</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</span></p>
-<p>It is not said that angels were visibly present at the baptism of
-Christ; but it appears to me that they ought not therefore to be supposed
-absent, and that there is a propriety in making them attendants
-on this solemn occasion. They are not introduced in the very earliest
-examples, those in the catacombs and sarcophagi; nor yet in the mosaics
-of Ravenna; because angels were then rarely figured, and instead of the
-winged angel we have the sedge-crowned river god, representing the
-Jordan. In the Greek formula, they are required to be present ‘in
-an attitude of respect:’ no mention is made of their holding the garments
-of our Saviour; but it is certain that in Byzantine Art, and
-generally from the twelfth century, this has been the usual mode of
-representing them. According to the Fathers, our Saviour had no
-guardian angel; because he did not require one: notwithstanding the
-sense usually given to the text, ‘He shall give his angels charge concerning
-thee, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone,’ the
-angels, they affirm, were not the guardians, but the servants, of Christ;
-and hence, I presume, the custom of representing them, not merely as
-present, but as ministering to him during his baptism. The gates of
-San Paolo (tenth century) afford the most ancient example I have met
-with of an angel holding the raiment of the Saviour: there is only one
-angel. Giotto introduces two graceful angels kneeling on the bank of
-the river, and looking on with attention. The angel in Raphael’s composition
-bows his head, as if awe-struck by the divine recognition of the
-majesty of the Redeemer; and the reverent manner in which he holds
-the vestment is very beautiful. Other examples will here suggest
-themselves to the reader, and I shall resume the subject when treating
-of the life of our Saviour.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>In one account of our Saviour’s agony in the garden of Gethsemane,
-it is expressly said that an angel ‘appeared unto him out of heaven,
-strengthening him;’ therefore, where this awful and pathetic subject
-has been attempted in Art, there is propriety in introducing a visible
-angel. Notwithstanding the latitude thus allowed to the imagination,
-or perhaps for that very reason, the greatest and the most intelligent
-painters have here fallen into strange errors, both in conception and in
-taste. For instance, is it not a manifest impropriety to take the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</span>
-Scripture phrase in a literal sense, and place a cup in the hand of the
-angel? Is not the word <i>cup</i> here, as elsewhere, used as a metaphor,
-signifying the destiny awarded by Divine will, as Christ had said before,
-‘Ye shall drink of my cup,’ and as we say, ‘his cup overfloweth with
-blessings’? The angel, therefore, who does not bend from heaven to
-announce to him the decree he knew full well, nor to present the cup of
-bitterness, but to strengthen and comfort him, should not bear the cup;—still
-less the cross, the scourge, the crown of thorns, as in many
-pictures.</p>
-
-<p>Where our Saviour appears bowed to the earth, prostrate, half
-swooning with the anguish of that dread moment, and an angel is seen
-sustaining him, there is a true feeling of the real meaning of Scripture;
-but even in such examples the effect is often spoiled by an attempt to
-render the scene at once more mystical and more palpable. Thus a
-painter equally remarkable for the purity of his taste and deep religious
-feeling, Niccolò Poussin, has represented Christ, in his agony, supported
-in the arms of an angel, while a crowd of child-angels, very much like
-Cupids, appear before him with the instruments of the Passion; ten or
-twelve bear a huge cross; others hold the scourge, the crown of thorns,
-the nails, the sponge, the spear, and exhibit them before him, as if these
-were the images, these the terrors, which could overwhelm with fear
-and anguish even the <i>human</i> nature of such a Being!<a id="FNanchor_46" href="#Footnote_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> It seems to me
-also a mistake, when the angel is introduced, to make him merely an
-accessory (as Raphael has done in one of his early pictures), a little
-figure in the air to help the meaning: since the occasion was worthy
-of angelic intervention, in a visible shape, bringing divine solace, divine
-sympathy, it should be represented under a form the most mighty and
-the most benign that Art could compass;—but has it been so? I can
-recollect no instance in which the failure has not been complete. If it
-be said that to render the angelic comforter so superior to the sorrowing
-and prostrate Redeemer would be to detract from <i>His</i> dignity as the
-principal personage of the scene, and thus violate one of the first rules
-of Art, I think differently—I think it could do so only in unskilful
-hands. Represented as it ought to be, and might be, it would infinitely<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</span>
-enhance the idea of that unimaginable anguish which, as we are told,
-was compounded of the iniquities and sorrows of all humanity laid upon
-<i>Him</i>. It was not the pang of the Mortal, but the Immortal, which
-required the presence of a ministering spirit sent down from heaven to
-sustain him.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp80" id="i_073" style="max-width: 75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_073.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c21"></a>21 Lamenting Angel in a Crucifixion (Campo Santo)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>In the Crucifixion, angels are seen lamenting, wringing their hands,
-averting or hiding their faces. In the old Greek crucifixions, one angel
-bears the sun, another the moon, on each side of the cross:—</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent4">... dim sadness did not spare,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">That time, celestial visages.</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Michael Angelo gives us two unwinged colossal-looking angel heads,
-which peer out of heaven in the background of his Crucifixion in a
-manner truly supernatural, as if they sympathised in the consummation,
-but in awe rather than in grief.</p>
-
-<p>Angels also receive in golden cups the blood which flows from the
-wounds of our Saviour. This is a representation which has the authority
-of some of the most distinguished and most spiritual among the old
-painters, but it is to my taste particularly unpleasing and unpoetical.
-Raphael, in an early picture, the only crucifixion he ever painted, thus
-introduces the angels; and this form of the angelic ministry is a mystical
-version of the sacrifice of the Redeemer not uncommon in Italian
-and German pictures of the sixteenth century.</p>
-
-<p>As the scriptural and legendary scenes in which angels form the
-poetical machinery will be discussed hereafter in detail as separate
-subjects, I shall conclude these general and preliminary remarks with a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</span>
-few words on the characteristic style in which the principal painters
-have set forth the angelic forms and attributes.</p>
-
-<p>It appears that, previous to the end of the fourth century, there were
-religious scruples which forbade the representation of angels, arising
-perhaps from the scandal caused in the early Church by the worship
-paid to these supernatural beings, and so strongly opposed by the primitive
-teachers. We do not find on any of the Christian relics of the
-first three centuries, neither in the catacombs, nor on the vases or the
-sarcophagi, any figure which could be supposed to represent what we
-call an angel. On one of the latest sarcophagi we find little winged
-figures, but evidently the classical winged genii, used in the classical
-manner as ornament only.<a id="FNanchor_47" href="#Footnote_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> In the second council of Nice, John of
-Thessalonica maintained that angels have the human form, and may be
-so represented; and the Jewish doctors had previously decided that
-God consulted his angels when He said, ‘Let us make man after <i>our</i>
-image,’ and that consequently we may suppose the angels to be like
-men, or, in the words of the prophet, ‘like unto the similitude of the
-sons of men.’<a id="FNanchor_48" href="#Footnote_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a> (Dan. x. 16.)</p>
-
-<p>But it is evident that, in the first attempt at angelic effigy, it was
-deemed necessary, in giving the human shape, to render it as superhuman,
-as imposing, as possible: colossal proportions, mighty overshadowing
-wings, kingly attributes, these we find in the earliest figures
-of angels which I believe exist—the mosaics in the church of Santa
-Agata at Ravenna (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 400). Christ is seated on a throne (as in the
-early sarcophagi): he holds the Gospel in one hand, and with the left
-gives the benediction. An angel stands on each side: they have large
-wings, and bear a silver wand, the long sceptre of the Grecian kings;
-they are robed in classical drapery, but wear the short pallium (the
-‘garb succinct for flight’); their feet are sandaled, as prepared for a
-journey, and their hair bound by a fillet. Except in the wings and
-short pallium, they resemble the figures of Grecian kings and priests in
-the ancient bas-reliefs.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp80" id="i_075a" style="max-width: 81.25em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_075a.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c22"></a>22 Angel (Greek MSS., ninth century)</div>
-</div>
-
-<div class="figleft illowp35" id="i_075b" style="max-width: 21.875em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_075b.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c23"></a>23 <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1000.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>This was the truly majestic idea of an angelic presence (in contradistinction
-to the angelic <i>emblem</i>), which, well or ill executed, prevailed
-during the first ten centuries. In the MS.<a id="FNanchor_49" href="#Footnote_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a> already referred to as containing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</span>
-such magnificent examples of this God-like form and bearing, I
-selected one group less ruined than most of the
-others; Jacob wrestling with the angel. The
-drawing is wonderful for the period, that of
-Charlemagne; and see how the mighty Being
-grasps the puny mortal, who was permitted for a
-while to resist him!—‘He touched the hollow
-of Jacob’s thigh, and it was out of joint’—the
-action is as significant as possible. In the original,
-the drapery of
-the angel is white; the
-fillet binding the hair, the sandals, and the wings,
-of purple and gold.</p>
-
-<p>This lank, formal angel is from the Greco-Italian
-school of the eleventh century. From
-the eleventh to the thirteenth century the forms
-of the angels became, like all things in the then<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</span>
-degraded state of Byzantine Art, merely conventional. They are
-attired either in the imperial or the sacerdotal vestments, as already
-described, and are richly ornamented, tasteless and stiff, large without
-grandeur, and in general ill drawn: as in these figures from
-Monreale (24).</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp90" id="i_076" style="max-width: 75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_076.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c24"></a>24 Greek Angels (Cathedral of Monreale. Eleventh century)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>On the revival of Art, we find the Byzantine idea of angels everywhere
-prevailing. The angels in Cimabue’s famous ‘Virgin and
-Child enthroned’ are grand creatures, rather stern; but this arose,
-I think, from his inability to express beauty. The colossal angels at
-Assisi (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1270), solemn sceptred kingly forms, all alike in action
-and attitude, appeared to me magnificent (30).</p>
-
-<p>In the angels of Giotto (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1310) we see the commencement of a
-softer grace and a purer taste, further developed by some of his scholars.
-Benozzo Gozzoli and Orcagna have left in the Campo Santo examples
-of the most graceful and fanciful treatment. Of Benozzo’s angels in
-the Riccardi palace I have spoken at length. His master Angelico
-(worthy the name!) never reached the same power of expressing the
-rapturous rejoicing of celestial beings, but his conception of the angelic
-nature remains unapproached, unapproachable (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1430); it is only<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</span>
-his, for it was the gentle, passionless, refined nature of the recluse which
-stamped itself there. Angelico’s angels are unearthly, not so much in
-form as in sentiment; and superhuman, not in power but in purity. In
-other hands, any imitation of his soft ethereal grace would become
-feeble and insipid. With their long robes falling round their feet, and
-drooping many-coloured wings, they seem not to fly or to walk, but to
-float along, ‘smooth sliding without step.’ Blessed, blessed creatures!
-love us, only love us—for we dare not task your soft serene Beatitude
-by asking you to <i>help</i> us!</p>
-
-<p>There is more sympathy with humanity in Francia’s angels: they
-look as if they could weep, as well as love and sing.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_077" style="max-width: 93.75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_077.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c25"></a>25 Angels (F. Granacci)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Most beautiful are the groups of adoring angels by Francesco Granacci,<a id="FNanchor_50" href="#Footnote_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a>
-so serenely tender, yet with a touch of grave earnestness which
-gives them a character apart: they have the air of guardian angels, who
-have discharged their trust, and to whom the Supreme utterance has
-voiced forth, ‘Servant of God, well done!’</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</span></p>
-
-<p>The angels of Botticelli are often stiff, and those of Ghirlandajo
-sometimes fantastic; but in both I have met with angelic countenances
-and forms which, for intense and happy expression, can never be forgotten.
-One has the feeling, however, that they used human models—the
-<i>portrait</i> face looks through the <i>angel</i> face. This is still more apparent
-in Mantegna and Filippo Lippi. As we might have expected from
-the character of Fra Filippo, his angels want refinement: they have a
-boyish look, with their crisp curled hair, and their bold beauty; yet
-some of them are magnificent for that sort of angel-beings supposed to
-have a volition of their own. Andrea del Sarto’s angels have the same
-fault in a less degree: they have, if not a bold, yet a self-willed boyish
-expression.</p>
-
-<p>Perugino’s angels convey the idea of an unalterable sweetness: those
-of his earlier time have much natural grace, those of his later time are
-mannered. In early Venetian Art the angels are charming: they are
-happy affectionate beings, with a touch of that voluptuous sentiment,
-afterwards the characteristic of the Venetian school.</p>
-
-<p>In the contemporary German school, angels are treated in a very extraordinary
-and original style (26). one cannot say that they are earthly,
-or commonplace, still less are they beautiful or divine; but they have
-great simplicity, earnestness, and energy of action. They appear to me
-conceived in the Old Testament spirit, with their grand stiff massive
-draperies, their jewelled and golden glories, their wings ‘eyed like the
-peacock, speckled like the pard,’ their intense expression, and the sort
-of personal and passionate interest they throw into their ministry. This
-is the character of Albert Dürer’s angels especially; those of Martin
-Schoen and Lucus v. Leyden are of a gentler spirit.</p>
-
-<p>Leonardo da Vinci’s angels do not quite please me, elegant, refined,
-and lovely as they are:—‘methinks they smile too much.’ By his
-scholar Luini there are some angels in the gallery of the Brera, swinging
-censers and playing on musical instruments, which, with the peculiar
-character of the Milanese school, combine all the grace of a purer,
-loftier nature.</p>
-
-<p>Correggio’s angels are grand and lovely, but they are like children
-enlarged and sublimated, not like spirits taking the form of children:
-where they smile it is truly, as Annibal Caracci expresses it, ‘<i>con una<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</span>
-naturalezza e semplicità che innamora e sforza a ridere con loro</i>;’
-but the smile in many of Correggio’s angel heads has something sublime
-and spiritual, as well as <i>simple</i> and <i>natural</i>.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_079" style="max-width: 62.5em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_079.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c26"></a>26 Angel. German School. (Albert Dürer)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>And Titian’s angels impress me in a similar manner—I mean those
-in the glorious Assumption at Venice—with their childish forms and
-features, but with an expression caught from beholding the face of ‘our
-Father that is in heaven:’ it is glorified infancy. I remember standing
-before this picture, contemplating those lovely spirits one after another,
-until a thrill came over me like that which I felt when Mendelssohn
-played the organ, and I became music while I listened. The face of
-one of those angels is to the face of a child just what that of the Virgin
-in the same picture is compared with the fairest of the daughters of
-earth: it is not here superiority of beauty, but mind and music and
-love, <i>kneaded</i>, as it were, into form and colour.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</span></p>
-
-<p>I have thought it singular and somewhat unaccountable, that among
-the earliest examples of undraped boy-angels are those of Fra Bartolomeo—he
-who on one occasion, at the command of Savonarola, made
-a bonfire of all the undressed figures he could lay his hands on.</p>
-
-<p>But Raphael, excelling in all things, is here excellent above all: his
-angels combine, in a higher degree than any other, the various faculties
-and attributes in which the fancy loves to clothe these pure, immortal,
-beatified creatures. The angels of Giotto, of Benozzo, of Fiesole, are,
-if not female, feminine; those of Lippi, and of A. Mantegna, masculine;
-but you cannot say of those of Raphael that they are masculine or
-feminine. The idea of sex is wholly lost in the blending of power, intelligence,
-and grace. In his earlier pictures grace is the predominant
-characteristic, as in the dancing and singing angels in his Coronation of
-the Virgin.<a id="FNanchor_51" href="#Footnote_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> In his later pictures the sentiment in his ministering
-angels is more spiritual, more dignified. As a perfect example of grand
-and poetical feeling, I may cite the angels as ‘Regents of the Planets,’
-in the Capella Chigiana.<a id="FNanchor_52" href="#Footnote_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a> The cupola represents in a circle the creation
-of the solar system, according to the theological and astronomical (or
-rather <i>astrological</i>) notions which then prevailed—a hundred years
-before ‘the starry Galileo and his woes.’ In the centre is the Creator;
-around, in eight compartments, we have, first, the angel of the celestial
-sphere, who seems to be listening to the divine mandate, ‘Let there be
-lights in the firmament of heaven;’ then follow, in their order, the
-Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. The
-name of each planet is expressed by its mythological representative;
-the Sun by Apollo, the Moon by Diana: and over each presides a
-grand colossal winged spirit seated or reclining on a portion of the
-zodiac as on a throne. I have selected two angels to give an idea of
-this peculiar and poetical treatment. The union of the theological and
-the mythological attributes is in the classical taste of the time, and
-quite Miltonic.<a id="FNanchor_53" href="#Footnote_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a> In Raphael’s child-angels, the expression of power and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</span>
-intelligence, as well as innocence, is quite wonderful; for instance, look
-at the two angel-boys in the Dresden Madonna di San Sisto, and the
-angels, or celestial genii, who bear along the Almighty when He appears
-to Noah.<a id="FNanchor_54" href="#Footnote_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a> No one has expressed like Raphael the action of flight,
-except perhaps Rembrandt. The angel who descends to crown Santa
-Felicità cleaves the air with the action of a swallow;<a id="FNanchor_55" href="#Footnote_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a> and the angel in
-Rembrandt’s Tobit soars like a lark with upward motion, spurning the
-earth.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_080" style="max-width: 100em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_080.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"> <i>Angels of the Planets from the Capella Chigi.</i></div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Michael Angelo rarely gave wings to his angels; I scarcely recollect
-an instance, except the angel in the Annunciation: and his exaggerated
-human forms, his colossal creatures, in which the idea of power is conveyed
-through attitude and muscular action, are, to my taste, worse
-than unpleasing. My admiration for this wonderful man is so profound
-that I can afford to say this. His angels are superhuman, but hardly
-angelic: and while in Raphael’s angels we do not feel the want of wings,
-we feel while looking at those of Michael Angelo that not even the
-‘sail-broad vans’ with which Satan laboured through the surging abyss
-of chaos could suffice to lift those Titanic forms from earth, and sustain
-them in mid-air. The group of angels over the Last Judgment, flinging
-their mighty limbs about, and those that surround the descending figure
-of Christ in the Conversion of St. Paul, may be referred to here as
-characteristic examples. The angels, blowing their trumpets, puff and
-strain like so many troopers. Surely this is not angelic: there may be
-<i>power</i>, great imaginative and artistic power, exhibited in the conception
-of form, but in the beings themselves there is more of effort than of
-power: serenity, tranquillity, beatitude, ethereal purity, spiritual grace,
-are out of the question.</p>
-
-<p>The later followers of his school, in their angelic as in their human
-forms, caricatured their great master, and became, to an offensive degree,
-forced, extravagant, and sensual.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>When we come to the revival of a better taste under the influence of
-the Caracci, we find the angels of that school as far removed from the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</span>
-early Christian types as were their apostles and martyrs. They have
-often great beauty, consummate elegance, but bear the same relation to
-the religious and ethereal types of the early painters that the angels of
-Tasso bear to those of Dante. Turn, for instance, to the commencement
-of the <i>Gerusalemme Liberata</i>, where the angel is deputed to carry to
-Godfrey the behest of the Supreme Being. The picture of the angel is
-distinctly and poetically brought before us; he takes to himself a form
-between boyhood and youth; his waving curls are crowned with beams
-of light; he puts on a pair of wings of silver tipped with gold, with
-which he cleaves the air, the clouds, the skies; he alights on Mount
-Lebanon, and poises himself on his balanced wings—</p>
-
-<p class="center" lang="it">
-E si librò su l’ adeguate penne.</p>
-
-<p>This is exactly the angel which figures in the best pictures of the
-Caracci and Guido: he is supremely elegant, and nothing more.</p>
-
-<p>I must not here venture on minute criticism, as regards distinctive
-character in the crowds of painters which sprung out of the eclectic
-school. It would carry us too far; but one or two general remarks will
-lead the reader’s fancy along the path I would wish him to pursue. I
-would say, therefore, that the angels of Ludovico have more of sentiment,
-those of Annibal more of power, those of Guido more of grace:
-and of Guido it may be said that he excels them all in the expression
-of adoration and humility; see, for instance, the adoring seraphs in
-Lord Ellesmere’s ‘Immaculate Conception.’ The angels of Domenichino,
-Guercino, and Albano, are to me less pleasing. Domenichino’s
-angels are merely human. I never saw an angel in one of Guercino’s
-pictures that had not, with the merely human character, a touch of vulgarity.
-As for Albano, how are we to discriminate between his angels
-and his nymphs, Apollos, and Cupids? But for the occasion and the
-appellation, it would be quite impossible to distinguish the Loves that
-sport round Venus and Adonis, from the Cherubim, so called, that
-hover above a Nativity or a Riposo; and the little angels, in his Crucifixion,
-cry so like naughty little boys, that one longs to put them in a
-corner. This merely heathen grace and merely human sentiment is the
-general tendency of the whole school; and no beauty of form or colour
-can, to the feeling and religious mind, redeem such gross violations of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</span>
-propriety. As for Poussin, of whom I think with due reverence, his
-angels are often exquisitely beautiful and refined: they have a chastity
-and a moral grace which pleases at first view; but here again the
-scriptural type is neglected and heathenised in obedience to the fashion
-of the time. If we compare the Cupids in his Rinaldo and Armida,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</span>
-with the angels which minister to the Virgin and Child; or the Cherubim
-weeping in a Deposition, with the Amorini who are lamenting
-over Adonis; in what respect do they differ? They are evidently
-painted from the same models, the beautiful children of Titian and
-Fiamingo.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp80" id="i_083a" style="max-width: 75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_083a.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c27"></a>27 Angels in a Nativity (Seventeenth century)</div>
-</div>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp80" id="i_083b" style="max-width: 75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_083b.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c28"></a>28 Angel: in a picture of Christ healing the Sick (N. Poussin)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Rubens gives us strong well-built youths, with redundant yellow
-hair; and chubby naked babies, as like flesh and blood, and as natural,
-as the life: and those of Vandyck are more elegant, without being more
-angelic. Murillo’s child-angels are divine, through absolute beauty;
-the expression of innocence and beatitude was never more perfectly
-given; but in grandeur and power they are inferior to Correggio, and
-in all that should characterise a divine nature, immeasurably below
-Raphael.</p>
-
-<p>Strange to say, the most poetical painter of angels in the seventeenth
-century is that inspired Dutchman, Rembrandt; not that his angels are
-scriptural; still less classical; and beautiful they are not, certainly—often
-the reverse; but if they have not the Miltonic dignity and grace,
-they are at least as unearthly and as poetical as any of the angelic
-phantasms in Dante,—unhuman, unembodied creatures, compounded of
-light and darkness, ‘the somewhat between a <i>thought</i> and a <i>thing</i>,’
-haunting the memory like apparitions. For instance, look at his Jacob’s
-Dream, at Dulwich; or his etching of the Angels appearing to the
-Shepherds,—breaking through the night, scattering the gloom, making
-our eyes ache with excess of glory,—the <i>Gloria in excelsis</i> ringing
-through the fancy while we gaze!</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>I have before observed that angels are supposed to be masculine, with
-the feminine attributes of beauty and purity; but in the seventeenth
-century the Florentine painter, Giovanni di S. Giovanni, scandalised
-his contemporaries by introducing into a glory round the Virgin, female
-angels (<i>angelesse</i>). Rubens has more than once committed the same
-fault against ecclesiastical canons and decorum; for instance, in his
-Madonna ‘aux Anges’ in the Louvre. Such aberrations of fancy are
-mere caprices of the painter, improprieties inadmissible in high art.</p>
-
-<p>Of the sprawling, fluttering, half-naked angels of the Pietro da Cortona
-and Bernini school, and the feeble mannerists of the seventeenth<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</span>
-and eighteenth centuries, what shall be said? that they are worthy to
-illustrate Moore’s Loves of the Angels? ‘<i lang ="it">non ragioniam di lor</i>;’ no,
-nor even <i>look</i> at them! I have seen angels of the later Italian and
-Spanish painters more like opera dancers, with artificial wings and
-gauze draperies, dressed to figure in a ballet, than anything else I could
-compare them to.</p>
-
-<p>The most original, and, in truth, the only new and original version
-of the Scripture idea of angels which I have met with, is that of William
-Blake, a poet painter, somewhat mad as we are told, if indeed his
-madness were not rather ‘the telescope of truth,’ a sort of poetical
-<i>clairvoyance</i>, bringing the unearthly nearer to him than to others. His
-adoring angels float rather than fly, and, with their half-liquid draperies,
-seem about to dissolve into light and love: and his rejoicing angels—behold
-them—sending up their voices with the morning stars, that
-‘singing, in their glory move!’</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_085" style="max-width: 75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_085.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c29"></a>29 ‘All the sons of God shouted for joy!’</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>As regards the treatment of angels in the more recent productions of
-art, the painters and sculptors have generally adhered to received and
-known types in form and in sentiment. The angels of the old Italians,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</span>
-Giotto and Frate Angelico, have been very well imitated by Steinle and
-others of the German school: the Raffaelesque feeling has been in
-general aimed at by the French and English painters. Tenerani had
-the old mosaics in his mind when he conceived that magnificent colossal
-Angel of the Resurrection seated on a tomb, and waiting for the signal
-to sound his trumpet, which I saw in his atelier, prepared I believe for
-the monument of the Duchess Lanti.<a id="FNanchor_56" href="#Footnote_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a></p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>I pause here, for I have dwelt upon these celestial Hierarchies,
-winged Splendours, Princedoms, Virtues, Powers, till my fancy is
-becoming somewhat mazed and dazzled by the contemplation. I must
-leave the reader to go into a picture-gallery, or look over a portfolio of
-engravings, and so pursue the theme, whithersoever it may lead him,
-and it <i>may</i> lead him, in Hamlet’s words, ‘to thoughts beyond the
-reaches of his soul!’<a id="FNanchor_57" href="#Footnote_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a></p>
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</span></p>
-
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp90" id="i_087" style="max-width: 81.25em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_087.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c30"></a>30 Archangels (Cimabue. In San Francesco d’Assisi)</div>
-</div>
-
-<h3 class="nobreak" id="II_The_Archangels"><span class="hid">II. The Archangels.</span></h3>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp21" id="t_113">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/t_113.png" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption">II. The Archangels.</div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent14">The Seven</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Who in God’s presence, nearest to his throne,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Stand ready at command.—<span class="smcap">Milton.</span></div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-
-<p>Having treated of the celestial Hierarchy in general, we have now to
-consider those angels who in artistic representations have assumed an
-individual form and character. These belong to the order of Archangels,
-placed by Dionysius in the third Hierarchy: they take rank
-between the Princedoms and the Angels, and partake of the nature of
-both, being, like the Princedoms, Powers; and, like the Angels,
-Ministers and Messengers.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</span></p>
-
-<p>Frequent allusion is made in Scripture to the seven Angels who
-stand in the presence of God. (Rev. viii. 2, xv. 1, xvi. 1, &amp;c.;
-Tobit xxii. 15.) This was in accordance with the popular creed of
-the Jews, who not only acknowledged the supremacy of the Seven
-Spirits, but assigned to them distinct vocations and distinct appellations,
-each terminating with the syllable <i>El</i>, which signifies God. Thus we
-have—</p>
-
-<p><span class="allsmcap">I.</span> <span class="smcap">Michael</span> (i.e. who is like unto God), captain-general of the host
-of heaven, and protector of the Hebrew nation.</p>
-
-<p><span class="allsmcap">II.</span> <span class="smcap">Gabriel</span> (i.e. God is my strength), guardian of the celestial
-treasury, and preceptor of the patriarch Joseph.</p>
-
-<p><span class="allsmcap">III.</span> <span class="smcap">Raphael</span> (i.e. the Medicine of God), the conductor of Tobit;
-thence the chief guardian angel.</p>
-
-<p><span class="allsmcap">IV.</span> <span class="smcap">Uriel</span> (i.e. the Light of God), who taught Esdras. He was
-also regent of the sun.</p>
-
-<p><span class="allsmcap">V.</span> <span class="smcap">Chamuel</span> (i.e. one who sees God?), who wrestled with Jacob, and
-who appeared to Christ at Gethsemane. (But, according to other
-authorities, this was the angel Gabriel.)</p>
-
-<p><span class="allsmcap">VI.</span> <span class="smcap">Jophiel</span> (i.e. the Beauty of God), who was the preceptor of the
-sons of Noah, and is the protector of all those who, with an humble
-heart, seek after truth, and the enemy of those who pursue vain knowledge.
-Thus Jophiel was naturally considered as the guardian of the
-tree of knowledge and the same who drove Adam and Eve from Paradise.</p>
-
-<p><span class="allsmcap">VII.</span> <span class="smcap">Zadkiel</span> (i.e. the Righteousness of God), who stayed the hand
-of Abraham when about to sacrifice his son. (But, according to other
-authorities, this was the archangel Michael.)</p>
-
-<p>The Christian Church does not acknowledge these Seven Angels by
-name; neither in the East, where the worship of angels took deep
-root, nor yet in the West, where it has been tacitly accepted. Nor
-have I met with them as a series, <i>by name</i>, in any ecclesiastical work of
-art, though I have seen a set of old anonymous prints in which they
-appear with distinct names and attributes: Michael bears the sword and
-scales; Gabriel, the lily; Raphael, the pilgrim’s staff and gourd full of
-water, as a traveller. Uriel has a roll and a book: he is the interpreter
-of judgments and prophecies, and for this purpose was sent to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</span>
-Esdras:—‘The angel that was sent unto me, whose name was Uriel, gave me
-an answer.’ (Esdras, ii. 4.) And in Milton—</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent0">Uriel, for thou of those Seven Spirits that stand</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">In sight of God’s high throne, gloriously bright,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">The first art wont his great authentic will</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Interpreter through highest heaven to bring.</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_089" style="max-width: 81.25em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_089.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c31"></a>31 The Archangels Michael and Raphael (Campo Santo)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>According to an early Christian tradition, it was this angel, and
-not Christ in person, who accompanied the two disciples to Emmaus.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</span>
-Chamuel is represented with a cup and a staff; Jophiel with a flaming
-sword. Zadkiel bears the sacrificial knife which he took from the hand
-of Abraham.</p>
-
-<p>But the Seven Angels, without being distinguished by name, are
-occasionally introduced into works of art. For example, over the arch
-of the choir in San Michele, at Ravenna (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 545), on each side of
-the throned Saviour are the Seven Angels blowing trumpets like cow’s
-horns:—‘And I saw the Seven Angels which stand before God, and
-to them were given seven trumpets.’ (Rev. viii. 2, 6.) In representations
-of the Crucifixion and in the Pietà, the Seven Angels are often
-seen in attendance, bearing the instruments of the Passion. Michael
-bears the cross, for he is ‘the Bannerer of heaven;’ but I do not feel
-certain of the particular avocations of the others.</p>
-
-<p>In the Last Judgment of Orcagna, in the Campo Santo at Pisa (31),
-the Seven Angels are active and important personages. The angel who
-stands in the centre of the picture, below the throne of Christ, extends
-a scroll in each hand; on that in the right hand is inscribed ‘Come, ye
-blessed of my Father,’ and on that in the left hand, ‘Depart from me,
-ye accursed:’ him I suppose to be Michael, the angel of judgment.
-At his feet crouches an angel who seems to shrink from the tremendous
-spectacle, and hides his face: him I suppose to be Raphael, the guardian
-angel of humanity. The attitude has always been admired—cowering
-with horror, yet sublime. Beneath are other five angels, who are engaged
-in separating the just from the wicked, encouraging and sustaining
-the former, and driving the latter towards the demons who are
-ready to snatch them into flames. These Seven Angels have the garb
-of princes and warriors, with breastplates of gold, jewelled sword-belts
-and tiaras, rich mantles; while the other angels who figure in the same
-scene are plumed, and bird-like, and hover above bearing the instruments
-of the Passion (32).</p>
-
-<p>Again we may see the Seven Angels in quite another character,
-attending on St. Thomas Aquinas, in a picture by Taddeo Gaddi.<a id="FNanchor_58" href="#Footnote_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a>
-Here, instead of the instruments of the Passion, they bear the allegorical
-attributes of those virtues for which that famous saint and doctor is to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</span>
-be reverenced: one bears an olive-branch, i.e. Peace; the second, a
-book, i.e. Knowledge; the third, a crown and sceptre, i.e. Power; the
-fourth, a church, i.e. Religion; the fifth, a cross and shield, i.e. Faith;
-the sixth, flames of fire in each hand, i.e. Piety and Charity; the
-seventh, a lily, i.e. Purity.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp80" id="i_091" style="max-width: 75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_091.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c32"></a>32</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>In general it may be presumed when seven angels figure together,
-or are distinguished from among a host of angels by dress, stature, or
-other attributes, that these represent the ‘Seven Holy Angels who
-stand in the presence of God.’ Four only of these Seven Angels are
-individualised by name, Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel. According
-to the Jewish tradition, these four sustain the throne of the Almighty:
-they have the Greek epithet <i>arch</i>, or chief, assigned to them,
-from the two texts of Scripture in which that title is used (1 Thess.
-iv. 16; Jude ix.); but only the three first, who in Scripture have a
-distinct personality, are reverenced in the Catholic Church as saints;
-and their gracious beauty, and their divine prowess, and their high
-behests to mortal man, have furnished some of the most important and
-most poetical subjects which appear in Christian Art.</p>
-
-<p>The earliest instance I have met of the Archangels introduced by
-name into a work of art is in the old church of San Michele at Ravenna
-(<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 545). The mosaic in the apse exhibits Christ in the centre,
-bearing in one hand the cross as a trophy or sceptre, and in the other
-an open book on which are the words ‘<i lang = "la">Qui videt me videt et Patrem
-meum</i>.’ On each side stand Michael and Gabriel, with vast wings and
-long sceptres; their names are inscribed above, but without the <i>Sanctus</i>
-and without the Glory. It appears, therefore, that at this time, the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</span>
-middle of the sixth century, the title of <i>Saint</i>, though in use, had not
-been given to the Archangels.</p>
-
-<p>When, in the ancient churches, the figure of Christ or of the Lamb
-appears in a circle of glory in the centre of the roof; and around, or at
-the four corners, four angels who sustain the circle with outspread
-arms, or stand as watchers, with sceptres or lances in their hands, these
-I presume to be the four Archangels who sustain the throne of God.
-Examples may be seen in San Vitale at Ravenna; in the chapel of
-San Zeno, in Santa Prassede at Rome; and on the roof of the choir of
-San Francesco d’Assisi.</p>
-
-<p>So the four Archangels, stately colossal figures, winged and armed
-and sceptred, stand over the arch of the choir in the Cathedral of Monreale,
-at Palermo.<a id="FNanchor_59" href="#Footnote_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a></p>
-
-<p>So the four angels stand at the four corners of the earth and hold
-the winds, heads with puffed cheeks and dishevelled hair.<a id="FNanchor_60" href="#Footnote_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a> (Rev.
-vii. 1.)</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp90" id="i_093" style="max-width: 75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_093.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c33"></a>33 The Three Archangels (from an ancient Greek picture)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>But I have never seen Uriel represented by name, or alone, in any
-sacred edifice. In the picture of Uriel painted by Allston,<a id="FNanchor_61" href="#Footnote_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a> he is the
-‘Regent of the Sun,’ as described by Milton; not a sacred or scriptural
-<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">personage. On a shrine of carved ivory<a id="FNanchor_62" href="#Footnote_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> I have seen the four</span><br />
-Archangels as keeping guard, two at each end; the three first are
-named, as usual, St. Michael, St. Gabriel, St. Raphael; the fourth is
-styled <i>St. Chérubin</i>; and I have seen the same name inscribed over the
-head of the angel who expels Adam and Eve from Paradise. There is
-no authority for such an appellation applied individually; but I find, in
-a famous legend of the middle ages, ‘La Pénitence d’Adam;’ that the
-angel who guards the gates of Paradise is thus designated:—‘Lorsque
-l’Ange Chérubin vit arriver Seth aux portes de Paradis,’ &amp;c. The
-four Archangels, however, seldom occur together, except in architectural
-<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">decoration. On the other hand, devotional pictures of the three</span><br />
-Archangels named in the canonical Scriptures are of frequent occurrence.
-<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">They are often grouped together as patron saints or protecting</span><br />
-spirits; or they stand round the throne of Christ, or below the glorified<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</span>
-Virgin and Child, in an attitude of adoration. According to the Greek
-formula, the three in combination represent the triple power, military,
-civil, and religious, of the celestial hierarchy: St. Michael being
-habited as a warrior, Gabriel as a prince, and Raphael as a priest. In
-a Greek picture, of which I give an outline, the three Archangels
-sustain in a kind of throne the figure of the youthful Christ, here
-winged, as being Himself <i>the</i> supreme Angel (ἂγγελος), and with both<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</span>
-hands blessing the universe. The Archangel Raphael has here the
-place of dignity as representing the Priesthood; but in Western Art
-Michael takes precedence of the two others, and is usually placed in
-the centre as Prince or Chief: with him, then, as considered individually,
-we begin.</p>
-
-<h3><span class="smcap">St. Michael.</span></h3>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p><i>Lat.</i> Sanctus Michael Angelus. <i>Ital.</i> San Michele, Sammichele.
-<i>Fr.</i> Monseigneur Saint Michel. (Sept. 29.)</p>
-
-<p>‘Michael, the Great Prince that standeth for the children of thy people.’—<i>Dan.</i> xii. 1.</p>
-</div>
-
-
-<p>It is difficult to clothe in adequate language the divine attributes with
-which painting and poetry have invested this illustrious archangel.
-Jews and Christians are agreed in giving him the pre-eminence over
-all created spirits. All the might, the majesty, the radiance, of
-Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms, Virtues, Powers, are centred in
-him. In him God put forth his strength when He exalted him chief
-over the celestial host, when angels warred with angels in heaven; and
-in him God showed forth his glory when He made him conqueror
-over the power of sin, and ‘over the great dragon that deceived the
-world.’</p>
-
-<p>To the origin of the worship paid to this great archangel I dare not
-do more than allude, lest I stray wide from my subject, and lose myself,
-and my readers too, in labyrinths of Orientalism. But, in considering
-the artistic representations, it is interesting to call to mind that the
-glorification of St. Michael may be traced back to that primitive
-Eastern dogma, the perpetual antagonism between the Spirit of Good
-and the Spirit of Evil, mixed up with the Chaldaic belief in angels and
-their influence over the destinies of man. It was subsequent to the
-Captivity that the active Spirit of Good, under the name of Michael,
-came to be regarded as the especial protector of the Hebrew nation:
-the veneration paid to him by the Jews was adopted, or rather retained,
-by the Oriental Christians, and, though suppressed for a time, was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</span>
-revived and spread over the West, where we find it popular and almost
-universal from the eighth century.</p>
-
-<p>The legends which have grown out of a few mystical texts of Scripture,
-amplified by the fanciful disquisitions of the theological writers,
-place St. Michael before us in three great characters:—1. As captain
-of the heavenly host, and conqueror of the powers of hell. 2. As lord
-of souls, conductor and guardian of the spirits of the dead. 3. As patron
-saint and prince of the Church Militant.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>When Lucifer, possessed by the spirit of pride and ingratitude,
-refused to fall down and worship the Son of man, Michael was deputed
-to punish his insolence, and to cast him out from heaven. Then
-Michael chained the revolted angels in middle air, where they are to
-remain till the day of judgment, being in the mean time perpetually
-tortured by hate, envy, and despair: for they behold man, whom they
-had disdained, exalted as their superior; above them they see the
-heaven they have forfeited; and beneath them the redeemed souls continually
-rising from earth, and ascending to the presence of God, whence
-they are shut out for ever.</p>
-
-<p>‘Now,’ says the old Legend,<a id="FNanchor_63" href="#Footnote_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a> ‘if it be asked wherefore the books
-of Moses, in revealing the disobedience and the fall of man, are silent
-as to the revolt and the fall of the angels, the reason is plain; and in this
-God acted according to his wisdom. For, let us suppose that a certain
-powerful lord hath two vassals, both guilty of the crime of treason, and
-one of these is a nobleman of pure and lofty lineage, and the other a
-base-born churl:—what doth this lord? He hangs up the churl in the
-market-place as a warning and example to others;—but, for the nobleman,
-fearing the scandal that may arise among the people, and perhaps
-also some insult to the officers of the law, the judge causes him to be
-tried secretly, and shuts him up in a dungeon; and when judgment is
-pronounced against him, he sends to his prison, and puts him privily to
-death; and when one asketh after him, the answer is only “He is dead:”—and
-nothing more. Thus did God in respect to the rebel angels of
-old; and their fate was not revealed until the redemption of man was
-accomplished.’</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</span></p>
-
-<p>This passage from the old Italian legend is so curiously characteristic
-of the feudal spirit of Christianity in the middle ages, that I have ventured
-to insert it verbatim. If religion did, in some degree, modify the
-institutions of chivalry, in a much greater degree did the ruling prejudices
-of a barbarian age modify the popular ideas of religion. Here,
-notwithstanding the primary doctrine of Christ—the equality of all men
-before God, we have the distinction between noble and churl carried
-into the very councils of Heaven.</p>
-
-<p>But, to return to St. Michael: on whom, as the leader of his triumphant
-hosts, God bestowed many and great privileges. To him it
-was given</p>
-
-<p class="center">
-to bid sound th’ archangel trumpet,</p>
-
-<p class="pnind">and exalt the banner of the Cross in the day of judgment; and to him
-likewise was assigned the reception of the immortal spirits when released
-by death. It was his task to weigh them in a balance (Dan. v.
-27; Ps. lxii. 9): those whose good works exceeded their demerits, he
-presented before the throne of God; but those who were found wanting
-he gave up to be tortured in purgatory, until their souls, from being
-‘as crimson, should become as white as snow.’ Therefore, in the hour
-of death, he is to be invoked by the faithful, saying, ‘<i lang ="la">O Michael,
-militiæ cœlestis signifer, in adjutorium nostrum veni, princeps et
-propugnator!</i>’</p>
-
-<p>Lastly, when it pleased the Almighty to select from among the
-nations of the earth one people to become peculiarly his own, He appointed
-St. Michael to be president and leader over that chosen people.<a id="FNanchor_64" href="#Footnote_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a>
-‘At that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth
-for the children of thy people’ (Dan. x. 13, xii. 1): and when the
-power of the Synagogue was supposed to cease, and to be replaced by
-the power of the Church, so that the Christians became the people of
-God, then Michael, who had been the great prince of the Hebrew<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</span>
-people, became the prince and leader of the Church militant in Christendom,
-and the guardian of redeemed souls, against his old adversary
-the Prince of Hell. (Rev. xii. 6, 7.)</p>
-
-<p>The worship paid to St. Michael, and which originated in the far
-East, is supposed to have been adopted by the Oriental Christians in
-consequence of a famous apparition of the Archangel at Colossæ, in
-Phrygia, which caused him to be held in especial honour by the people
-of that city, and perhaps occasioned the particular warning of St. Paul
-addressed to the Colossians. But although the worship of angels was
-considered among the heresies of the early Church, we find Constantine
-no sooner master of the empire, and a baptized Christian, than he dedicates
-a church to the Archangel Michael (by his Greek name Michaëlion),
-and this church, one of the most magnificent in Constantinople,
-became renowned for its miracles, and the parent and model of hundreds
-more throughout the East.</p>
-
-<p>In the West, the honours paid to St. Michael are of later date: that
-a church dedicated to him must have existed in Rome long before the
-year 500 seems clear, because at that time it is mentioned as having
-fallen into ruin. But the West had its angelic apparitions as well as
-the East, and St. Michael owes his wide-spread popularity in the middle
-ages to three famous visions which are thus recorded.</p>
-
-<p>In the fifth century, in the city of Siponte, in Apulia (now Manfredonia),
-dwelt a man named Galgano or Garganus, very rich in cattle,
-sheep, and beasts; and as they pastured on the sides of the mountain, it
-happened that a bull strayed and came not home: then the rich man
-took a multitude of servants and sought the bull, and found him at the
-entrance of a cave on the very summit of the mountain, and, being
-wroth with the bull, the master ordered him to be slain; but when the
-arrow was sent from the bow it returned to the bosom of him who sent
-it, and he fell dead on the ground: then the master and his servants
-were troubled, and they sent to inquire of the bishop what should be
-done. The bishop, having fasted and prayed three days, beheld in a
-vision the glorious Archangel Michael, who descended on the mountain,
-and told him that the servant had been slain because he had violated a
-spot peculiarly sacred to him, and he commanded that a church should
-be erected and sanctified there to his honour. And when they entered<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</span>
-the cavern they found there three altars already erected, one of them
-covered with a rich embroidered altar-cloth of crimson and gold, and a
-stream of limpid water springing from the rock, which healed all
-diseases. So the church was built, and the fame of the vision of Monte
-Galgano, though for some time confined to the south of Italy, spread
-throughout Europe, and many pilgrimages were made to the spot on
-which the angelic footsteps had alighted.</p>
-
-<p>The second vision is much more imposing. When Rome was nearly
-depopulated by a pestilence in the sixth century, St. Gregory, afterwards
-pope, advised that a procession should be made through the streets of
-the city, singing the service since called the Great Litanies. He placed
-himself at the head of the faithful, and during three days they perambulated
-the city; and on the third day, when they had arrived opposite
-to the mole of Hadrian, Gregory beheld the Archangel Michael alight
-on the summit of that monument, and sheathe his sword bedropped with
-blood. Then Gregory knew that the plague was stayed, and a church
-was there dedicated to the honour of the Archangel: and the Tomb of
-Hadrian has since been called the Castle of Sant’ Angelo to this day.</p>
-
-<p>This, of all the recorded apparitions of St. Michael, is the only one
-which can be called poetical; it is evidently borrowed from the vision
-of the destroying angel in Scripture. As early as the ninth century, a
-church or chapel dedicated to St. Michael was erected on the summit of
-the huge monument, which at that time must have preserved much of
-its antique magnificence. The church was entitled <i lang="la">Ecclesia Sancti
-Angeli usque ad Cœlos</i>. The bronze statue, which in memory of this
-miracle now surmounts the Castle of St. Angelo, was placed there in
-recent times by Benedict XIV., and is the work of a Flemish sculptor,
-Verschaffelt. I suppose no one ever looked at this statue critically—at
-least, for myself, I never could: nor can I remember now, whether,
-as a work of art, it is above or below criticism; perhaps both. With
-its vast wings, poised in air, as seen against the deep blue skies of
-Rome, or lighted up by the golden sunset, to me it was ever like what
-it was intended to represent—like a vision.</p>
-
-<p>A third apparition was that accorded to Aubert, bishop of Avranches
-(<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 706). This holy man seems to have been desirous to attract to
-his own diocese a portion of that sanctity (and perhaps other advantages)<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</span>
-which Monte Galgano derived from the worship of St. Michael. In
-the Gulf of Avranches, in Normandy, stands a lofty isolated rock inaccessible
-from the land at high water, and for ages past celebrated as one
-of the strongest fortresses and state prisons in France. In the reign of
-Childebert II., St. Aubert, bishop of Avranches, had a vision, in which
-the Archangel Michael commanded him to repair to this rock, then the
-terror of mariners, and erect a church to his honour on the highest
-point, where a bull would be found concealed, and it was to cover as
-much space as the bull had trampled with his hoofs: he also discovered
-to the bishop a well-spring of pure water, which had before been unknown.
-As the bishop treated this command as a dream, the Archangel
-appeared to him a second and a third time; and at length, to
-impress it on his waking memory, he touched his head with his thumb,
-and made a mark or hole in his skull, which he carried to the grave.
-This time the bishop obeyed, and a small church was built on the spot
-indicated; afterwards replaced by the magnificent Abbey Church,
-which was begun by Richard duke of Normandy, in 966, and finished
-by William the Conqueror. The poverty of invention shown in this
-legend, which is little more than a repetition of that of Monte Galgano,
-is very disappointing to the fancy, considering the celebrity of Mont-Saint-Michel
-as a place of pilgrimage, and as one of the most picturesque
-objects in European scenery, with its massive towers, which have braved
-the tempests of a thousand years, rising from the summit of the peak,
-and the sea weltering round its base. It failed not, however, in the
-effect anticipated. The worship of St. Michael became popular in
-France from the ninth century; the Archangel was selected as patron
-saint of France, and of the military order instituted in his honour by
-Louis XI. in 1469. The worship paid to St. Michael as patron saint
-of Normandy naturally extended itself to England after the Norman
-conquest, and churches dedicated to this archangel abound in all the
-towns and cities along the southern and eastern shores of our island;
-we also have a Mount St. Michael on the coast of Cornwall, in situation
-and in name resembling that on the coast of France. At this day there
-are few cities in Christendom which do not contain a church or churches
-dedicated to St. Michael, some of them of great antiquity.</p>
-
-<p>I must not omit that St. Michael is considered as the angel of good<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</span>
-counsel:—that ‘Le vrai office de Monseigneur Saint Michel est de
-faire grandes revelations aux hommes en bas, en leur donnant moult
-saints conseils,’ and in particular, ‘sur le bon nourissement que le père
-et la mère donnent à leurs enfans.’<a id="FNanchor_65" href="#Footnote_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a> It is to be regretted that
-‘Monseigneur Saint Michel’ should be found rather remiss in this part
-of his angelic functions.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>We shall now see how far these various traditions and popular notions
-concerning St. Michael have been carried out in Art.</p>
-
-<p>In all representations of St. Michael, the leading idea, well or ill expressed,
-is the same. He is young and beautiful, but ‘severe in
-youthful beauty,’ as one who carries on a perpetual contest with the
-powers of evil. In the earlier works of art he is robed in white, with
-ample many-coloured wings, and bears merely the sceptre or the lance
-surmounted by a cross, as one who conquered by spiritual might alone.
-But in the later representations, those coloured by the spirit of chivalry,
-he is the angelic Paladin, armed in a dazzling coat of mail, with sword,
-and spear, and shield. He has a lofty open brow, long fair hair floating
-on his shoulders, sometimes bound by a jewelled tiara; sometimes, but
-not often, shaded by a helmet. From his shoulders spring two resplendent
-wings. Thus we see him standing by the throne of the
-Madonna, or worshipping at the feet of the Divine Infant; an exquisite
-allegory of spiritual and intellectual power protecting purity and
-adoring innocence.</p>
-
-<p>There is a most beautiful little figure by Angelico, of St. Michael
-standing in his character of archangel and patron of the Church
-Militant, ‘as the winged saint;’ no demon, no attribute except the
-lance and shield. The attitude, so tranquilly elegant, may be seen in
-this sketch (34). In the original the armour is of a dark crimson and
-gold, the wings are of rainbow tints, vivid and delicate; a flame of
-lambent fire rests on the brow.</p>
-
-<p>But the single devotional figures of St. Michael usually represent him
-as combining the two great characters of captain of the heavenly host,
-and conqueror of the powers of hell. He stands armed, setting his foot
-on Lucifer, either in the half-human or the dragon form, and is about<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</span>
-to transfix him with his lance, or to chain him down in the infernal
-abyss. Such, however varied in the attitude, expression, and accessories,
-is the most frequent and popular representation of St. Michael,
-when placed before us, as the universally
-received emblem of the final victory of
-good over evil.</p>
-
-<div class="figright illowp30" id="i_101" style="max-width: 37.5em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_101.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c34"></a>34  St. Michael. (Angelico, Fl. Acad.)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>In those churches of Christendom which
-have not been defaced by a blind destructive
-zeal, this image meets us at every
-turn: it salutes us in the porch as we
-enter, or it shines upon us in gorgeous
-colours from the window, or it is wreathed
-into the capitals of columns, or it stands
-in its holy heroic beauty over the altar.
-It is so common and so in harmony with
-our inmost being, that we rather feel its
-presence than observe it. It is the visible,
-palpable reflection of that great
-truth stamped into our very souls, and
-shadowed forth in every form of ancient
-belief,—the final triumph of the spiritual
-over the animal and earthly part of our
-nature. This is the secret of its perpetual
-repetition, and this the secret of the
-untired complacency with which we regard
-it; for even in the most inefficient
-attempts at expression, we have always
-the leading <i>motif</i> distinct and true, the
-winged virtue is always victorious above,
-and the bestial vice is always prostrate
-below: and if to this primal moral significance
-be added all the charm of poetry,
-grace, animated movement, which human
-genius has lavished on this ever blessed,
-ever welcome symbol, then, as we look
-up at it, we are ‘not only touched, but wakened and inspired,’ and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</span>
-the whole delighted imagination glows with faith and hope, and grateful
-triumphant sympathy,—so at least I have felt, and I must believe that
-others have felt it too.</p>
-
-<p>In the earliest representations of this subject, we see the simplest
-form of the allegory, literally rendering the words of Scripture, ‘The
-dragon shalt thou trample under foot’ (Ps. xci. 13). Here there is no
-risk of a divided interest or a misdirected sympathy. The demon, grovelling
-under the feet of the victorious spirit, is not the star-bright
-apostate who drew after him the third part of heaven; it is the bestial
-malignant reptile:—not the emblem of resistance, but the emblem of
-sin; not of the sin that aspires, which, in fact, is a contradiction in
-terms;—no sin aspires;—but of the sin which degrades and brutifies,
-as all sin does. In the later representations, where the demon takes the
-half-human shape, however hideous and deformed, the allegory may so
-be brought nearer to us, and rendered more terrible even by a horrid
-sympathy with that human face, grinning in despite and agony; but
-much of the beauty of the scriptural metaphor is lost.<a id="FNanchor_66" href="#Footnote_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a></p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The representations of St. Michael and the dragon are so multifarious
-that I can only select a few among them as examples of the different
-styles of treatment.</p>
-
-<p>The symbol, as such, is supposed to have originated with the Gnostics
-and Arians, and the earliest examples are to be found in the ancient
-churches on the western coast of Italy, and the old Lombard churches.
-I have never seen it in the old mosaics of the sixth century, but in the
-contemporary sculpture frequently. It would be difficult to point to
-the most ancient example, such is the confusion of dates as regards
-dedications, restorations, alterations; but I remember a carving in white
-marble on the porch of the Cathedral of Cortona (about the seventh
-century), which may be regarded as an example of this primitive style<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</span>
-of treatment: the illustration, from a slight
-sketch made on the spot, will be better than
-any description (35).</p>
-
-<div class="figright illowp30" id="i_103" style="max-width: 25em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_103.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c35"></a>35</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Another instance will be remembered by
-the traveller in Italy, the strange antique bas-relief
-on the façade of that extraordinary old
-church the San Michele at Pavia; not the
-figure in the porch, which is modern, but that
-which is above. In the Menologium Grecum
-is a St. Michael standing with a long sceptre, a
-majestic colossal figure, while kneeling angels
-adore him, and the demons crouch under his
-feet.<a id="FNanchor_67" href="#Footnote_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a></p>
-
-<p>By Martin Schoen: St. Michael, attired in a
-long loose robe and floating mantle, tramples
-on the demon; he has thrown down the shield,
-and with his lance in both hands, but without effort, and even with a
-calm angelic dignity, prepares to transfix his adversary. The figure is
-singularly elegant. The demon has not here the usual form of a dragon,
-but is a horrible nondescript reptile, with multitudinous flexile claws,
-like those of a crab, stretched out to seize and entangle the unwary;—for
-an emblematical figure, very significant (36). In an old fresco by
-Guariente di Padova<a id="FNanchor_68" href="#Footnote_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a> the angel is draped as in Martin Schoen’s figure,
-but the attitude is far less elegant.</p>
-
-<p>Sometimes the dragon has a small head at the end of his tail, instead
-of the forked sting. I recollect an instance of St. Michael transfixing
-the large head, while a smaller angel, also armed, transfixes the other
-head.<a id="FNanchor_69" href="#Footnote_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a> This is an attempt to render literally the description in the
-Apocalypse: ‘For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails:
-for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them
-they do hurt.’ (Rev. ix. 19.) In a most elegant figure of St. Michael,
-from the choir of the San Giovanni, at Malta, I found the demon thus
-characterised, with a tail ending in the serpent head.</p>
-
-<p>In an old Siena picture<a id="FNanchor_70" href="#Footnote_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a> St. Michael is seated on a throne: in one<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</span>
-hand a sword, in the other the orb of sovereignty; under his feet lies
-the dragon mangled and bleeding: a bad picture, but curious for the
-singular treatment.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp60" id="i_104" style="max-width: 75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_104.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c36"></a>36  St. Michael (Martin Schoen)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>In the sixteenth century these figures of St. Michael become less
-ideal and angelic, and more and more chivalrous and picturesque. In
-a beautiful altar-piece by Andrea del Sarto, now in the Florence
-Academy, there is a fine martial figure of the Archangel, which, but
-for the wings, might be mistaken for a St. George; and in the predella
-underneath, on a small scale, he is conqueror of the demon. The peculiarity
-here is, that the demon, though vanquished, makes a vain
-struggle, and has seized hold of the belt of the angel, who, with uplifted<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</span>
-sword, and an action of infinite grace and dignity, looks superior
-down, as one assured of victory.</p>
-
-<p>Raphael has given us three figures of St. Michael, all different, and
-one of them taking rank with his masterpieces.</p>
-
-<p>The first is an early production, painted when he was a youth of
-nineteen or twenty, and now in the Louvre. St. Michael, armed with
-a shield on which is a red cross, his sword raised to strike, stands with
-one foot on a monster; other horrible little monsters, like figures in a
-dream, are around him: in the background are seen the hypocrites and
-thieves as described by Dante; the first, in melancholy procession,
-weighed down with leaden cowls; the others, tormented by snakes:
-and, in the distance, the flaming dolorous city. St. Michael is here
-the vanquisher of the Vices. It is a curious and fantastic, rather than
-poetical, little picture.</p>
-
-<p>The second picture, also in the Louvre, was painted by Raphael, in
-the maturity of his talent, for Francis I.: the king had left to him the
-choice of the subject, and he selected St. Michael, the military patron
-of France, and of that knightly Order of which the king was grand
-master.</p>
-
-<p>St. Michael—not standing, but hovering on his poised wings, and
-grasping his lance in both hands—sets one foot lightly on the shoulder
-of the demon, who, prostrate, writhes up, as it were, and tries to lift
-his head and turn it on his conqueror with one last gaze of malignant
-rage and despair. The archangel looks down upon him with a brow
-calm and serious; in his beautiful face is neither vengeance nor disdain—in
-his attitude no effort; his form, a model of youthful grace and
-majesty, is clothed in a brilliant panoply of gold and silver; an azure
-scarf floats on his shoulders; his wide-spread wings are of purple, blue,
-and gold; his light hair is raised, and floats outward on each side of his
-head, as if from the swiftness of his downward motion. The earth
-emits flames, and seems opening to swallow up the adversary. The
-form of the demon is human, but vulgar in its proportions, and of a
-swarthy red, as if fire-scathed; he has the horns and the serpent-tail;
-but, from the attitude into which he is thrown, the monstrous form is
-so fore-shortened that it does not disgust, and the majestic figure of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</span>
-archangel fills up nearly the whole space—fills the eye—fills the soul—with
-its victorious beauty.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp80" id="i_106" style="max-width: 75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_106.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c37"></a>37  The St. Michael painted by Raphael for Francis I.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>That Milton had seen this picture, and that when his sight was
-quenched the ‘winged saint’ revisited him in his darkness, who can
-doubt?—</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent8">Over his lucid arms</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">A military vest of purple flowed</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Livelier than Melibœan, or the grain</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Of Sarra worn by kings and heroes old</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">In time of truce.</div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</span>
-    <div class="verse indent16">By his side,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">As in a glittering zodiac, hung the sword,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Satan’s dire dread, and in his hand the spear.</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>A third St. Michael, designed by Raphael, exists only as an engraving.<a id="FNanchor_71" href="#Footnote_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a>
-The angel here wears a helmet, and is classically draped;
-he stands in an attitude of repose, his foot on the neck of the demon;
-one hand rests on the pummel of his sword, the other holds the lance.</p>
-
-<p>It seems agreed that, as a work of art, there is only the St. Michael
-of Guido (in the Capuccini at Rome) which can be compared with that
-of Raphael; the moment chosen is the same; the treatment nearly the
-same; the sentiment quite different.</p>
-
-<p>Here the angel, standing, yet scarcely touching the ground, poised
-on his outspread wings, sets his left foot on the head of his adversary;
-in one hand he brandishes a sword, in the other he holds the end of a
-chain, with which he is about to bind down the demon in the bottomless
-pit. The attitude has been criticised, and justly; the grace is somewhat
-mannered, verging on the theatrical; but Forsyth is too severe
-when he talks of the ‘air of a dancing-master:’ one thing, however, is
-certain, we do not think about attitude when we look at Raphael’s St.
-Michael; in Guido’s, it is the first thing that strikes us; but when we
-look farther, the head redeems all; it is singularly beautiful, and in the
-blending of the masculine and feminine graces, in the serene purity of
-the brow, and the flow of the golden hair, there is something divine: a
-slight, very slight expression of scorn is in the air of the head. The
-fiend is the worst part of the picture; it is not a fiend, but a degraded
-prosaic human ruffian; we laugh with incredulous contempt at the idea
-of an angel called down from heaven to overcome such a wretch. In
-Raphael the fiend is human, but the head has the god-like ugliness and
-malignity of a satyr; Guido’s fiend is only stupid and base. It appears to
-me that there is just the same difference—the same <i>kind</i> of difference—between
-the angel of Raphael and the angel of Guido, as between the
-description in Tasso and the description in Milton; let any one compare
-them. In Tasso we are struck by the picturesque elegance of the
-description as a piece of art, the melody of the verse, the admirable
-choice of the expressions, as in Guido by the finished but somewhat<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</span>
-artificial and studied grace. In Raphael and Milton we see only the
-vision of a ‘shape divine.’</p>
-
-<p>One of the most beautiful figures of St. Michael I ever saw, occurs
-in a coronation of the Virgin by Moretto, and is touched by his peculiar
-sentiment of serious tenderness.<a id="FNanchor_72" href="#Footnote_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a></p>
-
-<p>In devotional pictures such figures of St. Michael are sometimes
-grouped poetically with other personages, as in a most beautiful picture
-by Innocenza da Imola,<a id="FNanchor_73" href="#Footnote_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a> where the archangel tramples on the demon;
-St. Paul standing on one side, and St. Benedict on the other, both of
-whom had striven with the fiend and had overcome him: the Madonna
-and Child are seen in a glory above.</p>
-
-<p>And again in a picture by Mabuse,<a id="FNanchor_74" href="#Footnote_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a> where St. Michael, as patron,
-sets his foot on the black grinning fiend, and looks down on a kneeling
-votary, while the votary, with his head turned away, appears to be
-worshipping, not the protecting angel, but the Madonna, to whom St.
-Michael presents him (38). Such votive pictures are not uncommon, and
-have a peculiar grace and significance. Here the archangel bears the
-victorious banner of the cross;—he has conquered. In some instances
-he holds in his hand the head of the Dragon, and in <i>all</i> instances it is,
-or ought to be, the head of the Dragon which is transfixed:—‘Thou
-shalt bruise his head.’</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp80" id="i_109_2" style="max-width: 75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_109.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c38"></a>38  St. Michael (Mabuse, 1510)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Those representations in which St. Michael is not conqueror, but
-combatant, in which the moment is one of transition, are less frequent;
-it is then an <i>action</i>, not an <i>emblem</i>, and the composition is historical
-rather than symbolical. It is the strife with Lucifer; ‘when Michael
-and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought and his
-angels, and the great dragon was cast out.’ (Rev. xii. 7.) In churches
-and chapels dedicated to St. Michael, or to ‘the Holy Angels,’ this
-appropriate subject often occurs; as in a famous fresco by Spinello
-d’Arezzo, at Arezzo.<a id="FNanchor_75" href="#Footnote_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a> In the middle of the composition, Michael, armed
-with sword and shield, is seen combating the dragon with seven heads,
-as described in the Apocalypse. Above and around are many angels
-also armed. At the top of the picture is seen an empty throne, the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</span>
-throne which Lucifer had ‘set in the north;’ below is seen Lucifer,
-falling with his angels over the parapet of heaven. (Isaiah xiv. 13.)
-The painter tasked his skill to render the transformation of the spirits
-of light into spirits of darkness as fearful and as hideous as possible;
-and, being a man of a nervous temperament, the continual dwelling on
-these horrors began at length to trouble his brain. He fancied that
-Lucifer appeared to him in a dream, demanding by what authority he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</span>
-had portrayed him under an aspect so revolting?—the painter awoke
-in horror, was seized with delirious fever, and so died.</p>
-
-<p>In his combat with the dragon, Michael is sometimes represented
-alone, and sometimes as assisted by the two other archangels, Gabriel
-and Raphael: as in the fresco by Signorelli, at Orvieto, where one of
-the angels, whom we may suppose to be Raphael, looks down on the
-falling demons with an air of melancholy, almost of pity.</p>
-
-<p>In a picture by Marco Oggione,<a id="FNanchor_76" href="#Footnote_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a> Michael has precipitated the
-demon into the gulf, and hovers above, while Raphael and Gabriel
-stand below on each side, looking on; all are clothed in voluminous
-loose white draperies, more like priests than warriors; but it is a fine
-picture.</p>
-
-<p>In the large Rubens-room at Munich, there are two pictures of Michael
-subduing the revolted angels. The large one, in which Michael
-is the principal figure, is not agreeable. Rubens could not lift himself
-sufficiently above the earth to conceive and embody the spiritual, and
-heroic, and beautiful in one divine form; his St. Michael is vulgar.
-The smaller composition, where the fallen, or rather falling, angels fill
-the whole space, is a most wonderful effort of artistic invention. At
-the summit of the picture stands St. Michael, the shield in one hand, in
-the other the forked lightnings of divine wrath; and from above the
-rebel host tumble headlong ‘in hideous ruin and combustion hurled,’
-and with such affright and amazement in every face, such a downward
-movement in every limb, that we recoil in dizzy horror while we look
-upon it. It is curious that Rubens should have introduced female reprobate
-spirits: if he intended his picture as an allegory, merely the
-conquest of the spiritual over the sensual, he is excusable; but if he
-meant to figure the vision in the Apocalypse, it is a deviation from the
-proper scriptural treatment, which is inexcusable. This picture remains,
-however, as a whole, a perfect miracle of art: the fault is, that we feel
-inclined to applaud as we do at some astonishing <i>tour de force</i>; such at
-least was my own feeling, and this is not the feeling appropriate to the
-subject. Though this famous picture is entitled the Fall of the Angels,
-I have some doubts as to whether this was the intention of the painter;
-whether he did not mean to express the fall of sinners, flung by the
-Angel of judgment into the abyss of wrath and perdition?</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</span></p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp80" id="i_111" style="max-width: 75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_111.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c39"></a>39  St. Michael as Angel of Judgment and Lord of Souls (Justus of Ghent)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>In those devotional pictures which exhibit St. Michael as Lord of
-souls, he is winged and unarmed, and holds the balance. In each scale
-sits a little naked figure, representing a human soul; one of these is
-usually represented with hands joined as in thankfulness—he is the
-<i>beato</i>, the elected; the other is in an attitude of horror—he is the
-rejected, the reprobate; and often, but not necessarily, the idea is completed
-by the introduction of a demon, who is grasping at the descending
-scale, either with his talons, or with the long two-pronged hook, such
-as is given to Pluto in the antique sculpture.</p>
-
-<p>Sometimes St. Michael is thus represented singly; sometimes very
-beautifully in Madonna pictures, as in a picture by Leonardo da Vinci
-(<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1498), where St. Michael, a graceful angelic figure, with light<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</span>
-flowing hair, kneels before the Madonna, and presents the balance to
-the Infant, who seems to welcome the pious little soul who sits in the
-uppermost scale.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp80" id="i_112" style="max-width: 75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_112.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c40"></a>40  St. Michael (Signorelli, 1500. In the San Gregorio, Rome)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>I have seen this idea varied. St. Michael stands majestic with the
-balance poised in his hands: instead of a human figure in either scale,
-there are weights; on one side is seen a company of five or six little
-naked shivering souls, as if waiting for their doom; on the other several
-demons, one of whom with his hook is pulling down the ascending
-scale.<a id="FNanchor_77" href="#Footnote_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a> With or without the balance, St. Michael figures as Lord of
-souls when introduced into pictures of the Assumption or the Glorification
-of the Virgin. To understand the whole beauty and propriety of
-such representations, we must remember, that according to one of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</span>
-legends of the death of the Virgin her spirit was consigned to the care
-of St. Michael until it was permitted to reanimate the spotless form,
-and with it ascend to heaven.</p>
-
-<p>In one or two instances only, I have seen St. Michael without wings.
-In general, an armed figure, unwinged and standing on a dragon, we
-may presume to be a St. George; but where the balance is introduced,
-it leaves no doubt of the personality—it is a St. Michael. Occasionally
-the two characters—the protecting Angel of light and the Angel of
-judgment—are united, and we see St. Michael, with the dragon under
-his feet and the balance in his hand. This was a favourite and appropriate
-subject on tombs and chapels dedicated to the dead; such is the
-beautiful bas-relief on the tomb of Henry VII. in Westminster Abbey.</p>
-
-<p>In some representations of the last judgment, St. Michael, instead of
-the banner and cross, bears the scales; as in the very curious bas-relief
-on the façade of the church of St. Trophime at Arles. St. Michael
-here has a balance so large that it is almost as high as himself; it is not
-a mere emblem, but a fact; a soul sits in each scale, and a third is
-rising up; the angel holds out one hand to assist him. In another part
-of the same bas-relief St. Michael is seen carrying a human soul (represented
-as a little naked figure) and bringing it to St. Peter and St. Paul.
-In a celebrated Last Judgment, attributed by some authors to John
-Van Eyck, by others to Justus of Ghent, St. Michael is grandly introduced.<a id="FNanchor_78" href="#Footnote_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a>
-High up, in the centre, sits the Saviour, with the severe expression
-of the judge. Above him hover four angels with the instruments
-of the Passion, and below him three others sounding trumpets (<i>v.</i> p. 54),—I
-suppose the seven pre-eminent angels: the Virgin and St. John
-the Baptist on each side, and then the Apostles ranged in the usual
-manner. ‘In the lower half of the picture stands St. Michael, clad in
-golden armour, so bright as to reflect in the most complete manner all
-the surrounding objects. His figure is slender and elegant, but colossal
-as compared to the rest. He seems to be bending earnestly forward, a
-splendid purple mantle falls from his shoulders to the ground, and his
-large wings are composed of glittering peacock’s feathers. He holds
-the balance; the scale with the good rests on earth, but that with the
-souls which are found wanting mounts into air. A demon stands ready<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</span>
-to receive them, and towards this scale St. Michael points with the end
-of a black staff which he holds in his right hand.’ This picture, which
-is a chef-d’œuvre of the early German school, is now in the church of
-St. Mary at Dantzig.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The historical subjects in which St. Michael is introduced exhibit
-him as prince of the Hebrew nation, and belong properly to the Old
-Testament.<a id="FNanchor_79" href="#Footnote_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a> ‘After the confusion of tongues, and the scattering of
-the people, which occurred on the building of the Tower of Babel,
-every separate nation had an angel to direct it. To Michael was given
-in charge the people of the Lord. The Hebrews being carried away
-captive into the land of Assyria, Daniel prayed that they might be
-permitted to return when the seventy years of captivity were over: but
-the Angel of Persia opposed himself on this occasion to the angels
-Michael and Gabriel. He wished to retain the Jews in captivity,
-because he was glad to have, within the bounds of his jurisdiction, a
-people who served the true God, and because he hoped that in time the
-captive Jews would convert to the truth the Assyrians and Persians
-committed to his care.’ This curious passage from one of the early
-Christian fathers, representing the good angels as opposed to each other,
-and one of them as disputing the commands of God, is an instance of
-the confused ideas on the subject of angels which prevailed in the
-ancient Church, and which prevail, I imagine, in the minds of many
-even at this day.</p>
-
-<p>In the story of Hagar in the wilderness, it is Michael who descends
-to her aid. In the sacrifice of Isaac, it is Michael who stays the arm
-of Abraham. It is Michael who brings the plagues on Egypt, and he
-it is who leads the Israelites through the wilderness. It was the belief
-of the Jews, and of some of the early Christian fathers, that through
-his angel (not in person) God spoke to Moses from the burning bush,
-and delivered to him the law on Mount Sinai; and that the angel so
-delegated was Michael.</p>
-
-<p>It is Michael who combats with Lucifer for the body of Moses.
-(Jude v. 9.) According to one interpretation of this curious passage<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</span>
-of Scripture, the demon wished to enter and to possess the form of
-Moses, in order to deceive the Jews by personating their leader; but
-others say, that Michael contended for the body, that he might bury it
-in an unknown place, lest the Jews should fall into the sin of paying
-divine honours to their legislator. This is a fine picturesque subject;
-the rocky desert, the body of Moses dead on the earth, the contest of
-the good and evil angel confronting each other,—these are grand
-materials! It must have been rarely treated, for I remember but one
-instance—the fresco by L. Signorelli, in the Sistine Chapel in the
-Vatican.</p>
-
-<p>It is Michael who intercepts Balaam<a id="FNanchor_80" href="#Footnote_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a> when on his way to curse the
-people of Israel, and puts blessings into his mouth instead of curses: a
-subject often treated, but as a fact rather than a vision.</p>
-
-<p>It is Michael who stands before Joshua in the plain by Jericho:—‘And
-Joshua said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?
-And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now
-come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and
-said unto him, What saith my Lord unto his servant? And the captain
-of the Lord’s host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot;
-for the place whereon thou standest is holy.’ (Joshua v. 13-15.)
-This subject is very uncommon. In the Greek MS. already alluded to,
-I met with a magnificent example—magnificent in point of sentiment,
-though half ruined and effaced; the God-like bearing of the armed
-angel, looking down on the prostrate Joshua, is here as fine as possible.</p>
-
-<p>It is Michael who appears to Gideon.<a id="FNanchor_81" href="#Footnote_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a> It is Michael who chastises
-David.<a id="FNanchor_82" href="#Footnote_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a> It is Michael who exterminates the army of Sennacherib; a
-subject magnificently painted by Rubens. (Some suppose that on this
-occasion God made use of the ministry of an evil angel.<a id="FNanchor_83" href="#Footnote_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a>)</p>
-
-<p>It is Michael who descends to deliver the Three Children from the
-burning fiery furnace. The Three Children in the furnace is a subject
-which appears very early in the catacombs and on the sarcophagi as a
-symbol of the Redemption;—so early, that it is described by Tertullian;<a id="FNanchor_84" href="#Footnote_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a>
-but in almost all the examples given there are three figures<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</span>
-only: where there is a fourth, it is, of course, the protecting angel, but
-he is without wings.<a id="FNanchor_85" href="#Footnote_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a></p>
-
-<p>Michael seizes the prophet Habakkuk by the hair of the head, and
-carries him to Babylon, to the den of lions, that he may feed Daniel.<a id="FNanchor_86" href="#Footnote_86" class="fnanchor">[86]</a>
-This apocryphal subject occurs on several sarcophagi.<a id="FNanchor_87" href="#Footnote_87" class="fnanchor">[87]</a> I have seen it
-also in illuminated MSS., but cannot at this moment refer to it. It
-occurs in a series of late Flemish prints after Hemskirk,—of which
-there are good impressions in the British Museum.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The Archangel Michael is not named in the Gospels; but in the
-legends of the Madonna, as we shall see hereafter, he plays a very important
-part, being deputed by Christ to announce to his mother her
-approaching end, and to receive her soul. For the present I will only
-remark, that when, in accordance with this very ancient legend, an
-angel is represented kneeling before the Madonna, and holding in his
-hand a palm surmounted by stars, or a lighted taper, this angel is not
-Gabriel, announcing the conception of Christ, as is usually supposed,
-but Michael, as the angel of death.<a id="FNanchor_88" href="#Footnote_88" class="fnanchor">[88]</a></p>
-
-<p>The legend of Monte Galgano I saw in a large fresco, in the Santa
-Croce at Florence, by a painter of the Giotto school; but in so bad a
-state, that I could only make out a bull on the top of a mountain, and
-a man shooting with a bow and arrow. On the opposite wall is the
-combat of Michael with the dragon—very spirited, and in much better
-preservation. To distinguish the apparition of St. Michael on Monte
-Galgano from the apparition on Mont St. Michel, in both of which a
-bull and a bishop are principal figures, it is necessary to observe, that,
-in the last-named subject, the sea is always introduced at the base of
-the picture, and that the former is most common in Italian, and the
-latter in French, works of art. In the French stained glass of the
-thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, St. Michael is a very popular
-subject, either with the dragon, or the scales, or both.</p>
-
-<p>Lately, in removing the whitewash from the east wall of the nave of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</span>
-Preston Church, near Brighton, was discovered the outline of a group
-of figures representing St. Michael, fully draped, and with large wings,
-bearing the balance; in each scale a human soul. The scale containing
-the <i>beato</i> is assisted by a figure fully draped, but so ruined that it is not
-possible to say whether it represents the Virgin, or the guardian saint
-of the person who caused the fresco to be painted. I am told that in
-the old churches of Cornwall, and of the towns on the south coast, which
-had frequent intercourse with France, effigies of St. Michael occur frequently,
-both in painting and sculpture. On the old English coin,
-thence called an <i>angel</i>, we have the figure of St. Michael, who was one
-of the patron saints of our Norman kings.</p>
-
-<p>I must now trust to the reader to contemplate the figures of St.
-Michael, so frequent and so varied in Art, with reference to these suggestions;
-and leaving for the present this radiant Spirit, this bright
-similitude of a primal and universal faith, we turn to his angelic companions.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_117" style="max-width: 75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_117.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c41"></a>41  Egyptian hieroglyphic of the Genius of Good overcoming Evil (<i>v.</i> p. 108)</div>
-</div>
-
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</span></p>
-
-<h3><span class="smcap">St. Gabriel.</span></h3>
-
-<p><i>Lat.</i> Sanctus Gabriel. <i>Ital.</i> San Gabriello, San Gabriele, L’Angelo Annunziatore.
-<i>Fr.</i> St. Gabriel.</p>
-
-<p>‘I am <span class="smcap">Gabriel</span>, that stand in the presence of God.’—<i>Luke</i> i. 19.</p>
-
-
-<p>In those passages of Scripture where the Angel Gabriel is mentioned
-by name, he is brought before us in the character of a Messenger only,
-and always on important occasions. In the Old Testament he is sent to
-Daniel to announce the return of the Jews from captivity, and to explain
-the vision which prefigures the destinies of mighty empires. His contest
-with the Angel of the kingdom of Persia, when St. Michael comes to
-his assistance, would be a splendid subject in fit hands; I do not know
-that it has ever been painted. In the New Testament the mission of
-Gabriel is yet more sublime: he first appears to the high priest Zacharias,
-and foretells the birth of John the Baptist,—a subject which
-belongs especially to the life of that saint. Six months later, Gabriel is
-sent to announce the appearance of the Redeemer of mankind.<a id="FNanchor_89" href="#Footnote_89" class="fnanchor">[89]</a></p>
-
-<p>In the Jewish tradition, Gabriel is the guardian of the celestial
-treasury. Hence, I presume, Milton has made him chief guardian of
-Paradise:—</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent0">Betwixt these rocky pillars Gabriel sat,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Chief of the angelic guards, awaiting night.</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>As the Angel who announced the birth of Christ, he has been venerated
-as the Angel who presides over childbirth. He foretells the
-birth of Samson, and, in the apocryphal legends, he foretells to Joachim
-the birth of the Virgin. In the East, he is of great importance. Mahomet
-selected him as his immediate teacher and inspirer, and he
-became the great protecting angel of Islamism: hence between Michael,
-the protector of the Jews and Christians, and Gabriel, the protector of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</span>
-the Moslem, there is supposed to exist no friendly feeling—rather the
-reverse.</p>
-
-<p>In the New Testament, Gabriel is a much more important personage
-than Michael; yet I have never met with any picture in which he
-figures singly as an object of worship. In devotional pictures he figures
-as the second of the three Archangels—‘Secondo fra i primi,’ as
-Tasso styles him; or in his peculiar character as the divine messenger
-of grace, ‘<i>l’Angelo annunziatore</i>.’ He then usually bears in one hand
-a lily or a sceptre; in the other a scroll on which is inscribed, ‘<span class="smcap">Ave
-Maria, Gratia plena</span>!’<a id="FNanchor_90" href="#Footnote_90" class="fnanchor">[90]</a></p>
-
-<p>The subject called the <span class="smcap">Annunciation</span> is one of the most frequent
-and most important, as it is one of the most beautiful, in the whole
-range of Christian Art. It belongs, however, to the history of the
-Virgin, where I shall have occasion to treat it at length; yet as the
-Angel Gabriel here assumes, by direct scriptural testimony, a distinct
-name and personality, and as the dignity and significance proper to a
-subject so often unworthily and perversely treated depend very much
-on the character and deportment given to the celestial messenger, I
-shall make a few observations in this place with respect to the treatment
-of the angel, only reserving the theme in its general bearing for future
-consideration.</p>
-
-<p>In the early representations of the Annunciation it is treated as a
-religious mystery, and with a solemn simplicity and purity of feeling,
-which is very striking and graceful in itself, as well as in harmony with
-the peculiar manner of the divine revelation. The scene is generally
-a porch or portico of a temple-like building; the Virgin stands (she is
-very seldom seated, and then on a kind of raised throne); the angel
-stands before her, at some distance: very often, she is within the
-portico; he is without. Gabriel is a majestic being, generally robed in
-white, wearing the tunic and pallium <i>à l’antique</i>, his flowing hair bound
-by a jewelled tiara, with large many-coloured wings, and bearing the
-sceptre of sovereignty in the left hand, while the right is extended in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</span>
-the act of benediction as well as salutation: ‘Hail! thou that art
-highly favoured! Blessed art thou among women!’ He is the principal
-figure: the attitude of the Virgin, with her drapery drawn over
-her head, her eyes drooping, and her hands folded on her bosom, is
-always expressive of the utmost submission and humility. So Dante
-introduces the image of the lowly Virgin receiving the angel as an
-illustration of the virtue of Humility:—</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza"><div lang="it">
-    <div class="verse indent0">Ed avea in atto impressa esta favella</div>
-    <div class="verse indent2">‘Ecce ancilla Dei!’—</div>
-  </div></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>and Flaxman has admirably embodied this idea, both in the lofty angel
-with outspread arms, and the kneeling Virgin. Sometimes the angel
-floats in, with his arms crossed over his bosom, but still with the air of
-a superior being, as in this beautiful figure after Lorenzo Monaco, from
-a picture in the Florence Gallery.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp50" id="i_120" style="max-width: 50em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_120.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c42"></a>42</div>
-</div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</span></p>
-
-<p>The two figures are not always in the same picture; it was a very
-general custom to place the Virgin and the Angel, the ‘Annunziata’
-and the ‘Angelo annunziatore,’ one on each side of the altar, the place
-of the Virgin being usually to the right of the spectator; sometimes the
-figures are half-length: sometimes, when placed in the same picture,
-they are in two separate compartments, a pillar, or some other ornament,
-running up the picture between them; as in many old altar-pieces,
-where the two figures are placed above or on each side of the Nativity,
-or the Baptism, or the Marriage at Cana, or some other scene from the
-life and miracles of our Saviour. This subject does not appear on the
-sarcophagi; the earliest instance I have met with is in the mosaic series
-over the arch in front of the choir in the church of Santa Maria
-Maggiore, at Rome, executed in the fifth century. Here we have two
-successive moments represented together. In the first the angel is sent
-on his mission, and appears flying down from heaven; the earliest
-instance I have seen of an angel in the act of flight. In the second
-group the Virgin appears seated on a throne; two angels stand behind
-her, supposed to represent her guardian angels, and the angel Gabriel
-stands in front with one hand extended. The dresses are classical, and
-there is not a trace of the mediæval feeling, or style, in the whole
-composition.</p>
-
-<p>In the Greek pictures, the Angel and the Virgin both stand; and in
-the Annunciation of Cimabue the Greek formula is strictly adhered to.
-I have seen pictures of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, in which
-Gabriel enters as a princely ambassador, with three little angels bearing
-up his mantle behind: in a picture in the collection of Prince Wallerstein,
-one meek and beautiful angel bears up the rich robes of the
-majestic archangel, like a page in the train of a sovereign prince. But
-from the beginning of the fourteenth century we perceive a change of
-feeling, as well as a change of style: the veneration paid to the Virgin
-demanded another treatment. She becomes not merely the principal
-person, but the superior being; she is the ‘Regina angelorum,’ and the
-angel bows to her, or kneels before her as to a queen.<a id="FNanchor_91" href="#Footnote_91" class="fnanchor">[91]</a>
-Thus in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</span>
-famous altar-piece at Cologne, the angel kneels; he bears a sceptre, and
-also a sealed roll, as if he were a celestial ambassador delivering his
-credentials: about the same period we sometimes see the angel merely
-with his hands folded over his breast, and his head inclined, delivering
-his message as if to a superior being.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_122" style="max-width: 75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_122.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c43"></a>43  The Angel Gabriel (Wilhelm of Cologne. 1440)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>I cannot decide at what period the lily first replaced the sceptre in
-the hand of the angel, not merely as the emblem of purity, but as the
-symbol of the Virgin from the verse in the Canticles usually applied to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</span>
-her: ‘I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valley.’ A lily is
-often placed in a vase near the Virgin, or in the foreground of the
-picture: of all the attributes placed in the hand of the angel, the lily is
-the most usual and the most expressive.</p>
-
-<p>The painters of Siena, who often displayed a new and original sentiment
-in the treatment of a subject, have represented the angel Gabriel
-as the announcer of ‘peace on earth;’ he kneels before the Virgin,
-crowned with olive, and bearing a branch of olive in his hand, as in a
-picture by Taddeo Bartoli. There is also a beautiful St. Gabriel by
-Martin Schoen, standing, and crowned with olive. So Dante—</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza"><div lang="it">
-    <div class="verse indent0">L’ angel che venne in terra col decreto</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Della molt’ anni lagrimata pace.</div>
-  </div></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Another passage in Dante which the painters seem to have had before
-them shows us the Madonna as queen, and the angel as adoring:—</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza"><div lang="it">
-    <div class="verse indent0">‘Qual è quel angel che con tanto giuoco</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Guarda negli occhi la nostra regina</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Innamorato sì che par di fuoco?’</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Ed egli a me,—‘Baldezza e leggiadria</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Quanta esser puote in angelo ed in alma</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Tutta è in lui, e si volem che sia!’</div>
-  </div></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>It is in seeking this <i>baldezza e leggiadria</i> in a mistaken sense that
-the later painters have forgotten all the spiritual dignity of the Angel
-Messenger.</p>
-
-<p>Where the angel bears a lighted taper, which the Virgin extends
-her hand to take from him; or, kneeling, bears in his hand a palm-branch,
-surmounted by seven or twelve stars (44), the subject represented
-is not the announcement of the birth of the Saviour, but the death
-of the Virgin, a part of her legendary history which is rarely treated
-and easily mistaken; then the announcing angel is not Gabriel,
-but Michael.<a id="FNanchor_92" href="#Footnote_92" class="fnanchor">[92]</a></p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</span></p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_124" style="max-width: 62.5em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_124.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c44"></a>44  Angel announcing the death of the Virgin (F. Filippo Lippi)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>In old German Art, the angel in the Annunciation is habited in
-priestly garments richly embroidered (42). The scene is often the bedroom
-of the Virgin; and while the announcing angel enters and kneels
-at the threshold of the door, the Holy Ghost enters at the window. I
-have seen examples in which Gabriel, entering at a door behind the
-Virgin, unfolds his official ‘Ave Maria.’ He has no lily, or sceptre,
-and she is apparently conscious of his presence without seeing him.<a id="FNanchor_93" href="#Footnote_93" class="fnanchor">[93]</a></p>
-
-<p>But in the representations of the sixteenth century we find neither
-the solemnity of the early Italian nor the naïveté of the early German
-school; and this divine subject becomes more and more materialised
-and familiarised, until, losing its spiritual character, it strikes us as
-shockingly prosaic. One cannot say that the angel is invariably
-deficient in dignity, or the Virgin in grace. In the Venetian school
-and the Bologna school we find occasionally very beautiful Annunciations;
-but in general the half-draped fluttering angels and the girlish-looking
-Virgins are nothing less than offensive; and in the attempt to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</span>
-vary the sentiment, the <i>naturalisti</i> have here run the risk of being
-much <i>too</i> natural.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp50" id="i_125" style="max-width: 50em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_125.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c45"></a>45  The Archangel Gabriel (Van Eyck)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>In the Cathedral at Orvieto, the Annunciation is represented in front
-of the choir by two colossal statues by Francesco Mochi: to the right
-is the angel Gabriel, poised on a marble cloud, in an attitude so fantastic
-that he looks as if he were going to dance; on the other side stands the
-Virgin, conceived in a spirit how different!—yet not less mistaken; she
-has started from her throne; with one hand she grasps it, with the
-other she seems to guard her person against the intruder: majesty at
-once, and fear, a look of insulted dignity, are in the air and attitude,—‘<i lang="it">par
-che minacci e tema nel tempo istesso</i>’—but I thought of Mrs.
-Siddons while I looked, not of the Virgin Mary.</p>
-
-<p>This fault of sentiment I saw reversed, but equally in the extreme,
-in another example—a beautiful miniature.<a id="FNanchor_94" href="#Footnote_94" class="fnanchor">[94]</a> The Virgin, seated on the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</span>
-side of her bed, sinks back alarmed, almost fainting; the angel in a robe
-of crimson, with a white tunic, stands before her, half turning away and
-grasping his sceptre in his hand, with a proud commanding air, like a
-magnificent surly god—a Jupiter who had received a repulse.</p>
-
-<p>I pass over other instances conceived in a taste even more blamable—Gabriels
-like smirking, winged lord chamberlains; and Virgins, half
-prim, half voluptuous—the sanctity and high solemnity of the event
-utterly lost. Let this suffice for the present: I may now leave the
-reader to his own feeling and discrimination.</p>
-
-
-<h3><span class="smcap">St. Raphael.</span></h3>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p><i>Lat.</i> Sanctus Raphael. <i>Ital.</i> San Raffaello. <i>Fr.</i> Saint Raphael. <i>Ger.</i> Der Heilige Rafael.</p>
-
-<p>‘I am <span class="smcap">Raphael</span>, one of the Seven Holy Angels which present the prayers of the Saints, and
-which go in and out before the glory of the <span class="smcap">Holy One</span>.’—<i>Tobit</i> xii. 15.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>I have already alluded to the established belief, that every individual
-man, nay, every created being, hath a guardian angel deputed to watch
-over him:—‘Woe unto us, if, by our negligence or our self-will, we
-offend him on whose vigilance we depend for help and salvation! But
-the prince of guardian spirits, the guardian angel of all humanity, is
-Raphael; and in this character, according to the early Christians, he
-appeared to the shepherds by night ‘with good tidings of great joy,
-which shall be for all people.’ It is, however, from the beautiful
-Hebrew romance of Tobit that his attributes are gathered: he is the
-protector of the young and innocent, and he watches over the pilgrim
-and the wayfarer. The character imputed to him in the Jewish traditions
-has been retained and amplified by Milton: Raphael is the angel
-sent by God to warn Adam:—</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent7">..... The affable archangel</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Raphael; the sociable spirit that deign’d</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">To travel with Tobias, and secured</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">His marriage with the seven times wedded maid.</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>And the character of the angel is preserved throughout: his sympathy<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</span>
-with the human race, his benignity, his eloquence, his mild and social
-converse. So when Adam blesses him:—</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent10"> . . . .Since to part,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Go, heavenly guest, ethereal messenger,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Sent from whose sovereign goodness I adore!</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Gentle to me and affable hath been</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Thy condescension, and shall be honour’d ever</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">With grateful memory. Thou to mankind</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Be good and friendly still, and oft return!</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>This character of benignity is stamped on all the best representations
-of Raphael, which, however, are not common: they occur principally
-in the chapels dedicated to the holy guardian angels; but there are also
-churches and chapels dedicated to him singly.</p>
-
-<p>The devotional figures of Raphael exhibit him in the dress of a pilgrim
-or traveller, ‘his habit fit for speed succinct,’ sandals on his feet, his
-hair bound with a fillet or diadem, the staff in his hand, and sometimes
-a bottle of water or a wallet (<i>panetière</i>) slung to his belt. In this figure
-by Murillo (46), from one of the most beautiful pictures in the Leuchtenberg
-Gallery, Raphael is the guardian and guide of the votary who
-appears below—a bishop who probably bore the same name.<a id="FNanchor_95" href="#Footnote_95" class="fnanchor">[95]</a></p>
-
-<p>Sometimes, as guardian spirit, he has a sword: the most beautiful
-example I could cite of this treatment is the figure in the Breviary of
-Anne of Bretagne (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1500); he wears a pale-green tunic bordered
-with gold, and wings of a deep rose-colour; he has a casket or wallet
-slung over his shoulder by a golden belt; in one hand he holds a sword,
-and the other is raised with a warning gesture; his countenance, beautiful
-and benign as possible, yet says, ‘Take heed.’ More commonly,
-however, he carries a small casket, box, or vase, supposed to contain the
-‘fishy charm’ against the evil spirits. (Tobit vi. 6, 7.)</p>
-
-<p>Raphael, in his character of guardian angel, is generally represented
-as leading the youthful Tobias. When, in order to mark the difference
-between the celestial and the mortal being, Tobit is figured so small as
-to look like a child, and when the angel wears his spirit-wings, and is
-not disguised, the whole subject becomes idealised: it is no longer an
-historical action, but a devotional allegory; and Tobias with his fish<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</span>
-represents the Christian, the believer, guarded and guided through his
-life-pilgrimage by the angelic monitor and minister of divine mercy.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp80" id="i_128" style="max-width: 50em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_128.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c46"></a>46  St. Raphael (Murillo. Leuchtenberg Gallery)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>There is a small side chapel in the church of Saint Euphemia, at
-Verona, dedicated to St. Raphael. The walls are painted with frescoes
-from the story of Tobit; and over the altar is that masterpiece of
-Carotto, representing the three archangels as three graceful spirit-like
-figures without wings. The altar being dedicated to Raphael, he is
-here the principal figure; he alone has the glory encircling his head,
-and takes precedence of the others; he stands in the centre leading
-Tobias, and looking down on him with an air of such saintly and benign
-protection, that one feels inclined to say or sing, in the words of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</span>
-litany, ‘Sancte Raphaël, adolescentium pudicitiæ defensor, ora pro
-nobis!’ Even more divine is the St. Michael who stands on the right,
-with one hand gathering up the folds of his crimson robe, the other
-leaning on his great two-handed sword; but such a head, such a countenance
-looking out upon us—so earnest, powerful, and serious!—we
-recognise the Lord of Souls, the Angel of Judgment. To the left of
-Raphael stands Gabriel, the Angel of Redemption; he holds the lily,
-and looks up to heaven adoring: this is the least expressive of the three
-heads, but still beautiful; and, on the whole, the picture left a stronger
-impression on my mind than any I had seen at Venice, the glorious
-Assumption excepted. The colouring in its glowing depth is like that
-of Giorgione. Vasari tells us, that this picture, painted when Carotto
-was young (about <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1495), was criticised because the limbs of the
-angels were too slender; to which Carotto, famous for his repartees,
-replied, ‘Then they will fly the better!’ The drawing, however, it
-must be conceded, is not the best part of the picture.</p>
-
-<p>The earliest picture of Titian which remains to us is a St. Raphael
-leading Tobias;<a id="FNanchor_96" href="#Footnote_96" class="fnanchor">[96]</a> beautiful, but not equal, certainly, to that of Carotto.
-Raphael, as we might naturally suppose, painted his guardian angel
-and patron saint <i>con amore</i>:<a id="FNanchor_97" href="#Footnote_97" class="fnanchor">[97]</a> we have by him two St. Raphaels; the
-first, a little figure executed when he was a boy in the studio of his
-master Perugino, is now on one side of an altar-piece in the Certosa at
-Pavia. Later in life, and in one of his finest works, he has introduced
-his patron saint with infinite beauty of feeling: in the Madonna della
-Pesce,<a id="FNanchor_98" href="#Footnote_98" class="fnanchor">[98]</a> the Virgin sits upon her throne, with the Infant Christ in her
-arms; the angel Raphael presents Tobias, who is not here a youth but
-a child; while the Infant Christ turns away from the wise bearded old
-doctor, who is intently studying his great book, to welcome the angel
-and his charge. The head of the angel, looking up in the face of the
-Madonna, is in truth sublime: it would be impossible to determine
-whether it belongs to a masculine or a feminine being; but none could
-doubt that it is a <i>divine</i> being, filled with fervent, enthusiastic, adoring
-love. The fish in the hand of Tobias has given its name to the picture;
-and I may as well observe that in the devotional pictures, where the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</span>
-fish is merely an attribute, expressing Christian baptism, it is usually
-very small: in the story it is a sort of monster, which sprang out of the
-river and would have devoured him.</p>
-
-<p>All the subjects in which the Archangel Raphael is an actor belong
-to the history of Tobit. The scenes of this beautiful scriptural <i>legend</i>—I
-must call it so—have been popular subjects of Art, particularly
-in the later schools, and have been admirably treated by some of the
-best Dutch and Flemish painters: the combination of the picturesque
-and poetical with the homely and domestic recommended it particularly
-to Rembrandt and his school. Tobias dragging the fish ashore, while
-the angel stands by, is a fine picturesque landscape subject which has
-been often repeated. The spirited little sketch by Salvator,<a id="FNanchor_99" href="#Footnote_99" class="fnanchor">[99]</a> in which
-the figure of the guardian angel is admirable for power and animated
-grace; the twilight effect by Rembrandt;<a id="FNanchor_100" href="#Footnote_100" class="fnanchor">[100]</a> another by Domenichino;
-three by Claude; may be cited as examples.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp80" id="i_130" style="max-width: 62.5em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_130.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c47"></a>47  Archangel (Rembrandt)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>In such pictures, as it has been rightly observed, the angel ought not
-to have wings: he is disguised as the friendly traveller. The dog,
-which ought to be omitted in the devotional pictures, is here a part of
-the story, and figures with great propriety.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</span></p>
-
-<p>Rembrandt painted the parting of Tobias and his parents four times;
-Tobias led by the angel, four times; Tobias healing his father, once;
-the departure of the angel, twice. Of this last subject, the picture in
-the Louvre may be pronounced one of his finest;—miraculous for true
-and spirited expression, and for the action of the soaring angel, who
-parts the clouds and strikes through the air like a strong swimmer
-through the waves of the sea (47).</p>
-
-<p>The story of Tobit, as a series of subjects, has been very frequently
-represented, always in the <i>genre</i> and picturesque style of the later
-schools. I shall have to return to it hereafter; here I have merely
-alluded to the devotional treatment, in order to direct attention to the
-proper character of the Archangel Raphael.</p>
-
-<p>And thus we have shown</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent10">... how Holy Church</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Doth represent with human countenance</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Gabriel and Michaël, and him who made</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Tobias whole.—<span class="smcap">Dante</span>, <i>Par.</i> c. iv.</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-
-<h3>ADDITIONAL NOTES ON ANGELS.</h3>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p>1. In a picture by Gentile da Fabriano (<i>Berlin Gallery</i>, 1130), the Virgin and Child
-are enthroned, and on each side of the throne is a tree, on the branches of which are little red
-Seraphim winged and perched like birds, singing and making music. I remember also a
-little Dutch print of a Riposo (<i>v.</i> ‘Legends of the Madonna,’ p. 256), in which five little angels
-are perched on the trees above, singing and playing for the solace of the divine Infant. Thus
-we have Dante’s idea of the <i>Uccelli di Dio</i>, reproduced in a more familiar form.</p>
-
-<p>2. In the Convent of Sant-Angelo at Bologna, Camillo Procaccino painted the ‘Acts of
-the Holy Angels’ in the following order:—1. The Fall of the Dragon. 2. The Angels
-drive Adam and Eve from Paradise. 3. The three Angels visit Abraham. 4. The Angel
-stays the arm of Abraham. 5. The Angel wrestles with Jacob. 6. The Angels visit Jacob
-in a Dream. 7. The Angel delivers the three Children in the burning fiery Furnace. 8.
-The Angel slays the Host of Sennacherib. 9. The Angel protects Tobit. 10. The Punishment
-of Heliodorus. 11. The Annunciation to Mary. It will be remarked that all these
-subjects are strictly scriptural.</p>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</span></p>
-
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="The_Four_Evangelists">
-<span class="hid">The Four Evangelists.</span></h2>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowe24" id="t_158">
-  <img src="images/t_158.png" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption">The Four Evangelists.</div>
-</div></div>
-
-<p class="center">‘Matthew wrote for the Hebrews; Mark, for the Italians; Luke, for the Greeks; for <span class="allsmcap">ALL</span>, the
-great herald John.’—<i>Gregory Nazianzen.</i></p>
-
-
-<p>Since on the Four Evangelists, as the witnesses and interpreters of a
-revealed religion, the whole Christian Church may be said to rest as
-upon four majestic pillars, we cannot be surprised that representations
-of them should abound, and that their effigies should have been introduced
-into Christian places of worship, from very early times. Generally,
-we find them represented together, grouped, or in a series;
-sometimes in their collective character, as the <i>Four Witnesses</i>; sometimes
-in their individual character, each as an inspired teacher, or beneficent
-patron. As no authentic resemblances of these sacred personages
-have ever been known or even supposed to exist, such representations
-have always been either <i>symbolical</i> or <i>ideal</i>. In the symbol, the aim
-was to embody, under some emblematical image, the spiritual mission;
-in the ideal portrait, the artist, left to his own conception, borrowed
-from Scripture some leading trait (when Scripture afforded any authority
-for such), and adding, with what success his skill could attain, all
-that his imagination could conceive, as expressive of dignity and persuasive
-eloquence—the look ‘commercing with the skies,’ the commanding
-form, the reverend face, the ample draperies—he put the book
-or the pen into his hand, and thus the writer and the teacher of the
-truth was placed before us.</p>
-
-<p>The earliest type under which the Four Evangelists are figured is an
-emblem of the simplest kind: four scrolls placed in the four angles of a
-Greek cross, or four books (the Gospels), represented allegorically those
-who wrote or promulgated them. The second type chosen was more
-poetical—the four rivers which had their source in Paradise: representations
-of this kind, in which the Saviour, figured as a lamb holding
-the cross, or in his human form, with a lamb near him, stands on an
-eminence, from which gush four rivers or fountains, are to be met with
-in the catacombs, on ancient sarcophagi preserved among the Christian<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</span>
-relics in the Vatican, and in several old churches constructed between
-the second and the fifth century.</p>
-
-<p>At what period the four mysterious creatures in the vision of Ezekiel
-(ch. i. 5) were first adopted as significant symbols of the Four Evangelists,
-does not seem clear. The Jewish doctors interpreted them as
-figuring the four Archangels,—Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, Uriel;
-and afterwards applied them as emblems of the Four Great Prophets,—Isaiah,
-Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. By the early Oriental
-Christians, who typified the whole of the Old Testament, the transfer
-of the emblem to the Four Evangelists seems obvious and easy; we
-find it alluded to as early as the second century. The four ‘Beasts’
-of corresponding form in the Revelation (chap. iv. 7), which stood
-round the throne of the Lamb, were likewise thus interpreted; but it
-was not till the fifth century that we find these symbols assuming a
-visible form, and introduced into works of art. In the seventh century
-they had become almost universal, as distinctive attributes.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp80" id="i_133" style="max-width: 62.5em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_133.jpg" alt="St. Matthew (Mosaic, fifth century)"/>
-</div>
-
-<p>The general application of the Four Creatures to the Four Evangelists
-is of much earlier date than the separate and individual application
-of each symbol, which has varied at different times; that propounded
-by St. Jerome, in his commentary on Ezekiel, has since his time prevailed
-universally. Thus, then, 1. To St. Matthew was given the
-<span class="smcap">Cherub</span>, or human semblance, because he begins his gospel with the
-human generation of Christ; or, according to others, because in his
-gospel the human nature of the Saviour is more insisted on than the
-divine. In the most ancient mosaics, the type is human, not angelic,
-for the head is that of a man with a beard. 2. St. Mark has the <span class="smcap">Lion</span>,
-because he has set forth the royal dignity of Christ; or, according to
-others, because he begins with the mission of the Baptist—‘<i>the voice<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</span>
-of one crying in the wilderness</i>’—which is figured by the lion: or,
-according to a third interpretation, the lion was allotted to St. Mark,
-because there was, in the middle ages, a popular belief that the young
-of the lion was born dead, and after three days was awakened to vitality
-by the breath of its sire; some authors, however, represent the lion as
-vivifying his young not by his breath, but by his roar. In either case
-the application is the same; the revival of the young lion was considered
-as symbolical of the resurrection, and Mark was commonly called the
-‘Historian of the Resurrection.’ Another commentator observes that
-Mark begins his gospel with ‘roaring’—‘the voice of one crying in
-the wilderness;’ and ends it fearfully with a curse—‘He that believeth
-not shall be damned;’ and that, therefore, his appropriate attribute
-is the most terrible of beasts, the lion.<a id="FNanchor_101" href="#Footnote_101" class="fnanchor">[101]</a> 3. Luke has the <span class="smcap">Ox</span>,
-because he has dwelt on the priesthood of Christ, the <i>ox</i> being the
-emblem of sacrifice. 4. John has the <span class="smcap">Eagle</span>, which is the symbol of
-the highest inspiration, because he soared upwards to the contemplation
-of the divine nature of the Saviour.</p>
-
-<p>But the order in which, in theological Art, these symbols are placed,
-is not the same as the order of the Gospels according to the canon.
-Rupertus considers the Four Beasts as typical of the Incarnation, the
-Passion, the Resurrection, and the Ascension; an idea previously dwelt
-upon by Durandus, who adds, that the man and the lion are placed on
-the right, because the incarnation and the resurrection are the joy of
-the whole earth; whilst the ox is on the left, because Christ’s sacrifice
-was a trouble to the apostles; and the eagle is above the ox, as suggestive
-of our Lord’s upward flight into heaven: according to others, the
-proper order in the ascending scale is thus—at the lowest point on the
-left, the ox; to the right, the lion; above the ox, the eagle; and above
-all, the angel. So in Raphael’s Vision of Ezekiel, the angel gazes into
-the face of the Holy One, the others form his throne.</p>
-
-<p>I have dwelt on these fanciful interpretations and disquisitions, because
-the symbols of the Evangelists meet us at every turn; in the
-mosaics of the old Italian churches, in the decorative sculpture of our
-old cathedrals, in the Gothic stained glass, in the ancient pictures and
-miniatures, on the carved and chased covers of old books; everywhere,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</span>
-in short, where enters the idea of their divine mission—and where is
-it not? The profound thought, as well as the vivid imagination, exercised
-in some of these early works of art, is beginning to be appreciated;
-and we should lose the half of what is poetical, and significant,
-and venerable in these apparently arbitrary and fanciful symbols, if we
-merely seized the general intention, and not the relative and appropriate
-meaning of each.</p>
-
-<p>I will only add (for I have restricted myself to the consideration of
-the mysteries of faith only so far as they are carried into the forms of
-Art) that these symbols of the Four Evangelists were in their combination
-held to be symbolical of the Redeemer, in the fourfold character
-then universally assigned to him, as man, as king, as high-priest, and as
-God; according to this Latin verse:</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza"><div lang="la">
-    <div class="verse indent0">Quatuor hæc Dominum signant animalia Christum:</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Est <i>Homo</i> nascendo, <i>vitulus</i>que sacer moriendo,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Et <i>Leo</i> surgendo, cœlos <i>aquila</i>que petendo;</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Nec minus hos scribas animalia et ipsa figurant.</div>
-  </div></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>This would again alter the received order of the symbols, and place
-the angelic or human semblance lower than the rest: but I have never
-seen them so placed, at least I can recollect no instance.</p>
-
-<p>A Greek mosaic, existing in the Convent of Vatopedi, on Mount
-Athos, exhibits an attempt to reduce to form the wild and sublime
-imagery of the prophet Ezekiel: the Evangelists, or rather the Gospels,
-are represented as the tetramorph, or four-faced creature, with wings
-full of eyes, and borne on wheels of living flame (49).</p>
-
-<p>The Tetramorph, i.e. the union of the four attributes of the Evangelists,
-in one figure, is in Greek Art always angelic or winged—a
-mysterious thing. The Tetramorph in Western Art has in some instances
-become monstrous, instead of mystic and poetical. In a
-miniature of the <i>Hortus Deliciarum</i>, we find the new Law, or Christianity,
-represented as a woman crowned and seated on an animal
-which, with the body of a horse, has the four heads of the mystic
-creatures; and of the four feet, one is human; one hoofed, for the ox;
-one clawed like an eagle’s; and one like a lion’s: underneath is inscribed
-<i>Animal Ecclesiæ</i>. In some other examples, the Church, or the new<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</span>
-Law, is seated in a triumphal car drawn by
-the eagle, the lion, and the ox, while the
-angel holds the reins and drives as charioteer.</p>
-
-<div class="figleft illowp35" id="I_136a" style="max-width: 31.25em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_136a.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c49"></a>49  Tetramorph</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The early images of the Evangelical symbol
-are uniformly represented with wings,
-for the same reason that wings were given
-to the angels,—they were angels, i.e.
-bringers of good tidings: for instance, in
-the earliest example to which I can refer,
-a rude fragment of a bas-relief in terracotta,
-found in the catacombs, which represents
-a lamb with a glory holding a cross;
-on the right, an angel in a sacerdotal garment
-(St. Matthew), on the left the winged
-ox (St. Luke), each holding a book.</p>
-
-
-<p>In the most ancient Christian churches
-we find these symbols perpetually recurring,
-generally in or over the recess at the east
-end (the apsis, or tribune), where stands
-the altar. And as the image of Christ, as
-the Redeemer, either under the semblance
-of the lamb, or in his human likeness, as
-a grand, calm, solemn figure enthroned, and in the act of benediction,
-forms invariably the principal object; almost as invariably the Evangelists<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</span>
-are either at the four corners, or ranged in a line above or
-below, or they are over the arch in front of the tribune. Sometimes
-they are the heads only of the mystic creatures, on an azure ground,
-studded with stars, floating as in a firmament, thus (50): or the half
-figure ends in a leafy scroll, like the genii in an arabesque, as thus
-(51): or the creature is given at full length and entire, with four
-wings, holding the book, and looking much like a figure in heraldry
-(52, 53).</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_136b" style="max-width: 81.25em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_136b.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><span class="gap4r"><a id="c50"></a>50  St. Luke (Mosaic, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 750)</span>
- <a id="c51"></a>[51] St. Luke (Mosaic, fifth century)
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The next step was the combination of the emblem with the human
-form, i.e. the head of the lion, ox, or eagle, set upon the figure of a
-man. Here is a figure of St. John standing with the head of an eagle,
-holding the gospel (54). There is another rudely engraved in Münter’s
-work, with the eagle’s head, wings upon the shoulders, and a scroll. I
-remember another of St. John seated, writing, with the head and clawed
-feet of an eagle, and the body and hands of a man. Such figures as a
-series I have seen in ornaments, and frequently in illuminated MSS.,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</span>
-but seldom in churches, and never of a large size. A very striking
-and comparatively modern example of this peculiar
-treatment occurs in a bas-relief on the door
-of the College of St. Stephen and St. Lawrence,
-at Castiglione, in which the Four Evangelists
-are represented as half-length human figures,
-amply draped and holding the gospels, each with
-the emblematic head and large outspread wings
-(55). The bronze bas-reliefs of the Evangelists
-on each side of the choir of St. Antonio, at
-Padua, are similar in form, and very fine, both in
-conception and workmanship.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_137a" style="max-width: 62.5em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_137a.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c52"></a>52  St. John (Mosaic, ekeventh century)</div>
-</div>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_137b" style="max-width: 62.5em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_137b.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c53"></a>53  St. Mark (Mosiac)</div>
-</div>
-
-
-<div class="figleft illowp30" id="i_138a" style="max-width: 31.25em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_138a.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c54"></a>54  St. John</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>This series of full-length figures is from the
-first compartment of the Life of Christ by
-Angelico da Fiesole.<a id="FNanchor_102" href="#Footnote_102" class="fnanchor">[102]</a> In the original the
-figures stand round a mystic circle, alternately
-with the prophets (56). We must remember, that
-however monstrous and grotesque such figures
-may appear to the eye, they are not more unnatural
-than the angelic representations with which
-we are so familiar that we see in them beauty
-only—not considering that men with the wings of birds are as merely
-emblematical and impossible as men with animal heads. It is interesting,
-and leads the mind to many speculations, to remark that the Babylonish
-captivity must have familiarised the
-Israelites with the combination of the
-human and animal attributes in the same
-figure. The gigantic bas-reliefs from
-Nineveh show us winged bulls with human
-heads, and the human form with the eagle’s
-head and wings. This figure, for example,
-(57) is not unlike some early figures of St.
-John, if we substitute the book and the
-pen for the basket and the pine-cone.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp50" id="i_138b" style="max-width: 25em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_138b.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c55"></a>55  St. Mark</div>
-</div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</span></p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_139a" style="max-width: 93.75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_139a.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c56"></a>[56]</div>
-</div>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp50" id="i_139b" style="max-width: 50em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_139b.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c57"></a>57 From Nineveh</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>In a few later examples the only symbolical attribute retained is a
-pair of wings. The next figure (58) is from a curious set of Evangelists,
-of a minute size, and exquisitely engraved by Hans Beham:<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</span>
-they are habited in the old German fashion; each
-has his book, his emblem, and in addition the expressive
-wings.</p>
-
-<div class="figleft illowp30" id="i_140" style="max-width: 31.25em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_140.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c58"></a>[58]</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>These animal symbols, whether alone or in combination
-with the human forms, were perfectly intelligible
-to the people, sanctified in their eyes
-by tradition, by custom, and by the most solemn
-associations. All direct imitation of nature was,
-by the best painters, carefully avoided. In this
-respect how fine is Raphael’s Vision of Ezekiel!
-how sublime and how true in feeling and conception!
-where the Messiah comes floating along,
-upborne by the Four Creatures—mysterious, spiritual, wonderful
-beings, animals in form, but in all else unearthly, and the winged ox
-not less divine than the winged angel!<a id="FNanchor_103" href="#Footnote_103" class="fnanchor">[103]</a> Whereas in the later times,
-when the artist piqued himself upon the imitation of nature, the mystic
-and venerable significance was wholly lost. As a striking instance
-of this mistaken style of treatment, we may turn to the famous
-group of the Four Evangelists by Rubens,<a id="FNanchor_104" href="#Footnote_104" class="fnanchor">[104]</a> grand, colossal, standing
-or rather moving figures, each with his emblem, if emblems they can
-be called which are almost as full of reality as nature itself:—the
-ox so like life, we expect him to bellow at us; the magnificent lion
-flourishing his tail, and looking at St. Mark as if about to roar at him!—and
-herein lies the mistake of the great painter, that, for the religious
-and mysterious emblem, he has substituted the creatures themselves:
-this being one of the instances, not unfrequent in Art, in which the
-literal truth becomes a manifest falsehood.</p>
-
-<p>In ecclesiastical decoration the Four Evangelists are sometimes
-grouped significantly with the Four Greater Prophets; thus representing
-the connexion between the new and the old Law. I met with a
-curious instance in the Cathedral of Chartres. The five great windows
-over the south door may be said to contain a succinct system of theology,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</span>
-according to the belief of the thirteenth century: here the Virgin, i.e.
-the Church or Religion, occupies the central window; on one side is
-Jeremiah, carrying on his shoulders St. Luke, and Isaiah carrying St.
-Matthew; on the other side, Ezekiel bears St. John, and Daniel
-St. Mark; thus representing the New Testament resting on the Old.</p>
-
-<p>In ecclesiastical decoration, and particularly in the stained glass, they
-are often found in combination with the Four Doctors, the Evangelists
-being considered as witnesses, the Doctors as interpreters, of the truth:
-or as a series with the Four Greater Prophets, the Four Sibyls, and
-the Four Doctors of the Church, the Evangelists taking the third
-place.</p>
-
-<p>If, as late as the sixteenth century, we find the Evangelists still
-expressed by the mystic emblems (as in the fine bronzes in the choir of
-Sant’ Antonio at Padua), as early as the sixth we have in the Greek
-MSS. and mosaics the Evangelists as venerable men, and promulgators
-of a revelation; as in San Vitale at Ravenna (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 547): on each side of
-the choir, nearest the altar, we find the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah;
-then follow the Evangelists, two on each side, all alike, all classically
-draped in white tunics, each holding an open book, on which is inscribed
-‘Secundum Marcum,’ ‘Secundum Johannem,’ &amp;c.; and above each
-the animal symbol or attribute, large, full length, and grandly designed.
-In modern ecclesiastical decoration, the usual and appropriate situation
-of the Four Evangelists is immediately under the dome, nearest to the
-Saviour after the angels, or after the prophets, where either are introduced.
-I will mention here a few examples celebrated in the history
-of Art; premising that among the works of Leonardo, of Michael
-Angelo, and Raphael, we find no representations of the Four Evangelists;
-which is singular, considering that such figures entered necessarily
-into every scheme of theological decorative art.</p>
-
-<p>By Cimabue (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1270), larger than life, on the vault of the choir
-in San Francesco d’Assisi.</p>
-
-<p>By Giotto (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1320), in the choir of Sant’ Apollinare, at Ravenna;
-seated, and each accompanied by one of the doctors of the Church.</p>
-
-<p>By Angelico (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1390), round the dome of the chapel of San
-Niccolò, in the Vatican; all seated, each with his emblem.</p>
-
-<p>By Masaccio (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1420), round the dome of the chapel of the Passion
-in San Clemente, at Rome; admirable for simple grandeur.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</span></p>
-
-<p>By Perugino (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1490), on the dome of the chapel del Cambio, at
-Perugia; the heads admirable.</p>
-
-<p>By Correggio (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1520), immediately under the cupola of San
-Giovanni, in four lunettes, magnificent figures: and again in the
-Cathedral of Parma, each seated in glory, with one of the doctors of
-the Church.</p>
-
-<p>By Domenichino, two sets (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1620). Those in the church of St.
-Andrea della Valle, at Rome, are considered his finest works, and
-celebrated in the history of Art: they are grand figures. The emblematical
-animals are here combined with the personages in a manner the
-most studied and picturesque; and the angels which sport around them,
-playing with the mane of St. Mark’s lion, or the pallet and pencils of
-St. Luke, are like beautiful ‘Amoretti,’—but we hardly think of
-angels. The series at Grotta-Ferrata is inferior.</p>
-
-<p>The Four Evangelists by Valentin (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1632), in the Louvre, had
-once great celebrity, and have been often engraved; they appear to me
-signal examples of all that should be avoided in character and sentiment.
-St. Matthew, for example, is an old beggar; the model for the attendant
-angel is a little French <i>gamin</i>, ‘à qui Valentin a commandé de sortir
-un bras de la manche de sa chemise, que de l’autre main il soutient
-gauchement.’</p>
-
-<p>Le Sueur (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1655) has represented the Four Evangelists seated
-at a table writing; the Holy Ghost descends upon them in the form of
-a dove.</p>
-
-<p>Towards the end of the seventeenth century, we find sets of the
-Evangelists in which the emblems are altogether omitted, and the
-personages distinguished by their situation, or by their names inscribed
-under or over them: but we miss those antique scriptural attributes
-which placed them before us as beings foreshadowed in the prophecies
-uttered of old; they have become mere men.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>This must suffice for the Evangelists considered as a series and in
-their collective character; but it will be interesting to pause for a
-moment, and take a rapid retrospective view of the progress, from first
-to last, in the expression of an idea through form.</p>
-
-<p>First, we have the mere <i>fact</i>; the four scrolls, or the four books.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</span></p>
-
-<p>Next, the <i>idea</i>; the four rivers of salvation flowing from on high, to
-fertilise the whole earth.</p>
-
-<p>Thirdly, the <i>prophetic</i> Symbol; the winged cherub of fourfold
-aspect.</p>
-
-<p>Next, the <i>Christian</i> Symbol; the four ‘beasts’ in the Apocalypse,
-with or without the angel-wings.</p>
-
-<p>Then the combination of the <i>emblematical animal</i> with the <i>human</i>
-form.</p>
-
-<p>Then the <i>human</i> personages, each of venerable or inspired aspect, as
-becomes the teacher and witness; and each attended by the scriptural
-emblem—no longer an emblem, but an attribute—marking his individual
-vocation and character.</p>
-
-<p>And, lastly, the emblem and attribute both discarded, we have the
-human being only, holding his gospel, i.e. <i>his</i> version of the doctrine
-of Christ.</p>
-
-
-<h3 id="St._Matthew"><span class="smcap">St. Matthew.</span></h3>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p><i>Lat.</i> S. Mattheus. <i>Ital.</i> San Matteo. <i>Fr.</i> Saint Matthieu. <i>Ger.</i> St. Matthäus. (Sept. 21.)</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>St. Matthew among the Apostles takes the seventh or eighth place,
-but as an Evangelist he always stands first, because his gospel was the
-earliest written. Very little is certainly known concerning him, his
-name occurring but once in his own gospel, and in the other gospels
-only incidentally with reference to two events.</p>
-
-<p>He was a Hebrew by birth; by profession a publican, or tax-gatherer,
-in the service of the Romans—an office very lucrative, but
-particularly odious in the sight of his countrymen. His original name
-was Levi. It is recorded in few words, that as he sat at the receipt of
-custom by the lake of Gennesareth, Jesus in passing by saw him, and
-said unto him, ‘Follow me,’ and he left all and followed him; and
-farther, that he made a feast in his house, at which many publicans and
-sinners sat down with the Lord and his disciples, to the great astonishment
-and scandal of the Jews. So far the sacred record: the traditional
-and legendary history of St. Matthew is equally scanty. It is related
-in the <i>Perfetto Legendario</i> that after the dispersion of the apostles he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</span>
-travelled into Egypt and Ethiopia, preaching the Gospel; and having
-arrived in the capital of Ethiopia, he lodged in the house of the eunuch
-who had been baptized by Philip, and who entertained him with great
-honour. There were two terrible magicians at that time in Ethiopia,
-who by their diabolical spells and incantations kept all the people in
-subjection, afflicting them at the same time with strange and terrible
-diseases; but St. Matthew overcame them, and having baptized the
-people, they were delivered for ever from the malignant influence of
-these enchanters. And further, it is related that St. Matthew raised
-the son of the King of Egypt from the dead, and healed his daughter of
-the leprosy. The princess, whose name was Iphigenia, he placed at the
-head of a community of virgins dedicated to the service of God; and a
-certain wicked heathen king, having threatened to tear her from her
-asylum, was struck by leprosy, and his palace destroyed by fire. St.
-Matthew remained twenty-three years in Egypt and Ethiopia, and it is
-said that he perished in the ninetieth year of our era, under Domitian:
-but the manner of his death is uncertain;
-according to the Greek legend, he died in
-peace, but according to the tradition of the
-Western Church, he suffered martyrdom either
-by the sword or the spear.</p>
-
-<div class="figleft illowp30" id="i_144" style="max-width: 31.25em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_144.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c59"></a>59  St. Matthew</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Few churches are dedicated to St. Matthew.
-I am not aware that he is the patron
-saint of any country, trade, or profession,
-unless it be that of tax-gatherer or exciseman;
-and this is perhaps the reason that, except
-where he figures as one of the series of evangelists
-or apostles, he is so seldom represented
-alone, or in devotional pictures. In a large
-altar-piece, the ‘San Matteo’ of Annibal
-Caracci,<a id="FNanchor_105" href="#Footnote_105" class="fnanchor">[105]</a> he is standing before the throne of the
-Madonna, as a pendant to John the Baptist,
-and gives his name to the picture: but such
-examples are uncommon. When he is portrayed
-as an evangelist, he holds a book or a
-pen; and the angel, his proper attribute and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</span>
-attendant, stands by, pointing up to heaven, or dictating; or he holds
-the inkhorn, or he supports the book. In his character of apostle,
-St. Matthew frequently holds a purse or money-bag, as significant of
-his former vocation (56).</p>
-
-<p>Neither are pictures from his life of frequent occurrence. The principal
-incident, entitled the ‘Calling of Matthew,’ has been occasionally,
-but not often, treated in painting. The <i>motif</i> is simple and not easily
-mistaken. St. Matthew is seated at a kind of desk with money before
-him; various personages bring tribute; on one side is seen Christ, with
-one or two of his disciples, generally Peter and Andrew; St. Matthew
-is either looking towards him with an expression of awe-struck attention,
-or he is rising from his seat, as in the act to follow: the mere accessories
-and number of the personages vary with the period of the composition
-and the taste of the painter.</p>
-
-<p>1. The earliest instance I can cite, probably the oldest which has
-come down to us, is in a Greek MS. of the ninth century.<a id="FNanchor_106" href="#Footnote_106" class="fnanchor">[106]</a> St. Matthew
-sits with both hands on a heap of gold, lying on a table before him: he
-looks round at Christ, who is a little behind.</p>
-
-<p>2. St. Matthew is about to rise to follow the Saviour; by Matte di
-Ser Cambio of Perugia, who has represented his patron saint in a small
-composition.<a id="FNanchor_107" href="#Footnote_107" class="fnanchor">[107]</a></p>
-
-<p>3. In the Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace, there is a very
-curious and interesting picture of this subject, by Mabuse, which once
-belonged to King Charles I., and is quaintly described in the old catalogue
-of his pictures ‘as a very old, defaced, curious altar-piece, upon
-a thick board, where Christ is calling St. Matthew out of the custom-house;
-which picture was got in Queen Elizabeth’s days, in the taking
-of Calus Malus (Cadiz), in Spain. Painted upon a board in a gilded
-arched frame, like an altar-piece; containing ten big figures, less than
-half so big as the life, and some twenty-two afar off less figures. Given
-to the King.’ In the foreground there is a rich architectural porch,
-from which St. Matthew is issuing in haste, leaving his money-bags
-behind; and in the background is seen the lake of Gennesareth and
-shipping. This picture was among the booty taken in Essex’s expedition
-against Cadiz in 1596, and probably stolen from some church.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</span></p>
-
-<p>4. In the Vienna Gallery I found three pictures of the same subject,
-all by Hemessen, very quaint and curious.</p>
-
-<p>5. At Dresden the same subject in the Venetian style by Pordenone.</p>
-
-<p>6. By Ludovico Caracci, a grand scenic picture, painted for the
-Mendicanti in Bologna.</p>
-
-<p>7. In a chapel of the church of San Luigi de’ Francesi, at Rome,
-there are three pictures by Caravaggio from the life of St. Matthew.
-Over the altar is the saint writing his gospel; he looks up at the
-attendant angel, who is behind with outspread wings, and in the
-act of dictating. On the left is the calling of St. Matthew; the saint,
-who has been counting money, rises with one hand on his breast, and
-turns to follow the Saviour: an old man, with spectacles on his nose,
-examines with curiosity the personage whose summons has had such a
-miraculous effect: a boy is slyly appropriating the money which the
-apostle has thrown down. The third picture is the martyrdom of the
-saint, who, in the sacerdotal habit, lies extended on a block, while a
-half-naked executioner raises the sword, and several spectators shrink
-back with horror. There is nothing dignified or poetical in these representations;
-and though painted with all that power of effect which
-characterised Caravaggio, then at the height of his reputation, they have
-also his coarseness of feeling and execution: the priests were (not
-without reason) dissatisfied; and it required all the influence of his
-patron, Cardinal Giustiniani, to induce them to retain the pictures in the
-church where we now see them;—here we sympathise with the priests,
-rather than with the artist and his patron.</p>
-
-<p>The Feast which St. Matthew made for our Saviour and his disciples
-is the subject of one of Paul Veronese’s gorgeous banquet scenes; that
-which he painted for the refectory of the Convent of St. John and St.
-Paul at Venice. It is now in the Academy, filling up the end wall of
-one of the great rooms from side to side, and seeming to let in light and
-air through the lofty marble porticoes, which give us such a magnificent
-idea of the splendour which surrounded Levi before he left all to follow
-Jesus.</p>
-
-<p>In all the representations of the death of St. Matthew, except those
-of the Greek or Byzantine school, he dies by the sword. The Greek
-artists uniformly exhibit him as dying in peace, while an angel swings<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</span>
-the censer beside his bed: as on the ancient doors of San Paolo at
-Rome.</p>
-
-<p>Pictures from the legendary life of St. Matthew are very rare. The
-most remarkable are the frescoes in the chapel of San Matteo at
-Ravenna, attributed to Giotto. They are so much ruined, that, of the
-eight subjects represented, only three—his vocation, his preaching and
-healing the sick in Ethiopia, and the baptism of the king and queen—can
-be made out. In the Bedford missal at Paris I found a miniature,
-representing St. Matthew ‘healing the son and daughter of King
-Egyptus of the leprosy;’ but, as a subject of art, he is not popular.</p>
-
-
-<h3 id="St_Mark"><span class="smcap">St. Mark.</span></h3>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p><i>Lat.</i> S. Marcus. <i>Ital.</i> San Marco Evangelista. <i>Fr.</i> St. Marc. <i>Ger.</i> Der Heilige Marcus.
-(April 25. <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 68.)</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>St. Mark the Evangelist was not one of the twelve Apostles: his
-conversion apparently took place after the ascension. He was the
-companion and assistant of Paul and Barnabas, with whom he preached
-the Gospel among the Gentiles. According to the traditions received
-in the Roman Church, he was converted by St. Peter, and became his
-favourite disciple; attended him first to Aquileia, where they converted
-and baptized the people on the shores of the Adriatic, and thence to
-Rome. While there he wrote his gospel for the use of the Roman
-converts,—some say from the dictation of the apostle. He afterwards,
-by command of St. Peter, went to preach the Gospel in Egypt; and
-after preaching in Lybia and Thebais for twelve years, he founded the
-church of Alexandria, subsequently one of the most celebrated of all
-the early Christian churches. The ire of the heathen being stirred up
-against him because of his miracles, they reviled him as a magician, and,
-during the feast of their god Serapis, seized him while in the act of
-worship, bound him, and dragged him along the streets and highways,
-and over stony and rocky places, till he perished miserably; at the
-same time a dreadful tempest of hail and lightning fell upon his murderers,
-by which they were dispersed and destroyed. The Christians
-of Alexandria buried his mangled remains, and his sepulchre was
-regarded with great reverence for several centuries. About 815 <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span>,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</span>
-some Venetian merchants trading to Alexandria carried off the relics
-(literally stole them,—‘<i>convey</i> the wise it call!’), and they were deposited
-in the city of Venice, where the stately church of St. Mark was
-built over them. Since that time, St. Mark has been honoured as the
-patron saint of Venice, and his legendary history has supplied the
-Venetian painters with many beautiful and picturesque subjects.</p>
-
-<p>When St. Mark is represented as one of the four Evangelists, either
-singly or grouped with the others, he is almost invariably accompanied
-by the lion, winged or unwinged, but generally winged,—which distinguishes
-him from St. Jerome, who is also accompanied by the lion,
-but unwinged, as we shall see hereafter.</p>
-
-<p>In devotional representations, St. Mark often wears the habit of
-bishop, as first bishop of Alexandria. He is thus represented in the
-colossal mosaic over the principal door of St. Mark’s at Venice<a id="FNanchor_108" href="#Footnote_108" class="fnanchor">[108]</a> in
-the pontificals of a Greek bishop, no mitre, short grey hair and beard;
-one hand raised in benediction, the other holding the gospel.</p>
-
-<p>Of the innumerable pictures in which St. Mark figures as patron of
-Venice, I can afford to give a few examples only.</p>
-
-<p>1. A. Busati. He is seated on a throne; an open book in one
-hand, bearing inscribed the Venetian motto (‘<i>la Leggenda de’ Veneti</i>‘)
-<span class="smcap">Pax tibi, Marce, Evangelista meus</span>; the other hand blessing:
-behind him a fig-tree, with leaves and no fruit; probably in allusion to
-the text, ch. xi. 13, which is peculiar to St. Mark. On his right stands
-St. Andrew bearing a cross; on the left St. Bernardino of Siena;
-behind him the apple-tree which ‘brought death into the world and all
-our woe.’ This votive picture, from its mystical accessories and the
-introduction of St. Bernardino, was probably painted for the Franciscans
-(<i>i Frari</i>) of Venice: it is now in the Academy there.</p>
-
-<p>2. St. Mark on a lofty throne holds his gospel in his hand; at his
-feet the four saints who are protectors against sickness and pestilence,
-St. Sebastian, St. Roch, St. Cosmo, and St. Damian: a splendid
-picture, in Titian’s early manner.<a id="FNanchor_109" href="#Footnote_109" class="fnanchor">[109]</a> 3. St. Mark plants the standard of
-Venice, by Bonifazio. And 4. ‘San Marco che assista all’ coscrizione<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</span>
-maritima;’ (i.e. the enlisting of the mariners for the service of the
-State) by G. del Moro, both curious instances of the manner in which
-the Venetians mixed up their patron saint with all their political and
-military transactions. 5. St. Mark presents the Doge Leonardo Dona
-to the Virgin; the most remarkable of a numerous class of votive pictures
-common in the Venetian school, in which St. Mark introduces
-either the Doge or some general or magnifico to the Virgin.<a id="FNanchor_110" href="#Footnote_110" class="fnanchor">[110]</a></p>
-
-<p>Among the devotional pictures of St. Mark, one of the most famous
-is that of Fra Bartolomeo, in the Palazzo Pitti. He is represented as
-a man in the prime of life, with bushy hair and a short reddish beard,
-throned in a niche, and holding in one hand the gospel, in the other a
-pen; the lion is omitted. The Frate painted this picture for his own
-convent of San Marco at Florence. It is much lauded and celebrated,
-but the attitude appeared to me rather forced, and the features rather
-commonplace.</p>
-
-<p>The legend which describes St. Mark as the disciple and amanuensis
-of St. Peter, has given occasion for those votive pictures in which they
-are represented together. 1. In the treasury of St. Mark’s is preserved
-a golden reliquary of a square form, containing, it is said, a fragment
-of the original gospel in the handwriting of St. Mark; the chased cover
-represents St. Peter on a throne, and before him kneels the evangelist,
-writing from his dictation.<a id="FNanchor_111" href="#Footnote_111" class="fnanchor">[111]</a> 2. And again, in an ancient Greek Evangelarium,
-St. Mark is seated, writing; St. Peter stands before him
-with his hand raised as dictating. 3. In a beautiful picture by Angelico
-da Fiesole,<a id="FNanchor_112" href="#Footnote_112" class="fnanchor">[112]</a> St. Peter is in a pulpit preaching to the Romans; and
-Mark, seated, is taking down his words in a book. 4. St. Peter and
-St. Mark standing together, the former holding a book, the latter a pen,
-with an inkhorn suspended from his girdle, by Bellini;<a id="FNanchor_113" href="#Footnote_113" class="fnanchor">[113]</a> and, 5, a
-similar one by Bonvicino—very beautiful.<a id="FNanchor_114" href="#Footnote_114" class="fnanchor">[114]</a> Such pictures are extremely
-interesting, showing the opinion generally entertained of the
-origin of St. Mark’s Gospel.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</span></p>
-
-<p>Historical pictures from the legendary life of St. Mark abound in
-the Venetian school, but are not often found out of Venice.</p>
-
-<p>St. Mark preaching the Gospel at Alexandria, by Gentil Bellini,<a id="FNanchor_115" href="#Footnote_115" class="fnanchor">[115]</a> a
-very large composition with numerous figures, is on many accounts extremely
-curious. The painter, who had been at Constantinople, transferred
-to Alexandria the Oriental scenery and costume with which he
-had become acquainted. The church of St. Euphemia at Alexandria,
-in the background, has the air of a Turkish mosque; a crowd of persons,
-men and women, in the costume of the Turks, surround the saint, who
-is standing on a kind of pedestal or platform, ascended by a flight of
-steps, from which he addresses his audience with great fervour. Gentil
-Bellini painted this picture for the Scuola di San Marco, at Venice.</p>
-
-<p>It is related that one day St. Mark, in his progress through the city
-of Alexandria, saw a poor cobbler, who had wounded his hand severely
-with his awl, so as to be incapacitated from gaining his bread: St.
-Mark healed the wound; and the cobbler, whose name was Anianus,
-being converted and properly instructed, became a zealous Christian,
-and succeeded St. Mark as bishop of Alexandria. This miraculous cure
-of St. Anianus, and his subsequent baptism, are represented in two
-pictures by Mansueti.<a id="FNanchor_116" href="#Footnote_116" class="fnanchor">[116]</a> In the Berlin Gallery is the cure of St. Anianus,
-by Cima da Conegliano; a large composition with many figures. The
-cure and baptism of St. Anianus, represented as a very aged man, form
-the subjects of two fine bas-reliefs on the façade of the School of
-St. Mark, by Tullio Lombardo, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1502.</p>
-
-<p>In the Martyrdom of St. Mark, he is dragged through the streets by
-the enraged populace, who haul him along by a rope; a storm from
-above overwhelms the idolaters. The subject is thus represented by
-Angelico da Fiesole.<a id="FNanchor_117" href="#Footnote_117" class="fnanchor">[117]</a></p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>A famous legend of St. Mark, which has been the subject of several
-pictures, can only be worthily given in the language of the old Venetian
-chronicle: there is something perfectly charming in the picturesque
-naïveté and matter-of-fact detail with which this wild and wonderful
-story is related; and if you, reader, have ever stood on the steps of the
-Piazzetta and looked over to San Giorgio, or San Niccolò, when the
-waves of the Lagune were foaming and driving up to your feet, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</span>
-storm-clouds stooping and lowering seemed to touch the very domes and
-campanile around, then you will have the whole scene as a reality
-before you.</p>
-
-<p>‘On the 25th of February, 1340, there fell out a wonderful thing in
-this land; for during three days the waters rose continually, and in the
-night there was fearful rain and tempest, such as had never been heard
-of. So great was the storm that the waters rose three cubits higher
-than had ever been known in Venice; and an old fisherman being in
-his little boat in the canal of St. Mark, reached with difficulty the Riva
-di San Marco, and there he fastened his boat, and waited the ceasing of
-the storm. And it is related that, at the time this storm was at the
-highest, there came an unknown man, and besought him that he would
-row him over to San Giorgio Maggiore, promising to pay him well; and
-the fisherman replied, “How is it possible to go to San Giorgio? we
-shall sink by the way!” But the man only besought him the more that
-he should set forth. So, seeing that it was the will of God, he arose
-and rowed over to San Giorgio Maggiore; and the man landed there,
-and desired the boatman to wait. In a short while he returned with a
-young man; and they said, “Now row towards San Niccolò di Lido.”
-And the fisherman said, “How can one possibly go so far with one oar?”
-And they said, “Row boldly, for it shall be possible to thee, and thou
-shalt be well paid.” And he went; and it appeared to him as if the
-waters were smooth. Being arrived at San Niccolò di Lido, the two
-men landed, and returned with a third, and, having entered into the
-boat, they commanded the fisherman that he should row beyond the two
-castles. And the tempest raged continually. Being come to the open
-sea, they beheld approaching, with such terrific speed that it appeared
-to fly over the waters, an enormous galley full of demons (as it is
-written in the Chronicles, and Marco Sabellino also makes mention of
-this miracle): the said bark approached the castles to overwhelm
-Venice, and to destroy it utterly; anon the sea, which had hitherto
-been tumultuous, became calm; and these three men, having made the
-sign of the cross, exorcised the demons, and commanded them to depart,
-and immediately the galley or the ship vanished. Then these three
-men commanded the fisherman to land them, the one at San Niccolò di
-Lido, the other at San Giorgio Maggiore, and the third at San Marco.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</span>
-And when he had landed the third, the fisherman, notwithstanding the
-miracle he had witnessed, desired that he would pay him; and he
-replied, “Thou art right; go now to the Doge, and to the Procuratore
-of St. Mark, and tell them what thou hast seen, for Venice would have
-been overwhelmed had it not been for us three. I am St. Mark the
-evangelist, the protector of this city; the other is the brave knight St.
-George; and he whom thou didst take up at the Lido is the holy bishop
-St. Nicholas. Say to the Doge and to the Procuratori<a id="FNanchor_118" href="#Footnote_118" class="fnanchor">[118]</a> that they are
-to pay you; and tell them likewise that this tempest arose because of a
-certain schoolmaster dwelling at San Felice, who did sell his soul to the
-devil, and afterwards hanged himself.” And the fisherman replied, “If
-I should tell them this, they will not believe me.” Then St. Mark took
-off a ring which was on his finger, which ring was worth five ducats;
-and he said, “Show them this, and tell them when they look in the
-sanctuary they will not find it:” and thereupon he disappeared. The
-next morning, the said fisherman presented himself before the Doge and
-related all he had seen the night before, and showed him the ring for a
-sign. And the Procuratori having sent for the ring, and sought in the
-usual place, found it not; by reason of which miracle the fisherman was
-paid, and a solemn procession was ordained, giving thanks to God, and
-to the relics of the three holy saints, who rest in our land, and who delivered
-us from this great danger. The ring was given to Signor Marco
-Loredano and to Signor Andrea Dandolo the Procuratori, who placed
-it in the sanctuary; and, moreover, a perpetual provision was made for
-the aged fisherman above mentioned.’<a id="FNanchor_119" href="#Footnote_119" class="fnanchor">[119]</a></p>
-
-<p>This legend is the subject of two celebrated pictures:—The first,
-attributed to Giorgione,<a id="FNanchor_120" href="#Footnote_120" class="fnanchor">[120]</a> represents the storm. A ship, manned
-by demons, is seen towering over the waves: the demons appear to
-be seized with consternation; some fling themselves headlong over
-the side of their vessel, others are clinging to the rigging, others
-sit on the masts which flame with fire, and the glare is seen over the
-murky sky and sea. More in front are two barks, one rowed by four
-satyr-like demons, splendid figures admirably painted, literally glowing
-as if they were red-hot, and full of fierce animation. In the other bark<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</span>
-are seen the three saints, St. Mark, St. Nicholas, and St. George, rowed
-by the fisherman; sea-monsters are sporting amid the waves, demons
-bestride them; the city of Venice is just visible in the far-off distance.
-The whole picture is full of vigour and poetic feeling; the fiery glow
-of colour and the romantic style of Giorgione suited the subject; and
-it has been admirably restored.</p>
-
-<p>The second picture is by Paris Bordone,<a id="FNanchor_121" href="#Footnote_121" class="fnanchor">[121]</a> and represents the
-fisherman presenting the miraculous ring of St. Mark to the Doge Gradenigo.
-It is like a grand piece of scenic decoration: we have before us a magnificent
-marble hall, with columns and buildings in perspective; to the
-right, on the summit of a flight of steps, sits the Doge in council; the
-poor fisherman, ascending the steps, holds forth the ring. The numerous
-figures, the vivid colour, the luxuriant architecture, remind us of
-Paul Veronese, with, however, more delicacy, both in colour and
-execution.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>A Christian slave, in the service of a certain nobleman of Provence,
-disobeyed the commands of his lord, and persisted in paying his devotions
-at the shrine of St. Mark, which was at some distance. On his
-return home, he was condemned to the torture. As it was about to be
-inflicted, the saint himself descended from heaven to aid his votary;
-the instruments of torture were broken or blunted, the oppressor and
-his executioners confounded. This legend is the subject of a celebrated
-picture by Tintoretto,<a id="FNanchor_122" href="#Footnote_122" class="fnanchor">[122]</a> of which Mr. Rogers had the original sketch.
-The slave lies on the ground amid a crowd of spectators, who look on,
-animated by all the various emotions of sympathy, rage, terror; a
-woman in front, with a child in her arms, has always been admired for
-the life-like vivacity of her attitude and expression. The executioner
-holds up the broken implements; St. Mark, with a headlong movement,
-seems to rush down from heaven in haste to save his worshipper; the
-dramatic grouping in this picture is wonderful; the colouring, in its
-gorgeous depth and harmony, is in Mr. Rogers’s sketch finer than in
-the picture.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>In St. Mark’s, at Venice, we find the whole history of St. Mark on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</span>
-the vault of the Cappella Zen (opening from the Baptistery), in a
-series of very curious mosaics of the twelfth century. The translation
-of the body of St. Mark; the carrying off the relics from Alexandria;
-their arrival in Venice; the grand religious ceremonies which took
-place on their arrival; are also represented in the mosaics over the
-portico of St. Mark’s, executed chiefly between 1650 and 1680. We
-have the same legend in two compositions of Tintoretto:<a id="FNanchor_123" href="#Footnote_123" class="fnanchor">[123]</a> in the first,
-the remains of St. Mark are taken forcibly from the tomb by the Venetian
-mariners; in the other, they are borne away to sea in a night-storm,
-while in the air is seen hovering a bright transparent form,—the
-soul of the saint flitting with his body to Venice.</p>
-
-
-<h3 id="St_Luke"><span class="smcap">St. Luke.</span></h3>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p><i>Lat.</i> Sanctus Luca. <i>Ital.</i> San Luca. <i>Fr.</i> Saint Luc. (Oct. 18.)</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Of the real history of St. Luke we know very little. He was not an
-apostle; and, like St. Mark, appears to have been converted after the
-ascension. He was a beloved disciple of St. Paul, whom he accompanied
-to Rome, and remained with his master and teacher till the last.
-It is related, that, after the martyrdom of St. Peter and St. Paul, he
-preached the Gospel in Greece and Egypt; but whether he died a
-natural death, or suffered martyrdom, does not seem clear. The Greek
-traditions represent him as dying in peace, and his death was thus
-figured on the ancient doors of San Paolo at Rome. Others affirm that
-he was crucified at Patras with St. Andrew.</p>
-
-<p>There is some ground for the supposition that Luke was a physician.
-(Col. iv. 14.) But the pretty legend which makes him a painter, and
-represents him as painting the portrait of the Virgin Mary, is unsupported
-by any of the earlier traditions. It is of Greek origin, still
-universally received by the Greek Church, which considers painting a
-religious art, and numbers in its calendar of saints a long list of painters,
-as well as poets, musicians, and physicians. ‘Les Grecs,’ says Didron, ‘semblent
-avoir canonisé des chrétiens uniquement parce qu’ils s’occupaient
-de soulager le corps ou de charmer l’esprit.’ In the west of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</span>
-Europe, the legend which represents St. Luke as a painter can be traced
-no higher than the tenth century; the Greek painters introduced it;
-and a rude drawing of the Virgin discovered in the catacombs, with an
-inscription purporting that it was ‘one of seven painted by Luca,’
-confirmed the popular belief that St. Luke the evangelist was meant.
-Thus originated the fame of innumerable Virgins of peculiar sanctity,
-all attributed to his hand, and regarded with extreme veneration. Such
-ancient pictures are generally of Greek workmanship, and of a black
-complexion.<a id="FNanchor_124" href="#Footnote_124" class="fnanchor">[124]</a> In the legend of St. Luke we are assured that he carried
-with him everywhere two portraits, painted by himself; one of our
-Saviour, and one of the Virgin; and that by means of these he converted
-many of the heathen, for not only did they perform great miracles,
-but all who looked on these bright and benign faces, which bore a
-striking resemblance to each other, were moved to admiration and devotion.
-It is also said, that St. Luke painted many portraits of the
-Virgin, delighting himself by repeating this gracious image; and in
-the church of Santa Maria in Via Lata, at Rome, they still show a
-little chapel in which, ‘as it hath been handed down from the first
-ages, St. Luke the Evangelist wrote, and painted the effigy of the
-Virgin-Mother of God.’</p>
-
-<p>On the strength of this tradition, St. Luke has been chosen as the
-patron saint of painters. Academies of art are placed under his particular
-protection; their chapels are dedicated to him, and over the altar
-we see him in his charming and pious avocation, that of painting portraits
-of the Blessed Virgin for the consolation of the faithful.</p>
-
-<p>The devotional figures of St. Luke, in his character of evangelist,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</span>
-represent him in general with his gospel and his attendant ox, winged or
-unwinged, as already described; but in Greek Art, and in those schools
-of Art which have been particularly under the Byzantine influence (as
-the early Venetian), we see St. Luke as evangelist young and beardless,
-holding the portrait of the Virgin as his attribute in one hand, and
-his gospel in the other. A beautiful figure of St. Luke as evangelist
-and painter is in the famous ‘Heures d’Anne de Bretagne.’<a id="FNanchor_125" href="#Footnote_125" class="fnanchor">[125]</a></p>
-
-<p>In an engraving by Lucas v. Leyden, executed as it should seem in
-honour of his patron saint, St. Luke is seated on the back of his ox,
-writing the gospel; he wears a hood like an old professor, rests his
-book against the horns of the animal, and his inkstand is suspended on
-the bough of a tree. But separate devotional figures of him as patron
-are as rare as those of St. Matthew.</p>
-
-<p>St. Luke painting the Virgin has been a frequent and favourite subject.
-The most famous of all is a picture in the Academy of St. Luke,
-at Rome, ascribed to Raphael. Here St. Luke, kneeling on a footstool
-before an easel, is busied painting the Virgin with the Child in her
-arms, who appears to him out of heaven sustained by clouds: behind
-St. Luke stands Raphael himself, looking on. Another of the same
-subject, a very small and beautiful picture, also ascribed to Raphael, is
-in the Grosvenor Gallery. In neither of these pictures is the treatment
-quite worthy of that great painter, wanting his delicacy both of sentiment
-and execution. There is a most curious and quaint example in
-the Munich Gallery, attributed to Van Eyck: here the Virgin, seated
-under a rich Gothic canopy, holds on her lap the Infant Christ, in a
-most stiff attitude; St. Luke, kneeling on one knee, is taking her likeness.
-There is another, similar in style, by Aldegraef, in the Vienna
-Gallery. Carlo Maratti represents St. Luke as presenting to the Virgin
-the picture he has painted of her. St. Luke painting the Madonna and
-Child, while an angel is grinding his colours, I remember in the Aguado
-Gallery; a late Spanish picture.<a id="FNanchor_126" href="#Footnote_126" class="fnanchor">[126]</a></p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_156" style="max-width: 93.75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_156.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><i>St. Mark attended by St. Gregory.</i> <i>St. Luke painting the Virgin.</i></div>
-</div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</span></p>
-
-
-<h3 id="St_John"><span class="smcap">St. John.</span></h3>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p><i>Lat.</i> Sanctus Johannes. <i>Gr.</i> St. John Theologos, or the Divine. <i>Ital.</i> San Giovanni
-Evangelista. <i>Fr.</i> Saint Jean; Messire Saint Jehan. <i>Ger.</i> Der Heilige Johann. (Dec. 27,
-<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 99.)</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Of St. Matthew, St. Mark, and St. Luke, so little is certainly known,
-that we have no data on which to found an individual portrait; therefore
-any representation of them as venerable and inspired teachers suffices
-to the fancy: but it is quite otherwise with St. John, the most
-distinguished of the evangelists, and the most beloved of the disciples
-of our Lord. Of him sufficient is known to convey a distinct impression
-of his personal character, and an idea of what his personal appearance
-may have been, supposing this outward semblance to have harmonised
-with the inward being.</p>
-
-<p>He was the son of the fisherman Zebedee, and, with his brother
-James, among the first followers of the Saviour. He is emphatically
-called ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved;’ a preference which he merited,
-not only from the extreme purity of his life and character, but from his
-devoted and affectionate nature. He appears to have been at all times
-the constant companion of his divine Lord; and his life, while the
-Saviour was on earth, inseparable from His. In all the memorable
-circumstances recorded in the Gospel he was a party, or at least present.
-He witnessed the glory of the transfiguration; he leaned on the bosom
-of Jesus at the last supper; he stood by the cross in the hour of agony;
-he laid the body of his crucified Master in the sepulchre. After the
-death of the Virgin Mother, who had been confided to his care, he
-went about Judæa, preaching the Gospel with St. Peter. He then
-travelled into Asia Minor, where he founded the Seven Churches, and
-resided principally at Ephesus. During the persecution of the Christians
-under Domitian, St. John was sent in fetters to Rome; and,
-according to a tradition generally received in the Roman Church, he
-was cast into a cauldron of boiling oil, but was miraculously preserved,
-and ‘came out of it as out of a refreshing bath.’ He was then accused
-of magic, and exiled to the island of Patmos, in the Ægean Sea, where
-he is said to have written his Revelation. After the death of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</span>
-Emperor Domitian he was released, and returned to his church at
-Ephesus; and for the use of the Christians there he is said to have
-written his gospel, at the age of ninety. A few years afterwards he
-died in that city, being nearly a century old. All the incidents here
-touched upon occur frequently as subjects of art, but most of them
-belong properly to the life of Christ.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The personal character of St. John, at once attractive and picturesque,
-has rendered him popular as a patron saint, and devotional pictures of
-him are far more numerous than of any of the other evangelists.</p>
-
-<p>He is represented in one of his three characters: 1, as evangelist;
-2, as apostle; 3, as prophet; or the three are combined in one figure.</p>
-
-<p>1. Of the early eagle symbol, I have spoken at length.</p>
-
-<p>In Greek Art, whether as apostle or evangelist, St. John is always
-an aged man with white hair, and a venerable beard descending to his
-breast; and by the earlier Latin painters, where he figures as evangelist
-only, not as apostle, this type has been adhered to; but the later
-painters set it aside, and St. John the Evangelist, nearly a century old,
-has all the attributes of the youthful apostle. He is beardless, with
-light curling hair, and eyes gazing upwards in a rapture of inspiration:
-he is sometimes seated with his pen and his book, sometimes standing;
-the attendant eagle always near him, and frequently holding the pen or
-inkhorn in his beak.</p>
-
-<p>In some of the old prints and pictures, which represent St. John as
-writing the gospel, his eyes are turned on the Virgin with the Infant
-Christ in her arms, who appear as a vision in the skies above; underneath,
-or on his book, is inscribed,—‘The Word was made flesh,’ or
-some other text of the same import. The eagle at his side has sometimes
-the nimbus or a crown of stars,<a id="FNanchor_127" href="#Footnote_127" class="fnanchor">[127]</a> and is then perhaps intended to
-figure the Holy Ghost.</p>
-
-<p>I remember an instance in which the devil, intent on intercepting
-the message of reconcilement and ‘goodwill towards men,’ which was
-destined to destroy his empire on earth, appears behind St. John, and
-is oversetting the ink upon the pages; another, in which he is stealing
-away the inkhorn.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</span></p>
-
-
-<div class="figleft illowp30" id="i_159" style="max-width: 31.25em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_159.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c60"></a>60  St. John (Hans Hemling)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>2. As one of the series of apostles, St. John is always, in Western
-Art, young, or in the prime of life; with little or no beard; flowing or
-curling hair, generally of a pale brown or golden hue, to express the
-delicacy of his nature; and in his countenance an expression of
-benignity and candour. His drapery is, or
-ought to be, red, with a blue or green tunic.
-He bears in his hand the sacramental cup,
-from which a serpent is seen to issue. St.
-Isidore relates that, at Rome, an attempt was
-made to poison St. John in the cup of the
-sacrament: he drank of the same and administered
-it to the communicants without injury,
-the poison having by a miracle issued from
-the cup in the form of a serpent, while the
-hired assassin fell down dead at his feet. According
-to another version of this story, the
-poisoned cup was administered by order of
-the Emperor Domitian. According to a third
-version, Aristodemus, the high-priest of Diana,
-at Ephesus, defied him to drink of the poisoned
-chalice, as a test of the truth of his mission;
-St. John drank unharmed,—the priest fell
-dead. Others say, and this seems the more probable
-interpretation, that the cup in the hand
-of St. John alludes to the reply given by our
-Saviour, when the mother of James and John requested for her sons
-the place of honour in heaven,—‘Ye shall drink indeed of my cup.’
-As in other instances, the legend was invented to explain the symbol.
-When the cup has the consecrated wafer instead of the serpent, it
-signifies the institution of the Eucharist.</p>
-
-<p>Some of the old German representations of St. John are of singular
-beauty: for example, one by <i>Hans Hemling</i>, one by <i>Isaac von Melem</i>,<a id="FNanchor_128" href="#Footnote_128" class="fnanchor">[128]</a>
-standing figures; simple, graceful, majestic; in the prime of youth,
-with a charming expression of devotion in the heads: both hold the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</span>
-sacramental cup with the serpent; no eagle; therefore St. John is here
-to be considered as the apostle only: when, with the cup, the eagle is
-placed by his side, he is represented in the
-double character of apostle and evangelist (61).</p>
-
-<div class="figleft illowp35" id="i_160" style="max-width: 37.5em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_160.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c61"></a>61 St. John (Raphael)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class="p2">In the early Siena school, and in some old
-illuminations, I have seen St. John carrying
-in his hand a radiant circle, inscribed ‘<i>In
-primo est verbum</i>,’ and within the circle an
-eagle with outspread wings: but this is uncommon.</p>
-
-
-<p class="p2">3. St. John as the prophet, the writer of
-the Revelation, is usually an aged man, with
-a white flowing beard, seated in a rocky desert;
-the sea in the distance, or flowing round him,
-to represent the island of Patmos; the eagle
-at his side. In the old frescoes, and the illuminated
-MSS. of the Apocalypse, this is the
-usual representation.</p>
-
-
-<p class="p2">Some examples of the ideal and devotional
-figures of St. John, as evangelist and prophet,
-will give an idea of the variety of treatment in this favourite subject:—</p>
-
-
-<p class="p2">1. Ancient Greek. St. John, with the head of an eagle and large
-wings, the figure fully draped, is soaring upwards. In such representations
-the inscription is usually ‘<i lang="la">Quasi aquila ascendet et avolabit</i>’
-(‘Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle.’ Jer. xlix. 22).</p>
-
-<p>2. Perugino. St. John as an aged man, with long grey beard and
-flowing hair, attended by a black eagle, looking up at the Madonna in
-glory.<a id="FNanchor_129" href="#Footnote_129" class="fnanchor">[129]</a></p>
-
-<p>3. Raphael (?). St. John, young and beautiful, mounted on the back<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</span>
-of an eagle, and soaring heavenwards: in one hand he holds a tablet,
-in the other a pen: sea and land below. This treatment, which
-recalls the antique Jupiter bestriding
-his eagle, appears to me at once too
-theatrical and too commonplace for Raphael.<a id="FNanchor_130" href="#Footnote_130" class="fnanchor">[130]</a></p>
-
-<div class="figleft illowp40" id="i_161" style="max-width: 37.5em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_161.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c62"></a>62  St. John</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>4. Correggio. St. John seated writing
-his gospel; the eagle at his feet is
-pluming his wing: inscribed ‘<i lang="la">Altius
-cæteris Dei patefecit arcana</i>.’ One of the
-series of Evangelists in the Duomo of
-Parma—wonderfully beautiful.</p>
-
-<p>5. Domenichino. St. John, full
-length, life size; young and beautiful,
-in an ecstasy of inspiration, and sustained
-by two angels; the eagle at his
-feet: formerly in the Giustiniani Gallery;<a id="FNanchor_131" href="#Footnote_131" class="fnanchor">[131]</a>—finer, I think, than
-the St. John in Sant’ Andrea. Another, half length, a scroll in his
-hand, looking upwards as one to whom the glory of the heavens had
-been opened;—you see it reflected in his eyes,—while love, wonder,
-devotion, beam from his beautiful face and parted lips: behind him
-hovers the attendant eagle, holding the pen in his beak; near him is the
-chalice, with the serpent; so that here he is in his double character of
-apostle and evangelist.<a id="FNanchor_132" href="#Footnote_132" class="fnanchor">[132]</a> Domenichino excelled in St. Johns, as Guido
-in Magdalenes; perhaps the most beautiful of all is that in the Brera,
-at Milan, where St. John bends on one knee at the foot of the throne
-of the Madonna and Child, his pen in one hand, the other pressed to his
-bosom, and looking up to them with an air of ecstatic inspiration. Two
-little angels, or rather <i>amoretti</i>, are in attendance: one has his arms
-round the neck of the eagle, sporting with it; the other holds up the
-cup and the serpent. Every detail is composed and painted to admiration;
-but this is the artistic and picturesque, not the religious, version
-of the subject.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</span></p>
-
-<p>St. John is frequently represented with St. Peter, because, after the
-ascension, they taught and acted in concert. In such pictures, the
-contrast between the fiery resolve and sturdy, rugged grandeur
-which is given to St. Peter, and the refinement, mildness, and personal
-grace of St. John, produces a fine effect: as in Albert Dürer’s picture,<a id="FNanchor_133" href="#Footnote_133" class="fnanchor">[133]</a>
-where John is holding open the Gospel, and Peter apparently reading
-it; two grand and simple figures, filling the mind as we gaze upon
-them. As this picture was painted <i>after</i> Albert Dürer became a Protestant,
-I have thought it possible that he might have had some
-particular meaning in thus making Peter study the Gospel of John.
-At all events, Albert Dürer was quite capable of such an intention;
-and, whether intended or not, the picture may be, and has been, thus
-interpreted. The prophets and the poets often say more than they intended,
-for their light was for others more than for themselves: so also
-the great painters—the Raphaels and Albert Dürers—prophets and
-poets in their way. When I have heard certain critics ridiculed because
-they found more in the productions of a Shakspeare or a Raphael than
-the poet or painter himself ever perceived or ‘intended,’ such ridicule
-has appeared to me in the highest degree presumptuous and absurd.
-The true artist ‘feels that he is greater than he knows.’ In giving
-form or utterance to the soul within him, does he account to himself
-for all the world of thoughts his work will excite in the minds of others?
-Is its significance to be circumscribed either by the intention and the
-knowledge of the poet, or the comprehension of the age in which he
-lived? That is the characteristic of the second-rate, self-conscious poets
-or painters, whom we read or study because they reflect to us a particular
-meaning—a particular period,—but not of the Homers and
-Shakspeares, the Raphaels and Albert Dürers; <i>they</i> speak to all times,
-to <i>all</i> men, with a suggestive significance, widening, deepening with
-every successive generation; and to measure their depth of meaning by
-their own <i>intention</i>, or by the comprehension of their own or any one
-generation, what is it but to measure the star of heaven by its apparent
-magnitude?—an inch rule will do that!</p>
-
-<p>But to return from this digression. In devotional pictures we often<span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</span>
-see St. John the Evangelist and St. John the Baptist standing
-together; or on each side of Christ, or of the Madonna and Child.
-There is a peculiar propriety and significance in this companionship:
-both are, then, to be considered as prophets; they were, besides, kinsmen,
-and bore the same name; and St. John the Evangelist was the
-disciple of John the Baptist before he was called by Christ. Here,
-again, the contrast between the dark, emaciated, hairy prophet of the
-wilderness, and the graceful dignity of the youthful apostle, has a
-striking effect. An example at hand is the bronze bas-relief on the
-tomb of Henry VII.<a id="FNanchor_134" href="#Footnote_134" class="fnanchor">[134]</a> Madonna pictures, in which the two St. Johns
-stand before her throne, occur frequently. I remember, also, a marble
-group of the Virgin and Child, in which the two St. Johns, as infants,
-are playing at her feet, one with his eagle, the other with his reed cross.<a id="FNanchor_135" href="#Footnote_135" class="fnanchor">[135]</a></p>
-
-<p>As one who bore the most direct testimony to the Incarnation,
-St. John is often introduced into Madonna pictures, and pictures of the
-Nativity; but in the later schools only. In these instances he points
-significantly to the Child, and the sacramental cup and wafer is either
-in his hand or at his feet, or borne by an angel.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The historical and dramatic subjects in which St. John figures as a
-principal personage are very numerous. As the scriptural scenes belong
-properly to the life of Christ, I shall confine myself here to some observations
-on the manner in which St. John is introduced and treated
-in such pictures. In general he is to be distinguished from the other
-apostles by his youth and beauty, and flowing hair; and by being
-placed nearest to Christ as the most beloved of his disciples.</p>
-
-<p>‘The mother of James and John imploring from our Saviour the
-highest place in heaven for her two sons.’ (Matt. xx. 21): a picture
-by Bonifazio, in the Borghese Gallery, beautiful both in sentiment and
-colour. There is another example by Paul Veronese; and another, by
-Tintoretto, was in the Coesvelt Gallery. I must observe that, except
-in Venetian pictures, I have not met with this incident as a separate
-subject.</p>
-
-<p>In the last supper, Peter is generally on the right of Christ, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</span>
-St. John on the left: he leans his head down on the bosom of Christ (this
-is always the attitude in the oldest pictures); or he leans towards Christ,
-who places his hand upon his shoulder, drawing him towards him with
-an expression of tenderness: this is the action in the fresco by Raphael
-lately discovered at Florence. But I must reserve the full consideration
-of this subject for another place.</p>
-
-<p>Where, instead of the last supper, our Saviour is represented as administering
-the Eucharist, St. John is seen on his right hand, bearing
-the cup.</p>
-
-<p>In the crucifixion, when treated as a religious rather than an historical
-subject, St. John stands on the left of the Cross, and the Virgin on the
-right; both in attitudes of the profoundest grief and adoration mingled.
-In general the <i>motif</i> of this sacred subject does not vary; but I remember
-examples, in which St. John is seen trampling a Jew under his feet;
-on the other side the Virgin tramples on a veiled woman, signifying the
-old law, the synagogue, as opposed to the Christian Church, of which
-the Virgin was the received symbol.</p>
-
-<p>When the crucifixion is a <i>scene</i> or action, not a <i>mystery</i>, then St. John
-is beheld afar off, with the women who followed their divine Master to
-Calvary.</p>
-
-<p>St. John and the Virgin Mary returning from the crucifixion: he
-appears to be sustaining her slow and fainting steps. I have only once
-met with this beautiful subject, in a picture by Zurbaran, in the Munich
-Gallery.</p>
-
-<p>In the descent from the Cross, St. John is a chief actor; he generally
-sustains the head of the Saviour, and is distinguished by an expression
-of extreme sorrow and tenderness. In the entombment he is sometimes
-one of the bearers, sometimes he follows lamenting. In a print of the
-entombment after Andrea Mantegna, he is not only weeping and
-wringing his hands as usual, but absolutely crying aloud with the most
-exaggerated expression of anguish. In pictures of the descent of the
-Holy Ghost, St. John is usually a conspicuous figure, and in the foreground.
-In the assumption of the Virgin, he is also conspicuous, generally
-in front, as the pendant to St. Peter, and gazing upwards with
-ecstatic faith and devotion.</p>
-
-<p>Of course there is great variety in these representations: the later<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</span>
-painters thought less of individual character and significant propriety
-of arrangement than of artistic grouping; therefore the above remarks
-have reference to the early painters only.</p>
-
-<p>In the scenes taken from the Acts, St. John is always in companionship
-with St. Peter, and becomes the secondary figure.</p>
-
-<div class="figleft illowp40" id="i_163" style="max-width: 37.5em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_163.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c63"></a>63  St. John (Lucas v. Leyden)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>St. John writing his Revelation in the island of Patmos is a subject
-which frequently occurs in MSS. of the Apocalypse, and in the chapels
-dedicated to St. John. The <i>motif</i> is
-generally the same in all; we have
-a desert island, with the sea in the
-distance, or flowing round it; St.
-John, seated on a rock or under a
-tree, is in the act of writing; or he
-is looking up to heaven, where the
-‘Woman crowned with stars,’ or
-‘the Woman fleeing from the dragon,’
-appears as in his vision.<a id="FNanchor_136" href="#Footnote_136" class="fnanchor">[136]</a> (Rev.
-xii.) Or he beholds St. Michael,
-armed, cast down the dragon in human
-form; he has the eagle and book,
-and looks up at the Virgin, as in a
-picture by Ambrogio Figino.<a id="FNanchor_137" href="#Footnote_137" class="fnanchor">[137]</a> The
-eagle is always in attendance as the
-symbol of inspiration in a general
-sense; when represented with a diadem,
-or glory, as in some very early examples, it is a symbol of the
-Holy Ghost, which, among the Jews, was figured by the eagle.</p>
-
-<p>The subjects from the legendary life of St. John are exceedingly
-interesting, but they are not easily recognised, and require particular
-attention; some are of frequent occurrence, others rarely met with.</p>
-
-<p>1. Israel v. Meckenen. St. John instructing his disciples at Ephesus.
-(Acts iv. 37.) The scene is the interior of a Gothic church, the
-windows painted with heraldic emblazonments: St. John is seated expounding
-the Scriptures, and five disciples sit opposite to him with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</span>
-coarse ugly faces, but most intent, expressive countenances; in the
-background, a large chest full of money.</p>
-
-<p>2. Vatican, Chr. Mus. St. John drinking from the poisoned chalice;
-a man falls down dead at his feet, several figures look on with awe and
-astonishment: this is a frequent subject in the elder schools of art, and
-in the illuminated MSS. of the Gospel and Apocalypse: but I have
-never met with a representation later than the beginning of the fourteenth
-century.<a id="FNanchor_138" href="#Footnote_138" class="fnanchor">[138]</a></p>
-
-<p>3. It is related by Clement of Alexandria, that when St. John was
-at Ephesus, and before he was exiled to Patmos, he had taken to his
-care a young man of promising qualities of person and mind. During
-his absence he left him under the spiritual guidance of a certain bishop;
-but, after a while, the youth took to evil courses, and, proceeding from
-one excess to another, he at length became the leader of a band of
-robbers and assassins who struck terror into the whole country. When
-St. John returned to Ephesus, he went to the bishop and demanded
-‘the precious deposit he had left in his hands.’ At first the priest did
-not understand him; but when St. John explained the allusion to his
-adopted son, he cast down his eyes with sorrow and shame, and told of
-what had befallen. Then St. John rent his garments, and wept with
-a loud voice, and cried out, ‘Alas! alas! to what a guardian have I
-trusted our brother!’ And he called for a horse and rode towards the
-forest in which the robbers sojourned; and when the captain of the
-robbers beheld his old master and instructor, he turned and would have
-fled from his presence; but St. John, by the most fervent entreaties, prevailed
-on him to stop and listen to his words. After some conference,
-the robber, utterly subdued, burst into tears of penitence, imploring forgiveness;
-and while he spoke, he hid beneath his robe his right hand,
-which had been sullied with so many crimes; but St. John, falling on
-his knees before him, seized that blood-polluted hand, and kissed it,
-and bathed it with his tears; and he remained with his re-converted
-brother till he had, by prayers and encouraging words and affectionate
-exhortations, reconciled him with Heaven and with himself.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</span></p>
-
-<p>This beautiful legend is the subject of some old engravings, in which
-St. John is represented embracing the robber, who is weeping on his
-neck, having flung away his weapons. It has been, however, too rarely
-treated; I have never met with a picture of the subject; and yet it
-abounds in picturesque capabilities: the forest background—the contrast
-of youth and age—bright armour, flowing drapery, and the most
-striking and affecting moral, are here all combined.</p>
-
-<p>4. Another very pretty apologue relating to St. John is sometimes included
-in a series of subjects from his life. Two young men, who had
-sold all their possessions to follow him, afterwards repented. He, perceiving
-their thoughts, sent them to gather pebbles and faggots, and,
-on their return, changed these into money and ingots of gold, saying to
-them, ‘Take back your riches and enjoy them on earth, as you regret
-having exchanged them for heaven!’ This story is represented on one
-of the windows of the Cathedral at Bourges. The two young men
-stand before St. John, with a heap of gold on one side, and a heap of
-stones and faggots on the other.</p>
-
-<p>5. When St. John had sojourned in the island of Patmos a year and
-a day, he returned to his church at Ephesus; and as he approached the
-city, being received with great joy by the inhabitants, lo! a funeral
-procession came forth from the gates; and of those who followed
-weeping he inquired ‘who was dead?’ They said, ‘Drusiana.’ Now
-when he heard that name he was sad, for Drusiana had excelled in all
-good works, and he had formerly dwelt in her house; and he ordered
-them to set down the bier, and having prayed earnestly, God was
-pleased to restore Drusiana to life; she arose up, and the apostle went
-home with her and dwelt in her house.</p>
-
-<p>This incident is the subject of a fine fresco, painted by Filippo Lippi,
-on the left-hand wall of the Strozzi Chapel at Florence. It has the
-forcible expression and dramatic spirit of the painter, with that characteristic
-want of elevated feeling in the countenances and in the general
-treatment which is apparent in all his works: the group in one corner,
-of a child starting from a dog, is admired for its truth; but, by disturbing
-the solemnity of the marvellous scene, it repels like a falsehood.</p>
-
-<p>6. There is another beautiful and picturesque legend relating to
-St. John, of which I have never seen any representation; but it may,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</span>
-possibly, have occasioned the frequent introduction of a partridge into
-the pictures of sacred subjects, particularly in the Venetian School.
-St. John had a tame partridge, which he cherished much; and he
-amused himself with feeding and tending it. ‘A certain huntsman,
-passing by with his bow and arrows, was astonished to see the great
-apostle, so venerable for his age and sanctity, engaged in such an
-amusement. The apostle asked him if he always kept his bow bent?
-He answered, that would be the way to render it useless. “If,” replied
-St. John, “you unbend your bow to prevent its being useless, so do I
-thus unbend my mind for the same reason.”’</p>
-
-<p>7. The subject entitled the Martyrdom of St. John represents his
-immersion in a cauldron of boiling oil, by order of the Emperor
-Domitian. According to the received tradition, this event took place
-outside the Latin gate at Rome; and on the spot stands the chapel of
-San Giovanni <i>in Olio</i>, commemorating his miraculous deliverance, which
-is painted in fresco on the walls. The subject forms, of course, one of
-a series of the life of St. John, and is occasionally met with in old prints
-and pictures; but it is uncommon. The treatment affords little variety;
-in Albert Dürer’s famous woodcut, St. John is sitting in a pot of boiling
-oil; one executioner is blowing the fire, another is pouring oil from a
-ladle on the saint’s head; a judge, probably intended for Domitian, is
-seated on a throne to the left, and there are numerous spectators.
-Padovanino painted this subject for the San Pietro at Venice; Rubens,
-with horrible truth of detail, for the altar-piece of St. John at Malines.</p>
-
-<p>It is the martyrdom in the boiling oil which gives St. John the right
-to bear the palm, with which he is occasionally seen.</p>
-
-<p>8. St. John, habited in priest’s garments, descends the steps of an
-altar into an open grave, in which he lays himself down, not in death,
-but in sleep, until the coming of Christ; ‘being reserved alive with
-Enoch and Elijah (who also knew not death), to preach against the
-Antichrist in the last days.’ This fanciful legend is founded on the
-following text: ‘Peter, seeing the disciple whom Jesus loved following,
-saith unto Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto
-him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Then
-went this saying abroad among the brethren that that disciple should
-not die.’ (John xxi. 21, 22.)</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</span></p>
-
-<p>The legend which supposes St. John reserved alive has not been
-generally received in the Church, and as a subject of painting it is very
-uncommon. It occurs in the Menologium Græcum,<a id="FNanchor_139" href="#Footnote_139" class="fnanchor">[139]</a> where the grave
-into which St. John descends is, according to the legend, ‘<i>fossa in
-crucis figuram</i>’ (in the form of a cross). In a series of the deaths of
-the Apostles,<a id="FNanchor_140" href="#Footnote_140" class="fnanchor">[140]</a> St. John is ascending from the grave; for, according to
-the Greek legend, St. John died without pain or change, and immediately
-rose again in bodily form, and ascended into heaven to rejoin
-Christ and the Virgin.</p>
-
-<p>In a small and very curious picture which I saw at Rome,<a id="FNanchor_141" href="#Footnote_141" class="fnanchor">[141]</a> forming
-part of a Predella, there is a tomb something like the Xanthian tombs
-in form: one end is open; St. John, with a long grey beard, is seen
-issuing from it, and, as he ascends, he is met by Christ, the Virgin, St.
-Peter, and St. Paul, who are descending from above; while figures
-below look up with astonishment. On the ancient doors of San Paolo
-he is lying in an open grave or sarcophagus.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Of the miracles performed by John after his death, two are singularly
-interesting in the history of Art; both have been treated in sculpture.</p>
-
-<p>9. When the Empress Galla Placidia was returning from Constantinople
-to Ravenna with her two children (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 425), she encountered a
-terrible storm. In her fear and anguish she vowed a vow to St. John
-the Evangelist, and, being landed in safety, she dedicated to his honour
-a magnificent church. When the edifice was finished, she was extremely
-desirous of procuring some relics of the evangelist, wherewith to consecrate
-his sanctuary; but as it was not the manner of those days to
-exhume, and buy and sell, still less to steal, the bodies of holy men and
-martyrs, the desire of the pious empress remained unsatisfied. However,
-as it is related, St. John himself took pity upon her; for one
-night, as she prayed earnestly, he appeared to her in a vision; and when
-she threw herself at his feet to embrace and kiss them, he disappeared,
-leaving one of his slippers or sandals in her hand, which sandal was long
-preserved.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</span></p>
-
-<p>The antique church of Galla Placidia still exists at Ravenna, to keep
-alive, after the lapse of fourteen centuries, the memory of her dream,
-and of the condescension of the blessed apostle. Not much of the
-original building is left; the superb mosaics have all disappeared,
-except a few fragments, in which may be traced the storm at sea, and
-Galla Placidia making her vow. Over the principal porch, which is of
-white marble, in the Lombard style, and richly and elegantly ornamented,
-the miracle of the slipper is represented in two bas-reliefs, one
-above the other. The lower compartment, or lunette, represents a
-tabernacle, and within it an altar: St. John the Evangelist is seen
-offering incense; on the other side is Barbation, the confessor of the
-empress; she, prostrate at the feet of the apostle, seems to take off his
-sandal: on each side are six hovering angels bearing the implements of
-the mass. In the upper compartment, Galla Placidia is seen kneeling
-at the feet of Christ, and offering to him the sacred sandal, while the
-evangelist stands on one side, and Barbation on the other. These bas-reliefs
-are not older than the twelfth century, and are in excellent preservation:
-I should suppose, from the style of the grouping, that they
-were copied, or imitated, from the older mosaics, once in the interior of
-the church.</p>
-
-<p>10. The other miracle has the rare interest of being English in its
-origin and in its representation. ‘King Edward the Confessor had,
-after Christ and the Virgin Mary, a special veneration for St. John the
-Evangelist. One day, returning from his church at Westminster,
-where he had been hearing mass in honour of the evangelist, he was
-accosted by a pilgrim, who asked of him an alms for the love of God
-and St. John. The king, who was ever merciful to the poor, immediately
-drew from his finger a ring, and, unknown to any one, delivered
-it to the beggar. When the king had reigned twenty-four years, it
-came to pass that two Englishmen, pilgrims, returning from the Holy
-Land to their own country, were met by one in the habit of a pilgrim,
-who asked of them concerning their country; and being told they were
-of England, he said to them, “When ye shall have arrived in your own
-country, go to King Edward, and salute him in my name: say to him,
-that I thank him for the alms which he bestowed on me in a certain
-street in Westminster; for there, on a certain day, as I begged of him<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</span>
-an alms, he bestowed on me this ring, which till now I have preserved,
-and ye shall carry it back to him, saying that in six months from this
-time he shall quit the world, and come and remain with me for ever.”
-And the pilgrims, being astounded, said, “Who art thou, and where is
-thy dwelling-place?” And he answered, saying, “I am John the
-Evangelist. Edward, your king, is my friend, and for the sanctity of
-his life I hold him dear. Go now, therefore, deliver to him this
-message and this ring, and I will pray to God that ye may arrive safely
-in your own country.” When St. John had spoken thus, he delivered
-to them the ring, and vanished out of their sight. The pilgrims,
-praising and thanking the Lord for this glorious vision, went on their
-journey; and being arrived in England, they repaired to King Edward,
-and saluted him, and delivered the ring and the message, relating all
-truly. And the king received the news joyfully, and feasted the
-messengers royally. Then he set himself to prepare for his departure
-from this world. On the eve of the Nativity, in the year of our Lord
-1066, he fell sick, and on the eve of the Epiphany following he died.
-The ring he gave to the Abbot of Westminster, to be for ever preserved
-among the relics there.’<a id="FNanchor_142" href="#Footnote_142" class="fnanchor">[142]</a></p>
-
-<p>According to one account,<a id="FNanchor_143" href="#Footnote_143" class="fnanchor">[143]</a> the pilgrims met the king near his palace
-at Waltham, at a place since called <i>Havering</i>. The writer adds,—‘In
-allusion to this story, King Edward II. offered at his coronation a
-pound of gold made in the figure of a king holding a ring, and a mark
-of gold (8 oz.) made like to a pilgrim putting forth his hand to receive
-the ring.’ These must have been two little statuettes of gold.</p>
-
-<p>The legend of King Edward and St. John the Evangelist is represented,
-with other legends of the same monarch, along the top of the screen of
-Edward the Confessor’s chapel. It is in three compartments. The
-first represents King Edward bestowing the ring on St. John in the
-disguise of a pilgrim; Westminster Abbey is seen behind. The second
-shows us the meeting of the pilgrims and St. John in Palestine; he
-holds what seems a palm. In the third the pilgrims deliver the ring to
-King Edward, who is seated at table. The sculpture is very rude; the
-figures disproportioned and ungraceful. They are supposed to be of the
-time of Henry VI.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</span></p>
-
-<p>The same legend was painted on one of the windows of Romford
-church, in Essex, but whether it still exists there I know not.<a id="FNanchor_144" href="#Footnote_144" class="fnanchor">[144]</a></p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Before I quit the subject of the Evangelists, it is worth while to
-observe that, in Greek Art, not only the Four Evangelists, but the six
-writers of the Acts and Epistles, are considered as a sacred series. In
-an ancient and beautiful MS. of the <i>Epistole Canoniche</i>, presented by
-the Queen of Cyprus to Pope Innocent VIII., they are thus represented,
-two and two together:—</p>
-
-<p>St. Luke, with a very thoughtful, earnest countenance, holds a scroll,
-on which is written in Greek the commencement of the Acts, ‘The
-former treatise have I made, O Theophilus; &amp;c.; and St. James, with
-a long, very earnest, and refined face, holds a single roll.</p>
-
-<p>St. Peter, with a broad, coarse, powerful physiognomy, strongly
-characterised, holds two rolls; and St. John, with a long and very
-refined face, grey hair and beard, holds three rolls.</p>
-
-<p>St. Jude, with a long white beard and very aquiline nose, holds one
-roll. St. Paul, bald in front, with long brown hair and beard, and a
-refined face, bears many rolls tied up together.</p>
-
-<p>All the figures are on a gold ground, about six inches in height, very
-finely conceived, though, as is usual in Byzantine Art, formal and
-mechanical in execution. They look like small copies of very grand
-originals. The draperies are all classical; a pale violet or brown tunic
-and a white mantle, as in the old mosaics; the rolls in their hands corresponding
-with the number of their writings.</p>
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="The_Twelve_Apostles">
-<span class="hid">The Twelve Apostles.</span></h2>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowe22" id="t_201">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/t_201.png" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption">The Twelve Apostles.</div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-
-<p>Next to those who recorded the word of God, were those called by
-Christ to the task of diffusing his doctrine, and sent to preach the kingdom
-of heaven ‘through all nations.’</p>
-<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_173" style="max-width: 93.75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_173.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c64"></a>[64]</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The earliest representations of the Twelve Apostles appear to have
-been, like those of the Four Evangelists, purely emblematical: they
-were figured as twelve sheep, with Christ in the midst, as the Good
-Shepherd, bearing a lamb in his arms; or, much more frequently, Christ
-is himself the Lamb of God, raised on an eminence and crowned with a
-cruciform nimbus, and the apostles were ranged on each side as sheep.
-Instances are to be met with in the old Christian bas-reliefs. In the
-old Roman churches<a id="FNanchor_145" href="#Footnote_145" class="fnanchor">[145]</a> we find this representation but little varied, and
-the situation is always the same. In the centre is the lamb standing
-on an eminence, from which flow the four rivers of Paradise; on one
-side six sheep issuing from the city of Jerusalem, on the other six sheep
-issuing from the city of Bethlehem, the whole disposed in a line forming
-a sort of frieze, just below the decoration of the vault of the apsis. The
-church of S. M. Maggiore exhibits the only exception I have met with;
-there we find a group of sheep, entering, not issuing from, the gates of
-Jerusalem and Bethlehem: in this case, however, the sheep may represent
-believers, or disciples in general, not the Twelve Apostles. Upon
-the great crucifix in the apsis of San Clemente, at Rome, are twelve
-doves, which appear to signify the Twelve Apostles.</p>
-
-<p>The next step was to represent the Apostles as twelve men all alike,
-each with a sheep, and Christ in the middle, also with a sheep, sometimes<span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</span>
-larger than the others. We find this on some of the sarcophagi.<a id="FNanchor_146" href="#Footnote_146" class="fnanchor">[146]</a>
-Again, a little later, we have them represented as twelve venerable
-men, bearing tablets or scrolls in their hands, no emblems to distinguish
-one from another, but their names inscribed over or beside each. They
-are thus represented in relief on several ancient sarcophagi now in the
-Christian Museum in the Vatican, and in several of the most ancient
-churches at Rome and Ravenna, ranged on each side of the Saviour in
-the vault of the apsis, or standing in a line beneath.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>But while in the ancient Greek types, and the old mosaics, the attributes
-are omitted, they adhere almost invariably to a certain characteristic
-individual representation, which in the later ages of painting
-was wholly lost, or at least neglected. In these eldest types, St. Peter
-has a broad face, white hair, and short white beard: St. Paul, a long
-face, high bold forehead, dark hair and beard: St. Andrew is aged,
-with flowing white hair and beard: St. John, St. Thomas, St. Philip,
-young and beardless: St. James Major and St. James Minor, in the
-prime of life, short brown hair and beard; both should bear a resemblance
-more or less to the Saviour, but St. James Minor particularly:
-St. Matthew, St. Jude, St. Simon, St. Matthias, aged, with
-white hair. The tablets or scrolls which they carry in their hands bear,
-or are supposed to bear, the articles of the Creed. It is a tradition,
-that, before the apostles dispersed to preach the Gospel in all lands, they
-assembled to compose the declaration of faith since called the Apostles’
-Creed, and that each of them furnished one of the twelve propositions
-contained in it, in the following order:—St. Peter: <i lang="la">Credo in Deum
-Patrem omnipotentem, creatorem cœli et terræ</i>. St. Andrew: <i lang="la">Et in
-Jesum Christum Filium ejus unicum, Dominum nostrum</i>. St. James
-Major: <i lang="la">Qui conceptus est de Spiritu Sancto, natus ex Maria Virgine</i>.
-St. John: <i lang="la">Passus sub Pontio Pilato, crucifixus, mortuus et sepultus</i>. St.
-Philip: <i lang="la">Descendit ad inferos, tertia die resurrexit à mortuis</i>. St. James
-Minor: <i lang="la">Ascendit ad cœlos, sedet ad dexteram Dei Patris omnipotentis</i>.
-St. Thomas: <i lang="la">Inde venturus est judicare vivos et mortuos</i>. St. Bartholomew:
-<i lang="la">Credo in Spiritum Sanctum</i>. St. Matthew: <i lang="la">Sanctam Ecclesiam
-Catholicam; sanctorum communionem</i>. St. Simon: <i lang="la">Remissionem<span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</span>
-peccatorum</i>. St. Matthias: <i lang="la">Carnis resurrectionem</i>. St. Thaddeus: <i lang="la">Et
-vitam æternam</i>.</p>
-
-<p>The statues of the apostles on the shrine of the Virgin in the San
-Michele at Florence exhibit a fine example of
-this arrangement. I give the figure of St. Philip
-holding his appropriate sentence of the Creed
-on a scroll (65).</p>
-
-<div class="figleft illowp30" id="i_175" style="max-width: 48.3125em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_175.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c65"></a>65  Orcagna</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>In later times, the Apostles, instead of being
-disposed in a line, are grouped round the Saviour
-in glory, or they form a circle of heads in medallions:
-as statues, they ornament the screen in
-front of the altar, or they are placed in a line on
-each side of the nave, standing against the pillars
-which support it. From the sixth century it became
-usual to distinguish each of them by a particular
-emblem or attribute borrowed from some
-circumstance of his life or death. Thus, taking
-them in order, according to the canon of the
-mass,—</p>
-
-<p>St. Peter bears the keys or a fish.</p>
-
-<p>St. Paul, the sword: sometimes two swords.</p>
-
-<p>St. Andrew, the transverse cross.</p>
-
-<p>St. James Major, the pilgrim’s staff.</p>
-
-<p>St. John, the chalice with the serpent; sometimes
-the eagle also: but the eagle, as I have
-observed, belongs to him properly only in his character of Evangelist.</p>
-
-<p>St. Thomas, a builder’s rule: also, but more seldom, a spear.</p>
-
-<p>St. James Minor, a club.</p>
-
-<p>St. Philip, the staff or crosier, surmounted by a cross; or a small
-cross in his hand.</p>
-
-<p>St. Bartholomew, a large knife.</p>
-
-<p>St. Matthew, a purse.</p>
-
-<p>St. Simon, a saw.</p>
-
-<p>St. Thaddeus (or Jude), a halberd or lance.</p>
-
-<p>St. Matthias, a lance.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</span></p>
-
-<p>The origin and meaning of these attributes will be explained presently:
-meantime it must be borne in mind, that although in sacred
-Art the Apostles are always twelve in number, they are not always the
-same personages. St. Jude is frequently omitted to make room for
-St. Paul. Sometimes, in the most ancient churches (as in the Cathedral
-of Palermo), St. Simon and St. Matthias are omitted, and the
-evangelists St. Mark and St. Luke figure in their places. The Byzantine
-manual published by Didron omits James Minor, Jude, and
-Matthias; and inserts Paul, Luke, and Mark. This was the arrangement
-on the bronze doors of San Paolo-fuori-le-Mura at Rome, executed
-by Byzantine artists in the tenth century, and now destroyed.</p>
-
-<p>On an ancient pulpit, of beautiful workmanship, in the Cathedral of
-Troyes, the arrangement is according to the Greek formula.<a id="FNanchor_147" href="#Footnote_147" class="fnanchor">[147]</a> Thus—</p>
-
-
-
-<table class="autotable">
-<tr>
-<td class="tdl_btb">S. John B.</td>
-<td class="tdl_btb">J. Christ.</td>
-<td class="tdl_btb">The Virgin</td>
-<td class="tdl_btb">  </td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdl">S. Matthew.</td>
-<td class="tdl">S. Peter.</td>
-<td class="tdl">S. Simon.</td>
-<td class="tdl_bb" rowspan="4">An Angel.</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdl">S. Philip.</td>
-<td class="tdl">S. Luke.</td>
-<td class="tdl">S. Bartholomew</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdl">S. Mark.</td>
-<td class="tdl">S. Andrew.</td>
-<td class="tdl">S. James.</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdl_bb">S. Paul.</td>
-<td class="tdl_bb">S. Thomas.</td>
-<td class="tdl_bb">S. John.</td>
-</tr>
-</table>
-
-
-<p>Here, John the Baptist figures in his character of angel or messenger;
-and St. Paul, St. Mark, and St. Luke take the place of St. James
-Minor, St. Jude, and St. Matthias.</p>
-
-<p>The earliest instance of the Apostles entering into a scheme of ecclesiastical
-decoration, as the consecrated and delegated teachers of a
-revealed religion, occurs in the church of San Giovanni in Fonte at
-Ravenna.<a id="FNanchor_148" href="#Footnote_148" class="fnanchor">[148]</a> In the centre of the dome is the Baptism of Christ, represented
-quite in the classical style; the figure of the Saviour being
-entirely undraped, and the Jordan, signified by an antique river god,
-sedge-crowned, and bearing a linen napkin as though he were an
-attendant at a bath. Around, in a circle, in the manner of radii, are
-the Twelve Apostles. The order is,—Peter, Andrew, James, John,
-Philip, Bartholomew, Simon, Jude, James Minor, Matthew, Thomas,
-Paul; so that Peter and Paul stand face to face at one extremity of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</span>
-circle, and Simon and Bartholomew back to back at the other. All
-wear pointed caps, and carry the oblation in their hands. Peter has a
-yellow vest and white mantle; Paul, a white vest and a yellow mantle,
-and so all round alternately. The name of each is inscribed over his
-head, and without the title <i>Sanctus</i>, which, though admitted into the
-Calendar in 449, was not adopted in works of art till some years later,
-about 472.</p>
-
-<p>In the next instance, the attributes had not yet been admitted, except
-in the figures of St. Peter and St. Paul.</p>
-
-<p><span class="smcap">Mosaic</span> (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 816). Christ, in the centre, stands on an eminence;
-in one hand he holds an open book, on which is inscribed <i>Pax vobis</i>.
-St. Peter, with the keys and a cross, stands on the right; and Christ,
-with his right hand, points to the cross. St. Paul is on the left, with
-his sword; beyond, there are five Apostles on one side, and four on the
-other: in all, eleven (Judas being properly omitted). Each holds a
-book, and all are robed in white; underneath the whole is inscribed, in
-Latin, the words of our Saviour, ‘Go ye, and teach all nations.’ On
-the arch to the right, Christ is seated on a throne, and presents the keys
-to St. Peter, who kneels on one side, and the standard to Constantine,
-who kneels on the other (alluding, of course, to the famous standard).
-On the arch to the left, St. Peter is throned, and presents the stole to
-Pope Leo III., and the standard to Charlemagne. This singular
-monument, a kind of <i>résumé</i> of the power of the Church, is a restoration
-of the old mosaic, executed by order of Leo III. in the Triclinium
-of the old palace of the Lateran, and now on one side of the Scala Santa,
-the side facing the Porta San Giovanni.</p>
-
-<p><span class="smcap">Mosaic</span>, in the old basilica of St. Paul (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1206). In the centre
-an altar veiled, on which are the Gospels (or perhaps, rather, the <i>Book
-of Life</i>, the seven-sealed book in the Revelations), and the instruments
-of the Passion. Behind it rises a large Greek cross, adorned with gold
-and jewels. Underneath, at the foot of the altar, five small figures
-standing and bearing palms, representing those who suffered for the
-cause of Christ; and on each side, kneeling, the monk Aginulph, and
-Giovanni Gaetano Orsini, afterwards Nicholas III. On each side of
-the altar, a majestic angel: one bears a scroll, inscribed <span class="smcap">Gloria in
-excelsis Deo</span>; the other, <span class="allsmcap">ET IN TERRA PAX HOMINIBUS BONÆ<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</span>
-VOLUNTATIS</span>. Beyond these the Apostles, six on each side, bearing
-scrolls with the articles of the Creed. They are much alike, all in white
-robes, and alternately with each stands a palm-tree, the symbol of victory
-and resurrection. This composition, of a colossal size, formed a kind of
-frieze (taking the place of the emblematical lamb and twelve sheep)
-round the apsis of the Basilica.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>In sculpture, the Apostles, as a series, entered into all decorative
-ecclesiastical architecture: sometimes on the exterior of the edifice,
-always in the interior. In our English cathedrals they are seldom
-found unmutilated, except when out of the reach of the spoiler; such
-was the indiscriminate rage which confounded the venerable effigies of
-these delegated teachers of the truth with the images which were
-supposed to belong exclusively to the repudiated religion!</p>
-
-<p>Where the scheme of decoration is purely theological, the proper
-place of the Apostles is after the Angels, Prophets, and Evangelists;
-but when the <i>motif</i>, or leading idea, implies a special signification, such
-as the Last Judgment, Paradise, the Coronation of the Madonna, or
-the apotheosis of a saint, then the order is changed, and the Apostles
-appear immediately after the Divine Personages and before the angels,
-as forming a part of the council or court of heaven;—‘When the Son
-of man shall come in his glory, ye also shall sit on twelve thrones,
-judging the twelve tribes of Israel.’<a id="FNanchor_149" href="#Footnote_149" class="fnanchor">[149]</a> Such is the arrangement in the
-Campo Santo, in Angelico’s ‘Paradiso’ in the Florence Gallery, in
-Raphael’s ‘Disputa,’ and many other instances: and I may add the architectural
-treatment on the façade of Wells Cathedral, where, immediately
-under the Saviour sitting in judgment, <i>stand</i> the Twelve Apostles, and
-beneath them the hierarchy of angels, each of the nine choirs being here
-expressed by a single angel.<a id="FNanchor_150" href="#Footnote_150" class="fnanchor">[150]</a> Therefore to determine the proper place
-of the Apostles, it is necessary to observe well and to understand what
-has been the design of the artist, and the leading idea of the whole composition,
-whether strictly <i>theological</i> or partly <i>scenic</i>. In all monuments<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</span>
-which have a solemn or a sacred purpose,—altars, pulpits, tombs,—the
-Apostles find an appropriate place, either in connection with other
-sacred personages, or as a company apart, the band of teachers. The
-range of statues along the top of the screen in front of the choir of St.
-Mark’s at Venice will be remembered by all who have seen them: in
-the centre stand the Virgin and St. Mark, and then the Apostles, six
-on each side, grand solemn figures, standing there as if to guard the sanctuary.
-These are by Jacobelli, in the simple religious style of the fifteenth
-century, but quite Italian. In contrast with them, as the finest example
-of German sculptural treatment, we have the Twelve Apostles on
-the tomb of St. Sebald, in his church at Nuremberg, cast in bronze by
-Peter Vischer (about 1500). These have become well known by the
-casts which have lately been brought to England; they are about two
-feet high, all remarkable for the characteristic expression of the heads,
-and the grand simplicity of the attitudes and draperies.</p>
-
-<p>There are instances of the Apostles introduced into a scheme of ecclesiastical
-decoration as devotional figures, but assuming, from the style of
-treatment and from being placed in relation with other personages, a
-touch of the dramatic and picturesque. Such are Correggio’s Apostles
-in the cupola of the duomo at Parma (1532), which may be considered
-as the most striking instance that could be produced of studied contrast
-to the solemnity and simplicity of the ancient treatment: here the <i>motif</i>
-is essentially <i>dramatic</i>. They stand round the dome as spectators would
-stand in a gallery or balcony, all in picturesque attitudes, studiously
-varied (some, it must be confessed, rather extravagant), and all looking
-up with amazement, or hope, or joy, or adoration, to the figure of the
-glorified Virgin ascending into heaven.</p>
-
-<p>Another series of Apostles in the San Giovanni at Parma, which
-Correggio had painted earlier (1522), are conceived, I think, in a finer
-spirit as to character, but, perhaps, not more appropriate to the scene.
-Here the Twelve Apostles are seated on clouds round the glorified
-Saviour, as they are supposed to be in heaven: they are but partially
-draped. In the heads but little attention has been paid to the ancient
-types, except in those of St. Peter and St. Paul; but they are sublime
-as well as picturesque in the conception of character and expression.</p>
-
-<p>The Apostles in Michael Angelo’s Last Judgment (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1540)<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</span>
-exhibit a still further deviation from the antique style of treatment.
-They stand on each side of the Saviour, who is not, here, Saviour and
-Redeemer, but inexorable Judge. They are grandly and artificially
-grouped, all without any drapery whatever, and with forms and attitudes
-which recall an assemblage of Titans holding a council of war,
-rather than the glorified companions of Christ. In early pictures of
-Christ in glory, the Apostles, his companions in heaven as on earth,
-form, with the Patriarchs and Prophets, the celestial court or council:
-they sit upon thrones to the right and to the left.<a id="FNanchor_151" href="#Footnote_151" class="fnanchor">[151]</a> Raphael’s ‘Disputa’
-in the Vatican is a grand example of this arrangement.</p>
-
-<p>Sets of the Apostles, in devotional pictures and prints are so common,
-that I shall particularise only a few among the most interesting and
-celebrated. Engravings of these can easily be referred to.</p>
-
-<p>1. A set by Raphael, engraved by Marc Antonio: grand, graceful
-figures, and each with his appropriate attribute. Though admirably
-distinguished in form and bearing, very little attention has been paid
-to the ancient types, except perhaps in St. Peter and St. John. Here
-St. James Minor is omitted to make room for St. Paul.</p>
-
-<p>2. A set by Lucas van Leyden, smaller than Raphael’s, but magnificent
-in feeling: here also the ancient types are for the most part
-neglected. These two sets should be compared as perfect examples of
-the best Italian and the most characteristic German manner. Some of
-the German sets are very curious and grotesque.</p>
-
-<p>3. By H. S. Beham, a most curious set, in what may be called the
-ultra German style: they stand two and two together, like a procession
-of old beggars; the workmanship exquisite. Another set by Beham,
-in which the figures stand singly, and which includes the Four Evangelists,
-dressed like old burgomasters, with the emblematical wings, has
-been already mentioned.</p>
-
-<p>4. A set by Parmigiano, graceful and mannered, as is usual with
-him.</p>
-
-<p>5. By Agostino Caracci. This set, famous as works of art, must,
-when compared with those of Raphael and Lucas van Leyden, be pronounced
-absolutely vulgar. Here St. John is drinking out of his cup,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</span>
-—an idea which might strike some people as picturesque; but it is in
-vile taste. Thaddeus has a saw as well as Simon; Peter has the papal
-tiara at his feet; St. James Minor, instead of Thomas, carries the
-builder’s rule; and St. Bartholomew has his skin thrown over his
-shoulders. This set is an example of the confusion which prevailed
-with respect to the old religious types and attributes, after the first half
-of the sixteenth century.</p>
-
-<p>6. ‘The Five Disciples,’ by Albert Dürer, seem intended to form
-part of a complete set. We have St. Paul, St. Bartholomew, St.
-Thomas, St. Philip, and St. Simon. The two last are the finest, and
-are most grandly conceived.</p>
-
-<p>These are examples of the simplest devotional treatment.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>When the Apostles are grouped together in various historical scenes,—some
-scriptural, some legendary—they are more interesting as individual
-personages; and the treatment should be more characteristic.
-Some of these subjects belong properly to the life of Christ: as the
-Delivery of the Keys to Peter; the Transfiguration; the Entry into
-Jerusalem; the Last Supper; the Ascension. Others, as the Death
-and Assumption of the Virgin, will be considered in the legends of the
-Madonna. But there are others, again, which refer more particularly
-to the personal history of the Apostles, as related in the Acts and in the
-Legends.</p>
-
-<p>The Descent of the Holy Ghost was the first and most important
-event after the Ascension of Christ. It is thus described: ‘When the
-day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one
-place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing
-mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And
-there appeared unto them cloven tongues, like as of fire, and sat upon
-each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began
-to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And
-there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation
-under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad the multitude came
-together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them
-speak in his own language.... But this is that which was spoken by
-the prophet Joel.’ (Acts ii. 1-12, 16.)</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</span></p>
-
-<p>According to the usual interpretation, the word <i>they</i>, in the first
-verse, does not signify the Apostles merely, but, with them, ‘the women,
-and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brethren:’ hence in so many
-representations of this subject the Virgin is not only present, but a
-principal person: Mary Magdalene and others are also frequently
-introduced.</p>
-
-<p>1. The most striking example I have yet met with is the grand
-mosaic in the principal dome of St. Mark’s at Venice. In the apex of
-the dome is seen the Celestial Dove in a glory of light; rays proceed
-from the centre on every side, and fall on the heads of the Virgin and
-the Twelve Apostles, seated in a circle. Lower down is a series of
-twelve figures standing all round the dome: ‘Parthians, Medes, and
-Elamites, the dwellers in Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus,
-Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Cretes and Arabians,’—each nation represented
-by one person, and all in strange dresses, and looking up with
-amazement.</p>
-
-<p>2. The Twelve Apostles and the Virgin are seen above seated in an
-enclosure; tongues of fire descend from heaven; beneath is a closed
-door, at which several persons in strange foreign dresses, with turbans,
-&amp;c., are listening with amazement. One of these is in the Chinese
-costume,—a curious circumstance, considering the age of the picture,
-and which could have occurred at that date nowhere but at Venice.<a id="FNanchor_152" href="#Footnote_152" class="fnanchor">[152]</a></p>
-
-<p>3. In the interior of a temple, sustained by slender pillars, the
-Twelve Apostles are seated in a circle, and in the midst the Virgin,
-tongues of fire on each head. Here the Virgin is the principal person.<a id="FNanchor_153" href="#Footnote_153" class="fnanchor">[153]</a></p>
-
-<p>4. An interior, the Twelve Apostles seated in a circle; above them,
-the Celestial Dove in a glory, and from his beak proceed twelve tongues
-of flame; underneath, in a small arch, is the prophet Joel, as an old
-man crowned with a kingly crown and holding twelve rolls or scrolls,
-indicating the Gospel in so many different languages. The allusion is
-to the words of Joel, ii. 28: ‘And I will pour out my Spirit upon all
-flesh.’<a id="FNanchor_154" href="#Footnote_154" class="fnanchor">[154]</a> This is the Greek formula, and it is curious that it should
-have been closely followed by Pinturicchio;—thus:</p>
-
-<p>5. In a rich landscape, with cypresses, palm-trees, and birds, the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</span>
-Virgin is seen kneeling; St. Peter on the right, and James Minor on
-the left, also kneeling; five other Apostles on each side. The Celestial
-Dove, with outspread wings, descends in a glory surrounded by fifteen
-cherubim: there are no tongues of fire. The prophet Joel is seen
-above, with the inscription, ‘<i lang="la">Effundam de Spiritu meo super omnem
-carnem</i>.’<a id="FNanchor_155" href="#Footnote_155" class="fnanchor">[155]</a></p>
-
-<p>6. The Virgin and the Apostles seated; flames of fire stand on their
-heads; the Holy Ghost appears above in a glory of light, from which
-rays are poured on every side. Mary Magdalene, and another Mary,
-are present behind; astonishment is the prevailing expression in every
-face, except in the Virgin and St. Peter. The composition is attributed
-to Raphael.<a id="FNanchor_156" href="#Footnote_156" class="fnanchor">[156]</a></p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The next event of importance is the separation of the Twelve
-Apostles when they disperse to preach the Gospel in all lands. According
-to the ancient traditions, the Apostles determined by lot to what
-countries they should go: Peter went to Antioch; James the Great
-remained in Jerusalem and the neighbourhood; Philip went to Phrygia;
-John to Ephesus; Thomas to Parthia and Judea; Andrew to Scythia;
-Bartholomew to India and Judea. The Parting of the Apostles is a
-beautiful subject, of which I have met with but few examples; one is a
-woodcut after Titian. The Mission of the Apostles I remember to
-have seen by Bissoni over an altar in the Santa Giustina at Padua:
-they are preparing to depart; one reads from a book; another looses
-his shoes from his feet, in allusion to the text, ‘Take neither purse, nor
-scrip, nor shoes;’ several are bidding adieu to the Virgin. This picture
-struck me as dramatic; its merits otherwise I do not remember.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>We have next ‘The Twelve Baptisms.’<a id="FNanchor_157" href="#Footnote_157" class="fnanchor">[157]</a> In the upper compartment
-Christ is standing in a majestic attitude, and on each side are six
-Apostles, all alike, and in white garments. The inscription above is
-in Greek: ‘Go ye, and preach the Gospel to all nations.’ Below, in
-twelve smaller compartments, each of the Apostles is seen baptizing a
-convert: an attendant, in white garments, stands by each font, holding<span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</span>
-a napkin. One of the converts and his attendant are black, denoting
-clearly the chamberlain of the Queen of Ethiopia. This is a very uncommon
-subject.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>And, lastly, we have ‘The Twelve Martyrdoms.’ This is a more
-frequent series, in pictures and in prints, and occurs in a set of large
-fresco compositions in the church of San Nereo e Sant’ Achilleo at Rome.
-In such representations the usual treatment is as follows:—1. St. Peter
-is crucified with his head downwards. 2. St. Andrew, bound on a
-transverse cross. 3. St. James Major, beheaded with a sword. 4. St.
-John, in a cauldron of boiling oil. 5. St. Philip, bound on a cross in
-the form of a T. 6. St. Bartholomew, flayed. 7. St. Thomas, pierced
-with a spear. 8. St. Matthew, killed with a sword. 9. St. James
-Minor, struck down with a club. 10. St. Simon and St. Jude together:
-one is killed with a sword, the other with a club. 11. St. Matthias has
-his head cloven by a halbert. 12. St. Paul is beheaded.<a id="FNanchor_158" href="#Footnote_158" class="fnanchor">[158]</a></p>
-
-<p>The authority for many of these martyrdoms is wholly apocryphal,<a id="FNanchor_159" href="#Footnote_159" class="fnanchor">[159]</a>
-and they sometimes vary; but this is the usual mode of representation
-in Western Art. In early Greek Art a series of the Deaths of the
-Apostles often occurs, but they do not all suffer martyrdom; and the
-subject of St. John in the cauldron of boiling oil, so famous in the Latin
-Church, is, I believe, unknown, or, at least, so rare, that I have not
-found it in genuine Byzantine Art.</p>
-
-<p>The most ancient series I have met with (in a Greek MS. of the
-ninth century) shows us five Apostles crucified: St. Peter and St. Philip
-with the head downwards; St. Andrew on the transverse cross, as
-usual; St. Simon and St. Bartholomew, in the same manner as our
-Saviour. St. Thomas is pierced by a lance; and St. John is buried,
-and then raised by angels, according to the legend. The same series,
-similarly treated, ornamented the doors of the old Basilica of St. Paul,
-executed by Greek artists of the tenth century.<a id="FNanchor_160" href="#Footnote_160" class="fnanchor">[160]</a></p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</span></p>
-
-<p>Wherever the Apostles appear as a series, we expect, of course, some
-degree of discriminating propriety of character in each face and figure.
-We seek it when they merely form a part of the general scheme of
-significant decoration in the architectural arrangement of a place of
-worship; we seek it with more reason when they stand before us as a
-series of devotional representations; and still more when, as actors in
-some particular scene, they are supposed to be animated by sentiments
-called forth by the occasion, and modified by the individual character.
-By what test shall we try the truth and propriety of such representations?
-We ought to know both what to require from the artist, and on what
-grounds to require it, before we can rest satisfied.</p>
-
-<p>In the Gospel-histories the Apostles are consistently and beautifully
-distinguished in temper and bearing. Their characters, whether
-exhibited at full length, or merely touched upon, are sustained with
-dramatic truth. The mediæval legends, however wild, are, as far as
-character goes, in harmony with these scriptural portraits, and fill up
-the outline given. It becomes therefore a really interesting speculation
-to observe how far this variety of characteristic expression has been
-carried out in the early types, how far attended to, or neglected, by the
-great painters, since the revival of Art.</p>
-
-
-<h3 id="St_Peter_and_St_Paul"><span class="smcap">St. Peter and St. Paul.</span></h3>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p><i>Lat.</i> SS. Petrus et Paulus. <i>Ital.</i> San Pietro or Piero, San Paolo. <i>Fr.</i> S. Pierre, S. Paul.
-<i>Spa.</i> San Pedro, San Pablo. (June 29 and 30.)</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>I have already observed, that, as apostles and preachers of the word,
-St. Peter and St. Paul take the first place. Even during their lives, a
-superiority was accorded to them; and this superiority, as the acknowledged
-heads and founders of the Christian Church, under Christ, has
-been allowed down to the present time. The precedence is by common
-consent given to St. Peter; but they are held to be equal in faith, in
-merit, and in sanctity.</p>
-
-<p>The early Christian Church was always considered under two great
-divisions: the church of the converted Jews, and the church of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</span>
-Gentiles. The first was represented by St. Peter, the second by St.
-Paul. Standing together in this mutual relation, they represent the
-universal Church of Christ; hence in works of art they are seldom
-separated, and are indispensable in all ecclesiastical decoration. Their
-proper place is on each side of the Saviour, or of the Virgin throned;
-or on each side of the altar; or on each side of the arch over the choir.
-In any case, where they stand together, not merely as Apostles, but
-Founders, their place is next after the Evangelists and the Prophets.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp80" id="i_186" style="max-width: 75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_186.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c66"></a>66  St. Paul St. Peter (Crivelli)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Thus seen almost everywhere in companionship, it becomes necessary<span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</span>
-to distinguish them from each other; for St. Peter does not always
-bear his keys, nor St. Paul his sword. In the earliest examples, these
-attributes are wholly omitted; yet I scarcely know any instance in
-which a distinct type of head has not been more or less attended to.</p>
-
-<div class="figleft illowp40" id="i_187" style="max-width: 25em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_187.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c67"></a>67  St. Peter (Greek type, eleventh century)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The ancient Greek type of the head of
-St. Peter, ‘the Pilot of the Galilean
-lake,’ is so strongly characterised as to
-have the air of a portrait. It is either
-taken from the description of Nicephorus,
-so often quoted, or his description is taken
-from some very ancient representation:
-it certainly harmonises with all our preconceived
-notions of St. Peter’s temperament
-and character. He is a robust old
-man, with a broad forehead, and rather
-coarse features, an open undaunted countenance,
-short grey hair, and short thick
-beard, curled, and of a silvery white: according
-to the descriptive portrait of Nicephorus,
-he had red weak eyes,—a peculiarity
-which it has not been thought
-necessary to preserve in his effigies. In
-some early pictures he is bald on the top
-of the head, and the hair grows thick
-around in a circle, somewhat like the
-priestly tonsure; and in some examples
-this tonsure has the form of a triple row
-of curls close to the head, a kind of tiara.
-A curious exception to this predominant,
-almost universal, type is to be found in
-Anglo-Saxon Art,<a id="FNanchor_161" href="#Footnote_161" class="fnanchor">[161]</a> where St. Peter is
-always beardless, and wears the tonsure; so that but for the keys,
-suspended to a ring on his finger, one might take him for an elderly
-monk. It is a tradition that the Gentiles shaved the head of St. Peter<span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</span>
-in order to make him an object of derision, and that this is the origin of
-the priestly tonsure.</p>
-
-<div class="figleft illowp30" id="i_188" style="max-width: 25em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_188.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c68"></a>68  St. Peter with one Key (Taddeo Gaddi)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The dress of St. Peter in the mosaics and Greek pictures is a blue
-tunic, with white drapery thrown over it, but in general the proper
-colours are a blue or green tunic with yellow drapery. On the early
-sarcophagi, and in the most ancient church mosaics, he bears merely a
-scroll or book, and, except in the character of
-the head, he is exactly like St. Paul: a little
-later we find him with the cross in one hand,
-and the Gospel in the other. The keys in his
-hand appear as his peculiar attribute about the
-eighth century. I have seen him with one
-great key, but in general he carries two keys,
-one of gold and one of silver, to absolve and
-to bind; or, according to another interpretation,
-one is of gold and one of iron, opening
-the gates of heaven and hell: occasionally,
-but rarely, he has a third key, expressing the
-dominion over heaven, and earth, and hell.<a id="FNanchor_162" href="#Footnote_162" class="fnanchor">[162]</a></p>
-
-<p>St. Paul presents a striking contrast to St.
-Peter, in features as in character. There
-must have existed effigies of him in very
-early times, for St. Augustine says that a certain Marcellina, living in
-the second century, preserved in her Lararium, among her household
-gods, ‘the images of Homer, Pythagoras, Jesus Christ, and Paul the
-apostle.’ Chrysostom alludes to a portrait of Paul which hung in his
-chamber, but unfortunately he does not describe it. The earliest
-allusion to the personal appearance of St. Paul occurs in Lucian, where
-he is styled, in a tone of mocking disparagement, ‘the bald-headed
-Galilean with a hook-nose.’ The description given by Nicephorus,
-founded, we may presume, on tradition and on the existing portraits,
-has been the authority followed in the early representations. According
-to the ancient tradition, Paul was a man of small and meagre stature,
-with an aquiline nose, a high forehead, and sparkling eyes. In the
-Greek type the face is long and oval, the nose aquiline, the forehead<span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</span>
-high and bald, the hair brown, the beard long, flowing and pointed, and
-of a dark brown (in the Greek formula it is said that his beard should
-be greyish—I recollect no instance of St.
-Paul with a grey beard); his dress is like
-St. Peter’s, a blue tunic and white mantle;
-he has a book or scroll in one hand, sometimes
-twelve rolls, which designate his
-epistles. He bears the sword, his attribute
-in a double sense; it signifies the manner of
-his martyrdom, and it is emblematical of the
-good fight fought by the faithful Christian,
-armed with ‘the sword of the Spirit, which
-is the word of God’ (Ephes. vi. 17). The
-life of St. Paul, after his conversion, was, as
-we know, one long spiritual combat:—‘perplexed,
-but not in despair; cast down,
-but not destroyed.’</p>
-
-<div class="figleft illowp30" id="i_189" style="max-width: 28.125em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_189.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c69"></a>69  St. Paul (Greek type, eleventh century)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>These traditional characteristic types of
-the features and persons of the two greatest
-apostles were long adhered to. We find
-them most strictly followed in the old Greek
-mosaics, in the early Christian sculpture,
-and the early pictures; in all which the
-sturdy dignity and broad rustic features of
-St. Peter, and the elegant contemplative head
-of St. Paul, who looks like a Greek philosopher,
-form a most interesting and suggestive
-contrast. But, in later times, the
-old types, particularly in the head of St.
-Paul, were neglected and degraded. The
-best painters took care not to deviate wholly from the square head and
-short grey beard of St. Peter; but, from the time of Sixtus IV., we
-find substituted for the head of St. Paul an arbitrary representation,
-which varied according to the model chosen by the artist—which was
-sometimes a Roman porter or a German boor; sometimes the antique
-Jupiter or the bust of a Greek rhetorician.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</span></p>
-
-<p>I shall now give some examples, in chronological order, of the two
-great Apostles represented together, as Founders of the Church.</p>
-
-<p>On the early sarcophagi (from <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 321 to 400), St. Peter and St.
-Paul stand on each side of the Saviour. The former bears a cross, and
-is generally on the left hand of Christ. The cross given to Peter, and
-often set with jewels, is supposed to refer to the passage in St. John,
-xxi. 19, ‘Signifying by what death he should die:’ but it may surely
-bear another interpretation, i.e. the spirit of Christianity transmitted to
-all nations by the first and greatest of the Apostles. St. Paul carries a
-roll of writing; he has a very high bald forehead: in other respects the
-two Apostles are not particularly discriminated; they wear the classical
-costume.<a id="FNanchor_163" href="#Footnote_163" class="fnanchor">[163]</a> Similar figures of Peter and Paul occur on the ancient glass
-drinking-vessels and lamps preserved in the Vatican; but the workmanship
-is so rude, that they are merely curiosities, and cannot be
-cited as authorities.</p>
-
-<p><span class="smcap">Mosaic</span> (Rome, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 443) in Santa Maria Maggiore, over the arch
-which separates the sanctuary from the nave. We have in the centre
-a throne, on which lies the roll, sealed with seven seals; above the
-throne rises a cross set with precious stones; on each side of the throne,
-St. Peter and St. Paul; they have no attributes, are habited in classical
-draperies, and the whole representation is strictly antique in style,
-without a trace of any of the characteristics of Mediæval Art. This is
-the oldest representation I have met with next to those on the sarcophagi.</p>
-
-<p><span class="smcap">Mosaic</span> (Rome, 6th century) in the church of Santa Sabina on the
-interior of the arch over the door. We find on one side St. Peter, on
-the other St. Paul. Under St. Peter stands a graceful female figure,
-veiled, and inscribed <i>Ecclesia ex circumcisione;</i> under St Paul, a female
-figure, crowned, and inscribed <i>Ecclesia ex gentibus</i>.</p>
-
-<p><span class="smcap">Mosaic</span> (Rome, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 526) in St. Cosmo and St. Damian, on the
-vault of the apsis. Christ stands in the centre, sustained by clouds;
-his right hand is raised in the attitude of one who exhorts (not blessing,
-as is the usual manner); the left hand holds the book of life; at his
-feet flows the river Jordan, the symbol of Baptism. On each side, but<span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</span>
-lower down and much smaller in size, stand St. Peter and St. Paul;
-they seem to present St. Cosmo and St. Damian to the Saviour. Beyond
-these again, on either side, stand St. Theodore and the pope
-(Felix I.) who dedicated the church. Palm trees, and a Phœnix
-crowned with a starry glory, emblems of Victory and Immortality,
-close this majestic and significant composition on each side. Here St.
-Peter and St. Paul are dignified figures, in which the Greek type is
-strongly characterised; they wear long white mantles, and have no
-attributes.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p><span class="smcap">Mosaic</span> (Milan, 9th century), in Sant’ Ambrogio. Christ enthroned
-presents the Gospel to St. Paul, and the two keys to St. Peter.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p><span class="smcap">Mosaic</span> (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 936) on the tomb of Otho II. St. Peter and St. Paul
-together, rather more than half length, and above life size. St. Peter
-has three keys, suspended on a ring; St. Paul, the book and sword.
-The original mosaic is preserved in the Vatican, and a copy is in the
-Lateran. This relic is, as a document, invaluable.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p><span class="smcap">Mosaic</span> (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1216-1227), in the apsis of the old basilica of St.
-Paul. Christ is seated on a throne, with the cruciform glory and his
-name <img src="images/symbol.png" alt="ĪC̄. X̄C̄." />: the right hand gives the benediction in the Greek
-form; he holds in his left an open book, inscribed <span class="allsmcap">VENITE BENEDICTI
-PATRIS MEI PERCIPITE REGNUM</span>. (Matt. xxv. 34.) On the left, St.
-Peter with his right hand raised to Christ, and an open scroll in his left
-hand, inscribed <span class="allsmcap">TU ES CHRISTUS FILIUS DEI VIVI</span>. On the other side
-of Christ, St. Paul; his right hand on his breast, and in his left a scroll
-with these words, <span class="allsmcap" lang="la">IN NOMINE JESU OMNE GENU FLECTATUR CŒLESTIUM
-TERRESTRIUM ET INFERNORUM</span>. (Phil. xi. 10.) Beyond St. Peter
-stands his brother St. Andrew; and beyond St. Paul his favourite
-disciple Luke. At the foot of the throne kneels a diminutive figure of
-the pope, Honorius III., by whom the mosaic was dedicated. Palm-trees
-close the composition on each side; underneath runs the frieze of
-the Twelve Apostles, described at p. 173.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p><span class="smcap">Mosaic</span> (12th century) in the Cathedral of Monreale at Palermo.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</span>
-St. Peter and St. Paul are seated on splendid thrones on each side of
-the tribune; St. Peter holds in his left hand a book, and the right,
-which gives the benediction, holds also the two keys: over his head is
-inscribed, <span class="allsmcap">SANCTUS PETRUS PRINCEPS APOSTOLORUM CUI TRADITÆ SUNT
-CLAVES REGNI CŒLORUM</span>. St. Paul holds the sword with the point
-upwards like a sceptre, and the book as usual: the intellectual Greek
-character of the head is strongly discriminated. The inscription is,
-<span class="allsmcap">SANCTUS PAULUS PRÆDICATOR VERITATIS ET DOCTOR GENTIUM GENTI</span>.</p>
-
-<p>Among the rich and curious bas-reliefs in front of the church of St.
-Trophime at Arles, we have St. Peter and St. Paul seated together
-receiving the souls of the just. Each has two souls in his lap, and the
-Archangel Michael is bringing another.</p>
-
-<p>In pictures, their proper place, as I have observed, is on each side of
-the throne of the Redeemer, or on each side of the Virgin and Child:
-sometimes they are standing together, or reading in the same book.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>This must suffice for the devotional treatment of St. Peter and St.
-Paul, when represented as joint founders and patrons of the universal
-Christian Church. Before I notice those historical subjects in which
-they appear together, I have to say a few words of the manner in which
-they are treated separately and distinctly. And first of St. Peter.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The various events of the life of St. Peter are recorded in the Gospels
-and the Acts so minutely, that they may be presumed to be familiar to
-all readers. From these we may deduce his character, remarkable for
-fervour and energy rather than sustained power. His traditional and
-legendary history is full of incidents, miracles, and wonderful and picturesque
-passages. His importance and popularity, considered as Prince
-of the Apostles and Founder of the Church of Rome, have extended
-with the influence of that powerful Church of which he is the head and
-representative, and multiplied, almost to infinitude, pictures and effigies
-of him in his individual character, as well as historical representations
-of his life and actions, wherever his paramount dignity is admitted.</p>
-
-<p>It struck me, when wandering over the grand old churches of
-Ravenna, where the ecclesiastical mosaics are the most ancient that
-exist, and still in wonderful preservation, that St. Peter and St. Paul<span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</span>
-do not often appear, at least are in no respect distinguished from the
-other apostles. Ravenna, in the fifth century, did not look to Rome
-for her saints. On the other hand, among the earliest of the Roman
-mosaics, St. Peter is sometimes found sustaining the throne of Christ,
-without his companion St. Paul; as in S. Maria-in-Trastevere, S. Maria
-Nuova, and others. At Rome, St. Peter is <i>the</i> Saint, the <i>Santissimo</i>.
-The secession of the Protestant Church dimmed his glory as Prince of
-the Apostles and universal Saint; he fell into a kind of disrepute as
-identified with the See of Rome, which exposed his effigies, in England
-and Scotland particularly, to a sweeping destruction. Those were disputatious
-days; and Peter, the affectionate, enthusiastic, devoted, but
-somewhat rash apostle, veiled his head to the intellectual, intrepid,
-subtle philosopher Paul.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Let us now see how Art has placed before us the sturdy Prince of
-the Apostles.</p>
-
-<p>I have already mentioned the characteristic type which belongs to
-him, and his prevalent attributes the key, the cross, the book. When
-he figures among the disciples in the Gospel stories, he sometimes holds
-the fish as the symbol of his original vocation: if the fish be given to
-him in single devotional figures, it signifies also Christianity, or the rite
-of Baptism.</p>
-
-<p>The figures of St. Peter standing, as Apostle and Patron Saint, with
-book and keys, are of such perpetual occurrence as to defy all attempts
-to particularise them, and so familiar as to need no further illustration.<a id="FNanchor_164" href="#Footnote_164" class="fnanchor">[164]</a></p>
-
-<p>Representations of him in his peculiar character of Head and Founder
-of the Roman Church, and first universal bishop, are less common.
-He is seated on a throne; one hand is raised in the act of benediction;
-in the other he holds the keys, and sometimes a book or scroll, inscribed
-with the text, in Latin, ‘Thou art Peter, and on this rock have I built
-my Church.’ This subject of the throned St. Peter is very frequent<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</span>
-in the older schools. The well-known picture by Giotto, painted for
-Cardinal Stefaneschi, now in the sacristy of the Vatican, is very fine,
-simple and solemn. In a picture by Cima da Conegliano,<a id="FNanchor_165" href="#Footnote_165" class="fnanchor">[165]</a> St. Peter is
-not only throned, but wears the triple tiara as pope; the countenance
-is particularly earnest, fervent, almost fiery in expression: the keys lie
-at his feet; on one side stands St. John the Baptist, on the other
-St. Paul.</p>
-
-<div class="figleft illowp35" id="i_194" style="max-width: 37.5em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_194.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c70"></a>[70]</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>As a deviation from the usual form
-of this subject, I must mention an old
-bas-relief, full of character, and significantly
-appropriate to its locality
-the church of San Pietro-in-Vincoli,
-at Rome. St. Peter, enthroned, holds
-in one hand the keys and the Gospel;
-with the other he presents his chains
-to a kneeling angel: this unusual
-treatment is very poetical and suggestive.</p>
-
-<p>There are standing figures of St.
-Peter wearing the papal tiara, and
-brandishing his keys, as in a picture
-by Cola dell’ Amatrice (70). And I
-should think Milton had some such
-picture in his remembrance when he
-painted <i>his</i> St. Peter:—</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent10">Last came and last did go</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">The pilot of the Galilean Lake;</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Two massy keys he bore of metals twain,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">(The golden opes, the iron shuts amain,)</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">He shook his <i>mitred</i> locks, and stern bespake.</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>When, in devotional pictures, St.
-Peter is accompanied by another
-apostle with no distinctive attributes,
-we may suppose it to be St. Mark, who was his interpreter, companion,
-and amanuensis at Rome. According to an early tradition, the Gospel<span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</span>
-of St. Mark was written down from the dictation of St. Peter.<a id="FNanchor_166" href="#Footnote_166" class="fnanchor">[166]</a> In a
-miniature frontispiece to St. Mark’s Gospel, the evangelist is seated
-writing, and St. Peter stands opposite, as if dictating. In a picture by
-Angelico,<a id="FNanchor_167" href="#Footnote_167" class="fnanchor">[167]</a> Peter is preaching from a pulpit to a crowd of people:
-Mark, seated on one side, is diligently taking down his words. In a
-very fine picture by Bonvicino<a id="FNanchor_168" href="#Footnote_168" class="fnanchor">[168]</a> they stand together; St. Peter is
-reading from a book; St. Mark holds a scroll and inkhorn; he is submitting
-to St. Peter the Gospel he has just penned, and which was afterwards
-confirmed by the apostle.</p>
-
-<p>Lastly, a magnificent Venetian picture<a id="FNanchor_169" href="#Footnote_169" class="fnanchor">[169]</a> represents St. Peter throned
-as bishop, with an earnest and rather stern countenance; he holds a
-book in his hand; two angels with musical instruments are seated on
-the steps of his throne: on his right hand stand John the Baptist, and
-St. Jerome as cardinal; on his left St. Ambrose; while St. Mark bends
-over a book, as if reading to this majestic auditory.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Those scenes and incidents related in the Gospels in which St. Peter
-is a principal or conspicuous figure, I shall enlarge upon when treating
-of the life of Christ, and will only indicate a few of them here, as illustrating
-the manner in which St. Peter is introduced and treated in such
-subjects.</p>
-
-<p>We have, first, the Calling of Peter and Andrew in a picture by
-Basaiti,<a id="FNanchor_170" href="#Footnote_170" class="fnanchor">[170]</a> where the two brothers are kneeling at the feet of the Saviour;
-the fishing-boats and the Lake of Gennesareth in the background: and
-in the beautiful fresco by Ghirlandajo in the Sistine Chapel, where a
-number of contemporary personages are introduced as spectators. St.
-Andrew presenting St. Peter to our Saviour (as in a picture by Cavalucci,
-in the Vatican), is another version of the same subject; or St.
-Andrew is seen at the feet of Christ, while St. Peter is sitting on the
-edge of the boat, or descending from it in haste.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</span></p>
-
-<p>‘Christ walking on the Sea’ is a familiar and picturesque subject,
-not to be mistaken. The most ancient and most celebrated representation
-is Giotto’s mosaic (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1298), now placed in the portico of St.
-Peter’s, over the arch opposite to the principal door. The sentiment in
-the composition of this subject is, generally, ‘Lord, help me; or I
-perish:’ St. Peter is sinking, and Christ is stretching out his hand to
-save him. It is considered as a type of the Church in danger, assailed
-by enemies, and saved by the miraculous interposition of the Redeemer;
-and in this sense must the frequent representations in churches be
-understood.</p>
-
-<p>In the ‘Miraculous Draught of Fishes,’ St. Peter is usually on his
-knees looking up with awe and gratitude:—‘Depart from me, O Lord!
-for I am a sinful man.’ The composition of Raphael (the cartoon at
-Hampton Court) is just what we should seek for in Raphael, a masterpiece
-of dramatic expression,—the significant, the poetical, the miraculous
-predominating. The composition of Rubens, at Malines, which
-deserves the next place, should be looked at in contrast, as an instance
-of the picturesque and vigorous treatment equally characteristic of the
-painter;—all life and reality, even to the glittering fish which tumble
-in the net. ‘St. Peter finding the tribute money’ is a subject I have
-seldom met with: the <i>motif</i> is simple, and not to be mistaken.</p>
-
-<p>In all the scenes of the life of our Saviour in which the apostles are
-assembled,—in the Transfiguration, in the Last Supper, in the ‘Washing
-the Feet of the Disciples,’ in the scene of the agony and the betrayal
-of Christ,—St. Peter is introduced as a more or less prominent
-figure, but always to be distinguished from the other apostles. In the
-third of these subjects, the washing of the feet, St. Peter generally
-looks up at Christ with an expression of humble expostulation, his
-hand on his head: the sentiment is—‘Not my feet only, but my
-hands and my head.’</p>
-
-<p>In the scene of the betrayal of Christ, St. Peter cutting off the ear
-of Malthus is sometimes a <i>too</i> prominent group; and I remember an
-old German print in which St. Peter having cut off the ear, our Lord
-bends down to replace it.<a id="FNanchor_171" href="#Footnote_171" class="fnanchor">[171]</a></p>
-
-<p>‘St. Peter denying the Saviour’ is always one of the subjects in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</span>
-the series of the Passion of Christ. It occurs frequently on the ancient
-sarcophagi as the symbol of repentance, and is treated with classical and
-sculptural simplicity, the cock being always introduced, as in the illustration
-(71): it is here to be understood as a general emblem of human
-weakness and repentance. As an action separately, or as one of the
-series of the life and actions of Peter, it has not been often painted; it
-seems to have been avoided in general by the early Italian painters as
-derogatory to the character and dignity of the apostle. The only examples
-I can recollect are in the later Italian and Flemish schools.
-Teniers has adopted it as a vehicle for a guard-room scene; soldiers
-playing at cards, bright armour, &amp;c. Rembrandt has taken it as a
-vehicle for a fine artificial light; and, for the same reason, the Caravaggio
-school delighted in it. The maiden, whose name in the old
-traditions is Balilla, is always introduced with a look and gesture of
-reproach, and the cock is often perched in the background.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp80" id="i_197" style="max-width: 75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_197.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c71"></a>71 Repentance of Peter (Sarcophagus, third century)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>‘Christ turned and looked upon Peter:’ of this beautiful subject,
-worthy of Raphael himself, I can remember no instance.</p>
-
-<p>The ‘Repentance of Peter’ is a subject seldom treated in the earlier<span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</span>
-schools of Italy, but frequently by the later painters, and particularly
-by the Bologna school; in some instances most beautifully. It was a
-subject peculiarly suited to the genius of Guercino, who excelled in the
-expression of profound rather than elevated feeling.</p>
-
-<p>There is a manner of representing the repentance of Peter which
-seems peculiar to Spanish Art, and is more ideal than is usual with that
-school. Christ is bound to a column and crowned with thorns; St.
-Peter kneels before him in an attitude of the deepest anguish and
-humiliation, and appears to be supplicating forgiveness. Except in the
-Spanish school, I have never met with this treatment. The little picture
-by Murillo<a id="FNanchor_172" href="#Footnote_172" class="fnanchor">[172]</a> is an exquisite example; and in the Spanish Gallery are
-two others, by Pedro de Cordova and Juan Juanes:—in the former,
-St. Peter holds a pocket-handkerchief with which he has been wiping
-his eyes, and the cock is perched on the column to which our Saviour
-is bound.</p>
-
-<p>Another ideal treatment we find in a picture by Guercino; St.
-Peter is weeping bitterly, and opposite to him the Virgin is seated in
-motionless grief.</p>
-
-<p>Half-length figures of St. Peter looking up with an expression of
-repentant sorrow, and wringing his hands, are of frequent occurrence,
-more especially in the later followers of the Bologna and Neapolitan
-schools of the seventeenth century: Ribera, Lanfranco, Caravaggio,
-and Valentin. In most of these instances, the total absence of ideal or
-elevated sentiment is striking;—any old bearded beggar out of the
-streets, who could cast up his eyes and look pathetic, served as a model.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>I recollect no picture of the Crucifixion in which St. Peter is present.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>‘The delivery of the keys to Peter’ and ‘the Charge to Peter,’
-(Feed my sheep,) either in separate pictures or combined into one
-subject, have been of course favourite themes in a Church which founds
-its authority on these particular circumstances. The bas-relief over
-the principal door of St. Peter’s at Rome represents the two themes in
-one: Christ delivers the keys to Peter, and the sheep are standing by.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</span>
-In the panels of the bronze doors beneath (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1431), we have the
-chain of thought and incident continued; Peter delivers the emblematical
-keys to Pope Eugenius IV.</p>
-
-<p>It is curious that, while the repentance of Peter is a frequent subject
-on the sarcophagi of the fourth century, the delivery of the keys to
-Peter occurs but once. Christ, as a beardless youth, presents to Peter
-two keys laid crosswise one over the other. Peter, in whose head the
-traditional type is most distinctly marked, has thrown his pallium over
-his outstretched hands, for, according to the antique ceremonial, of
-which the early sculpture and mosaics afford us so many examples, things
-consecrated could only be touched with covered hands. This singular
-example is engraved in Bottari.<a id="FNanchor_173" href="#Footnote_173" class="fnanchor">[173]</a> An example of beautiful and solemn
-treatment in painting is Perugino’s fresco in the Sistine Chapel. It
-contains twenty-one figures; the conception is quite ideal, the composition
-regular even to formality, yet striking and dramatic. In the
-centre, Peter, kneeling on one knee, receives the keys from the hand of
-the Saviour; the apostles and disciples are arranged on each side behind
-Christ and St. Peter; in the background is the rebuilding of the
-Temple;—a double allegory: ‘Destroy this temple, I will build it up
-in three days:’ and also, perhaps, alluding to the building of the
-chapel by Sixtus IV.</p>
-
-<p>In Raphael’s cartoon<a id="FNanchor_174" href="#Footnote_174" class="fnanchor">[174]</a> the scene is an open plain: Christ stands on the
-right; in front, St. Peter kneels, with the keys in his hand; Christ
-extends one hand to Peter, and with the other points to a flock of sheep
-in the background. The introduction of the sheep into this subject has
-been criticised as at once too literal and too allegorical,—a too literal
-transcript of the words, a too allegorical version of the meaning; but I
-do not see how the words of our Saviour could have been otherwise
-rendered in painting, which must speak to us through sensible objects.
-The other apostles standing behind Peter show in each countenance the
-different manner in which they are affected by the words of the Saviour.</p>
-
-<p>By Gian Bellini: a beautiful picture:<a id="FNanchor_175" href="#Footnote_175" class="fnanchor">[175]</a> St. Peter kneeling, half-length,
-receives the keys from Jesus Christ, seated on a throne. Behind
-St. Peter stand the three Christian Graces, Faith, Hope, and Charity.
-Poussin has taken this subject in his series of the Seven Sacraments<a id="FNanchor_176" href="#Footnote_176" class="fnanchor">[176]</a>,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</span>
-to represent the sacrament of Ordination. In this instance again, the
-two themes are united; and we must also remember, that the allegorical
-representation of the disciples and followers of Christ as sheep looking
-up to be fed, is consecrated by the practice of the earliest schools of
-Christian Art. Rubens has rendered the subject very simply, in a
-picture containing only the two figures, Christ and St. Peter;<a id="FNanchor_177" href="#Footnote_177" class="fnanchor">[177]</a> and
-again with five figures, less good.<a id="FNanchor_178" href="#Footnote_178" class="fnanchor">[178]</a> Numerous other examples might
-be given; but the subject is one that, however treated, cannot be easily
-mistaken.</p>
-
-<p>A very ideal version of this subject is where St. Peter kneels at the
-feet of the Madonna, and the Infant Christ, bending from her lap,
-presents the keys to him; as in a singularly fine and large composition
-by Crivelli,<a id="FNanchor_179" href="#Footnote_179" class="fnanchor">[179]</a> and in another by Andrea Salaino. Another, very beautiful
-and curious, is in the possession of Mr. Bromley of Wootten.<a id="FNanchor_180" href="#Footnote_180" class="fnanchor">[180]</a></p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>After the ascension of our Saviour, the personal history of St. Peter
-is mingled first with that of St. John, and afterwards with that
-of St. Paul.</p>
-
-<p>‘Peter and John healing the lame man at the gate called Beautiful’
-is the subject of one of the finest of the cartoons at Hampton Court.
-Perin del Vaga, Niccolò Poussin, and others less renowned, have also
-treated it; it is susceptible of much contrast and dramatic effect.</p>
-
-<p>‘The sick are brought out and placed in the shadow of Peter and
-John that they may be healed,’ by Masaccio.<a id="FNanchor_181" href="#Footnote_181" class="fnanchor">[181]</a></p>
-
-<p>‘Peter preaching to the early converts:’ the two most beautiful
-compositions I have seen, are the simple group of Masaccio; and another
-by Le Sueur, full of variety and sentiment.</p>
-
-<p>‘Peter and John communicate the Holy Ghost by laying their hands
-on the disciples,’ by Vasari.<a id="FNanchor_182" href="#Footnote_182" class="fnanchor">[182]</a> I do not well remember this picture.</p>
-
-<p>The Vision of Peter: three angels sustain the curtain or sheet which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</span>
-contains the various forbidden animals, as pigs, rabbits, &amp;c. (as in a
-print after Guercino).</p>
-
-<p>‘Peter baptizes the Centurion’ (very appropriately placed in the
-baptistery of the Vatican). St. Peter meets the Centurion; he blesses
-the family of the Centurion. All commonplace versions of very interesting
-and picturesque subjects.</p>
-
-<p>‘The Death of Ananias.’ Raphael’s cartoon of this awful scene is a
-masterpiece of dramatic and scenic power; never was a story more
-admirably and completely told in painting. Those who had to deal
-with the same subject, as if to avoid a too close comparison with his
-unapproachable excellence, have chosen the death of Sapphira as the
-<i>motif</i>: as, for example, Niccolò Poussin.<a id="FNanchor_183" href="#Footnote_183" class="fnanchor">[183]</a></p>
-
-<p>‘Dorcas or Tabitha restored to life.’ One of the finest and most
-effective of Guercino’s pictures, now in the Palazzo Pitti: the simple
-dignity of the apostle, and the look of sick amazement in the face of the
-woman restored to consciousness, show how strong Guercino could be
-when he had to deal with natural emotions of no elevated kind. The
-same subject, by Costanzi, is among the great mosaics in St. Peter’s.
-‘The Death of Dorcas,’ by Le Sueur, is a beautiful composition. She
-lies extended on a couch; St. Peter and two other apostles approach
-the foot of it: the poor widows, weeping, show to St. Peter the
-garments which Dorcas had made for them (Acts ix. 39).</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The imprisonment of Peter, and his deliverance by the Angel, were
-incidents so important, and offer such obvious points of dramatic effect,
-that they have been treated in every possible variety of style and sentiment,
-from the simple formality of the early mosaics, where the two
-figures—Peter sitting on a stool, leaning his head on his hand, and the
-Angel at his side—express the story like a vision,<a id="FNanchor_184" href="#Footnote_184" class="fnanchor">[184]</a> down to the scenic
-and architectural compositions of Steenwick, where, amid a vast perspective
-of gloomy vaults and pillars, a diminutive St. Peter, with an
-Angel or a sentinel placed somewhere in the foreground, just serves to
-give the picture a name.<a id="FNanchor_185" href="#Footnote_185" class="fnanchor">[185]</a></p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</span></p>
-
-<p>Some examples of this subject are of great celebrity.</p>
-
-<p>Masaccio, in the frescoes of the Brancacci Chapel, has represented
-Peter in prison, looking through his grated window, and Paul outside
-communing with him. (The noble figure of St. Paul in this fresco was
-imitated by Raphael in the ‘St. Paul preaching at Athens.’) In the
-next compartment of the series, Masaccio has given us the Angel leading
-forth Peter, while the guard sleeps at the door: he sleeps as one
-oppressed with an unnatural sleep. Raphael’s fresco in the Vatican is
-not one of his best, but he has seized on the obvious point of effect, both
-as to light and grouping; and we have three separate moments of the
-same incident, which yet combine most happily into one grand scene.
-Thus in the centre, over the window, we see through a grating the interior
-of the prison, where St. Peter is sleeping between two guards,
-who, leaning on their weapons, are sunk in a deep charmed slumber;<a id="FNanchor_186" href="#Footnote_186" class="fnanchor">[186]</a>
-an angel, whose celestial radiance fills the dungeon with a flood of light,
-is in the act of waking the apostle: on the right of the spectator, the
-angel leads the apostle out of the prison; two guards are sleeping on the
-steps: on the left, the soldiers are roused from sleep, and one with a
-lighted torch appears to be giving the alarm; the crescent moon faintly
-illumines the background.</p>
-
-<p>The deliverance of St. Peter has always been considered as figurative
-of the deliverance of the Church; and the two other frescoes of this
-room, the Heliodorus and the Attila, bear the same interpretation. It
-is worth while to compare this dramatic composition of Raphael with
-others wherein the story is merely a vehicle for artificial effects of light,
-as in a picture by Gerard Honthorst; or treated like a supernatural
-vision, as by that poet, Rembrandt.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Those historical subjects in which St. Peter and St. Paul figure together
-will be noticed in the life of St. Paul.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>I come now to the legendary stories connected with St. Peter; an
-inexhaustible source of popular and pictorial interest.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</span></p>
-
-<p>Peter was at Jerusalem as late as <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 52; then at Antioch; also in
-Babylon: according to the most ancient testimonies he was at Rome
-about <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 63; but the tradition, that he resided as bishop in the city
-of Rome for twenty-five years, first related by Jerome, seems questionable.<a id="FNanchor_187" href="#Footnote_187" class="fnanchor">[187]</a>
-Among the legendary incidents which marked his sojourn in
-Rome, the first and the most important is the story of Simon Magus.</p>
-
-<p>Simon, a famous magician among the Jews, had astonished the whole
-city of Jerusalem by his wonderful feats; but his inventions and sorceries
-were overcome by the real miracles of Peter, as the Egyptian magi
-had been conquered by Aaron. He offered the apostles money to buy
-the secret of their power, which Peter rejected with indignation. St.
-Augustine tells us, as a characteristic trait of the fiery-spirited apostle,
-that ‘if he had fallen on the traitor Simon, he would certainly have
-torn him to pieces with his teeth.’ The magician, vanquished by a
-superior power, flung his books into the Dead Sea, broke his wand, and
-fled to Rome, where he became a great favourite of the Emperor
-Claudius, and afterwards of Nero. Peter, bent on counteracting the
-wicked sorceries of Simon, followed him to Rome. About two years
-after his arrival he was joined there by the Apostle Paul. Simon
-Magus having asserted that he was himself a god, and could raise the
-dead, Peter and Paul rebuked his impiety, and challenged him to a
-trial of skill in presence of the emperor. The arts of the magician
-failed; Peter and Paul restored the youth to life: and on many other
-occasions Simon was vanquished and put to shame by the miraculous
-power of the apostles. At length he undertook to fly up to heaven in
-sight of the emperor and the people; and, crowned with laurel, and
-supported by demons, he flung himself from a tower, and appeared for
-a while to float thus in the air: but St. Peter, falling on his knees,
-commanded the demons to let go their hold, and Simon, precipitated
-to the ground, was dashed to pieces.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</span></p>
-
-<p>This romantic legend, so popular in the middle ages, is founded on
-some antique traditions not wholly unsupported by historical testimony.</p>
-
-<p>There can be no doubt that there existed in the first century a
-Simon, a Samaritan, a pretender to divine authority and supernatural
-powers; who, for a time, had many followers; who stood in a certain
-relation to Christianity; and who may have held some opinions more
-or less similar to those entertained by the most famous heretics of the
-early ages, the Gnostics. Irenæus calls this Simon the father of all
-heretics. ‘All those,’ he says, ‘who in any way corrupt the truth,
-or mar the preaching of the Church, are disciples and successors of
-Simon, the Samaritan magician.’ Simon gave himself forth as a god,
-and carried about with him a beautiful woman named Helena, whom
-he represented as the first conception of his—that is, of the divine—mind,
-the symbol or manifestation of that portion of spirituality which
-had become entangled in matter.<a id="FNanchor_188" href="#Footnote_188" class="fnanchor">[188]</a></p>
-
-<p>The incidents of the story of Simon Magus have been often and
-variously treated.</p>
-
-<p>1. By Quintin Matsys: Peter refuses the offer of Simon Magus—‘Thy
-money perish with thee!’ Here Peter wears the mitre of a
-bishop: the picture is full of coarse but natural expression.</p>
-
-<p>2. ‘Peter and Paul accused before Nero:’ the fresco in the Brancacci
-Chapel, attributed by Kugler to Filippino Lippi, is certainly one
-of the most perfect pieces of art, as a dramatic composition, which we
-have before the time of Raphael. To the right the emperor is seated
-on his throne, on each side his ministers and attendants. The countenances
-are finely varied; some of them animated by attention and
-curiosity, others sunk in deep thought. The two apostles, and their
-accuser Simon Magus, are in front. Simon, a magnificent figure, who
-might serve for a Prospero, lays his hand on the vest of Peter, as if to
-drag him forward; Paul stands aside with quiet dignity; Peter, with a
-countenance full of energetic expression, points contemptuously to the
-broken idol at his feet. For the felicity and animation with which the
-story is told, and for propriety, grace, and grandeur, Raphael has not
-often exceeded this picture.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</span></p>
-
-<p>3. Another of the series of the life of Peter in the Brancacci Chapel
-is the resuscitation of the youth, who in the legend is called the nephew
-of the emperor; a composition of numerous figures. In the centre
-stands St. Peter, and before him kneels the youth; a skull and a few
-bones are near him—a naïve method of expressing his return from
-death to life. The variety of expression in the countenances of the
-assembled spectators is very fine. According to the custom of the
-Florentine school at that time, many are portraits of distinguished
-persons; and, considering that the fresco was painted at a period most
-interesting in the Florentine history (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1440), we have much reason
-to regret that these can no longer be discriminated.</p>
-
-<p>4. ‘The Fall of Simon Magus’ is a favourite and picturesque subject,
-often repeated. A most ancient and most curious version is that
-on the walls of the Cathedral at Assisi, older than the time of Giotto,
-and attributed to Giunta Pisano. (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1232.) On one side is a
-pyramidical tower formed of wooden bars; Peter and Paul are kneeling
-in front; the figure of the magician is seen floating in the air and sustained
-by hideous demons;—very dreamy, poetical, and fanciful. In
-Mr. Ottley’s collection I saw a small ancient picture of the same subject,
-very curious, attributed to Benozzo Gozzoli. Raphael’s composition
-in the Vatican has the simplicity of a classical bas-relief,—a style
-which does not appear suited to this romantic legend. The picture by
-L. Caracci at Naples I have not seen. Over one of the altars of St.
-Peter, we now see the great mosaic, after Vanni’s picture of this subject;
-a clever commonplace treatment: the scene is an amphitheatre,
-the emperor above in his balcony; Peter and Paul in front, invoking
-the name of Christ, and Simon Magus tumbling headlong, forsaken by
-his demons; in the background sit the vestals. Battoni’s great picture
-in the S. Maria degli Angeli at Rome is considered his best production;
-it is full of well-studied academic drawing, but scenic and mannered.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The next subject in the order of events is styled the ‘<span class="smcap">Domine, quo
-vadis?</span>’ After the burning of Rome, Nero threw upon the Christians
-the accusation of having fired the city. This was the origin of the first
-persecution, in which many perished by terrible and hitherto unheard-of
-deaths. The Christian converts besought Peter not to expose his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</span>
-life, which was dear and necessary to the well-being of all; and at
-length he consented to depart from Rome. But as he fled along the
-Appian Way, about two miles from the gates, he was met by a vision
-of our Saviour travelling towards the city. Struck with amazement,
-he exclaimed, ‘Lord! whither goest thou?’ to which the Saviour,
-looking upon him with a mild sadness, replied, ‘I go to Rome to be
-crucified a second time,’ and vanished. Peter, taking this for a sign
-that he was to submit himself to the sufferings prepared for him, immediately
-turned back, and re-entered the city. Michael Angelo’s famous
-statue, now in the church of S. Maria-sopra-Minerva at Rome, is supposed
-to represent Christ as he appeared to Peter on this occasion; and
-a cast or copy of it is in the little church of ‘Domine, quo vadis?’
-erected on the spot sanctified by this mysterious meeting.</p>
-
-<p>It is surprising that this most beautiful, picturesque, and, to my
-fancy, sublime legend has been so seldom treated; and never, as it
-appears to me, in a manner worthy of its capabilities and its high significance.
-It is seldom that a whole story can be told by two figures,
-and these two figures placed in such grand and dramatic contrast;—Christ
-in his serene majesty and radiant with all the glory of beatitude,
-yet with an expression of gentle reproach; the apostle at his feet,
-arrested in his flight, amazed, and yet filled with a trembling joy; and
-for the background the wide Campagna or the towering walls of imperial
-Rome;—these are grand materials; but the pictures I have met
-with are all ineffective in conception. The best fall short of the sublime
-ideal; most of them are theatrical and commonplace.</p>
-
-<p>Raphael has interpreted it in a style rather too classical for the spirit
-of the legend; with great simplicity and dignity, but as a <i>fact</i>, rather
-than a vision conjured up by the stricken conscience and tenderness of
-the affectionate apostle. The small picture by Annibale Caracci in our
-National Gallery is a carefully finished academical study and nothing
-more, but may be referred to as a fair example of the usual mode of
-treatment.</p>
-
-<p>Peter returned to Rome, persisted in his appointed work, preaching
-and baptizing; was seized with St. Paul and thrown into the Mamertine
-dungeons under the Capitol. The two centurions who guarded
-them, Processus and Martinian, and many of the criminals confined in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</span>
-the same prison, were converted by the preaching of the apostle; and
-there being no water to baptize them, at the prayer of St. Peter a
-fountain sprang up from the stone floor; which may be seen at
-this day.</p>
-
-<p>‘The Baptism of St. Processus and St. Martinian in the Dungeon,’
-by Trevisani, is in the baptistery of St. Peter’s at Rome; they afterwards
-suffered for the faith, and were canonised. In the same church
-is the scene of their martyrdom by Valentino; they are seen bound and
-stretched on a hurdle, the head of one to the feet of the other, and thus
-beaten to death. The former picture—the Baptism—is commonplace;
-the latter, terrible for dark and effective expression; it is just one of
-those subjects in which the Caravaggio school delighted.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>A few days after their incarceration, St. Peter and St. Paul were
-condemned to death. According to one tradition, St. Peter suffered
-martyrdom in the Circus of Caligula at the foot of the Vatican, and was
-crucified between two metæ, i.e. the goals or terminæ in the Circus,
-round which the chariots turned in the race; but, according to another
-tradition, he was put to death in the court-yard of a barrack or military
-station on the summit of Mons Janicula, where the church of San
-Pietro in Montorio now stands; that is, on an eminence above the site
-of the Circus of Caligula. At his own request, and that his death
-might be even more painful and ignominious than that of his Divine
-Master, he was crucified with his head downwards.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_208" style="max-width: 68.75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_208.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c72"></a>72  Crucifixion of St. Peter (Giotto)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>In the earliest representations I have met with,<a id="FNanchor_189" href="#Footnote_189" class="fnanchor">[189]</a> St. Peter is raised
-on the cross with his head downwards, and wears a long shirt which is
-fastened round his ankles. In the picture of Giotto,<a id="FNanchor_190" href="#Footnote_190" class="fnanchor">[190]</a> the local circumstances,
-according to the first tradition, are carefully attended to: we
-have the cross erected between the two metæ, and about twenty
-soldiers and attendants; among them a woman who embraces the foot
-of the cross, as the Magdalene embraces the cross of the Saviour.
-Above are seen angels, who bear the soul of the martyred saint in a
-glory to heaven. Masaccio’s composition<a id="FNanchor_191" href="#Footnote_191" class="fnanchor">[191]</a> is very simple; the scene is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</span>
-the court-yard of a military station (according to the second tradition).
-Peter is already nailed upon a cross; three executioners are in the act
-of raising it with cords and a pulley to suspend it against a great beam
-of wood; there are several soldiers, but no women, present. In Guido’s
-composition<a id="FNanchor_192" href="#Footnote_192" class="fnanchor">[192]</a> there are only three figures, the apostle and two executioners;
-it is celebrated as a work of art, but it appeared to me most
-ineffective. On the other hand, Rubens has gone into the opposite
-extreme; there are only three persons, the principal figure filling
-nearly the whole of the canvas: it is full of vigour, truth, and nature;
-but the brutality of the two executioners, and the agony of the aged
-saint, too coarsely and painfully literal. These simple representations
-of the mere act or fact should be compared with the fresco of Michael
-Angelo,<a id="FNanchor_193" href="#Footnote_193" class="fnanchor">[193]</a> in which the event is evolved into a grand drama. Here the
-scene is evidently the summit of the Mons Janiculum: in the midst of
-a crowd of soldiers and spectators, St. Peter lies nailed to the cross,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</span>
-which a number of men are exerting their utmost strength to raise from
-the ground.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The legend which makes St. Peter the keeper of the gate of Paradise,
-with power to grant or refuse admission, is founded on the delivery
-of the keys to Peter. In most of the pictures which represent the
-entrance of the blessed into Paradise or the New Jerusalem, Peter
-stands with his keys near the gate. There is a beautiful example in the
-great fresco of Simone Memmi in the chapel <i>de’ Spagnuoli</i> at Florence:
-St. Peter stands at the open portal with his great key, and two angels
-crown with garlands the souls of the just as they enter joyously hand
-in hand.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp90" id="i_209" style="max-width: 81.25em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_209.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c73"></a>73 From the fresco of Simone Memmi, Florence (S. Maria Novella)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</span></p>
-
-<p>The legend of St. Petronilla, the daughter of St. Peter (in French,
-Sainte Pernelle), has never been popular as a subject of Art, and I
-can remember no series of incidents from the life of St. Peter in which
-she is introduced, except those in the Carmine at Florence. It is
-apparently a Roman legend, and either unknown to the earliest artists,
-or neglected by them. It is thus related:—</p>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p>‘The apostle Peter had a daughter born in lawful wedlock, who
-accompanied him in his journey from the East. Being at Rome with
-him, she fell sick of a grievous infirmity which deprived her of the use
-of her limbs. And it happened that as the disciples were at meat with
-him in his house, one said to him, ‘Master, how is it that thou, who
-healest the infirmities of others, dost not heal thy daughter Petronilla?’
-And St. Peter answered, ‘It is good for her to remain sick:’ but, that
-they might see the power that was in the word of God, he commanded
-her to get up and serve them at table, which she did; and having done
-so, she lay down again helpless as before; but many years afterwards,
-being perfected by her long suffering, and praying fervently, she was
-healed. Petronilla was wonderfully fair; and Valerius Flaccus, a
-young and noble Roman, who was a heathen, became enamoured of her
-beauty, and sought her for his wife; and he being very powerful, she
-feared to refuse him; she therefore desired him to return in three days,
-and promised that he should then carry her home. But she prayed
-earnestly to be delivered from this peril; and when Flaccus returned
-in three days with great pomp to celebrate the marriage, he found her
-dead. The company of nobles who attended him carried her to the
-grave, in which they laid her, crowned with roses; and Flaccus
-lamented greatly.’<a id="FNanchor_194" href="#Footnote_194" class="fnanchor">[194]</a></p>
-
-<p>The legend places her death in the year 98, that is, 34 years after
-the death of St. Peter; but it would be in vain to attempt to reconcile
-the dates and improbabilities of this story.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>St. Peter raising Petronilla from her sick bed is one of the subjects
-by Masaccio in the Brancacci Chapel. The scene of her entombment
-is the subject of a once celebrated and colossal picture by Guercino:<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</span>
-the copy in mosaic is over the altar dedicated to her in St. Peter’s: in
-front, and in the lower part of the picture, she is just seen as they are
-letting her down into the grave, crowned with roses; behind stands
-Flaccus with a handkerchief in his hand, and a crowd of spectators: in
-the upper part of the picture Petronilla is already in Paradise, kneeling,
-in a rich dress, before the feet of Christ, having exchanged an earthly
-for a heavenly bridegroom. This great picture exhibits, in a surpassing
-degree, the merits and defects of Guercino; it is effective, dramatic,
-deeply and forcibly coloured, and arrests attention: on the other hand,
-it is coarse, crowded, vulgar in sentiment, and repugnant to our better
-taste. There is a standing figure of Petronilla in the Duomo at Lucca,
-by Daniel di Volterra, very fine.<a id="FNanchor_195" href="#Footnote_195" class="fnanchor">[195]</a></p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The life of St. Peter, when represented as a series, generally comprises
-the following subjects, commencing with the first important
-incident after the Ascension of Christ.</p>
-
-<p>1. Peter and John heal the lame man at the Beautiful Gate. 2.
-Peter heals the paralytic Eneas. 3. Peter raises Tabitha. 4. The
-angel takes off the chains of Peter. 5. He follows the angel out of the
-prison. 6. St. Peter and St. Paul meet at Rome. 7. Peter and Paul
-before Nero are accused by Simon Magus. 8. The fall of Simon
-Magus. 9. The crucifixion of St. Peter. This example is taken from
-the series of mosaics in the Cathedral of Monreale, at Palermo.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</span></p>
-
-<p>The fine series of frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel at Florence is
-differently arranged; thus:—1. The tribute money found in the fish
-by St. Peter. 2. Peter preaching to the converts. 3. Peter baptizes
-the converts. In this fresco, the youth, who has thrown off his
-garments and is preparing for baptism, is famous as the first really
-graceful and well-drawn undraped figure which had been produced
-since the revival of Art. 4. Peter and John heal the cripple at the
-Beautiful Gate, and Petronilla is raised from her bed. 5. Peter in his
-prison is visited by Paul. 6. Peter delivered by the angel. 7. The
-resuscitation of the dead youth. 8. The sick are laid in the way of
-Peter and John, ‘that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by
-might overshadow some of them.’ 9. Peter and John distribute alms;
-a dead figure lies at the feet of the apostles, perhaps Ananias. The
-situation of the fresco is very dark, so that it is difficult to distinguish
-the action and expression of the figures. 10. Peter and Paul accused
-before Nero. 11. The crucifixion of Peter.</p>
-
-<p>In St. Peter’s at Rome, we have of course every scene from the life
-of the apostle which could well be expressed by Art; but none of
-these are of great merit or interest: most of them are from the schools
-of the seventeenth century.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p><span class="smcap">St. Paul</span>, though called to the apostleship after the ascension of the
-Saviour, takes rank next to St. Peter as one of the chief witnesses of
-the Christian faith. Of all the apostles he is the most interesting; the
-one of whose personal character and history we know most, and
-through the most direct and irrefragable testimony. The events of his
-life, as conveyed in the Acts and the Epistles, are so well known, that
-I need not here particularise them. The legends connected with him
-are very few.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The earliest single figure of St. Paul to which I can refer was found
-painted on the walls of the cemetery of Priscilla, near Rome.<a id="FNanchor_196" href="#Footnote_196" class="fnanchor">[196]</a> He
-stands, with outstretched arms, in the act of prayer; (in the early ages
-of Christianity the act of supplication was expressed in the classical
-manner, that is, not with folded hands, but with the arms extended;) he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</span>
-has the nimbus; his dress is that of a traveller, the tunic and pallium
-being short, and his feet sandalled, perhaps to indicate his many and
-celebrated travels; perhaps, also, it represents Paul praying for his
-flock before he departed from Macedon to return to Jerusalem (Acts
-xx.): over this ancient figure, which, though ill drawn, is quite classical
-in sentiment and costume, is inscribed <span class="allsmcap">PAULUS. PASTOR. APOSTOLOS</span>;
-on his right hand stands the Good Shepherd, in reference to the title
-of PASTOR, inscribed over his effigy. Another figure of St. Paul,
-which appears to be of later date, but anterior to the fifth century, was
-found in the catacombs at Naples: in this effigy he wears the dress of a
-Greek philosopher; the style in which the drapery is worn recalls the
-time of Hadrian: he has no nimbus, nor is the head bald; he has
-sandals on his feet: over his head is inscribed his name, <span class="smcap">Paulus</span>; near
-him is a smaller figure similarly draped, who offers him fruit and
-flowers in a vase; probably the personage who was entombed on the
-spot.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>At what period the sword was given to St. Paul as his distinctive
-attribute, is with antiquaries a disputed point; certainly, much later
-than the keys were given to Peter.<a id="FNanchor_197" href="#Footnote_197" class="fnanchor">[197]</a> If we could be sure that the
-mosaic on the tomb of Otho II., and another mosaic already described,
-had not been altered in successive restorations, these would be evidence
-that the sword was given to St. Paul as his attribute as early as the
-6th century; but there are no monuments which can be absolutely
-trusted as regards the introduction of the sword before the end of the
-11th century; since the end of the 14th century, it has been so generally
-adopted, that in the devotional effigies I can remember no instance
-in which it is omitted. When St. Paul is leaning on the sword, it
-expresses his martyrdom; when he holds it aloft, it expresses also his
-warfare in the cause of Christ: when two swords are given to him, one
-is the attribute, the other the emblem; but this double allusion does
-not occur in any of the older representations. In Italy I never met
-with St. Paul bearing two swords, and the only instance I can call to
-mind is the bronze statue by Peter Vischer, on the shrine of St. Sebald,
-at Nuremberg.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</span></p>
-
-<p>Although devotional representations of St. Paul separate from St.
-Peter and the other apostles occur very rarely, pictures from his life
-and actions are commonly met with; the principal events are so familiar,
-that they are easily recognised and discriminated even by the most
-unlearned in biblical illustration: considered and treated as a series,
-they form a most interesting and dramatic succession of scenes, often
-introduced into the old churches; but the incidents chosen are not
-always the same.</p>
-
-<p>Paul, before his conversion, was present at the stoning of Stephen,
-and he is generally introduced holding on his knees the garments of the
-executioners. In some ancient pictures, he has, even while looking on
-and ‘consenting to the death’ of the victim, the glory round his head,
-as one who, while ‘breathing out threatenings and slaughter against
-the disciples of the Lord,’ was already a chosen vessel to bear His
-name before the Gentiles.’ But in a set of pictures which relate expressly
-to St. Paul the martyrdom of Stephen is, with proper feeling,
-omitted, and the series generally begins with the <span class="smcap">Conversion of
-Paul</span>,—in his character of apostle, the first great event in his life. An
-incident so important, so celebrated, and in all its accessories so picturesque
-and dramatic, has of course been a frequent subject of artistic
-treatment, even as a separate composition. In some of the old mosaics,
-the story is very simply, and at the same time vividly, rendered. In
-the earliest examples, St. Paul has the nimbus or glory while yet unconverted;
-he is prostrate on the ground, grovelling on his hands and
-knees; rays of light fall upon him out of heaven, where the figure of
-Christ, half-length, is seen emerging from glory; sometimes it is a hand
-only, which is the emblem of the Almighty Power; two or four
-attendants at most are flying in terror. It is not said in Scripture that
-St. Paul journeyed on horseback from Jerusalem to Damascus; but the
-tradition is at least as old as the time of Pope Dalmasius (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 384),
-as it is then referred to. St. Augustine says he journeyed on foot,
-because the Pharisees made a point of religion to go on foot, and it is
-so represented in the old Greek mosaics. The expression, ‘It is hard
-for thee to kick against the pricks,’ has been oddly enough assigned as
-a reason for placing Paul on horseback;<a id="FNanchor_198" href="#Footnote_198" class="fnanchor">[198]</a> at all events, as he bore a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</span>
-military command, it has been thought proper in later times so to
-represent him, and also as surrounded by a numerous cortége of
-attendants. This treatment admits, of course, of endless variety, in
-the disposition and number of the figures, in the attitudes and expression;
-but the moment chosen is generally the same.</p>
-
-<p>1. The oldest example I can cite, next to the Greek mosaics, is an
-old Italian print mentioned by Zani. Paul, habited as a Roman
-warrior, kneels with his arms crossed on his breast, and holding a scroll,
-on which is inscribed in Latin, ‘Lord, what shall I do?’ Christ
-stands opposite to him, also holding a scroll, on which is written, ‘Saul,
-Saul, why persecutest thou me?’ There are no attendants. Zani
-does not give the date of this quaint and simple version of the story.</p>
-
-<p>2. Raphael. Paul, habited as a Roman soldier, is lying on the
-ground, as thrown from his horse; he looks upward to Christ, who
-appears in the clouds, attended by three child-angels: his attendants on
-foot and on horseback are represented as rushing to his assistance, unconscious
-of the vision, but panic struck by its effect on <i>him</i>: one
-attendant in the background seizes by the bridle the terrified horse.
-The original cartoon of this fine composition (one of the tapestries in
-the Vatican) is lost.</p>
-
-<p>3. Michael Angelo. Paul, a noble figure, though prostrate, appears
-to be struck motionless and senseless: Christ seems to be <i>rushing</i> down
-from heaven surrounded by a host of angels; those of the attendants
-who are near to Paul are flying in all directions, while a long train of
-soldiers is seen ascending from the background. This grand dramatic
-composition forms the pendant to the Crucifixion of Peter in the
-Cappella Paolina. It is so darkened by age and the smoke of tapers, and
-so ill lighted, that it is not easily made out; but there is a fine engraving,
-which may be consulted.</p>
-
-<p>4. Another very celebrated composition of this subject is that of
-Rubens.<a id="FNanchor_199" href="#Footnote_199" class="fnanchor">[199]</a> Paul, lying in the foreground, expresses in his attitude the
-most helpless and grovelling prostration. The attendants appear very
-literally frightened out of their senses; and the grey horse snorting
-and rearing behind is the finest part of the picture: as is usual with
-Rubens, the effects of physical fear and amazement are given with the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</span>
-utmost spirit and truth; but the scriptural dignity, the supernatural
-terrors, of the subject are ill expressed, and the apostle himself is
-degraded. To go a step lower, Cuyp has given us a Conversion of St.
-Paul apparently for the sole purpose of introducing horses in different
-attitudes: the favourite dapple-grey charger is seen bounding off in
-terror; no one looks at St. Paul, still less to Christ above—but the
-<i>horses</i> are admirable.</p>
-
-<p>5. In Albert Dürer’s print, a shower of <i>stones</i> is falling from heaven
-on St. Paul and his company.</p>
-
-<p>6. There is a very curious and unusual version of this subject in a
-rare print by Lucas van Leyden. It is a composition of numerous
-figures. St. Paul is seen, blind and bewildered, led between two men;
-another man leads his frightened charger; several warriors and horsemen
-follow, and the whole procession seems to be proceeding slowly to
-the right. In the far distance is represented the previous moment—Paul
-struck down and blinded by the celestial vision.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>‘Paul, after his conversion, restored to sight by Ananias,’ as a
-separate subject, seldom occurs; but it has been treated in the later
-schools by Vasari, by Cavallucci, and by P. Cortona.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>‘The Jews flagellate Paul and Silas.’ I know but one picture of
-this subject, that of Niccolò Poussin: the angry Jews are seen driving
-them forth with scourges; the Elders, who have condemned them, are
-seated in council behind: as we might expect from the character of
-Poussin, the dignity of the apostles is maintained,—but it is not one of
-his best pictures.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>‘Paul, after his conversion, escapes from Damascus;’ he is let
-down in a basket (Acts ix. 25): the incident forms, of course, one of
-the scenes in his life when exhibited in a series, but I remember no
-separate picture of this subject, and the situation is so ludicrous and so
-derogatory that we can understand how it came to be avoided.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>‘The ecstatic vision of St. Paul, in which he was caught up to the
-third heaven.’ (2 Cor. xii. 2.) Paul, who so frequently and familiarly
-speaks of angels, in describing this event makes no mention of them,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</span>
-but in pictures he is represented as borne upwards by angels. I find
-no early composition of this subject. The small picture of Domenichino
-is coldly conceived. Poussin has painted the ‘Ravissement de
-St. Paul’ twice; in the first, the apostle is borne upon the arms of
-four angels, and in the second he is sustained by three angels. In
-rendering this ecstatic vision, the angels, always allowable as machinery,
-have here a particular propriety; Paul is elevated only a few feet
-above the roof of his house, where lie his sword and book. Here the
-sword serves to distinguish the personage; and the roof of the house
-shows us that it is a vision, and not an apotheosis. Both pictures are
-in the Louvre.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>‘Paul preaching to the converts at Ephesus.’ In a beautiful
-Raffaelesque composition by Le Sueur, the incident of the magicians
-bringing their books of sorcery and burning them at the feet of the
-apostle is well introduced. It was long the custom to exhibit this
-picture solemnly in Notre Dame every year on the 1st of May. It is
-now in the Louvre.</p>
-
-<p>‘Paul before Felix,’ and ‘Paul before Agrippa.’ Neither of these
-subjects has ever been adequately treated. It is to me inconceivable
-that the old masters so completely overlooked the opportunity for grand
-characteristic delineation afforded by both these scenes, the latter especially.
-Perhaps, in estimating its capabilities, we are misled by the
-effect produced on the imagination by the splendid eloquence of the
-apostle; yet, were another Raphael to arise, I would suggest the
-subject as a pendant to the St. Paul at Athens.</p>
-
-<p>‘Paul performs miracles before the Emperor Nero;’ a blind man, a
-sick child, and a possessed woman are brought to him to be healed.
-This, though a legendary rather than a scriptural subject, has been
-treated by Le Sueur with scriptural dignity and simplicity.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>‘The martyrdom of St. Paul’ is sometimes a separate subject, but
-generally it is the pendant to the martyrdom of St. Peter. According
-to the received tradition, the two apostles suffered at the same time,
-but in different places; for St. Paul, being by birth a Roman citizen,
-escaped the ignominy of the public exposure in the Circus, as well as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</span>
-the prolonged torture of the cross. He was beheaded by the sword
-outside the Ostian gate, about two miles from Rome, at a place called
-the Aqua Salvias, now the ‘Tre Fontane.’ The legend of the death
-of St. Paul relates that a certain Roman matron named Plautilla, one
-of the converts of St. Peter, placed herself on the road by which St.
-Paul passed to his martyrdom, in order to behold him for the last time;
-and when she saw him, she wept greatly, and besought his blessing.
-The apostle then, seeing her faith, turned to her and begged that she
-would give him her veil to bind his eyes when he should be beheaded,
-promising to return it to her after his death. The attendants mocked at
-such a promise, but Plautilla, with a woman’s faith and charity, taking
-off her veil, presented it to him. After his martyrdom, St. Paul
-appeared to her, and restored the veil stained with his blood. It is also
-related, that when he was decapitated the severed head made three
-bounds upon the earth, and wherever it touched the ground a fountain
-sprang forth.</p>
-
-<p>In the most ancient representations of the martyrdom of St. Paul,
-the legend of Plautilla is seldom omitted. In the picture of Giotto
-preserved in the sacristy of St. Peter’s, Plautilla is seen on an eminence
-in the background, receiving the veil from the hand of Paul, who
-appears in the clouds above; the same representation, but little varied,
-is executed in bas-relief on the bronze doors of St. Peter’s. The three
-fountains gushing up beneath the severed head are also frequently
-represented as a literal fact, though a manifest and beautiful allegory,
-figurative of the fountains of Christian faith which should spring forth
-from his martyrdom.</p>
-
-<p>In all the melancholy vicinity of Rome, there is not a more melancholy
-spot than the ‘Tre Fontane.’ A splendid monastery, rich with
-the offerings of all Christendom, once existed there: the ravages of that
-mysterious scourge of the Campagna, the malaria, have rendered it a
-desert; three ancient churches and some ruins still exist, and a few
-pale monks wander about the swampy dismal confines of the hollow in
-which they stand. In winter you approach them through a quagmire;
-in summer, you dare not breathe in their pestilential vicinity; and yet
-there is a sort of dead beauty about the place, something hallowed as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</span>
-well as sad, which seizes on the fancy. In the church properly called
-‘San Paolo delle Tre Fontane,’ and which is so old that the date of
-the foundation is unknown, are three chapels with altars raised over as
-many wells or fountains; the altars are modern, and have each the
-head of St. Paul carved in relief. The water, which appeared to me
-exactly the same in all the three fountains, has a soft insipid taste,
-neither refreshing nor agreeable. The ancient frescoes have perished,
-and the modern ones are perishing. It is a melancholy spot.</p>
-
-<p>To return, however, to that event which has rendered it for ages
-consecrated and memorable. Among the many representations of the
-decollation of St. Paul which exist in sculpture and in painting, I have
-not met with one which could take a high place as a work of art, or
-which has done justice to the tragic capabilities of the subject.</p>
-
-<p>After his martyrdom the body of St. Paul was interred on a spot
-between the Ostian gate and the Aqua Salvias, and there arose the
-magnificent church known as San Paolo-<i>fuori-le-mura</i>. I saw this
-church a few months before it was consumed by fire in 1823; I saw it
-again in 1847, when the restoration was far advanced. Its cold magnificence,
-compared with the impressions left by the former structure,
-rich with inestimable remains of ancient art, and venerable from a
-thousand associations, saddened and chilled me.</p>
-
-<p>The mosaics in the old church, which represented the life and actions
-of St. Paul, were executed by the Greek mosaic masters of the eleventh
-century. They appear to have comprised the same subjects which still
-exist as a series in the church of Monreale near Palermo, and which I
-shall now describe.</p>
-
-<p>1. Saul is sent by the high-priest to Damascus. Two priests are
-seated on a raised throne in front of the Temple; Saul stands before
-them.</p>
-
-<p>2. The Conversion of Saul, as already described (p. 214).</p>
-
-<p>3. Saul, being blind, is led by his attendants to the gate of Damascus.</p>
-
-<p>4. Saul seated. Ananias enters and addresses him.</p>
-
-<p>5. Paul is baptized: he is standing, or rather sitting, in a font, which
-is a large vase, and not much larger in proportion than a punch-bowl.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</span></p>
-
-<p>6. St. Paul disputes with the Jews. His attitude is vehement and
-expressive: three Jewish doctors stand before him as if confounded and
-put to silence by his eloquent reasoning.</p>
-
-<p>7. St. Paul escapes from Damascus; the basket, in which he is
-lowered down from a parapet, is about the size of a hand-basket.</p>
-
-<p>8. St. Paul delivers a scroll to Timothy and Silas; he consigns to
-their direction the deacons that were ordained by the apostles and
-elders. (Acts xvi. 4.)</p>
-
-<p>9. St. Paul and St. Peter meet at Rome, and embrace with brotherly
-affection. I believe this subject to represent the reconciliation of the
-two apostles after the dispute at Antioch. The inscription is, <i lang="la">Hic
-Paulus venit Romam et pacem fecit cum Petro</i>. (In the Christian
-Museum in the Vatican there is a most beautiful small Greek picture
-in which Peter and Paul are embracing; it may represent the reconciliation
-or the parting: the heads, though minute, are extremely
-characteristic.)</p>
-
-<p>10. The decollation of St. Paul at the Aqua Salvias; one fountain
-only is introduced.</p>
-
-<p>This is the earliest instance I can quote of the dramatic treatment
-of the life and actions of St. Paul in a series of subjects. The Greek
-type of the head of St. Paul is retained throughout, strongly individualised,
-and he appears as a man of about thirty-five or forty. In
-the later schools of art, which afford some celebrated examples of the
-life of St. Paul treated as a series, the Greek type has been abandoned.</p>
-
-<p>The series by Raphael, executed for the tapestries of the Sistine
-Chapel in the Vatican, consists of five large and seven small compositions.</p>
-
-<p>1. The conversion of Saul, already described: the cartoon is lost.
-2. Elymas the sorcerer struck blind: wonderful for dramatic power.
-3. St. Paul and Barnabas at Lystra. 4. Paul preaches at Athens. Of
-these three magnificent compositions we have the cartoons at Hampton
-Court. 5. St. Paul in prison at Philippi. The earthquake through
-which he was liberated is here represented allegorically as a Titan in
-the lower corner of the picture, with shoulders and arms heaving up
-the earth. This, which strikes us as rather pagan in conception, has,
-however, a parallel in the earliest Christian Art, where, in the baptism<span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</span>
-of Christ, the Jordan is sometimes represented by a classical river-god,
-sedge-crowned, and leaning on his urn.</p>
-
-<p>The seven small subjects, which in the set of tapestries run underneath
-as borders to the large compositions, are thus arranged:—</p>
-
-<p>1. ‘As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every
-house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.’ (Acts
-viii. 3.) At one end of a long narrow composition Saul is seated in the
-dress of a Roman warrior, and attended by a lictor; they bring before
-him a Christian youth; farther on are seen soldiers ‘haling men and
-women’ by the hair; others flee in terror. This was erroneously
-supposed to represent the massacre at Prato, in 1512, by the adherents
-of the Medici, and is so inscribed in the set of engravings by Bartoli
-and Landon.</p>
-
-<p>2. John and Mark taking leave of the brethren at Perga in Pamphylia.
-(Acts xiii. 3.)</p>
-
-<p>3. Paul, teaching in the synagogue at Antioch, confounds the Jews.
-(Acts xviii. 3.)</p>
-
-<p>4. Paul at Corinth engaged in tent-making with his host. This is
-an uncommon subject, but I remember another instance in a curious
-old German print, where, in the lower part of the composition, the
-apostle is teaching or preaching; and above there is a kind of gallery or
-balcony, in which he is seen working at a loom: ‘You yourselves
-know that these hands have ministered to my necessities, labouring
-night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto you.’
-(Acts xviii. 6.)</p>
-
-<p>5. Being at Corinth, he is mocked by the Jews. (Acts viii. 12.)</p>
-
-<p>6. He lays his hand on the Christian converts.</p>
-
-<p>7. He is brought before the judgment-seat of Gallio.<a id="FNanchor_200" href="#Footnote_200" class="fnanchor">[200]</a></p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>‘Paul, in the island of Melita, shaking the viper from his hand,’ is not
-a common subject, and yet it is capable of the finest picturesque and
-dramatic effects: the storm and shipwreck in the background, the angry
-heavens above, the red firelight, the group of astonished mariners, and,
-pre-eminent among them, the calm intellectual figure of the apostle<span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</span>
-shaking the venomous beast from his hand,—these are surely beautiful
-and available materials for a scenic picture. Even if treated as an
-allegory in a devotional sense, a single majestic figure, throwing the
-evil thing innocuous from him, which I have not yet seen, it would be
-an excellent and a significant subject. The little picture by Elzheimer
-is the best example I can cite of the picturesque treatment. That of
-Le Sueur has much dignity; those of Perino del Vaga, Thornhill,
-West, are all commonplace.</p>
-
-<p>Thornhill, as everybody knows, painted the eight principal scenes of
-the life of the apostle in the cupola of St. Paul’s.<a id="FNanchor_201" href="#Footnote_201" class="fnanchor">[201]</a> Few people, I
-should think, have strained their necks to examine them; the eight
-original studies, small sketches <i>en grisaille</i>, are preserved in the vestry,
-and display that heartless, mindless, mannered mediocrity, which makes
-all criticism foolishness; I shall, however, give a list of the subjects.</p>
-
-<p>1. Paul and Barnabas at Lystra. 2. Paul preaching at Athens.
-3. Elymas struck blind. 4. The converts burn their magical books.
-5. Paul before Festus. 6. A woman seated at his feet; I presume the
-Conversion of Lydia of Thyatira. 7. Paul let down in a basket. 8.
-He shakes the viper from his hand.</p>
-
-<p>At the time that Thornhill was covering the cupola at ‘the rate of
-2<i>l.</i> the square yard,’ Hogarth, his son-in-law, would also try his hand.
-He painted ‘St. Paul pleading before Felix’ for Lincoln’s. Inn Hall;
-where the subject, at least, is appropriate. The picture itself is
-curiously characteristic, not of the scene or of the chief personage, but of
-the painter. St. Paul loaded with chains, and his accuser Tertullus,
-stand in front; and Felix, with his wife Drusilla, are seated on a raised
-tribunal in the background; near Felix is the high-priest Ananias.
-The composition is good. The heads are full of vivid expression—wrath,
-terror, doubt, fixed attention; but the conception of character
-most ignoble and commonplace. Hogarth was more at home when he
-took the same subject as a vehicle for a witty caricature of the Dutch
-manner of treating sacred subjects—their ludicrous anachronisms and
-mean incidents. St. Paul, in allusion to his low stature, is mounted on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</span>
-a stool; an angel is sawing through one leg of it; Tertullus is a barrister,
-in wig, band, and gown; the judge is like an old doting justice
-of peace, and his attendants like old beggars.</p>
-
-<p>In the Florentine Gallery there is a very curious series of the lives
-of St. Peter and St. Paul in eight pictures, in the genuine old German
-style; fanciful, animated, full of natural and dramatic expression, and
-exquisitely finished,—but dry, hard, grotesque, and abounding in
-anachronisms.<a id="FNanchor_202" href="#Footnote_202" class="fnanchor">[202]</a></p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Among the few separate historical subjects in which St. Peter and
-St. Paul are represented together, the most important is the dispute at
-Antioch,—a subject avoided by the earliest painters. St. Paul says,
-‘When Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face,
-because he was to be blamed.’ Guido’s picture in the <i>Brera</i> at <i>Milan</i>
-is celebrated: Peter is seated, looking thoughtful, with downcast eyes,
-an open book on his knees; Paul, in an attitude of rebuke, stands over
-against him. There is another example by Rosso: here both are
-standing; Peter is looking down; Paul, with long hair and beard
-floating back, and a keen reproving expression, ‘rebukes him to his
-face.’ I presume the same subject to be represented by Lucas van
-Leyden in a rare and beautiful little print, in which St. Peter and St.
-Paul are seated together in earnest conversation. St. Peter holds a <i>key</i>
-in his right hand, and points with the other to a book which lies on his
-knees. St. Paul is about to turn the leaf, and his right hand appears to
-rebuke St. Peter; his left foot is on the <i>sword</i> which lies at his feet.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>‘The Parting of St. Peter and St. Paul before they are led to
-death.’ The scene is without the gates of Rome; and as the soldiers
-drag Peter away, he turns back to Paul with a pathetic expression.
-This picture, now in the Louvre, is one of Lanfranco’s best compositions.<a id="FNanchor_203" href="#Footnote_203" class="fnanchor">[203]</a></p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</span></p>
-
-<p>When the crucifixion of St. Peter and the decollation of St. Paul are
-represented together in the same picture, such a picture must be
-considered as religious and devotional, not historical; it does not
-express the action as it really occurred, but, like many pictures of the
-crucifixion of our Saviour, it is placed before us as an excitement to
-piety, self-sacrifice, and repentance. We have this kind of treatment
-in a picture by Niccolò dell’ Abate:<a id="FNanchor_204" href="#Footnote_204" class="fnanchor">[204]</a> St. Paul kneels before a block,
-and the headsman stands with sword uplifted in act to strike; in the
-background, two other executioners grasp St. Peter, who is kneeling on
-his cross and praying fervently: above, in a glory, is seen the Virgin;
-in her arms the Infant Christ, who delivers to two angels palm-branches
-for the martyred saints. The genius of Niccolò was not precisely
-fitted for this class of subjects. But the composition is full of poetical
-feeling. The introduction of the Madonna and Child stamps the
-character of the picture as devotional, not historical—it would otherwise
-be repulsive, and out of keeping with the subject.</p>
-
-<p>There is a Martyrdom of St. Peter and St. Paul engraved after
-Parmigiano,<a id="FNanchor_205" href="#Footnote_205" class="fnanchor">[205]</a> which I shall notice on account of its careless and
-erroneous treatment. They are put to death together; an executioner
-prepares to decapitate St. Peter, and another drags St. Paul by the
-beard: the incidents are historically false, and, moreover, in a degraded
-and secular taste. These are the mistakes that make us turn disgusted
-from the technical facility, elegance, and power of the sixteenth century,
-to the simplicity and reverential truth of the fourteenth.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>There are various traditions concerning the relics of St. Peter and
-St. Paul. According to some, the bodies of the two apostles were, in
-the reign of Heliogabalus, deposited by the Christian converts in the
-catacombs of Rome, and were laid in the same sepulchre. After the
-lapse of about two hundred years, the Greek or Oriental Christians
-attempted to carry them off; but were opposed by the Roman Christians.
-The Romans conquered; and the two bodies were transported
-to the church of the Vatican, where they reposed together in a magnificent
-shrine, beneath the church. Among the engravings in the work
-of Ciampini and Bosio are two rude old pictures commemorating this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</span>
-event. The first represents the combat of the Orientals and the Romans
-for the bodies of the Saints; in the other, the bodies are deposited in
-the Vatican. In these two ancient representations, which were placed
-in the portico of the old basilica of St. Peter, the traditional types may
-be recognised—the broad full features, short curled beard, and bald
-head of St. Peter, and the oval face and long beard of St. Paul.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Here I must conclude this summary of the lives and characters of the
-two greatest apostles, as they have been exhibited in Christian Art; to
-do justice to the theme would have required a separate volume. One
-observation, however, suggests itself, and cannot be passed over. The
-usual type of the head of St. Peter, though often ill rendered and
-degraded by coarseness, can in general be recognised as characteristic;
-but is there among the thousand representations of the apostle Paul,
-<i>one</i> on which the imagination can rest completely satisfied? I know
-not one. No doubt the sublimest ideal of embodied eloquence that
-ever was expressed in Art is Raphael’s St. Paul preaching at Athens.
-He stands there the delegated voice of the true God, the antagonist
-and conqueror of the whole heathen world:—‘Whom ye ignorantly
-worship, <span class="smcap">Him</span> declare I unto you’—is not this what he says? Every
-feature, nay, every fold in his drapery, speaks; as in the other St. Paul
-leaning on his sword (in the famous St. Cecilia), every feature and
-every fold of drapery meditates. The latter is as fine in its tranquil
-melancholy grandeur, as the former in its authoritative energy: in the
-one the orator, in the other the philosopher, were never more finely
-rendered: but is it, in either, the Paul of Tarsus whom we know? It
-were certainly both unnecessary and pedantic to adhere so closely to
-historic fact as to make St. Paul of diminutive stature, and St. Peter
-weak-eyed: but has Raphael done well in wholly rejecting the traditional
-portrait which reflected to us the Paul of Scripture, the man of
-many toils and many sorrows, wasted with vigils, worn down with
-travel, whose high bald forehead, thin flowing hair, and long pointed
-beard, spoke so plainly the fervent and indomitable, yet meditative and
-delicate, organisation,—and in substituting this Jupiter Ammon head,
-with the dark redundant hair, almost hiding the brow, and the full
-bushy beard? This is one of the instances in which Raphael, in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</span>
-yielding to the fashion of his time, has erred, as it seems to me,—though
-I say it with all reverence! The St. Paul rending his garments
-at Lystra, and rejecting the sacrifice of the misguided people, is more
-particularly false as to the character of the man, though otherwise so
-grandly expressive, that we are obliged to admire what our better
-sense—our <i>conscience</i>—cannot wholly approve.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>I shall now consider the rest of the apostles in their proper order.</p>
-
-
-<h3 id="St_Andrew"><span class="smcap">St. Andrew.</span></h3>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p><i>Lat.</i> S. Andreas. <i>Ital.</i> Sant’ Andrea. <i>Fr.</i> St. André. Patron saint of Scotland and of
-Russia. Nov. 30 <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 70.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>St. Andrew was the brother of Simon Peter, and the first who was
-called to the apostleship. Nothing farther is recorded of him in Scripture:
-he is afterwards merely included by name in the general account
-of the apostles.</p>
-
-<p>In the traditional and legendary history of St. Andrew we are told,
-that after our Lord’s ascension, when the apostles dispersed to preach
-the Gospel to all nations, St. Andrew travelled into Scythia, Cappadocia,
-and Bithynia, everywhere converting multitudes to the faith.
-The Russians believe that he was the first to preach to the Muscovites
-in Sarmatia, and thence he has been honoured as titular saint of the
-empire of Russia. After many sufferings, he returned to Jerusalem,
-and thence travelled into Greece, and came at length to a city of
-Achaia, called Patras. Here he made many converts; among others,
-Maximilla, the wife of the proconsul Ægeus, whom he persuaded to
-make a public profession of Christianity. The proconsul, enraged,
-commanded him to be seized and scourged, and then crucified. The
-cross on which he suffered was of a peculiar form (<i>crux decussata</i>), since
-called the St. Andrew’s cross; and it is expressly said that he was not
-fastened to his cross with nails, but with cords,—a circumstance always
-attended to in the representations of his death. It is, however, to be
-remembered, that while all authorities agree that he was crucified, and
-that the manner of his crucifixion was peculiar, they are not agreed as
-to the form of his cross. St. Peter Chrysologos says that it was a tree:
-another author affirms that it was an olive tree. The Abbé Méry<span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</span>
-remarks, that it is a mistake to give the transverse cross to St. Andrew;
-that it ought not to differ from the cross of our Lord. His reasons are
-not absolutely conclusive:—‘Il suffit pour montrer qu’ils sont là-dessus
-dans l’erreur, de voir <i>la croix véritable</i> de St. André, conservée
-dans l’Église de St. Victor de Marseille; on trouvera qu’elle est à
-angles droits,’ &amp;c.<a id="FNanchor_206" href="#Footnote_206" class="fnanchor">[206]</a> Seeing is believing; nevertheless, the form is
-fixed by tradition and usage, and ought not to be departed from,
-though Michael Angelo has done so in the figure of St. Andrew in the
-Last Judgment, and there are several examples in the Italian masters.<a id="FNanchor_207" href="#Footnote_207" class="fnanchor">[207]</a>
-The legend goes on to relate, that St. Andrew, on approaching the
-cross prepared for his execution, saluted and adored it on his knees, as
-being already consecrated by the sufferings of the Redeemer, and met
-his death triumphantly. Certain of his relics were brought from Patras
-to Scotland in the fourth century, and since that time St. Andrew has
-been honoured as the patron saint of Scotland, and of its chief order of
-knighthood. He is also the patron saint of the
-famous Burgundian Order, the Golden Fleece; and
-of Russia and its chief Order, the Cross of St.
-Andrew.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Since the fourteenth century, St. Andrew is
-generally distinguished in works of art by the transverse
-cross; the devotional pictures in which he
-figures as one of the series of apostles, or singly as
-patron saint, represent him as a very old man with
-some kind of brotherly resemblance to St. Peter;
-his hair and beard silver white, long, loose, and
-flowing, and in general the beard is divided; he
-leans upon his cross, and holds the Gospel in his
-right hand.</p>
-
-<div class="figright illowp30" id="i_227" style="max-width: 18.75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_227.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c74"></a>74  St. Andrew (Peter Vischer)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The historical subjects from the life of St. Andrew,
-treated separately from the rest of the apostles,
-are very few; his crucifixion is the only one that I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</span>
-have found treated before the fifteenth century. On the ancient doors
-of San Paolo, the instrument of his martyrdom has the shape of a Y,
-and resembles a tree split down the middle. The cross in some later
-pictures is very lofty, and resembles the rough branches of a tree laid
-transversely.</p>
-
-<p>I know but two other subjects relating to the life of St. Andrew
-which have been separately treated in the later schools of art—the
-Adoration of the Cross, and the Flagellation.</p>
-
-<p>‘St. Andrew adoring his cross,’ by Andrea Sacchi, is remarkable
-for its simplicity and fine expression; it contains only three figures.
-St Andrew, half undraped, and with his silver hair and beard floating
-dishevelled, kneels, gazing up to the cross with ecstatic devotion; he is
-addressing to it his famous invocation:—‘Salve, Croce preziosa! che
-fosti consecrata dal corpo del mio Dio!’—an executioner stands by,
-and a fierce soldier, impatient of delay, urges him on to death.<a id="FNanchor_208" href="#Footnote_208" class="fnanchor">[208]</a></p>
-
-<p>‘St. Andrew taken down from the cross’ is a fine effective picture
-by Ribera.<a id="FNanchor_209" href="#Footnote_209" class="fnanchor">[209]</a></p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>When Guido and Domenichino painted, in emulation of each other,
-the frescoes in the chapel of Sant’ Andrea in the church of San
-Gregorio, at Rome, Guido chose for his subject the Adoration of the
-Cross. The scene is supposed to be outside the walls of Patras in
-Achaia; the cross is at a distance in the background; St. Andrew, as
-he approaches, falls down in adoration before the instrument of his
-martyrdom, consecrated by the death of his Lord; he is attended by
-one soldier on horseback, one on foot, and three executioners; a group
-of women and alarmed children in the foreground are admirable for
-grace and feeling—they are, in fact, the best part of the picture. On
-the opposite wall of the chapel Domenichino painted the Flagellation of
-St. Andrew, a subject most difficult to treat effectively, and retain at
-the same time the dignity of the suffering apostle, while avoiding all
-resemblance to a similar scene in the life of Christ. Here he is bound
-down on a sort of table; one man lifts a rod, another seems to taunt
-the prostrate saint; a lictor drives back the people. The group of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</span>
-mother and frightened children, which Domenichino so often introduces
-with little variation, is here very beautiful; the judge and lictors are
-seen behind, with a temple and a city in the distance. When Domenichino
-painted the same subject in the church of Sant’ Andrea-della-Valle,
-he chose another moment, and administered the torture after a
-different manner: the apostle is bound by his hands and feet to four
-short posts set firmly in the ground; one of the executioners in tightening
-a cord breaks it and falls back; three men prepare to scourge him
-with <i>thongs</i>: in the foreground we have the usual group of the mother
-and her frightened children. This is a composition full of dramatic life
-and movement, but unpleasing. Domenichino painted in the same
-church the crucifixion of the saint, and his apotheosis surmounts the
-whole.</p>
-
-<p>All these compositions are of great celebrity in the history of Art for
-colour and for expression. Lanzi says, that the personages, ‘if endued
-with speech, could not say more to the ear than they do to the eye.’
-But, in power and pathos, none of them equal the picture of Murillo,
-of which we have the original study in England.<a id="FNanchor_210" href="#Footnote_210" class="fnanchor">[210]</a> St. Andrew is suspended
-on the high cross, formed, not of planks, but of the trunks of
-trees laid transversely. He is bound with cords, undraped, except by a
-linen cloth; his silver hair and beard loosely streaming in the air; his
-aged countenance illuminated by a heavenly transport, as he looks up to
-the opening skies, whence two angels of really celestial beauty, like
-almost all Murillo’s angels, descend with the crown and palm. In front,
-to the right, is a group of shrinking sympathising women; and a boy
-turns away, crying with a truly boyish grief; on the left are guards
-and soldiers. The subject is here rendered poetical by mere force of
-feeling; there is a tragic reality in the whole scene, far more effective,
-to my taste, than the more studied compositions of the Italian painters.
-The martyrdom of St. Andrew, and the saint preaching the Gospel, by
-Juan de Roelas, are also mentioned as splendid productions of the
-Seville school.</p>
-
-<p>I think it possible that St. Andrew may owe his popularity in the
-Spanish and Flemish schools of art to his being the patron saint of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</span>
-far-famed Burgundian Order of the Golden Fleece. At the time that
-Constantinople was taken, and the relics of St. Andrew dispersed in
-consequence, a lively enthusiasm for this apostle was excited throughout
-all Christendom. He had been previously honoured chiefly as the
-brother of St. Peter; he obtained thenceforth a kind of personal interest
-and consideration. Philip of Burgundy (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1433), who had obtained
-at great cost a portion of the precious relics, consisting chiefly of some
-pieces of his cross, placed under the protection of the apostle his new
-order of chivalry, which, according to the preamble, was intended to
-revive the honour and the memory of the Argonauts. His knights
-wore as their badge the cross of St. Andrew.</p>
-
-
-<h3 id="St_James_the_Great"><span class="smcap">St. James the Great.</span></h3>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p><i>Lat.</i> Sanctus Jacobus Major. <i>Ital.</i> San Giacomo, or Jacopo, Maggiore. <i>Fr.</i> St. Jacques
-Majeur. <i>Spa.</i> San Jago, or Santiago. El Tutelar. Patron saint of Spain. July 25.
-<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 44.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>St. James the Great, or the Elder, or St. James <i>Major</i>, was nearly
-related to Christ, and, with his brother John (the evangelist) and Peter,
-he seems to have been admitted to particular favour, travelled with the
-Lord, and was present at most of the events recorded in the Gospels.
-He was one of the three who were permitted to witness the glorification
-of Christ on Mount Tabor, and one of those who slept during the
-agony in the garden. After our Saviour’s ascension, nothing is recorded
-concerning him, except the fact that Herod slew him with the
-sword. In the ancient traditions he is described as being of a zealous
-and affectionate temper, easily excited to anger: of this we have a
-particular instance in his imprecation against the inhospitable Samaritans,
-for which Christ rebuked him: ‘Ye know not what manner of
-spirit ye are of. The Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives,
-but to save them.’ (Luke, ix. 55.)</p>
-
-<p>As Scripture makes no farther mention of one so distinguished by
-his zeal and by his near relationship to the Saviour, the legends of the
-middle ages have supplied this deficiency; and so amply, that St. James,
-as St. Jago or <span class="smcap">Santiago</span>, the military patron of Spain, became one of
-the most renowned saints in Christendom, and one of the most popular<span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</span>
-subjects of Western Art. Many of these subjects are so singular, that,
-in order to render them intelligible, I must give the legend at full
-length as it was followed by the artists of the fourteenth and fifteenth
-centuries.</p>
-
-<p>According to the Spanish legend, the apostle James was the son of
-Zebedee, an illustrious baron of Galilee, who, being the proprietor of
-ships, was accustomed to fish along the shores of a certain lake called
-Gennesareth, but solely for his good pleasure and recreation: for who
-can suppose that Spain, that nation of Hidalgos and Caballeros, would
-ever have chosen for her patron, or accepted as the leader and captain-general
-of her armies, a poor ignoble fisherman? It remains, therefore,
-indisputable, that this glorious apostle, who was our Lord’s cousin-german,
-was of noble lineage, and worthy of his spurs as a knight and
-a gentleman;—so in Dante:—</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza"><div lang="it">
-    <div class="verse indent14">Ecco <i>il Barone</i></div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Per cui laggiù si visita Galizia.‘</div>
-  </div></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>But it pleased him, in his great humility, to follow, while on earth, the
-example of his divine Lord, and reserve his warlike prowess till called
-upon to slaughter, by thousands and tens of thousands, those wicked
-Moors, the perpetual enemies of Christ and his servants. Now, as
-James and his brother John were one day in their father’s ship with his
-hired servants, and were employed in mending the nets, the Lord, who
-was walking on the shores of the lake, called them; and they left all
-and followed him; and became thenceforward his most favoured disciples,
-and the witnesses of his miracles while on earth. After the
-ascension of Christ, James preached the Gospel in Judea; then he
-travelled over the whole world, and came at last to Spain, where he
-made very few converts, by reason of the ignorance and darkness of the
-people. One day, as he stood with his disciples on the banks of the
-Ebro, the blessed Virgin appeared to him seated on the top of a pillar
-of jasper, and surrounded by a choir of angels; and the apostle having
-thrown himself on his face, she commanded him to build on that spot a
-chapel for her worship, assuring him that all this province of Saragossa,
-though now in the darkness of paganism, would at a future time be
-distinguished by devotion to her. He did as the holy Virgin had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</span>
-commanded, and this was the origin of a famous church afterwards
-known as that of Our Lady of the Pillar (’<i>Nuestra Señora del Pillar</i>‘).
-Then St. James, having founded the Christian faith in Spain, returned
-to Judea, where he preached for many years, and performed many
-wonders and miracles in the sight of the people: and it happened that
-a certain sorcerer, whose name was Hermogenes,<a id="FNanchor_211" href="#Footnote_211" class="fnanchor">[211]</a> set himself against
-the apostle, just as Simon Magus had wickedly and vainly opposed
-St. Peter, and with the like result. Hermogenes sent his scholar
-Philetus to dispute with James, and to compete with him in wondrous
-works; but, as you will easily believe, he had no chance against the
-apostle, and, confessing himself vanquished, he returned to his master,
-to whom he announced his intention to follow henceforth James and
-his doctrine. Then Hermogenes, in a rage, bound Philetus by his
-diabolical spells, so that he could not move hand or foot; saying, ‘Let
-us now see if thy new master can deliver thee:’ and Philetus sent his
-servant to St. James, praying for aid. Then the apostle took off his
-cloak, and gave it to the servant to give his master; and no sooner had
-Philetus touched it, than he became free, and hastened to throw himself
-at the feet of his deliverer. Hermogenes, more furious than ever,
-called to the demons who served him, and commanded that they should
-bring to him James and Philetus, bound in fetters; but on their way
-the demons met with a company of angels, who seized upon them, and
-punished them for their wicked intentions, till they cried for mercy.
-Then St. James said to them, ‘Go back to him who sent ye, and bring
-him hither bound.’ And they did so; and having laid the sorcerer
-down at the feet of St. James, they besought him, saying, ‘Now give
-us power to be avenged of our enemy and thine!’ But St. James
-rebuked them, saying, ‘Christ hath commanded us to do good for evil.’
-So he delivered Hermogenes from their hands; and the magician, being
-utterly confounded, cast his books into the sea, and desired of St. James
-that he would protect him against the demons, his former servants.
-Then St. James gave him his staff, as the most effectual means of
-defence against the infernal spirits; and Hermogenes became a faithful
-disciple and preacher of the word from that day.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</span></p>
-
-<p>But the evil-minded Jews, being more and more incensed, took
-James and bound him, and brought him before the tribunal of Herod
-Agrippa; and one of those who dragged him along, touched by the
-gentleness of his demeanour, and by his miracles of mercy, was converted,
-and supplicated to die with him; and the apostle gave him the
-kiss of peace, saying, ‘Pax vobis!’ and the kiss and the words together
-have remained as a form of benediction in the Church to this day.
-Then they were both beheaded, and so died.</p>
-
-<p>And the disciples of St. James came and took away his body; and,
-not daring to bury it, for fear of the Jews, they carried it to Joppa,
-and placed it on board of a ship: some say that the ship was of marble,
-but this is not authenticated; however, it is most certain that angels
-conducted the ship miraculously to the coast of Spain, where they
-arrived in seven days; and, sailing through the straits called the Pillars
-of Hercules, they landed at length in Galicia, at a port called Iria
-Flavia, now Padron.</p>
-
-<p>In those days there reigned over the country a certain queen whose
-name was Lupa, and she and all her people were plunged in wickedness
-and idolatry. Now, having come to shore, they laid the body of the
-apostle upon a great stone, which became like wax, and, receiving the
-body, closed around it: this was a sign that the saint willed to remain
-there; but the wicked queen Lupa was displeased, and she commanded
-that they should harness some wild bulls to a car, and place on it the
-body, with the self-formed tomb, hoping that they would drag it to
-destruction. But in this she was mistaken; for the wild bulls, when
-signed by the cross, became as docile as sheep, and they drew the body
-of the apostle straight into the court of her palace. When Queen
-Lupa beheld this miracle, she was confounded, and she and all her
-people became Christians: she built a magnificent church to receive
-the sacred remains, and died in the odour of sanctity.</p>
-
-<p>But then came the darkness and ruin which during the invasion of
-the Barbarians overshadowed all Spain; and the body of the apostle
-was lost, and no one knew where to find it, till, in the year 800, the
-place of sepulture was revealed to a certain holy friar.</p>
-
-<p>Then they caused the body of the saint to be transported to Compostella;
-and, in consequence of the surprising miracles which graced<span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</span>
-his shrine, he was honoured not merely in Galicia, but throughout all
-Spain. He became the patron saint of the Spaniards, and Compostella,
-as a place of pilgrimage, was renowned throughout Europe. From all
-countries bands of pilgrims resorted there, so that sometimes there were
-no less than a hundred thousand in one year. The military Order of
-Saint Jago, enrolled by Don Alphonso for their protection, became one
-of the greatest and richest in Spain.</p>
-
-<p>Now, if I should proceed to recount all the wonderful deeds enacted
-by Santiago in behalf of his chosen people, they would fill a volume.
-The Spanish historians number thirty-eight visible apparitions, in which
-this glorious saint descended from heaven in person, and took the
-command of their armies against the Moors. The first of these, and the
-most famous of all, I shall now relate.</p>
-
-<p>In the year of our Lord 939, King Ramirez, having vowed to deliver
-Castile from the shameful tribute imposed by the Moors, of one hundred
-virgins delivered annually, collected his troops, and defied their king
-Abdelraman, to battle:</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent0">The king call’d God to witness, that, came there weal or woe,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Thenceforth no maiden tribute from out Castile should go.—</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">‘At least I will do battle on God our Saviour’s foe,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">And die beneath my banner before I see it so!’</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Accordingly he charged the Moorish host on the plain of Alveida or
-Clavijo: after a furious conflict, the Christians were, by the permission
-of Heaven, defeated, and forced to retire. Night separated the combatants,
-and King Ramirez, overpowered with fatigue, and sad at heart,
-flung himself upon his couch and slept. In his sleep he beheld the
-apostle St. Jago, who promised to be with him next morning in the
-field, and assured him of victory. The king, waking up from the
-glorious vision, sent for his prelates and officers, to whom he related it;
-and the next morning, at the head of his army, he recounted it to his
-soldiers, bidding them rely on heavenly aid. He then ordered the
-trumpets to sound to battle. The soldiers, inspired with fresh courage,
-rushed to the fight. Suddenly St. Jago was seen mounted on a milk-white
-charger, and waving aloft a white standard; he led on the
-Christians, who gained a decisive victory, leaving 60,000 Moors dead<span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</span>
-on the field. This was the famous battle of Clavijo; and ever since
-that day, ‘<span class="smcap">Santiago</span>!’ has been the war-cry of the Spanish armies.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>But it was not only on such great occasions that the invincible patron
-of Spain was pleased to exhibit his power: he condescended oftentimes
-to interfere for the protection of the poor and oppressed, of which I
-will now give a notable instance, as it is related by Pope Calixtus II.</p>
-
-<p>There was a certain German, who with his wife and son went on a
-pilgrimage to St. James of Compostella. Having come as far as
-Torlosa, they lodged at an inn there; and the host had a fair daughter,
-who, looking on the son of the pilgrim, a handsome and a graceful
-youth, became deeply enamoured; but he, being virtuous, and, moreover,
-on his way to a holy shrine, refused to listen to her allurements.
-Then she thought how she might be avenged for this slight put upon
-her charms, and hid in his wallet her father’s silver drinking-cup. The
-next morning, no sooner were they departed, than the host, discovering
-his loss, pursued them, accused them before the judge, and the cup
-being found in the young man’s wallet, he was condemned to be hung,
-and all they possessed was confiscated to the host.</p>
-
-<p>Then the afflicted parents pursued their way lamenting, and made
-their prayer and their complaint before the altar of the blessed Saint
-Jago; and thirty-six days afterwards as they returned by the spot
-where their son hung on the gibbet, they stood beneath it, weeping and
-lamenting bitterly. Then the son spoke and said, ‘O my mother! O
-my father! do not lament for me, for I have never been in better
-cheer; the blessed apostle James is at my side, sustaining me and filling
-me with celestial comfort and joy!’ The parents, being astonished,
-hastened to the judge, who at that moment was seated at table, and the
-mother called out, ‘Our son lives!’ The judge mocked at them:
-‘What sayest thou, good woman? thou art beside thyself! If thy son
-liveth, so do those fowls in my dish.’ And lo! scarcely had he uttered
-the words, when the fowls (being a cock and a hen) rose up full-feathered
-in the dish, and the cock began to crow, to the great admiration
-of the judge and his attendants.<a id="FNanchor_212" href="#Footnote_212" class="fnanchor">[212]</a> Then the judge rose up from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</span>
-table hastily, and called together the priests and the lawyers, and they
-went in procession to the gibbet, took down the young man, and restored
-him to his parents; and the miraculous cock and hen were placed
-under the protection of the Church, where
-they and their posterity long flourished
-in testimony of this stupendous miracle.</p>
-
-<div class="figleft illowp30" id="i_236" style="max-width: 25em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_236.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c75"></a>75  St. James Major (Gio. Santi)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>There are many other legends of St.
-James; the Spanish chroniclers in prose
-and verse abound in such; but, in general,
-they are not merely incredible, but puerile
-and unpoetical; and I have here confined
-myself to those which I know to have
-been treated in Art.</p>
-
-<p>Previous to the twelfth century, St.
-James is only distinguished among the
-apostles by his place, which is the fourth
-in the series, the second after St. Peter
-and St. Paul. In some instances he is
-portrayed with a family resemblance to
-Christ, being his kinsman; the thin beard,
-and the hair parted and flowing down on
-each side. But from the thirteenth century
-it became a fashion to characterise
-St. James as a pilgrim of Compostella:
-he bears the peculiar long staff, to which
-the wallet or gourd of water is suspended;
-the cloak with a long cape, the scallop-shell
-on his shoulder or on his flapped hat.
-Where the cape, hat, and scallop-shells
-are omitted, the staff, borne as the first of
-the apostles who departed to fulfil his Gospel mission, remains his constant
-attribute, and by this he may be recognised in the Madonna
-pictures, and when grouped with other saints.</p>
-
-<p>The single devotional figures of St. James represent him in two distinct
-characters:—</p>
-
-<p>1. As tutelar saint of Spain, and conqueror of the Moors. In his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</span>
-pilgrim habit, mounted on a white charger, and waving a white banner,
-with white hair and beard streaming like a meteor, or sometimes armed
-in complete steel, spurred like a knight, his casque shadowed by white
-plumes, he tramples over the prostrate Infidels; so completely was
-the humble, gentle-spirited apostle of Christ merged in the spirit of the
-religious chivalry of the time. This is a subject frequent in Spanish
-schools. The figure over the high altar of Santiago is described as
-very grand when seen in the solemn twilight.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp80" id="i_237" style="max-width: 68.75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_237.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c76"></a>76 Santiago (Carreño de Miranda)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>2. St. James as patron saint in the general sense. The most
-beautiful example I have met with is a picture in the Florence Gallery,
-painted by Andrea del Sarto for the Compagnia or Confraternita of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</span>
-Sant’ Jacopo, and intended to figure as a standard in their processions.
-The Madonna di San Sisto of Raphael was painted for a similar
-purpose: and such are still commonly used in the religious processions
-in Italy; but they have no longer Raphaels and Andrea-del-Sartos to
-paint them. In this instance the picture has a particular form, high
-and narrow, adapted to its especial purpose: St. James wears a green
-tunic, and a rich crimson mantle; and as one of the purposes of the
-Compagnia was to educate poor orphans, they are represented by the
-two boys at his feet. This picture suffered from the sun and the
-weather, to which it had been a hundred times exposed in yearly processions;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</span>
-but it has been well restored, and is admirable for its vivid
-colouring as well as the benign attitude and expression.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_238" style="max-width: 62.5em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_238.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c77"></a>77  St. James Major (A. del Sarto)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>3. St. James seated; he holds a large book bound in vellum (the
-Gospels) in his left hand—and with his right points to heaven: by
-Guercino, in the gallery of Count Harrach, at Vienna. One of the
-finest pictures by Guercino I have seen.</p>
-
-<p>Pictures from the life of St. James singly, or as a series, are not
-common; but among those which remain to us there are several of
-great beauty and interest.</p>
-
-<p>In the series of frescoes painted in a side chapel of the church of St.
-Antony of Padua (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1376), once called the Capella di San Giacomo,
-and now San Felice, the old legend of St. James has been exactly
-followed; and though ruined in many parts, and in others coarsely repainted,
-these works remain as compositions amongst the most curious
-monuments of the <i>Trecentisti</i>. It appears that, towards the year 1376,
-Messer Bonifacio de’ Lupi da Parma, Cavaliere e Marchese di Serana,
-who boasted of his descent from the Queen Lupa of the legend, dedicated
-this chapel to St. James of Spain (San Jacopo di Galizia), and
-employed M. Jacopo Avanzi to decorate it, who no doubt bestowed his
-best workmanship on his patron saint. The subjects are thus arranged,
-beginning with the lunette on the left hand, which is divided into three
-compartments:</p>
-
-<p>1. Hermogenes sends Philetus to dispute with St. James. 2. St.
-James in his pulpit converts Philetus. 3. Hermogenes sends his
-demons to bind St. James and Philetus. 4. Hermogenes brought
-bound to St. James. 5. He burns his books of magic. 6. Hermogenes
-and Philetus are conversing in a friendly manner with St. James.
-7. St. James is martyred. 8. The arrival of his body in Spain in a
-marble ship steered by an angel. 9. The disciples lay the body on a
-rock, while Queen Lupa and her sister and another personage look on
-from a window in her palace. Then follow two compartments on the
-side where the window is broken out, much ruined; they represented
-apparently the imprisonment of the disciples. 12. The disciples escape
-and are pursued, and their pursuers with their horses are drowned.
-13. The wild bulls draw the sarcophagus into the court of Queen
-Lupa’s palace. 14. Baptism of Lupa. 15 and 16 (lower compartments<span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</span>
-to the left): St. Jago appears to King Ramirez, and the defeat
-of the Moors at Clavijo.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>There is a rare and curious print by Martin Schoen, in which the
-apparition of St. James at Clavijo is represented not in the Spanish but
-the German style. It is an animated composition of many figures.
-The saint appears on horseback in the midst, wearing his pilgrim’s
-dress, with the cockle-shell in his hat: the Infidels are trampled down,
-or fly before him.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp90" id="i_240" style="max-width: 81.25em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_240.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c78"></a>78  The miracle of the Fowls (Lo Spagna)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>On the road from Spoleto to Foligno, about four miles from Spoleto,
-there is a small chapel dedicated to St. James of Galizia. The frescoes
-representing the miracles of the saint were painted by Lo Spagna (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span>
-1526), the friend and fellow pupil of Raphael. In the vault of the apsis
-is the Coronation of the Virgin; she kneels, attired in white drapery
-flowered with gold, and the whole group, though inferior in power,
-appeared to me in delicacy and taste far superior to the fresco of Fra
-Filippo Lippi at Spoleto, from which Passavant thinks it is borrowed.<a id="FNanchor_213" href="#Footnote_213" class="fnanchor">[213]</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</span>
-Immediately under the Coronation, in the centre, is a figure of St.
-James as patron saint, standing with his pilgrim’s staff in one hand, and
-the Gospel in the other; his dress is a yellow tunic with a blue mantle
-thrown over it. In the compartment on the left, the youth is seen
-suspended on the gibbet, while St. James with his hands under his feet
-sustains him; the father and mother look up at him with astonishment.
-In the compartment to the right, we see the judge seated at dinner,
-attended by his servants, one of whom is bringing in a dish: the two
-pilgrims appear to have just told their story, and the cock and hen have
-risen up in the dish (78). These frescoes are painted with great
-elegance and animation, and the story is told with much naïveté. I
-found the same legend painted on one of the lower windows of the
-church of St. Ouen, and on a window of the right-hand aisle in St.
-Vincent’s at Rouen.</p>
-
-
-<p>Of <span class="smcap">St. John</span>, who is the fifth in the series, I have spoken at large
-under the head of the Evangelists.</p>
-
-
-<h3 id="St_Philip"><span class="smcap">St. Philip.</span></h3>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p><i>Ital.</i> San Filippo Apostolo. <i>Fr.</i> Saint Philippe. Patron of Brabant and Luxembourg.
-May 1.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Of St. Philip there are few notices in the Gospel. He was born at
-Bethsaida, and he was one of the first of those whom our Lord summoned
-to follow him. After the ascension, he travelled into Scythia,
-and remained there preaching the Gospel for twenty years; he then
-preached at Hieropolis in Phrygia, where he found the people addicted
-to the worship of a monstrous serpent or dragon, or of the god Mars
-under that form. Taking compassion on their blindness, the apostle
-commanded the serpent, in the name of the cross he held in his hand, to
-disappear, and immediately the reptile glided out from beneath the
-altar, at the same time emitting such a hideous stench, that many
-people died, and among them the king’s son fell dead in the arms of his
-attendants: but the apostle, by Divine power, restored him to life.
-Then the priests of the dragon were incensed against him, and they<span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</span>
-took him, and crucified him, and being bound on the cross they stoned
-him; thus he yielded up his spirit to God, praying, like his Divine
-Master, for his enemies and tormentors.</p>
-
-<p>According to the Scripture, St. Philip had four daughters, who were
-prophetesses, and made many converts to the faith of Christ (Acts,
-xxi. 9). In the Greek calendar, St. Mariamne, his sister, and St.
-Hermione, his daughter, are commemorated as martyrs.</p>
-
-<div class="figleft illowp25" id="i_242" style="max-width: 25em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_242.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c79"></a>79 St. Philip (A. Dürer)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>When St. Philip is represented alone, or as one of the series of
-apostles, he is generally a man in the prime of life, with little beard,
-and with a benign countenance, being described as of a remarkably
-cheerful and affectionate nature. He bears, as his attribute, a cross,
-which varies in form; sometimes it is a small cross, which he carries in
-his hand; sometimes a high cross in the form of a T, or a tall staff with
-a small Latin cross at the top of it (79). The cross of St. Philip may
-have a treble signification: it may allude to his martyrdom; or to his
-conquest over the idols through the power of the cross;
-or, when placed on the top of the pilgrim’s staff, it
-may allude to his mission among the barbarians as
-preacher of the cross of salvation. Single figures of
-St. Philip as patron are not common: there is a
-fine statue of him on the façade of San Michele at
-Florence; and a noble figure by Beccafumi, reading;<a id="FNanchor_214" href="#Footnote_214" class="fnanchor">[214]</a>
-another, seated and reading, by Ulrich Mair.<a id="FNanchor_215" href="#Footnote_215" class="fnanchor">[215]</a></p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Subjects from the life of St. Philip, whether as
-single pictures or in a series, are also rarely met
-with. As he was the first called by our Saviour to
-leave all and follow him, and his vocation therefore
-a festival in the Church, it must, I think, have been
-treated apart; but I have not met with it. I know
-but of three historical subjects taken from his
-life:—</p>
-
-<p>1. Bonifazio. St. Philip stands before the Saviour:
-the attitude of the latter is extremely dignified, that of Philip
-supplicatory; the other apostles are seen in the background: the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</span>
-colouring and expression of the whole like Titian. The subject of this
-splendid picture is expressed by the inscription underneath (John, xiv.
-14): ‘Domine, ostende nobis Patrem, et sufficit nobis.’ ‘Philippe,
-qui videt me, videt et Patrem meum: ego et Pater unum sumus.‘<a id="FNanchor_216" href="#Footnote_216" class="fnanchor">[216]</a></p>
-
-<p>2. St. Philip exorcises the serpent. The scene is the interior of a
-temple, an altar with the statue of the god Mars: a serpent, creeping
-from beneath the altar, slays the attendants with his poisonous and fiery
-breath. The ancient fresco in his chapel at Padua, described by Lord
-Lindsay, is extremely animated, but far inferior to the same subject in
-the Santa Croce at Florence by Fra Filippo Lippi, where the dignified
-attitude of the apostle, and the group of the king’s son dying in the
-arms of the attendants, are admirably effective and dramatic. St.
-Philip, it must be observed, was the patron saint of the painter.</p>
-
-<p>3. The Crucifixion of St. Philip. According to the old Greek traditions,
-he was crucified with his head downwards, and he is so represented
-on the gates of San Paolo; also in an old picture over the tomb
-of Cardinal Philippe d’Alençon, where his patron, St. Philip, is attached
-to the cross with cords, and head downwards, like St. Peter;<a id="FNanchor_217" href="#Footnote_217" class="fnanchor">[217]</a>
-but in the old fresco by Giusto da Padova, in the Capella di San
-Filippo, he is crucified in the usual manner, arrayed in a long red
-garment which descends to his feet.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>It is necessary to avoid confounding St. Philip the apostle with
-St. Philip the deacon. It was Philip the deacon who baptized the
-chamberlain of Queen Candace, though the action has sometimes been
-attributed to Philip the apostle. The incident of the baptism of the
-Ethiopian, taking place in the road, by running water, ‘on the way
-that goeth down from Jerusalem to Gaza,’ has been introduced into
-several beautiful landscapes with much picturesque effect. Claude has
-thus treated it; Salvator Rosa; Jan Both, in a most beautiful picture
-in the Queen’s Gallery; Rembrandt, Cuyp, and others.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</span></p>
-
-<h3 id="St_Bartholomew"><span class="smcap">St. Bartholomew.</span></h3>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p><i>Lat.</i> S. Bartholomeus. <i>Ital.</i> San Bartolomeo. <i>Fr.</i> St. Barthélemi. Aug. 24.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>As St. Bartholomew is nowhere mentioned in the canonical books,
-except by name in enumerating the apostles, there has been large scope
-for legendary story, but in works of art he is not a popular saint. According
-to one tradition, he was the son of a
-husbandman; according to another, he was
-the son of a prince Ptolomeus. After the
-ascension of Christ he travelled into India,
-even to the confines of the habitable world,
-carrying with him the Gospel of St. Matthew;
-returning thence, he preached in Armenia
-and Cilicia; and coming to the city of
-Albanopolis, he was condemned to death as
-a Christian: he was first flayed and then
-crucified.</p>
-
-<div class="figleft illowp30" id="i_244" style="max-width: 25em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_244.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c80"></a>80  St. Bartholomew (Giotto)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>In single figures and devotional pictures,
-St. Bartholomew sometimes carries in one
-hand a book, the Gospel of St. Matthew;
-but his peculiar attribute is a large knife,
-the instrument of his martyrdom. The
-legends describe him as having a quantity
-of strong black hair and a bushy grizzled
-beard; and this portrait being followed very
-literally by the old German and Flemish
-painters, gives him, with his large knife, the
-look of a butcher. In the Italian pictures,
-though of a milder and more dignified appearance,
-he has frequently black hair; and
-sometimes dark and resolute features; yet
-the same legend describes him as of a cheerful countenance, wearing a
-purple robe and attended by angels. Sometimes St. Bartholomew has
-his own skin hanging over his arm, as among the saints in Michael
-Angelo’s Last Judgment, where he is holding forth his skin in one<span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</span>
-hand, and grasping his knife in the other: and in the statue by Marco
-Agrati in the Milan Cathedral, famous for its anatomical precision and
-its boastful inscription, <i>Non me Praxiteles sed Marcus pinxit Agratis</i>.
-I found in the church of Nôtre Dame at Paris a picture of St. Bartholomew
-healing the Princess of Armenia. With this exception, I
-know not any historical subject where this apostle is the principal
-figure, except his revolting and cruel martyrdom. In the early Greek
-representation on the gates of San Paolo, he is affixed to a cross, or
-rather to a post, with a small transverse bar at top, to which his hands
-are fastened above his head; an executioner, with a knife in his hand,
-stoops at his feet. This is very different from the representations in the
-modern schools. The best, that is to say, the least disgusting, representation
-I have met with, is a small picture by Agostino Caracci, in
-the Sutherland Gallery, which once belonged to King Charles I.: it is
-easy to see that the painter had the antique Marsyas in his mind. That
-dark ferocious spirit, Ribera, found in it a theme congenial with his
-own temperament;<a id="FNanchor_218" href="#Footnote_218" class="fnanchor">[218]</a> he has not only painted it several times with a
-horrible truth and power, but etched it elaborately with his own hand:
-a small picture, copied from the etching, is at Hampton Court.</p>
-
-
-<h3 id="St_Thomas"><span class="smcap">St. Thomas.</span></h3>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p><i>Ital.</i> San Tomaso. <i>Sp.</i> San Tomé. Dec. 21. Patron Saint of Portugal and Parma.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>St. Thomas, called <i>Didymus</i> (the twin), takes, as apostle, the seventh
-place. He was a Galilean and a fisherman, and we find him distinguished
-among the apostles on two occasions recorded in the Gospel.
-When Jesus was going up to Bethany, being then in danger from the
-Jews, Thomas said, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with him.’
-(John, xi. 16, xx. 25.) After the resurrection, he showed himself unwilling
-to believe in the reappearance of the crucified Saviour without
-ocular demonstration: this incident is styled the Incredulity of Thomas.
-From these two incidents we may form some idea of his character:<span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</span>
-courageous and affectionate, but not inclined to take things for granted;
-or, as a French writer expresses it, ‘brusque et résolu, mais d’un esprit
-exigeant.’ After the ascension, St. Thomas travelled into the East,
-preaching the Gospel in far distant countries towards the rising sun.
-It is a tradition received in the Church, that he penetrated as far as
-India; that there meeting with the three Wise Men of the East, he
-baptized them; that he founded a church in India, and suffered martyrdom
-there. It is related, that the Portuguese found at Meliapore an
-ancient inscription, purporting that St. Thomas had been pierced with a
-lance at the foot of a cross which he had erected in that city, and that
-in 1523 his body was found there and transported to Goa.</p>
-
-<p>In Correggio’s fresco of St. Thomas as protector of Parma he is surrounded
-by angels bearing exotic fruits, as expressing his ministry in
-India.</p>
-<div class="figleft illowp25" id="i_246" style="max-width: 18.75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_246.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c81"></a>81 St. Thomas the Apostle</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>There are a number of extravagant and poetical legends relating to
-St. Thomas. I shall here limit myself to those
-which were adopted in ecclesiastical decoration, and
-treated by the artists of the middle ages.</p>
-
-<div class="figright illowp20" id="i274" style="max-width: 14.9375em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/274.jpg" alt="" />
-</div>
-<p>When St. Thomas figures as apostle, alone or with
-others, in all the devotional representations which are
-not prior to the thirteenth century
-he carries as his attribute the
-builder’s rule, of this form—</p>
-
-<p>Now, as he was a fisherman,
-and neither a carpenter nor a
-mason, the origin of this attribute must be sought in
-one of the most popular legends of which he is the
-subject.</p>
-
-<p>‘When St. Thomas was at Cesarea, our Lord
-appeared to him and said, “The king of the Indies,
-Gondoforus, hath sent his provost Abanes to seek for
-workmen well versed in the science of architecture,
-who shall build for him a palace finer than that of the
-Emperor of Rome. Behold, now, I will send thee
-to him.” And Thomas went, and Gondoforus commanded
-him to build for him a magnificent palace, and gave him much<span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</span>
-gold and silver for the purpose. The king went into a distant country,
-and was absent for two years; and St. Thomas meanwhile, instead of
-building a palace, distributed all the treasures entrusted to him among
-the poor and sick; and when the king returned, he was full of wrath,
-and he commanded that St. Thomas should be seized and cast into
-prison, and he meditated for him a horrible death. Meantime the
-brother of the king died; and the king resolved to erect for him a most
-magnificent tomb; but the dead man, after that he had been dead four
-days, suddenly arose and sat upright, and said to the king, “The man
-whom thou wouldst torture is a servant of God: behold I have been in
-Paradise, and the angels showed to me a wondrous palace of gold and
-silver and precious stones,” and they said, “This is the palace that Thomas
-the architect hath built for thy brother King Gondoforus.” And when
-the king heard these words, he ran to the prison, and delivered the
-apostle; and Thomas said to him, “Knowest thou not that those who
-would possess heavenly things, have little care for the things of this
-earth? There are in heaven rich palaces without number, which were
-prepared from the beginning of the world for those who purchase the
-possession through faith and charity. Thy riches, O king, may prepare
-the way for thee to such a palace, but they cannot follow thee thither.”’<a id="FNanchor_219" href="#Footnote_219" class="fnanchor">[219]</a></p>
-
-<p>The builder’s rule in the hand of St. Thomas characterises him as the
-spiritual architect of King Gondoforus, and for the same reason he has
-been chosen among the saints as patron of architects and builders.</p>
-
-<p>There is in this legend or allegory, fanciful as it is, an obvious beauty
-and significance, which I need not point out. It appears to me to be
-one of those many legends which originally were not assumed to be
-facts, but were related as parables, religious fictions invented for the instruction
-of the people, like our Saviour’s stories of the ‘Good Samaritan,’
-the ‘Prodigal Son,’ &amp;c., and were rendered more striking and
-impressive by the introduction of a celebrated and exalted personage—our
-Saviour, the Virgin, or one of the apostles—as hero of the tale.
-This beautiful legend of St. Thomas and King Gondoforus is painted on
-one of the windows of the cathedral at Bourges,—an appropriate offering
-from the company of builders in that ancient city. It is also the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</span>
-subject of one of the finest of the ancient French <i>mysteries</i>, which was
-acted with great applause at Paris in the fourteenth century.</p>
-
-<p>But, in the historical subjects from the life of St. Thomas, the first
-place must be given to the one scriptural incident in which he figures as
-a principal person. ‘The Incredulity of St. Thomas’ occurs in all the
-early series of the life of Christ, as one of the events of his mission, and
-one of the proofs of his resurrection. On the ancient gates of San
-Paolo it is treated with great simplicity as a sacred mystery, St. Thomas
-being the principal personage in the action, as the one whose conviction
-was to bring conviction to the universe. Christ stands on a pedestal
-surmounted by a cross; the apostles are ranged on each side, and St.
-Thomas, approaching, stretches forth his hand. The incident, as a
-separate subject, is of frequent occurrence in the later schools of Italy,
-and in the Flemish schools. The general treatment, when given in this
-dramatic style, admits of two variations: either St. Thomas is placing
-his hand, with an expression of doubt and fear, on the wounds of the
-Saviour; or, his doubts being removed, he is gazing upwards in adoration
-and wonder. Of the first, one of the finest examples is a well-known
-picture by Rubens,<a id="FNanchor_220" href="#Footnote_220" class="fnanchor">[220]</a> one of his most beautiful works, and extraordinary
-for the truth of the expression in the countenance of the
-apostle, whose hand is on the side of Christ; St. John and St. Peter
-are behind. In Vandyck’s picture at Petersburg, St. Thomas stoops to
-examine the Saviour’s hand. In a design ascribed to Raphael, we have
-the second version: the look of astonished conviction in St. Thomas.<a id="FNanchor_221" href="#Footnote_221" class="fnanchor">[221]</a>
-Niccolò Poussin has painted it finely, introducing twelve figures.<a id="FNanchor_222" href="#Footnote_222" class="fnanchor">[222]</a>
-Guercino’s picture is celebrated, but he has committed the fault of representing
-the two principal figures both in profile.<a id="FNanchor_223" href="#Footnote_223" class="fnanchor">[223]</a></p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The legendary subject styled ‘La Madonna della Cintola’ belongs
-properly to the legends of the Virgin, but as St. Thomas is always a
-principal personage I shall mention it here. The legend relates that
-when the Madonna ascended into heaven, in the sight of the apostles,
-Thomas was absent; but after three days he returned, and, <i>doubting</i>
-the truth of her glorious translation, he desired that her tomb should be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</span>
-opened; which was done, and lo! it was found empty. Then the
-Virgin, taking pity on his weakness and want of faith, threw down to
-him her girdle, that this tangible proof remaining in his hands might
-remove all doubts for ever from his mind: hence in many pictures of
-the Assumption and Coronation of the Virgin, St. Thomas is seen below
-holding the sacred girdle in his hand. For instance, in Raphael’s beautiful
-‘Coronation’ in the Vatican; and in Correggio’s ‘Assumption’
-at Parma, where St. Thomas holds the girdle, and another apostle
-kisses it.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_248" style="max-width: 93.75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_248.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><i>The Madonna of the Girdle</i></div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The belief that the girdle is preserved in the Cathedral at Pistoia has
-rendered this legend a popular subject with the Florentine painters;
-and we find it treated, not merely as an incident in the scene of the
-Assumption, but in a manner purely mystic and devotional. Thus, in
-a charming bas-relief by Luca della Robbia,<a id="FNanchor_224" href="#Footnote_224" class="fnanchor">[224]</a> the Virgin, surrounded by
-a choir of angels, presents her girdle to the apostle. In a beautiful
-picture by Granacci,<a id="FNanchor_225" href="#Footnote_225" class="fnanchor">[225]</a> the Virgin is seated in the clouds; beneath is her
-empty sepulchre: on one side kneels St. Thomas, who receives with
-reverence the sacred girdle; on the other kneels the Archangel Michael.
-In simplicity of arrangement, beauty of expression, and tender harmony
-of colour, this picture has seldom been exceeded. Granacci has again
-treated this subject, and St. Thomas receives the girdle in the presence
-of St. John the Baptist, St. James Major, St. Laurence, and St. Bartholomew.<a id="FNanchor_226" href="#Footnote_226" class="fnanchor">[226]</a>
-We have the same subject by Paolino da Pistoia; by
-Sogliani; and by Mainardi, a large and very fine fresco in the church
-of Santa Croce at Florence.</p>
-
-<p>A poetical and truly mystical version of this subject is that wherein
-the Infant Saviour, seated or standing on his mother’s knee, looses her
-girdle and presents it to St. Thomas. Of this I have seen several
-examples; one in the Duomo at Viterbo.<a id="FNanchor_227" href="#Footnote_227" class="fnanchor">[227]</a></p>
-
-<p>In the Martyrdom of St. Thomas, several idolaters pierce him through
-with lances and javelins. It was so represented on the doors of San
-Paolo, with four figures only. Rubens, in his large picture, has followed
-the legend very exactly; St. Thomas embraces the cross, at the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</span>
-foot of which he is about to fall, transfixed by spears. A large picture
-in the gallery of Count Harrach at Vienna, called there the Martyrdom
-of St. Jude, I believe to represent the Martyrdom of St. Thomas.
-Two of the idolatrous priests pierce him with lances. Albert Dürer,
-in his beautiful print of St. Thomas, represents him holding the lance,
-the instrument of his martyrdom: but this is very unusual.</p>
-
-
-<p>The eighth in the order of the Apostles is the Evangelist <span class="smcap">St.
-Matthew</span>, of whom I have spoken at length.</p>
-
-
-<h3 id="St_James_Minor"><span class="smcap">St. James Minor.</span></h3>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p><i>Lat.</i> S. Jacobus Frater Domini. <i>Gr.</i> Adelphotheos. <i>Ital.</i> San Jacopo or Giacomo Minore.
-<i>Fr.</i> St. Jacques Mineur. (May 1.)</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>The ninth is St. James Minor, or the Less, called also the Just: he
-was a near relative of Christ, being the son of Mary, the wife of Cleophas,
-who was the sister of the Virgin Mary; hence he is styled ‘the
-Lord’s brother.’ Nothing particular is related of him till after the ascension.
-He is regarded as first Christian bishop of Jerusalem, and
-venerated for his self-denial, his piety, his wisdom, and his charity.
-These characteristics are conspicuous in the beautiful Epistle which bears
-his name. Having excited, by the fervour of his teaching, the fury of
-the Scribes and Pharisees, and particularly the enmity of the high-priest
-Ananus, they flung him down from a terrace or parapet of the
-Temple, and one of the infuriated populace below beat out his brains
-with a <i>fuller’s club</i>.</p>
-
-<p>In single figures and devotional pictures, St. James is generally
-leaning on this club, the instrument of his martyrdom. According to
-an early tradition, he so nearly resembled our Lord in person, in
-features, and deportment, that it was difficult to distinguish them.
-‘The Holy Virgin herself,’ says the legend, ‘had she been <i>capable</i> of
-error, might have mistaken one for the other:’ and this exact resemblance
-rendered necessary the kiss of the traitor Judas, in order to point
-out his victim to the soldiers.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</span></p>
- <div class="figright illowp30" id="i_251" style="max-width: 25em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_251.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c82"></a>82  St. James Minor</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>This characteristic resemblance is attended to in the earliest and best
-representations of St. James, and by this he
-may usually be distinguished when he does
-not bear his club, which is often a thick stick
-or staff. With the exception of those Scripture
-scenes in which the apostles are present,
-I have met with few pictures in which St.
-James Minor is introduced: he does not
-appear to have been popular as a patron
-saint. The event of his martyrdom occurs
-very seldom, and is very literally rendered:
-the scene is a court of
-the Temple, with terraces
-and balconies; he is falling, or has
-fallen, to the ground, and one of the crowd
-lifts up the club to smite him.</p>
-
-<p>Ignorant artists have in some instances
-confounded St. James Major and St. James
-Minor. The Cappella dei Belludi at Padua,
-already mentioned, dedicated to St. Philip
-and St. James, contains a series of frescoes
-from the life of St. James Minor, in which
-are some of the miraculous incidents attributed
-in the Legenda Aurea to St. James
-Major.</p>
-
-<p>1. The Council of the Apostles held at Jerusalem, in which St.
-James was nominated chief or bishop of the infant Church. 2. Our
-Saviour after his resurrection appears to St. James, who had vowed not
-to eat till he should see Christ.<a id="FNanchor_228" href="#Footnote_228" class="fnanchor">[228]</a> 3. St. James thrown down from the
-pulpit in the court of the Temple. 4. He is slain by the fuller. 5. A
-certain merchant is stript of all his goods by a tyrant, and cast into<span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</span>
-prison. He implores the protection of St. James, who, leading him to
-the summit of the tower, commands the tower to bow itself to the ground,
-and the merchant steps from it and escapes; or, according to the version
-followed in the fresco, the apostle lifts the tower on one side from its
-foundation, and the prisoner escapes from under it, like a mouse out of
-a trap. 6. A poor pilgrim, having neither money nor food, fell asleep
-by the way-side, and, on waking, found that St. James had placed
-beside him a loaf of bread, which miraculously supplied his wants to
-the end of his journey. These two last stories are told also of St.
-James of Galicia, but I have never met with any pictures of his life in
-which they are included. Here they undoubtedly refer to St. James
-Minor, the chapel being consecrated to his honour.</p>
-
-
-<h3 id="St_Simon_Zelotes"><span class="smcap">St. Simon Zelotes</span> (or <span class="smcap">the Zealot</span>). <span class="smcap">St. Jude</span> (<span class="smcap">Thaddeus</span>,
-or <span class="smcap">Lebbeus</span>).</h3>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p><i>Ital.</i> San Simone; San Taddeo. <i>Fr.</i> St. Simon le Zélé. St. Thaddée. <i>Ger.</i> Judas Thaddäus.
-(Oct. 28.)</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>The uncertainty, contradiction, and confusion which I find in all the
-ecclesiastical biographies relative to these apostles, make it impossible
-to give any clear account of them; and as subjects of Art they are so
-unimportant, and so uninteresting, that it is the less necessary. According
-to one tradition, they were the same mentioned by Matthew as
-our Lord’s brethren or kinsmen. But, according to another tradition,
-they were not the same, but two brothers who were among the shepherds
-to whom the angel and the heavenly host revealed the birth of
-the Saviour. Those painters who followed the first tradition represent
-Simon and Jude as young, or at least in the prime of life. Those
-who adopt the second represent them as very old, taking it for granted
-that at the birth of Christ they must have been full-grown men; and
-this, I think, is the legend usually followed. It seems, however,
-generally agreed, that they preached the Gospel together in Syria and
-Mesopotamia, and together suffered martyrdom in Persia: in what<span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</span>
-manner they suffered is unknown; but it is supposed that St. Simon
-was sawn asunder, and St. Thaddeus killed with a halberd.</p>
-
-<p>In a series of apostles, St. Simon bears the saw, and St. Thaddeus a
-halberd. In Greek Art, Jude and Thaddeus are two different persons.
-Jude is represented young, Thaddeus old. St. Simon in extreme old
-age, with a bald head, and long white beard. In the Greek representation
-of his martyrdom, he is affixed to a cross exactly like that of
-our Saviour, so that, but for the superscription Ο CΙΜΩΝ, he might
-be mistaken for Christ. I do not know of any separate picture of these
-apostles.</p>
-
-<p>There is, however, one manner of treating them, with reference to
-their supposed relationship to our Saviour, which is peculiarly beautiful.
-Assuming that the three last-named apostles, James, the son of Mary
-Cleophas; Simon and Jude; Joseph or Joses the Just, also named by
-Matthew among the brethren of Christ; together with James and John,
-the sons of Mary Salome,—were all nearly related to the Saviour; it
-was surely a charming idea to group as children around him in his
-infancy those who were afterwards called to be the chosen ministers of
-his Word. Christianity, which has glorified womanhood and childhood,
-never suggested to the Christian artist a more beautiful subject, nor
-one which it would be more easy, by an unworthy or too picturesque
-treatment, to render merely pretty and commonplace. This version,
-however, of the <i>Sacra Famiglia</i> is rarely met with. There is an example
-in the Louvre, signed ‘Laurentius’ (Lorenzo di Pavia, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span>
-1513), which is remarkable as a religious representation; but the most
-beautiful instance of this treatment is a <i>chef-d’œuvre</i> of Perugino, in the
-Musée at Marseilles. In the centre is the Virgin, seated on a throne;
-she holds the Infant Christ in her arms. Behind her is St. Anna, her
-two hands resting affectionately on the shoulders of the Virgin. In
-front, at the foot of the throne, are two lovely children, undraped, with
-glories round their heads, on which are inscribed their names, Simon
-and Thaddeus. To the right is Mary Salome, a beautiful young
-woman, holding a child in her arms—St. John, afterwards the evangelist.
-Near her is Joachim, the father of the Virgin. At his feet
-another child, James Major. To the left of the Virgin, Mary the wife
-of Cleophas, standing, holds by the hand James Minor: behind her,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</span>
-Joseph, the husband of the Virgin, and at his feet another child, Joseph
-(or Joses) Justus. I have also seen this subject in illuminated MSS.,
-and, however treated, it is surely very poetical and suggestive.<a id="FNanchor_229" href="#Footnote_229" class="fnanchor">[229]</a></p>
-
-
-<h3 id="St_Matthias"><span class="smcap">St. Matthias.</span></h3>
-
-<p>
-<i>Ital.</i> San Mattia. <i>Fr.</i> St. Mathias. (Feb. 24.)<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>St. Matthias, who was chosen by lot to fill the place of the traitor
-Judas, is the last of the apostles. (Acts i.) He preached the Gospel
-in Judea, and suffered martyrdom at
-the hands of the Jews, either by the
-lance or by the axe. In the Italian
-series of the apostles, he bears as his
-attribute the lance; in the German sets,
-more commonly the axe.<a id="FNanchor_230" href="#Footnote_230" class="fnanchor">[230]</a> The ceremony
-of choosing St. Matthias by lot is the
-subject of a mediocre picture by Boschi.
-St. Denis says that the apostles were
-directed in their choice by a beam of
-divine splendour, for it were impious to
-suppose that such an election was made
-by chance. In this picture of Boschi, a
-ray of light falls from heaven on the head
-of St. Matthias.</p>
-
-<div class="figleft illowp35" id="i_254" style="max-width: 25em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_254.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c83"></a>83  St. Matthias (Raphael)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>There is a figure of this apostle by
-Cosimo Roselli, holding a sword <i>by the
-point</i>: what might be the intention of
-that capricious painter it is now impossible
-to guess.<a id="FNanchor_231" href="#Footnote_231" class="fnanchor">[231]</a> Separate pictures of St.
-Matthias are very rare, and he is seldom included in sets of the apostles.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</span></p>
-
-<h3 id="Judas_Iscariot"><span class="smcap">Judas Iscariot.</span></h3>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p><i>Ital.</i> Giuda Scariota. <i>Fr.</i> Judas Iscariote.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>The very name of Judas Iscariot has become a by-word; his person
-and character an eternal type of impiety, treachery, and ingratitude.
-We shudder at the associations called up by his memory; his crime,
-without a name, so distances all possible human turpitude, that he
-cannot even be held forth as a terror to evil doers; we set him aside as
-one cut off; we never think of him but in reference to the sole and
-unequalled crime recorded of him. Not so our ancestors; one should
-have lived in the middle ages, to conceive the profound, the ever-present,
-horror with which Judas Iscariot was then regarded. The
-devil himself did not inspire the same passionate hatred and indignation.
-Being the devil, what <i>could</i> he be but devilish? His wickedness was
-according to his infernal nature: but the crime of Judas remains the
-perpetual shame and reproach of our humanity. The devil betrayed
-mankind, but Judas betrayed his God.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The Gospels are silent as to the life of Judas before he became an
-apostle, but our progenitors of the middle ages, who could not conceive
-it possible that any being, however perverse, would rush at once into
-such an abyss of guilt, have filled up the omissions of Scripture after
-their own fancy. They picture Judas as a wretch foredoomed from the
-beginning of the world, and prepared by a long course of vice and
-crime for that crowning guilt which filled the measure full. According
-to this legend, he was of the tribe of Reuben. Before his mother
-brought him forth, she dreamed that the son who lay in her womb
-would be accursed, that he would murder his father, commit incest with
-his mother, and sell his God. Terrified at her dream, she took counsel
-with her husband, and they agreed to avert the threatened calamity by
-exposing the child. As in the story of Œdipus, from which, indeed,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</span>
-this strange wild legend seems partly borrowed, the means taken to
-avert the threatened curse caused its fulfilment. Judas, at his birth, is
-enclosed in a chest, and flung into the sea; the sea casts him up, and,
-being found on the shore, he is fostered by a certain king and queen
-as their own son; they have, however, another son, whom Judas,
-malignant from his birth, beats and oppresses, and at length kills
-in a quarrel over a game at chess. He then flies to Judea, where
-he enters the service of Pontius Pilate as page. In due time he
-commits the other monstrous crimes to which he was predestined;
-and when he learns from his mother the secret of his birth, he is
-filled with a sudden contrition and terror; he hears of the prophet
-who has power on earth to forgive sins; and seeking out Christ
-throws himself at his feet. Our Saviour, not deceived, but seeing in
-him the destined betrayer, and that all things may be accomplished,
-accepts him as his apostle: he becomes the seneschal or steward of
-Christ, bears the purse, and provides for the common wants. In this
-position, avarice, the only vice to which he was not yet addicted, takes
-possession of his soul, and makes the corruption complete. Through
-avarice, he grudges every penny given to the poor, and when Mary
-Magdalene anoints the feet of our Lord he is full of wrath at what he
-considers the waste of the precious perfume: ‘Why was not this ointment
-sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? This he
-said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief.’
-Through avarice, he yields to the bribe offered by the Jews. Then
-follow the scenes of the betrayal of Christ, and the late repentance and
-terrible suicide of the traitor, as recorded in Scripture. But in the old
-Mystery of the ‘Passion of Christ’ the repentance and fate of Judas
-are very dramatically worked out, and with all possible circumstances
-of horror. When he beholds the mild Saviour before the judgment-seat
-of Herod, he repents: Remorse, who figures as a real personage,
-seizes on the fated wretch, and torments him till in his agony he invokes
-Despair. Despair appears, almost in the guise of the ‘accursed wight’
-in Spenser, and, with like arguments, urges him to make away with his
-life:—</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</span></p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent0">And brings unto him swords, rope, poison, fire,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">And all that might him to perdition draw,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">And bids him choose what death he would desire.</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Or in the more homely language of the old French mystery,—</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza"><div lang="fr">
-    <div class="verse indent0">Il faut que tu passes le pas!</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Voici dagues et coutelas,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Forcettes, poinçons, allumettes,—</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Avise, choisis les plus belles,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Et celles de meilleure forge,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Pour te couper à coup la gorge;</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Ou si tu aimes mieux te pendre,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Voici lacs et cordes à vendre.</div>
-  </div></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The offer here of the bodkins and the allumettes reminds us of the
-speech of Falconbridge:—</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent2">If thou would’st drown thyself,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Put but a little water in a spoon,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">And it shall be as all the ocean,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Enough to stifle such a villain up.</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Judas chooses the rope, and hangs himself forthwith; ‘and falling
-headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed
-out:’ which account is explained by an early tradition, that being
-found and cut down, his body was thrown over the parapet of the
-Temple into the ravine below, and, in the fall, was riven and dashed to
-pieces.</p>
-
-<p>There required but one more touch of horror to complete the picture;
-and this is furnished by a sonnet of Giani, which I remember to have
-read in my youth. When Judas falls from the fatal tree, his evil
-genius seizes the broken rope, and drags him down to the seething abyss
-below: at his approach, hell sends forth a shout of rejoicing; Lucifer
-smooths his brow, corrugated with fire and pain, and rises from his
-burning throne to welcome a greater sinner than himself:—</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza"><div lang="it">
-    <div class="verse indent0">Poi fra le braccia incatenò quel tristo,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">E colla bocca sfavillante e nera</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Gli rese il bacio ch’ avea dato a Christo!</div>
-  </div></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The retribution imaged in the last two lines borders, I am afraid, on
-a <i>concetto</i>; but it makes one shiver, notwithstanding.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</span></p>
-
-<p>Separate representations of the figure or of the life of Judas Iscariot
-are not, of course, to be looked for; they would have been regarded as
-profane, as ominous,—worse than the evil-eye. In those Scripture
-scenes in which he finds a place, it was the aim of the early artists to
-give him a countenance as hateful, as expressive of treachery, meanness,
-malignity, as their skill could compass,—the Italians having depended
-more on expression, the German and Spanish painters on form. We
-have a conviction, that if the man had really worn such a look, such
-features, he would have been cast out from the company of the apostles;
-the legend already referred to says expressly that Judas was of a comely
-appearance, and was recommended to the service of Pontius Pilate by
-his beauty of person; but the painters, speaking to the people in the
-language of form, were right to admit of no equivocation. The same
-feeling which induced them to concentrate on the image of the Demon
-all they could conceive of hideous and repulsive, made them picture the
-exterior of Judas as deformed and hateful as the soul within; and, by
-an exaggeration of the Jewish cast of features combined with red hair
-and beard, they flattered themselves that they had attained the desired
-object. But as if this were not enough, the ancient painters, particularly
-in the old illuminations, and in Byzantine Art, represent Judas as
-directly and literally possessed by the Devil: sometimes it is a little
-black demon seated on his shoulder, and whispering in his ear; sometimes
-entering his mouth: thus, in their simplicity, rendering the words
-of the Gospel, ‘Then entered Satan into Judas.’</p>
-
-<p>The colour proper to the dress of Judas is a dirty dingy yellow; and
-in Spain this colour is so intimately associated with the image of the
-arch-traitor, as to be held in universal dislike: both in Spain and in
-Italy, malefactors and galley-slaves are clothed in yellow.<a id="FNanchor_232" href="#Footnote_232" class="fnanchor">[232]</a> At Venice
-the Jews were obliged to wear yellow hats.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</span></p>
-
-<p>In some of the scriptural scenes in which Judas is mentioned or supposed
-to be present, it is worth while to remark whether the painter has
-passed him over as spoiling the harmony of the sacred composition by
-his intrusive ugliness and wickedness, or has rendered him conspicuous
-by a distinct and characteristic treatment. In a picture by Niccolò
-Frumenti<a id="FNanchor_233" href="#Footnote_233" class="fnanchor">[233]</a> of the Magdalene at the feet of our Saviour, Judas stands in
-the foreground, looking on with a most diabolical expression of grudging
-malice mingled with scorn; he seems to grind his teeth as he says, ‘To
-what purpose is this waste?’ In Perugino’s beautiful picture of the
-washing the feet of the disciples,<a id="FNanchor_234" href="#Footnote_234" class="fnanchor">[234]</a> Judas is at once distinguished, looking
-askance with a wicked sneer on his face, which is not otherwise ugly.
-In Raphael’s composition of the Magdalene anointing the feet of Christ,
-Judas leans across the table with an angry look of expostulation.</p>
-
-<p>Those subjects in which Judas Iscariot appears as a principal personage
-follow here.</p>
-
-<p>1. Angelico da Fiesole.<a id="FNanchor_235" href="#Footnote_235" class="fnanchor">[235]</a> He is bribed by the Jews. The high-priest
-pays into the hand of Judas the thirty pieces of silver. They are
-standing before a doorway on some steps; Judas is seen in profile, and
-has the nimbus as one of the apostles: three persons are behind, one of
-whom expresses disapprobation and anxiety. In this subject, and in
-others wherein Judas is introduced, Angelico has not given him ugly
-and deformed features; but in the scowling eye and bent brow there is
-a vicious expression.</p>
-
-<p>In Duccio’s series of the ‘Passion of our Saviour,’ in the Duomo at
-Siena, he has, in this and in other scenes, represented Judas with regular
-and not ugly features; but he has a villanous, and at the same time
-anxious, expression;—he has a bad conscience.</p>
-
-<p>The scene between Judas and the high-priest is also given by Schalken
-as a candle-light effect, and in the genuine Dutch style.</p>
-
-<p>2. ‘Judas betrays his Master with a kiss.’ This subject will be noticed
-at large in the Life of Christ. The early Italians, in giving this
-scene with much dramatic power, never forgot the scriptural dignity
-required; while the early Germans, in their endeavour to render
-Judas as odious in physiognomy as in heart, have, in this as in many<span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</span>
-other instances, rendered the awful and the pathetic merely grotesque.
-We must infer from Scripture, that Judas, with all his perversity, had
-a conscience: he would not else have hanged himself. In the physiognomy
-given to him by the old Germans, there is no trace of this; he is
-an ugly malignant brute, and nothing more.</p>
-
-<p>3. Rembrandt. ‘Judas throws down the thirty pieces of silver in
-the Temple, and departs.’<a id="FNanchor_236" href="#Footnote_236" class="fnanchor">[236]</a></p>
-
-<p>4. ‘The remorse of Judas.’ He is seated and in the act of putting
-the rope about his neck; beside him is seen the purse and the money,
-scattered about the ground. The design is by Bloemart, and, from the
-Latin inscription underneath, appears to be intended as a warning to all
-unrighteous dealers.</p>
-
-<p>5. ‘Judas hanging on a tree’ is sometimes introduced into the background,
-in ancient pictures of the Deposition and the Entombment:
-there is one in the Frankfort Museum.</p>
-
-<p>6. ‘Demons toss the soul of Judas from hand to hand in the manner
-of a ball:’ in an old French miniature.<a id="FNanchor_237" href="#Footnote_237" class="fnanchor">[237]</a> This is sufficiently grotesque
-in representation; yet, in the idea, there is a restless, giddy horror
-which thrills us. At all events, it is better than placing Judas between
-the jaws of Satan with his legs in the air, as Dante has done, and as
-Orcagna in his Dantesque fresco has very literally rendered the description
-of the poet.<a id="FNanchor_238" href="#Footnote_238" class="fnanchor">[238]</a></p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</span></p>
-
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_261" style="max-width: 93.75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_261.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><i>Lionardo da Vinci</i><br />
-<i>Giotto</i><br />
-<i>Raphael</i></div>
-</div>
-
-
-<h3 id="The_Last_Supper"><span class="smcap">The Last Supper.</span></h3>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p><i>Ital.</i> Il Cenacolo. La Cena. <i>Fr.</i> La Cène. <i>Ger.</i> Das Abendmal Christi.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>I have already mentioned the principal scenes in which the Twelve
-always appear together; there is, however, one event belonging properly
-to the life of Christ, so important in itself, presenting the Apostles
-under an aspect so peculiar, and throwing so much interest around them
-collectively and individually, that I must bring it under notice here.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Next to the Crucifixion, there is no subject taken from the history of
-our redemption so consecrated in Art as the Last Supper. The awful
-signification lent to it by Protestants as well as Catholics has given it a
-deep religious import, and caused its frequent representation in
-churches; it has been, more particularly, the appropriate decoration of
-the refectories of convents, hospitals, and other institutions having a
-sacred character. In our Protestant churches, it is generally the subject
-of the altar-piece, where we have one.</p>
-
-<p>Besides being one of the most important and interesting, it is one of
-the most difficult among the sacred subjects treated in Art. While the
-fixed number of personages introduced, the divine and paramount dignity
-of One among them, the well-known character of all, have limited
-the invention of the artist, they have tasked to the utmost his power of
-expression. The occasion, that of a repast eaten by twelve persons, is,
-under its material aspect, so commonplace, and, taken in the spiritual
-sense, so awful, that to elevate himself to the height of his theme, while
-keeping the ideal conscientiously bounded within its frame of circumstance,
-demanded in the artist aspirations of the grandest order, tempered
-by the utmost sobriety of reflection; and the deepest insight into
-the springs of character, combined with the most perfect knowledge of
-the indications of character as manifested through form. On the other
-hand, if it has been difficult to succeed, it has been equally difficult to
-fail signally and completely; because the spectator is not here, as in the
-crucifixion, in danger of being perpetually shocked by the intrusion of
-anomalous incidents, and is always ready to supply the dignity and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</span>
-meaning of a scene so familiar in itself out of his own mind and heart.
-It has followed, that mediocrity has been more prevalent and more endurable
-in this than in any other of the more serious subjects of Art.
-But where excellence has been in some few instances attained, it has
-been attained in such a supreme degree, that these examples have
-become a perpetual source of contemplation and of emulation, and rank
-among the most renowned productions of human genius.</p>
-
-<p>But, before I come to consider these analytically, it is necessary to
-premise one or two observations, which will assist us to discrimination
-in the general treatment.</p>
-
-<p>Pictures and works of art, which represent the Last Supper of our
-Lord, admit of the same classification which I have adhered to generally
-throughout this work. Those which represent it as a religious mystery
-must be considered as <i>devotional</i>; those which represent it merely as a
-scene in the passion of our Saviour are <i>historical</i>. In the first, we have
-the spiritual origin of the Eucharist; in the second, the highly dramatic
-detection of Judas. It is evident that the predominating <i>motif</i> in each
-must be widely different. In paintings which are intended for the altar,
-or for the chapels of the Holy Sacrament, we have the first, the mystical
-version;—it is the distribution of the spiritual food. In the second
-form, as the Last Supper eaten by Christ with his disciples, as leading
-the mind to an humble and grateful sense of his sacrifice, as repressing
-all sinful indulgence in food, it has been the subject chosen to decorate
-the refectory or common dining-room of convents.</p>
-
-<p>It is curious that on the Christian sarcophagi the Last Supper does
-not occur. There is, in the Vatican, a rude painting taken from the
-catacombs representing twelve persons in a semicircle, with something
-like plates and dishes before them. I could not determine whether this
-was our Saviour and his apostles, or merely one of those feasts or suppers
-instituted by the early Christians called <i>Agapæ</i> or love-feasts; but
-I should think the latter.</p>
-
-<p>On the Dalmatica (deacon’s robe) preserved in the sacristy of the
-Vatican, there is, if the date be exact (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 795), the most ancient representation
-I have seen of the institution of the Sacrament. The embroidery,
-which is wonderfully beautiful, is a copy from Byzantine Art.
-On one side, our Saviour stands by a table or altar, and presents<span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</span>
-the cup to his apostles, one of whom approaches in a reverential attitude,
-and with his hands folded in his robe; on the other side, Christ presents
-the wafer or host: so that we have the two separate moments in separate
-groups.</p>
-
-<p>There exists in the Duomo of Lodi the most ancient sculptural example
-of this subject I have met with; it is a bas-relief of the twelfth
-century, dated 1163, and fixed in the wall to the left of the entrance.
-Christ and the apostles are in a straight row, all very much alike; six
-of the apostles lay their hands on their breast,—‘Lord, is it I?’ and
-Christ presents the sop to Judas, who sits in front, and is as ugly as
-possible.</p>
-
-<p>Although all the Byzantine pictures of the twelfth and thirteenth
-centuries which have come under my notice represent Christ breaking
-the bread or holding the cup, that is, the institution of the Sacrament,
-the Greek formula published by Didron distinguishes between this
-scene and that of the repast in which Judas is denounced as a traitor.
-The earliest representation to which I can refer in Western Art, as
-taking the historical form, is the Cenacolo of Giotto, the oldest and the
-most important that has been preserved to us; it was painted by him in
-the refectory of the convent of Santa Croce at Florence. This refectory,
-when I visited it in 1847, was a carpet manufactory, and it was
-difficult to get a good view of the fresco by reason of the intervention
-of the carpet-looms. It has been often restored, and is now in a bad
-state; still, enough remains to understand the original intention of the
-artist, and that arrangement which has since been the groundwork of
-similar compositions.</p>
-
-<p>A long table extends across the picture from side to side: in the
-middle, and fronting the spectator, sits the Redeemer; to the right,
-St. John, his head reclining on the lap of Christ; next to him, Peter;
-after Peter, St. James Major; thus placing together the three favourite
-disciples. Next to St. James, St. Matthew, St. Bartholomew, and a
-young beardless apostle, probably St. Philip.</p>
-
-<p>On the left hand of our Saviour is St. Andrew; and next to him,
-St. James Minor (the two St. Jameses bearing the traditional resemblance
-to Christ); then St. Simon and St. Jude; and lastly, a young
-apostle, probably St. Thomas. (The reader will have the goodness to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</span>
-recollect that I give this explanation of the names and position of the
-eleven apostles as my own, and with due deference to the opinion of
-those who on a further study of the fresco may differ from me.) Opposite
-to the Saviour, and on the near side of the table, sits Judas, apart
-from the rest, and in the act of dipping his hand into the dish. It is
-evident that the moment chosen by the artist is, ‘He that dippeth with
-me in the dish, the same shall betray me.’</p>
-
-<p>Although the excuse may be found in the literal adoption of the words
-of the Gospel,<a id="FNanchor_239" href="#Footnote_239" class="fnanchor">[239]</a> it appears to me a fault to make St. John leaning, as one
-half asleep, on the lap of our Saviour, after such words have been
-uttered as must have roused, or at least ought to have roused, the young
-and beloved apostle from his supine attitude; therefore, we may suppose
-that Christ is about to speak the words, but has not yet spoken them.
-The position of Judas is caused by the necessity of placing him sufficiently
-near to Christ to dip his hand in the same dish; while to have
-placed him on the same side of the table, so as to give him the precedence
-over the more favoured disciples, would have appeared to the early
-artists nothing less than profane. Giotto has paid great attention to the
-heads, which are individually characterised, but there is little dramatic
-expression; the attention is not yet directed to Judas, who is seen in
-profile, looking up, not ugly in feature, but with a mean vicious countenance,
-and bent shoulders.</p>
-
-<p>The arrangement of the table and figures, so peculiarly fitted for a
-refectory, has been generally adopted since the time of Giotto in pictures
-painted for this especial purpose. The subject is placed on the upper
-wall of the chamber; the table extending from side to side: the tables
-of the monks are placed, as in the dining-rooms of our colleges, length-ways;
-thus all can behold the divine assembly, and Christ appears to
-preside over and sanctify the meal.</p>
-
-<p>In another Cenacolo by Giotto,<a id="FNanchor_240" href="#Footnote_240" class="fnanchor">[240]</a> which forms one of the scenes in the
-history of Christ, he has given us a totally different version of the
-subject; and, not being intended for a refectory, but as an action or
-event, it is more dramatic. It is evident that our Saviour has just<span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</span>
-uttered the words, ‘He that dippeth with me in the dish, the same
-shall betray me.’ Judas, who has mean, ugly, irregular features, looks
-up alarmed, and seems in the act of rising to escape. One apostle
-(Philip, I think) points at him, and the attention of all is more or less
-directed to him. This would be a fault if the subject were intended for
-a refectory, or to represent the celebration of the Eucharist. But here,
-where the subject is historical, it is a propriety.</p>
-
-<p>The composition of Duccio of Siena, in the Duomo at Siena, must
-have been nearly contemporary with, if it did not precede, those of
-Giotto (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1308); it is quite different, quite original in <i>motif</i> and
-arrangement. Seven apostles sit on the same side with Christ, and five
-opposite to him, turning their backs on the spectator; the faces are seen
-in profile. The attitude of St. John, leaning against our Saviour with
-downcast eyes, is much more graceful than in the composition of Giotto.
-St. Peter is on the right of Christ; next to him St. James Minor: two
-young apostles sit at the extreme ends of the table, whom I suppose to
-be St. Philip and St. Thomas: the other apostles I am unable to discriminate,
-with the exception of Judas, who, with regular features, has
-a characteristic scowl on his brow. Christ holds out a piece of bread in
-his hand: two of the apostles likewise hold bread, and two others hold
-a cup; the rest look attentive or pensive, but the general character of
-the heads is deficient in elevation. The moment chosen may be the
-distribution of the bread and wine; but, to me, it rather expresses the
-commencement of the meal, and our Saviour’s address: ‘With desire
-have I desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer’ (Luke
-xxii. 15). The next compartment of the same series, which represents
-the apostles seated in a group before Christ, and listening with upturned
-faces and the most profound attention to his last words, has much more
-of character, solemnity, and beauty, than the Last Supper. Judas is
-here omitted; ‘for he, having received the sop, went immediately
-out.’</p>
-
-<p>Angelico da Fiesole, in his life of Christ, has been careful to distinguish
-between the detection of Judas and the institution of the
-Eucharist.<a id="FNanchor_241" href="#Footnote_241" class="fnanchor">[241]</a> He has given us both scenes. In the first compartment,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</span>
-John is leaning down with his face to the Saviour; the back of his head
-only is seen, and he appears too unmindful of what is going forward.
-The other apostles are well discriminated, the usual type strictly followed
-in Peter, Andrew, James Major and James Minor. To the right of
-Christ are Peter, Andrew, Bartholomew; to the left, James Minor.
-Four turn their backs, and two young apostles stand on each side,—I
-presume Thomas and Philip; they seem to be waiting on the rest:
-Judas dips his hand in the dish. I suppose the moment to be the same
-as in the composition of Duccio.</p>
-
-<p>But in the next compartment the <i>motif</i> is different. All have risen.
-from table; it is no longer a repast, it is a sacred mystery; Christ is in
-the act of administering the bread to St. John; all kneel; and Judas
-is seen kneeling behind Christ, near an open door, and apart from the
-rest, as if he were watching for the opportunity to escape. To dispose
-of Judas in this holy ceremony is always a difficulty. To represent
-him as receiving with the rest the sacred rite is an offence to the pious.
-The expression used by St. John (xii. 30), ‘After he had received the
-sop he went out,’ implies that Judas was not present at the Lord’s
-Supper, which succeeded the celebration of the paschal supper. St.
-Luke and St. Mark, neither of whom were present, leave us to suppose
-that Judas partook, with the other disciples, of the mystic bread and
-wine; yet we can hardly believe that, after having been pointed out as
-the betrayer, the conscience-stricken Judas should remain to receive the
-Eucharist. Sometimes he is omitted altogether; sometimes he is stealing
-out at the door. In the composition of Luca Signorelli, which I saw at
-Cortona, all the twelve apostles are kneeling; Christ is distributing the
-wafer; and Judas, turning away with a malignant look, puts <i>his</i> wafer
-into his satchel. In the composition of Palmezzano, in the Duomo at
-Forlì, our Saviour stands, holding a plate, and is in the act of presenting
-the wafer to Peter, who kneels: St. John stands by the side of Christ,
-holding the cup: Judas is in the background; he kneels by the door,
-and seems to be watching for the opportunity to steal away.</p>
-
-<p>The fine composition, fine also in sentiment and character, of Ghirlandajo,
-was painted for the small refectory in the San Marco at Florence.
-The arrangement is ingenious: the table is of what we call the
-horse-shoe form, which allows all the figures to face the spectator; and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</span>
-at the same time takes up less room than where the table runs across
-the picture from side to side. Judas sits in front, alone; Christ has
-just designated him. ‘He it is to whom I shall give the sop when I
-have dipped it.’ (John xiii. 26.) Judas holds the sop in his hand,
-with an alarmed conscious look. Behind sits an ill-omened cat, probably
-intended for the fiend. John, to the left of Christ, appears to
-have swooned away. The other apostles express, in various ways,
-amazement and horror.</p>
-
-<p>It has been a question among critics, whether the purse ought to be
-placed in the hand of Judas when present at the Last Supper, because
-it is usually understood as containing the thirty pieces of silver: but
-this is a mistake; and it leads to the mistake of representing him as
-hiding the purse, as if it contained the price of his treachery. Judas
-carries the purse openly, for he was the steward, or purse-bearer, of the
-party ‘he had the bag, and bare what was put therein’ (John xii. 6,
-xiii. 29): and as the money-bag is also the attribute of St. Matthew
-the tax-gatherer, we must take care not to confound him with the
-traitor and thief. This brings me to the consideration of the subject as
-treated by Albert Dürer.</p>
-
-<p>In the series of large woodcuts from the Passion of our Saviour
-(styled ‘<i>La grande Passion</i>’), the Cenacolo is an event, and not a
-mystery. John, as a beautiful youth, is leaning against our Saviour
-with downcast eyes; he does not look as if he had thrown himself down
-half asleep, but as if Christ had put his arm around him, and drawn and
-pressed him fondly towards him. On the right is Peter: the other
-apostles are not easily discriminated, but they have all that sort of
-<i>grandiose</i> ugliness which is so full of character, and so particularly the
-characteristic of the artist: the apostle seated in front in a cowering
-attitude, holding the purse which he seems anxious to conceal, and
-looking up apprehensively, I suppose to be Judas.</p>
-
-<p>In the smaller set of woodcuts (‘<i>La petite Passion</i>’) I believe the
-apostle with the purse in the foreground to be St. Matthew; while the
-ugly, lank-haired personage behind Christ, who looks as if about to
-steal away, is probably intended for Judas: one of the apostles has laid
-hold of him, and seems to say, ‘Thou art the man!’</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</span></p>
-
-<p>There is a third Cenacolo, by Albert Dürer, which plainly represents
-the Eucharist. The cup only is on the table, and Judas is omitted.</p>
-
-<p>In a Cenacolo by another old German, Judas is in the act of receiving
-the sop which Christ is putting into his mouth; and at the same time
-he is <i>hiding</i> the purse:—a mistake, as I have already observed.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>These examples must suffice to give some idea of the manner in
-which this subject was generally treated by the early German and
-Italian artists. But, whether presented before us as a dramatic scene
-expressing individual character, or as an historical event memorable in
-the life of Christ, or as a religious rite of awful and mysterious import—all
-the examples I have mentioned are in some respects deficient.
-We have the feeling, that, whatever may be the merit in sentiment, in
-intention, in detail, what has been attempted has <i>not</i> been achieved.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>When Leonardo da Vinci, the greatest thinker as well as the greatest
-painter of his age, brought all the resources of his wonderful mind to
-bear on the subject, then sprang forth a creation so consummate, that
-since that time it has been at once the wonder and the despair of those
-who have followed in the same path. True, the work of his hand is
-perishing—will soon have perished utterly. I remember well, standing
-before this wreck of a glorious presence, so touched by its pale, shadowy,
-and yet divine significance, and by its hopelessly impending ruin, that
-the tears sprang involuntarily. Fortunately for us, multiplied copies
-have preserved at least the intention of the artist in his work. We can
-judge of what it <i>has</i> been, and take that for our text and for our
-theme.</p>
-
-<p>The purpose being the decoration of a refectory in a rich convent,
-the chamber lofty and spacious, Leonardo has adopted the usual arrangement:
-the table runs across from side to side, filling up the whole
-extent of the wall, and the figures, being above the eye, and to be
-viewed from a distance, are colossal; they would otherwise have appeared
-smaller than the real personages seated at the tables below.
-The moment selected is the utterance of the words, ‘Verily, verily, I
-say unto you, that one of you shall betray me:’ or rather the words
-have just been uttered, and the picture expresses their effect on the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</span>
-different auditors. It is of these auditors, his apostles, that I have to
-speak, and not of Christ himself; for the full consideration of the subject,
-as it regards <i>Him</i>, must be deferred; the intellectual elevation,
-the fineness of nature, the benign God-like dignity, suffused with the
-profoundest sorrow, in this divine head, surpassed all I could have conceived
-as possible in Art; and, faded as it is, the character there, being
-stamped on it by the soul, not the hand, of the artist, will remain while
-a line or hue remains visible. It is a divine shadow, and, until it fades
-into nothing, and disappears utterly, will have the lineaments of divinity.
-Next to Christ is St. John; he has just been addressed by Peter, who
-beckons to him that he should ask ‘of whom the Lord spake:’—his
-disconsolate attitude, as he has raised himself to reply, and leans his
-clasped hands on the table, the almost feminine sweetness of his countenance,
-express the character of this gentle and amiable apostle. Peter,
-leaning from behind, is all fire and energy; Judas, who knows full well
-of whom the Saviour spake, starts back amazed, oversetting the salt;
-his fingers clutch the bag, of which he has the charge, with that action
-which Dante describes as characteristic of the avaricious:—</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza"><div lang="it">
-    <div class="verse indent8">Questi risurgeranno dal sepolcro</div>
-    <div class="verse indent8">Col pugno chiuso.</div>
-  </div></div>
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent0">These from the tomb with clenchèd grasp shall rise.</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>His face is seen in profile, and cast into shadow: without being
-vulgar, or even ugly, it is hateful. St. Andrew, with his long grey
-beard, lifts up his hands, expressing the wonder of a simple-hearted old
-man. St. James Minor, resembling the Saviour in his mild features,
-and the form of his beard and hair, lays his hand on the shoulder of
-St. Peter—the expression is, ‘<i>Can</i> it be possible? Have we heard
-aright?’ Bartholomew, at the extreme end of the table, has risen
-perturbed from his seat; he leans forward with a look of eager attention,
-the lips parted; he is impatient to hear more. (The fine copy of
-Uggione, in the Royal Academy, does not give this anxious look—he
-is attentive only.) On the left of our Saviour is St. James Major, who
-has also a family resemblance to Christ; his arms are outstretched, he
-shrinks back, he repels the thought with horror. The vivacity of the
-action and expression are wonderfully true and characteristic. (Morghen,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</span>
-the engraver, erroneously supposed this to represent St. Thomas,
-and placed on the border of his robe an inscription fixing the identity;
-which inscription, as Bossi asserts, never did exist in the original picture.)
-St. Thomas is behind St. James, rather young, with a short
-beard; he holds up his hand, threatening—‘If there be indeed such
-a wretch, let him look to it.’ Philip, young and with a beautiful head,
-lays his hand on his heart: he protests his love, his truth. Matthew,
-also beardless, has more elegance, as one who belonged to a more
-educated class than the rest; he turns to Jude and points to our
-Saviour, as if about to repeat his words, ‘Do you hear what he says?’
-Simon and Jude sit together (Leonardo has followed the tradition which
-makes them old and brothers); Jude expresses consternation; Simon,
-with his hands stretched out, a painful anxiety.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>To understand the wonderful skill with which this composition has
-been arranged, it ought to be studied long and minutely; and, to appreciate
-its relative excellence, it ought to be compared with other productions
-of the same period. Leonardo has contrived to break the
-formality of the line of heads without any apparent artifice, and without
-disturbing the grand simplicity of the usual order; and he has vanquished
-the difficulties in regard to the position of Judas, without making him
-too prominent. He has imparted to a solemn scene sufficient movement
-and variety of action, without detracting from its dignity and pathos;
-he has kept the expression of each head true to the traditional character,
-without exaggeration, without effort. To have done this, to have been
-the first to do this, required the far-reaching philosophic mind, not less
-than the excelling hand, of this ‘miracle of nature,’ as Mr. Hallam
-styles Leonardo, with reference to his scientific as well as his artistic
-powers.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>And now to turn to another miracle of nature, Raphael. He has
-given us three compositions for the Last Supper. The fresco lately
-discovered in the refectory of Sant’ Onofrio, at Florence, is an early
-work painted in his twenty-third year (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1505). The authenticity
-of this picture has been vehemently disputed; for myself—as far as my
-opinion is worth anything—I never, after the first five minutes, had a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</span>
-doubt on the subject. As to its being the work of Neri de’ Bicci, I do
-not believe it possible; and as for the written documents brought forward
-to prove this, I turn from them ‘to the handwriting on the wall,’
-and there I see, in characters of light, <span class="smcap">Raphael</span>—and <i>him</i> only. It
-is, however, a youthful work, full of sentiment and grace, but deficient,
-it appears to me, in that depth and discrimination of character displayed
-in his later works. It is evident that he had studied Giotto’s fresco in
-the neighbouring Santa Croce. The arrangement is nearly the same.</p>
-
-<p>Christ is in the centre; his right hand is raised, and he is about to
-speak; the left hand is laid, with extreme tenderness in the attitude and
-expression, on the shoulder of John, who reclines upon him. To the
-right of Christ is St. Peter, the head of the usual character; next to him
-St. Andrew, with the flowing grey hair and long divided beard; St.
-James Minor, the head declined resembling Christ: he holds a cup.
-St. Philip is seen in profile with a white beard: (this is contrary to the
-received tradition, which makes him young; and I doubt the correctness
-of this appellation). St. James Major, at the extreme end of the
-table, looks out of the picture; Raphael has apparently represented
-himself in this apostle. On the left of Christ, after St. John, is St.
-Bartholomew; he holds a knife, and has the black beard and dark complexion
-usually given to him. Then Matthew, something like Peter,
-but milder and more refined. Thomas, young and handsome, pours
-wine into a cup; last, on the right, are Simon and Jude: Raphael has
-followed the tradition which supposes them young, and the kinsmen of
-our Saviour. Judas sits on a stool on the near side of the table, opposite
-to Christ, and while he dips his hand into the dish he looks round
-to the spectators; he has the Jewish features, red hair and beard, and a
-bad expression. All have glories; but the glory round the head of
-Judas is much smaller than the others.<a id="FNanchor_242" href="#Footnote_242" class="fnanchor">[242]</a></p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>In the second composition, one of the series of the life of Christ, in
-the Loggie of the Vatican, Raphael has placed the apostles round a
-table, four on each of the three sides; our Saviour presiding in the
-centre. John and Peter, who are, as usual, nearest to Christ, look to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</span>
-him with an animated appealing expression. Judas is in front, looking
-away from the rest, and as if about to rise. The other heads are not
-well discriminated, nor is the moment well expressed: there is, indeed,
-something confused and inharmonious, unlike Raphael, in the whole
-composition. I pass it over, therefore, without further remark, to come
-to the third example—a masterpiece of his later years, worthy as a
-composition of being compared with Leonardo’s; but, never having
-been painted, we can only pronounce it perfect as far as it goes. The
-original drawing enriches the collection of the Queen of England: the
-admirable engraving of Marc Antonio, said to have been touched by
-Raphael, is before me while I write. From the disposition of the unshod
-feet as seen under the table, it is styled by collectors ‘<i>il pezzo dei
-piedi</i>:’ from the arrangement of the table and figures it was probably
-designed for a refectory.</p>
-
-<p>In the centre is Christ, with both hands resting on the table; in the
-head, a melancholy resignation. Peter is on the right, his hand on his
-breast. John, on the left, places both hands on his breast, with a most
-animated expression,—‘You cannot believe it is I?’ Andrew has
-laid his hand on the shoulder of Peter, and leans forward with a sad
-interrogative expression. The head of Judas has features akin to those
-of the antique satyr, with the look askance of a detected villain: he has
-heard the words, but he dares not meet the eye, of his Divine Master:
-he has no purse. James Minor, next to John, with his hands extended,
-seems to speak sadly to Philip: ‘And they began to inquire among
-themselves, which of them should do this thing?’ The whole composition
-is less dramatic, has less variety of action and attitude, than that
-of Leonardo, but is full of deep melancholy feeling.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The Cenacolo of Andrea del Sarto, in the Convent of the Salvi near
-Florence, takes, I believe, the third rank after those of Leonardo and
-Raphael. He has chosen the self-same moment, ‘One of you shall
-betray me.’ The figures are, as usual, ranged on one side of a long
-table. Christ, in the centre, holds a piece of bread in his hand; on his
-left is St. John, and on his right St. James Major, both seen in profile.
-The face of St. John expresses interrogation; that of St. James, interrogation
-and a start of amazement. Next to St. James are Peter,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</span>
-Thomas, Andrew; then Philip, who has a small cross upon his breast.
-After St. John come James Minor, Simon, Jude, Judas Iscariot, and
-Bartholomew. Judas, with his hands folded together, leans forward,
-and looks down, with a round mean face, in which there is no power of
-any kind, not even of malignity. In passing almost immediately from
-the Cenacolo in the St. Onofrio to that in the Salvi, we feel strongly
-all the difference between the mental and moral superiority of Raphael
-at the age of twenty, and the artistic greatness of Andrea in the
-maturity of his age and talent. This fresco deserves its high celebrity.
-It is impossible to look on it without admiration, considered as a work
-of art. The variety of the attitudes, the disposition of the limbs beneath
-the table, the ample, tasteful draperies, deserve the highest praise; but
-the heads are deficient in character and elevation, and the whole composition
-wants that solemnity of feeling proper to the subject.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The Cenacolo of Titian, painted for Philip II. for the altar of his
-chapel in the Escurial, is also a notable example of the want of proper
-reverential feeling: two servants are in attendance; Judas is in front,
-averting his head, which is in deep shadow; a dog is under the table,
-and the Holy Ghost is descending from above.</p>
-
-<p>Niccolò Poussin has three times painted the Cenacolo. In the two
-series of the Seven Sacraments, he has, of course, represented the institution
-of the Eucharist, as proper to his subject; in both instances,
-in that pure and classical taste proper to himself. In the best and
-largest composition, the apostles are reclining on couches round the
-table. Christ holds a plate full of bread, and appears as saying, ‘Take,
-eat.’ Four are putting the morsel into their mouths. Judas is seen
-behind, with an abject look, stealing out of the room.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The faults which I have observed in pictures of this subject are
-chiefly met with in the Venetian, Flemish, and later Bolognese schools.
-When the <i>motif</i> selected is the institution of the Eucharist, it is a fault
-to sacrifice the solemnity and religious import of the scene in order to
-render it more dramatic: it ought not to be dramatic; but the pervading
-sentiment should be <i>one</i>, a deep and awful reverence. When
-Christ is distributing the bread and wine, the apostles should not be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</span>
-conversing with each other; nor should the figures exceed twelve in
-number, for it appears to me that the introduction of Judas disturbs the
-sacred harmony and tranquillity of the scene. When the <i>motif</i> is the
-celebration of the Passover, or the detection of Judas, a more dramatic
-and varied arrangement is necessary; but here, to make the apostles
-intent on eating and drinking, as in some old German pictures, is a
-fault. Even Albano has represented one of the apostles as peeping into
-an empty wine-pitcher with a disappointed look.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>It appears to me, also, a gross fault to introduce dogs and cats, and
-other animals; although I have heard it observed, that a dog gnawing
-a bone is introduced with propriety, to show that the supper is over, the
-Paschal Lamb eaten, before the moment represented.</p>
-
-<p>Vulgar heads, taken from vulgar models, or selected without any
-regard either to the ancient types, or the traditional character of the
-different apostles, are defects of frequent occurrence, especially in the
-older German schools; and in Titian, Paul Veronese, and Rubens, even
-where the heads are otherwise fine and expressive, the scriptural truth
-of character is in general sacrificed.</p>
-
-<p>It is a fault, as I have already observed, to represent Judas anxiously
-concealing the purse.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Holbein, in his famous Last Supper at Basle, and in the small one in
-the Louvre, has adopted the usual arrangement: the heads all want
-elevation; but here the attention fixes at once upon Judas Iscariot—the
-very ideal of scoundrelism—I can use no other word to express the
-unmitigated ugliness, vulgarity, and brutality of the face. Lavater has
-referred to it as an example of the physiognomy proper to cruelty and
-avarice; but the dissimulation is wanting. This base, eager, hungry-looking
-villain stands betrayed by his own looks: he is too prominent;
-he is in fact the principal figure;—a fault in taste, feeling, and
-propriety.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The introduction of a great number of figures, as spectators or
-attendants, is a fault; excusable, perhaps, where the subject is decorative
-and intended for the wall of a refectory, but not otherwise. In the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</span>
-composition of Paul Veronese, there are twenty-three figures; in that
-of Zucchero, forty-five; in that of Baroccio, twenty-one. These
-supernumerary persons detract from the dignity and solemnity of
-the scene.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Tintoretto has introduced several spectators, and among them an old
-woman spinning in a corner, who, while she turns her spindle, looks on
-with an observant eye. This alludes to an early tradition, that the
-Last Supper was eaten in the house of Mary, the mother of Mark the
-evangelist. But it is nowhere said that she was present, and therefore
-it is an impropriety to introduce her. Magnificent architecture, as in
-the picture by B. Peruzzi (who, by the way, was an architect), seems
-objectionable: but equally unsuitable is the poor dismantled garret in
-this picture of Tintoretto; for the chamber in which the scene took
-place was ‘the guest chamber,’ a large upper room, ready prepared;
-and as it was afterwards the scene of the Pentecost, it must have held
-more than a hundred persons.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>It is a fault, as I have already observed, to represent John as <i>asleep</i>
-on the breast or the shoulder of our Saviour.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Though countenanced by the highest authorities in Art, I believe it
-must be considered as a fault, or at least a mistake, to represent our
-Saviour and his apostles as seated, instead of reclining round the table.
-It is a fault, not merely because the use of the <i>triclinium</i> or couch at all
-social meals was general in the antique times,—for the custom of sitting
-upright was not so entirely extinct among the Jews but that it might
-on any other occasion have been admissible,—but, from peculiar circumstances,
-it became in this instance an impropriety. We know that
-when the Passover was first instituted the Jews were enjoined to eat it
-standing, as men in haste, with girded loins and sandalled feet: but
-afterwards it was made imperative that they should eat it in an attitude
-of repose, lying upon couches, and as men at ease; and the reason for
-this was, that all the circumstances of the meal, and particularly the attitude
-in which it was eaten, should indicate the condition of security
-and freedom which the Israelites enjoyed after their deliverance from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</span>
-the Egyptian bondage. In the then imperfect state of Biblical criticism,
-this fact seems to have been unknown to the earlier artists, or disregarded
-by those who employed and directed them. Among modern
-artists, Poussin and Le Sueur have scrupulously attended to it, even
-when the moment chosen is the mystical distribution of the bread and
-wine which succeeded the Paschal Supper. Commentators have remarked,
-that if Christ and his disciples <i>reclined</i> at table, then, supposing
-Christ to have the central place of honour, the head of John would have
-been near to the bosom of Christ: but under these circumstances, if
-Judas were sufficiently near to receive the sop from the hand of Christ,
-then he must have reclined next to him on the other side, and have taken
-precedence of Peter. This supposed a propinquity which the early
-Christian artists deemed offensive and inadmissible.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>In the composition by Stradano the arrangement of the table and
-figures is particularly well managed: all recline on couches; in the
-centre of the table is a dish, to which Christ extends his hand, and
-Judas, who is here rather handsome than otherwise, at the same time
-stretches forth his; the moment is evidently, ‘He that dippeth with me
-in the dish, the same shall betray me.’ Two circumstances spoil this
-picture, and bring it down to the level of the vulgar and the commonplace.
-In the background is seen a kitchen and the cooking of the
-supper. Under Judas crouches a hideous demon, with horns, hoof, and
-tail, visible only to the spectator.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>When the Cenacolo represents the Eucharist, it is, perhaps, allowable
-to introduce angels, because it was, and I believe is, an established
-belief, that, visible or invisible, they are always present at the Sacrament.
-The Holy Ghost descending from above is unsanctioned by
-Scripture, but may serve to mark the mystical and peculiar solemnity
-of the moment chosen for representation. It may signify, ‘He that
-receiveth me, receiveth <i>Him</i> that sent me.’ But where angels attend,
-or where the Spiritual Comforter comes floating down from above, then
-the presence of Judas, or of any superfluous figures as spectators or
-servitors, or of dogs or other animals, becomes a manifest impropriety.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</span></p>
-
-<p>The introduction of the Devil in person as tempting Judas is rendered
-pardonable by the naïveté of the early painters: in the later
-schools of art it is offensive and ridiculous.</p>
-
-<p>The Cenacolo of Baroccio, painted by order of Clement VIII.
-(1594), for his family chapel in the Santa Maria-sopra-Minerva, is
-remarkable for an anecdote relating to it. Baroccio, who was not
-eminent for a correct taste, had in his first sketch reverted to the
-ancient fashion of placing Satan close behind Judas, whispering in his
-ear, and tempting him to betray his Master. The Pope expressed his
-dissatisfaction,—‘<i>che non gli piaceva il demonio si dimesticasse tanto
-con Gesù Cristo</i>,’—and ordered him to remove the offensive figure. This
-is not the last example of the ancient manner of treatment. In the
-Cenacolo of Franceschini, painted nearly a century later, two angels
-are attending on the sacred repast, while Judas is in the act of leaving
-the room, conducted by Satan in person.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>It is surely a fault, in a scene of such solemn and sacred import, to
-make the head of Judas a vehicle for public or private satire, by giving
-him the features of some obnoxious personage of the time.<a id="FNanchor_243" href="#Footnote_243" class="fnanchor">[243]</a> This,
-according to tradition, has been done in some instances. Perhaps the
-most remarkable example that could be cited is the story of Andrea del
-Castagno, who, after having betrayed and assassinated his friend Domenico
-Veneziano, painted himself in the character of Judas: a curious
-instance of remorse of conscience.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Volumes might be written on the subject of the Last Supper. It
-extends before me, as I think and write, into endless suggestive associations,
-which, for the present, I dare not follow out: but I shall have
-occasion to return to it hereafter.<a id="FNanchor_244" href="#Footnote_244" class="fnanchor">[244]</a></p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</span></p>
-
-
-<h3 id="St_Barnabas"><span class="smcap">St. Barnabas.</span></h3>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p><i>Ital.</i> San Parnabà. <i>Fr.</i> Saint Barnabé. (June 11.)</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>St. Barnabas is usually entitled the <i>Apostle</i> Barnabas, because he
-was associated with the Apostles in their high calling; ‘and,’ according
-to Lardner, ‘though without that large measure of inspiration and
-high authority which was peculiar to the <span class="smcap">Twelve Apostles</span>, properly
-so called, yet he is to be considered as <i>Apostolical</i>, and next to them in
-sanctity.’ For this reason I place him here.</p>
-
-<p>St. Barnabas was a Levite, born in the island of Cyprus, and the
-cousin-german of Mark the evangelist. The notices of his life and
-character scattered through the Acts invest him with great personal
-interest. He it was who, after the conversion of Paul, was the first to
-believe in his sincerity, and took courage to present him to the other
-apostles, ‘who were afraid of him, and would not believe that he was
-a disciple.’ (Acts xv. 39.) Barnabas afterwards became the fellow-labourer
-of Paul, and attended him to Antioch. We are told that ‘he
-was a good man, full of the Holy Ghost and of faith;’ and to this the
-legendary traditions add, that he was a man of a most comely countenance,
-of a noble presence, grave and commanding in his step and
-deportment; and thence, when he and Paul were at Lystra together,
-‘they called Barnabas Jupiter, and Paul Mercurius.’ Subsequently,
-however, Paul and Barnabas fell into a dispute concerning Mark, and
-separated. The tradition relates that Barnabas and Mark remained for
-some time together, being united by the ties of friendship, as well as
-by those of kindred. Barnabas preached the Gospel in Asia Minor,
-Greece, and Italy; and there is an old legendary tradition that he was
-the first bishop of Milan. The legend also relates that everywhere he
-carried with him the Gospel of St. Matthew, written by the hand of
-the evangelist, preaching what was written therein; and when any
-were sick, or possessed, he laid the sacred writing upon their bosom,
-and they were healed; (a beautiful allegory this!) and it happened that
-as he preached in a synagogue of Judea against the Jews, they were
-seized with fury and took him, and put him to a cruel death. But
-Mark and the other Christians buried him with many tears.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</span></p>
-
-<p>The body of St. Barnabas remained in its place of sepulture till the
-days of the Emperor Zeno, when, according to Nicephorus, it was revealed
-in a dream to Antemius, that the apostle rested in a certain spot,
-and would be found there, with the Gospel of St. Matthew lying on
-his bosom. And so it happened: the remains were found; the Gospel
-was carried to the emperor at Constantinople; and a church was built,
-dedicated to St. Barnabas.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>It is, I presume, in consequence of his being the kinsman of St.
-Mark, that Barnabas is more popular at Venice than elsewhere, and
-that devotional figures of him are rarely found except in Venetian
-pictures. He is represented as a man of majestic presence, holding in
-his hand the Gospel of St. Matthew, as in a fine picture by Bonifazio;
-in his church at Venice he is represented over the high altar, throned
-as bishop, while St. Peter stands below.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>He often occurs in subjects taken from the Acts and the life of St.
-Paul. In the scene in which he presents Paul to the other apostles,
-he is the principal personage; but in the scene at Paphos, where
-Elymas is struck blind, and at Lystra, he is always secondary to his
-great companion.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_279" style="max-width: 75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_279.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c84"></a>84  Angel (Albert Dürer) <i>v.</i> <a href="#Page_79">p. 79</a>.</div>
-</div>
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="The_Doctors_of_the_Church">
-<span class="hid">The Doctors of the Church.</span></h2>
-<div class="figcenter illowe35" id="t_312">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/t_312.png" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption">The Doctors of the Church.</div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-
-<h3>I. THE FOUR LATIN FATHERS.</h3>
-
-<p>The Evangelists and the Apostles represented in Art the Spiritual
-Church, and took their place among the heavenly influences. The great
-Fathers or Doctors were the representatives of the Church Militant on
-earth: as teachers and pastors, as logicians and advocates, they wrote,
-argued, contended, suffered, and at length, after a long and fierce
-struggle against opposing doctrines, they fixed the articles of faith
-thereafter received in Christendom. For ages, and down to the present
-time, the prevailing creed has been that which was founded on the interpretations
-of these venerable personages. They have become, in
-consequence, frequent and important subjects of Art, particularly from
-the tenth century—the period when, in their personal character, they
-began to be regarded not merely as gifted and venerable, but as divinely
-inspired; their writings appealed to as infallible, their arguments accepted
-as demonstration. We distinguish them as the Latin and the
-Greek Fathers. In Western Art, we find the Latin Fathers perpetually
-grouped together, or in a series: the Greek Fathers seldom occur except
-in their individual character, as saints rather than as teachers.</p>
-
-<p>The four Latin Doctors are St. Jerome, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine,
-and St. Gregory. When represented together, they are generally distinguished
-from each other, and from the sacred personages who may be
-grouped in the same picture, by their conventional attributes. Thus
-St. Jerome is sometimes habited in the red hat and crimson robes of a
-cardinal, with a church in his hand; or he is a half-naked, bald-headed,
-long-bearded, emaciated old man, with eager wasted features, holding a
-book and pen, and attended by a lion. St. Ambrose wears the episcopal
-robes as bishop of Milan, with mitre and crosier, and holds his
-book; sometimes, also, he carries a knotted scourge, and a bee-hive is
-near him. St. Augustine is also habited as a bishop, and carries a
-book; he has often books at his feet, and sometimes a flaming heart
-transpierced by an arrow. The origin and signification of these symbols
-I shall explain presently.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp90" id="i_280" style="max-width: 93.75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_280.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><i>The Four Latin Fathers.</i></div>
-</div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</span></p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>In the most ancient churches the Four Doctors are placed after the
-Evangelists. In the later churches they are seen combined or grouped
-with the evangelists, occasionally also with the sibyls; but this seems a
-mistake. The appropriate place of the sibyls is neither with the evangelists
-nor the fathers, but among the prophets, where Michael Angelo
-has placed them.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Where the principal subject is the glory of Christ, or the coronation
-or assumption of the Virgin, the Four Fathers attend with their books
-as witnesses and interpreters.</p>
-
-<p>1. A conspicuous instance of this treatment is the dome of San Giovanni
-at Parma. In the centre is the ascension of Christ, around are
-the twelve apostles gazing upwards; below them, in the spandrils of
-the arches, as if bearing record, are the Four Evangelists, each with a
-Doctor of the Church seated by him as interpreter: St. Matthew is
-attended by St. Jerome; St. Mark, by St. Gregory; St. Luke, by St.
-Augustine; and St. John, by St. Ambrose.</p>
-
-<p>2. A picture in the Louvre by Pier-Francesco Sacchi (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1640)
-represents the Four Doctors, attended, or rather inspired, by the mystic
-symbols of the Four Evangelists. They are seated at a table, under a
-canopy sustained by slender pillars, and appear in deep consultation:
-near St. Augustine is the eagle; St. Gregory has the ox; St. Jerome,
-the angel; and St. Ambrose, the lion.</p>
-
-<p>3. In a well-known woodcut after Titian, ‘The Triumph of Christ,’
-the Redeemer is seated in a car drawn by the Four Evangelists; while
-the Four Latin Doctors, one at each wheel, put forth all their strength
-to urge it on. The patriarchs and prophets precede, the martyrs and
-confessors of the faith follow, in grand procession.</p>
-
-<p>4. In a Coronation of the Virgin, very singularly treated, we have
-Christ and the Virgin on a high platform or throne, sustained by
-columns; in the space underneath, between these columns, is a group
-of unwinged angels, holding the instruments of the Passion. (Or, as I
-have sometimes thought, this beautiful group may be the souls of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</span>
-Innocents, their proper place being under the throne of Christ.) On
-each side a vast company of prophets, apostles, saints, and martyrs,
-ranged tier above tier. Immediately in front, and on the steps of the
-throne, are the Four Evangelists, seated each with his symbol and book:
-behind them the Four Fathers, also seated. This picture, which as a
-painting is singularly beautiful, the execution finished, and the heads
-most characteristic and expressive, may be said to comprise a complete
-system of the theology of the middle ages.<a id="FNanchor_245" href="#Footnote_245" class="fnanchor">[245]</a></p>
-
-<p>5. We have the same idea carried out in the lower part of Raphael’s
-‘Disputa’ in the Vatican. The Four Doctors are in the centre of what
-may be called the <i>sublunary</i> part of the picture: they are the only
-seated figures in the vast assembly of holy, wise, and learned men
-around; St. Gregory and St. Jerome on the right of the altar, St.
-Ambrose and St. Augustine on the left. As the two latter wear the
-same paraphernalia, they are distinguished by having books scattered at
-their feet, on which are inscribed the titles of their respective works.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The Madonna and Child enthroned, with the Doctors of the Church
-standing on each side, is a subject which has been often, and sometimes
-beautifully, treated; and here the contrast between all we can conceive
-of virginal and infantine loveliness and innocence enshrined in heavenly
-peace and glory—and these solemn, bearded, grand-looking old Fathers,
-attending in humble reverence, as types of earthly wisdom—ought to
-produce a magnificent effect, when conceived in the right spirit. I can
-remember, however, but few instances in which the treatment is complete
-and satisfactory.</p>
-
-<p>1. One of these is a picture by A. Vivarini (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1446), now in the
-Academy at Venice. Here, the Virgin sits upon a throne under a rich
-canopy sustained by four little angels. She looks out of the picture
-with a most dignified, tranquil, goddess-like expression; she wears, as
-usual, the crimson tunic and blue mantle, the latter being of a most
-brilliant azure; on her brow, a magnificent jewelled crown; the Divine
-Child stands on her knee, and raises his little hand to bless the worshipper.
-To the right of the Virgin, and on the platform of her throne,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</span>
-stands St. Jerome, robed as cardinal, and bearing his church; with St.
-Gregory, habited as pope. To the left stands St. Ambrose, holding his
-crosier and knotted scourge, and St. Augustine with his book. This is
-a wonderful picture, and, as a specimen of the early Venetian school,
-unequalled. The accuracy of imitation, the dazzling colour, the splendid
-dresses and accessories, the grave beauty of the Madonna, the divine
-benignity of the Infant Redeemer, and the sternly thoughtful heads of
-the old Doctors, are not only positively fine, but have a relative interest
-and value as being stamped with that very peculiar character which belonged
-to the Vivarini and their immediate followers. It was painted
-for the Scuola della Carità.<a id="FNanchor_246" href="#Footnote_246" class="fnanchor">[246]</a></p>
-
-<p>2. A different and a singular treatment of the Four Fathers occurs
-in another Venetian picture.<a id="FNanchor_247" href="#Footnote_247" class="fnanchor">[247]</a> Christ is represented seated on a throne,
-and disputing with the Jewish doctors, who are eagerly arguing or
-searching their books. In front of the composition stand St. Jerome,
-St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, and St. Gregory; who, with looks fixed
-on the youthful Saviour, appear to be reverentially listening to, and
-recording, his words. This wholly poetical and ideal treatment of a
-familiar passage in the life of Christ, I have never seen but in this one
-instance.</p>
-
-<p>3. A third example is a picture by Moretto, of extraordinary beauty.<a id="FNanchor_248" href="#Footnote_248" class="fnanchor">[248]</a>
-The Virgin sits on a lofty throne, to which there is an ascent of several
-steps; the Child stands on her right; she presses him to her with
-maternal tenderness, and his arms are round her neck. At the foot of
-the throne stand St. Ambrose, with his scourge, and St. Augustine;
-St. Gregory, wearing the papal tiara, and without a beard, is seated on
-a step of the throne, holding an open book; and St. Jerome, kneeling<span class="pagenum" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</span>
-on one knee, points to a passage in it; he wears the cardinal’s dress
-complete. This picture is worthy of Titian in the richness of the effect,
-with a more sober grandeur in the colour. The Virgin is too much
-like a portrait; this is the only fault.<a id="FNanchor_249" href="#Footnote_249" class="fnanchor">[249]</a></p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>In the Chapel of San Lorenzo, in the Vatican, Angelico has painted
-eight Doctors of the Church, single majestic figures standing under
-Gothic canopies. According to the names <i>now</i> to be seen inscribed on
-the pedestals beneath, these figures represent St. Jerome,<a id="FNanchor_250" href="#Footnote_250" class="fnanchor">[250]</a> St. Ambrose,
-St. Augustine, St. Gregory, St. Athanasius, St. Leo, St. John Chrysostom,
-and St. Thomas Aquinas. St. John Chrysostom and St. Athanasius
-represent the Greek doctors. St. Leo, who saved Rome from
-Attila, is with peculiar propriety placed in the Vatican; and St.
-Thomas Aquinas, the angelic doctor, naturally finds a place in a chapel
-painted by a Dominican for a pope who particularly favoured the
-Dominicans,—Nicholas V.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The Four Fathers communing on the mystery of the Trinity, or the
-Immaculate Conception, were favourite subjects in the beginning of
-the seventeenth century, when church pictures, instead of being religious
-and devotional, became more and more theological. There is
-an admirable picture of this subject by Dosso Dossi.<a id="FNanchor_251" href="#Footnote_251" class="fnanchor">[251]</a> Above is seen
-the Messiah, as Creator, in a glory; he lays his hand on the head of
-the Virgin, who kneels in deep humility before him; St. Gregory sits
-in profound thought, a pen in one hand, a tablet in the other; St. Ambrose
-and St. Augustine are similarly engaged; St. Jerome, to whom
-alone the celestial vision appears to be visible, is looking up with awe
-and wonder. Guido, in a celebrated picture,<a id="FNanchor_252" href="#Footnote_252" class="fnanchor">[252]</a> has represented the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</span>
-Doctors of the Church communing on the Immaculate Conception of
-the Virgin. The figures are admirable for thoughtful depth of character
-in the expression, and for the noble arrangement of the draperies;
-above is seen the Virgin, floating amid clouds, in snow-white drapery,
-and sustained by angels; visible, however, to St. Jerome and St. Ambrose
-only.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Rubens has treated the Fathers several times: the colossal picture in
-the Grosvenor Gallery is well known, where they appear before us as
-moving along in a grand procession: St. Jerome comes last; (he should
-be first; but on these points Rubens was not particular:) he seems in
-deep contemplation, enveloped in the rich scarlet robes of a cardinal of
-the seventeenth century, and turning the leaves of his great book. In
-another picture we have the Four Fathers seated, discussing the
-mystery of the Eucharist; St. Jerome points to a passage in the
-Scriptures; St. Gregory is turning the page; they appear to be engaged
-in argument; the other two are listening earnestly. There is
-another picture by Rubens in which the usual attributes of the Fathers
-are borne aloft by angels, while they sit communing below.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>These examples will suffice to give a general idea of the manner in
-which the four great Doctors of the Western Church are grouped in
-devotional pictures. We will now consider them separately, each
-according to his individual character and history.</p>
-
-
-<h3 id="St_Jerome"><span class="smcap">St. Jerome.</span></h3>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p><i>Lat.</i> Sanctus Hieronymus. <i>Ital.</i> San Geronimo or Girolamo. <i>Fr.</i> St. Jérome, Hiérome, or
-Géroisme. <i>Ger.</i> Der Heilige Hieronimus. Patron of scholars and students, and more
-particularly of students in theology. (Sept. 30, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 420.)</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Of the four Latin Doctors, St. Jerome, as a subject of painting, is by
-far the most popular. The reasons for this are not merely the exceedingly
-interesting and striking character of the man, and the picturesque
-incidents of his life, but also his great importance and dignity as founder<span class="pagenum" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</span>
-of Monachism in the West, and as author of the universally received
-translation of the Old and New Testament into the Latin language
-(called ‘The Vulgate’). There is scarcely a collection of pictures in
-which we do not find a St. Jerome, either doing penance in the desert,
-or writing his famous translation, or meditating on the mystery of the
-Incarnation.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Jerome was born about <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 342, at Stridonium, in Dalmatia. His
-father, Eusebius, was rich; and as he showed the happiest disposition
-for learning, he was sent to Rome to finish his studies. There, through
-his own passions, and the evil example of his companions, he fell into
-temptation, and for a time abandoned himself to worldly pleasures.
-But the love of virtue, as well as the love of learning, was still strong
-within him: he took up the profession of law, and became celebrated
-for his eloquence in pleading before the tribunals. When more than
-thirty, he travelled into Gaul, and visited the schools of learning there.
-It was about this time that he was baptized, and vowed himself to perpetual
-celibacy. In 373, he travelled into the East, to animate his
-piety by dwelling for a time among the scenes hallowed by the presence
-of the Saviour; and, on his way thither, he visited some of the famous
-Oriental hermits and ascetics, of whom he has given us such a graphic
-account, and whose example inspired him with a passion for solitude
-and a monastic life. Shortly after his arrival in Syria, he retired to a
-desert in Chalcis, on the confines of Arabia, and there he spent four
-years in study and seclusion, supporting himself by the labour of his
-hands. He has left us a most vivid picture of his life of penance in
-the wilderness; of his trials and temptations, his fastings, his sickness
-of soul and body: and we must dwell for a moment on his own description,
-in order to show with what literal and circumstantial truth the
-painters have rendered it. He says, in one of his epistles, ‘Oh how
-often, in the desert, in that vast solitude which, parched by the sultry
-sun, affords a dwelling to the monks, did I fancy myself in the midst of
-the luxuries of Rome! I sate alone, for I was full of bitterness. My
-misshapen limbs were rough with sackcloth, and my skin so squalid
-that I might have been mistaken for an Ethiopian. Tears and groans
-were my occupation every day and all day long. If sleep surprised me<span class="pagenum" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</span>
-unawares, my naked bones, which scarcely held together, rattled on the
-earth.’ His companions, he says, ‘were scorpions and wild beasts;’
-his home, ‘a recess among rocks and precipices.’ Yet, in the midst of
-this horrible self-torture and self-abasement, he describes himself as
-frequently beset by temptations to sin and sensual indulgence, and
-haunted by demons: at other times, as consoled by voices and visions
-from heaven. Besides these trials of the flesh and the spirit, he had
-others of the intellect. His love of learning, his admiration of the
-great writers of classical antiquity,—of Plato and Cicero,—made him
-impatient of the rude simplicity of the Christian historians. He
-describes himself as fasting before he opened Cicero; and, as a further
-penance, he forced himself to study Hebrew, which at first filled him
-with disgust, and this disgust appeared to him a capital sin. In one of
-his distempered visions, he fancied he heard the last trumpet sounded
-in his ear by an angel, and summoning him before the judgment-seat of
-God. ‘Who art thou?’ demanded the awful voice. ‘A Christian,’
-replied the trembling Jerome. ‘‘Tis false!’ replied the voice, ‘thou
-art no Christian: thou art a Ciceronian. Where the treasure is, there
-will the heart be also.’ He persevered, and conquered the difficulties
-of Hebrew; and then, wearied by the religious controversies in the
-East, after ten years’ residence there, he returned to Rome.</p>
-
-<p>But neither the opposition he had met with, nor his four years of
-solitude and penance in the desert, had subdued the fiery enthusiasm of
-temperament which characterised this celebrated man. At Rome he
-boldly combated the luxurious self-indulgence of the clergy, and
-preached religious abstinence and mortification. He was particularly
-remarkable for the influence he obtained over the Roman women; we
-find them, subdued or excited by his eloquent exhortations, devoting
-themselves to perpetual chastity, distributing their possessions among
-the poor, or spending their days in attendance on the sick, and ready to
-follow their teacher to the Holy Land—to the desert—even to death.
-His most celebrated female convert was Paula, a noble Roman matron,
-a descendant of the Scipios and the Gracchi. Marcella, another of
-these Roman ladies, was the first who, in the East, collected together a
-number of pious women to dwell together in community: hence she is,
-by some authors, considered as the first nun; but others contend that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</span>
-Martha, the sister of Mary Magdalene, was the first who founded a
-religious community of women.</p>
-
-<p>After three years’ sojourn at Rome, St. Jerome returned to Palestine,
-and took up his residence in a monastery he had founded at Bethlehem.
-When, in extreme old age, he became sensible of the approach of death,
-he raised with effort his emaciated limbs, and, commanding himself to
-be carried into the chapel of the monastery, he received the Sacrament
-for the last time from the hands of the priest, and soon after expired.
-He died in 420, leaving, besides his famous translation of the Scriptures,
-numerous controversial writings, epistles, and commentaries.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>We read in the legendary history of St. Jerome, that one evening,
-as he sat within the gates of his monastery at Bethlehem, a lion entered,
-limping, as in pain; and all the brethren, when they saw the lion, fled
-in terror: but Jerome arose, and went forward to meet him, as though
-he had been a guest. And the lion lifted up his paw, and St. Jerome,
-on examining it, found that it was wounded by a thorn, which he extracted;
-and he tended the lion till he was healed. The grateful beast
-remained with his benefactor, and Jerome confided to him the task of
-guarding an ass which was employed in bringing firewood from the
-forest. On one occasion, the lion having gone to sleep while the ass
-was at pasture, some merchants passing by carried away the latter; and
-the lion, after searching for him in vain, returned to the monastery with
-drooping head, as one ashamed. St. Jerome, believing that he had devoured
-his companion, commanded that the daily task of the ass should
-be laid upon the lion, and that the faggots should be bound on his back,
-to which he magnanimously submitted, until the ass was recovered;
-which was in this wise. One day, the lion, having finished his task,
-ran hither and thither, still seeking his companion; and he saw a caravan
-of merchants approaching, and a string of camels, which, according to
-the Arabian custom, were led by an ass; and when the lion recognised
-his friend, he drove the camels into the convent, and so terrified the
-merchants, that they confessed the theft, and received pardon from
-St. Jerome.</p>
-
-<p>The introduction of the lion into pictures of St. Jerome is supposed
-to refer to this legend; but in this instance, as in many others, the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</span>
-reverse was really the case. The lion was in very ancient times adopted
-as the symbol befitting St. Jerome, from his fervid, fiery nature, and
-his life in the wilderness; and in later times, the legend invented to explain
-the symbol was gradually expanded into the story as given above.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Representations of St. Jerome, in pictures, prints, and sculpture, are
-so numerous that it were in vain to attempt to give any detailed account
-of them, even of the most remarkable. All, however, may be included
-under the following classification, and, according to the descriptions
-given, may be easily recognised.</p>
-
-<p>The devotional subjects and single figures represent St. Jerome in
-one of his three great characters. 1. As Patron Saint and Doctor of
-the Church. 2. As Translator and Commentator of the Scriptures.
-3. As Penitent. As Doctor of the Church, and teacher, he enters into
-every scheme of decoration, and finds a place in all sacred buildings.
-As Saint and Penitent, he is chiefly to be found in the convents and
-churches of the Jeronymites, who claim him as their Patriarch.</p>
-
-<p>When placed before us as the patron saint and father of divinity, he
-is usually standing full length, either habited in the cardinal’s robes, or
-with the cardinal’s hat lying at his feet. It may be necessary to
-observe, that there is no historical authority for making St. Jerome a
-cardinal. Cardinal-priests were not ordained till three centuries later;
-but as the other fathers were all of high ecclesiastical rank, and as St.
-Jerome obstinately refused all such distinction, it has been thought
-necessary, for the sake of his dignity, to make him a cardinal: another
-reason may be, that he performed, in the court of Pope Dalmasius, those
-offices since discharged by the cardinal-deacon. In some of the old
-Venetian pictures, instead of the official robes of a cardinal, he is habited
-in loose ample red drapery, part of which is thrown over his head.
-When represented with his head uncovered, his forehead is lofty and
-bald, his beard is very long, flowing even to his girdle; his features fine
-and sharp, his nose aquiline. In his hand he holds a book or a scroll,
-and frequently the emblematical church, of which he was the great
-support and luminary: and, to make the application stronger and clearer,
-rays of light are seen issuing from the door of the church.</p>
-
-<p>1. A signal instance of the treatment of Jerome as patron saint<span class="pagenum" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</span>
-occurs in a fine picture by Wohlgemuth, the master of Albert Dürer.<a id="FNanchor_253" href="#Footnote_253" class="fnanchor">[253]</a>
-It is an altar-piece representing the glorification of the saint, and
-consists of three compartments. In the centre, St. Jerome <i>stands</i> on a
-magnificent throne, and lays his left hand on the head of a lion, raised
-up on his hind legs: the donors of the picture, a man and a woman,
-kneel in front; on each side are windows opening on a landscape,
-wherein various incidents of the life of St. Jerome are represented; on
-the right, his Penance in the Wilderness and his Landing at Cyprus;
-and on the left, the merchants who had carried off the ass bring propitiatory
-gifts, which the saint rejects, and other men are seen felling
-wood and loading the lion. On the inner shutters or wings of the
-central picture, are represented, on the right, the three other doctors,—St.
-Augustine, with the flaming heart; St. Ambrose, with the bee-hive;
-both habited as bishops; and St. Gregory, wearing his tiara, and
-holding a large book (his famous Homilies) in his hand. On the left,
-three apostles with their proper attributes, St. Andrew, St. Thomas,
-and St. Bartholomew; on the other side are represented, to the right,
-St. Henry II. holding a church (the cathedral of Bamberg), and a sword,
-his proper attributes; and his wife St. Cunegunda.<a id="FNanchor_254" href="#Footnote_254" class="fnanchor">[254]</a> On the left
-St. Elizabeth of Hungary and St. Martin. There are besides, to close
-in the whole, two outer doors: on the inner side, to the right, St.
-Joseph and St. Kilian;<a id="FNanchor_255" href="#Footnote_255" class="fnanchor">[255]</a> on the left, St. Catherine and St. Ursula; and
-on the exterior of the whole the mass of St. Gregory, with various personages
-and objects connected with the Passion of Christ. The whole
-is about six feet high, dated 1511, and may bear a comparison, for
-elaborate and multifarious detail and exquisite painting, with the famous
-Van Eyck altar-piece in St. John’s Church at Ghent.<a id="FNanchor_256" href="#Footnote_256" class="fnanchor">[256]</a></p>
-
-<p>2. In his character of patron, St. Jerome is a frequent subject of
-sculpture. There is a Gothic figure of him in Henry the Seventh’s
-Chapel, habited in the cardinal’s robes, the lion fawning upon him.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</span></p>
-
-<p>When St. Jerome is represented in his second great character, as
-the translator of the Scriptures, he is usually seated in a cave or in a
-cell, busied in reading or in writing; he wears a loose robe thrown
-over his wasted form; and either he looks down intent on his book, or
-he looks up as if awaiting heavenly inspiration: sometimes an angel is
-dictating to him.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>1. In an old Italian print, which I have seen, he is seated on the
-ground reading, in <i>spectacles</i>;—an anachronism frequent in the old
-painters. Sometimes he is seated under the shade of a tree; or within
-a cavern, writing at a rude table formed of a stump of a tree, or a board
-laid across two fragments of rock; as in a beautiful picture by Ghirlandajo,
-remarkable for its solemn and tranquil feeling.<a id="FNanchor_257" href="#Footnote_257" class="fnanchor">[257]</a></p>
-
-<p>2. Very celebrated is an engraving of this subject by Albert Dürer.
-The scene is the interior of a cell, at Bethlehem; two windows on the
-left pour across the picture a stream of sunshine, which is represented
-with wonderful effect. St. Jerome is seen in the background, seated
-at a desk, most intently writing his translation of the Scriptures; in
-front the lion is crouching, and a fox is seen asleep. These two animals
-are here emblems;—the one, of the courage and vigilance, the other
-of the wisdom or acuteness, of the saint. The execution of this print is
-a miracle of Art, and it is very rare. There is an exquisite little picture
-by Elzheimer copied from it, and of the same size, at Hampton
-Court. I need hardly observe, that here the rosary and the pot of
-holy water are anachronisms, as well as the cardinal’s hat. By Albert
-Dürer we have also St. Jerome writing in a cavern; and St. Jerome
-reading in his cell: both woodcuts.</p>
-
-<p>3. Even more beautiful is a print by Lucas v. Leyden, in which St.
-Jerome is reclining in his cell and reading intently; the lion licks his
-foot.</p>
-
-<p>4. In a picture by Lucas Cranach, Albert of Brandenburg, elector of
-Mayence (1527), is represented in the character of St. Jerome, seated
-in the wilderness, and writing at a table formed of a plank laid across
-two stumps of trees: he is in the cardinal-robes; and in the foreground
-a lion, a hare, a beaver, a partridge, and a hind, beautifully painted,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</span>
-express the solitude of his life. In the background the caravan of
-merchants is seen entering the gate of the monastery, conducted by the
-faithful lion.</p>
-
-<p>5. The little picture by Domenichino, in our National Gallery, represents
-St. Jerome looking up from his book, and listening to the
-accents of the angel. 6. In a picture by Tiarini,<a id="FNanchor_258" href="#Footnote_258" class="fnanchor">[258]</a> it is St. John the
-Evangelist, and not an angel, who dictates while he writes. 7. In a
-picture by Titian, St. Jerome, seated, holds a book, and gazes up at a
-crucifix suspended in the skies; the lion is drinking at a fountain. Out
-of twenty prints of St. Jerome after Titian, there are at least eight
-which represent him at study or writing.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>It is in the double character of Doctor of the Church, and translator
-of the Scriptures, that we find St. Jerome so frequently introduced
-into pictures of the Madonna, and grouped with other saints. Two of
-the most celebrated pictures in the world suggest themselves here as
-examples:—1. ‘The Madonna della Pesce’ of Raphael; where the
-Virgin, seated on a raised throne, holds the Infant Christ in her arms;
-on her right hand, the archangel Raphael presents the young Tobias,
-who holds the fish, the emblem of Christianity or Baptism. On the
-other side kneels St. Jerome, holding an open book, his beard sweeping
-to his girdle; the lion at his feet; the Infant Christ, while he bends
-forward to greet Tobias, has one hand upon St. Jerome’s book: the
-whole is a beautiful and expressive allegory.<a id="FNanchor_259" href="#Footnote_259" class="fnanchor">[259]</a> 2. Correggio’s picture,
-called ‘The St. Jerome of Parma,’ represents the Infant Christ on
-the knees of his mother: Mary Magdalene bends to kiss his feet: St.
-Jerome stands in front, presenting his translation of the Scriptures.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp90" id="i_293" style="max-width: 87.5em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_293.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c85"></a>85 St. Jerome doing Penance (Titian)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The penitent St. Jerome seems to have been adopted throughout the
-Christian Church as the approved symbol of Christian penitence, self-denial,
-and self-abasement. No devotional subject, if we except the
-‘Madonna and Child’ and the ‘Magdalene,’ is of such perpetual
-recurrence. In the treatment it has been infinitely varied. The scene<span class="pagenum" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</span>
-is generally a wild rocky solitude: St. Jerome, half naked, emaciated,
-with matted hair and beard, is seen on his knees before a crucifix,
-beating his breast with a stone. The lion is almost always introduced,
-sometimes asleep, or crouching at his feet; sometimes keeping guard,
-sometimes drinking at a stream. The most magnificent example of this
-treatment is by Titian:<a id="FNanchor_260" href="#Footnote_260" class="fnanchor">[260]</a> St. Jerome, kneeling on one knee, half supported
-by a craggy rock, and holding the stone, looks up with eager
-devotion to a cross, artlessly fixed into a cleft in the rock; two books
-lie on a cliff behind; at his feet are a skull and hour-glass; and the
-lion reposes in front. The feeling of deep solitude, and a kind of
-sacred horror breathed over this picture, are inconceivably fine and
-impressive. Another by Titian, but inferior, is in the Louvre; and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</span>
-there are at least twelve engravings of St. Jerome doing penance, after
-the same painter: among them a superb landscape, in which are seen
-a lion and a lioness prowling in the wilderness, while the saint is doing
-penance in the foreground. By Agostino Caracci there is a famous
-engraving of ‘St. Jerome doing penance in a cave,’ called from its
-size the <i>great</i> St. Jerome. But to particularise further would be endless:
-I know scarcely any Italian painter since the fifteenth century
-who has not treated this subject at least once.</p>
-
-<p>The Spanish painters have rendered it with a gloomy power, and
-revelled in its mystic significance. In the Spanish gallery of the
-Louvre I counted at least twenty St. Jeromes: the old German
-painters and engravers also delighted in it, on account of its picturesque
-capabilities.</p>
-
-<p>Albert Dürer represents St. Jerome kneeling before a crucifix,
-which he has suspended against the trunk of a massy tree; an open
-book is near it; he holds in his right hand a flint-stone, with which he
-is about to strike his breast, all wounded and bleeding from the blows
-already inflicted; the lion crouches behind him, and in the distance is
-a stag.</p>
-
-<p>The penitent St. Jerome is not a good subject for sculpture; the
-undraped, meagre form, and the abasement of suffering, are disagreeable
-in this treatment: yet such representations are constantly met with in
-churches. The famous colossal statue by Torrigiano, now in the
-Museum at Seville, represents St. Jerome kneeling on a rock, a stone
-in one hand, a crucifix in the other. At Venice, in the Frari, there is
-a statue of St. Jerome, standing, with the stone in his hand and the
-lion at his feet; too majestic for the Penitent. There are several other
-statues of St. Jerome at Venice, from the Liberi and Lombardi schools,
-all fine as statues; but the penitent saint is idealised into the patron-saint
-of penitents.</p>
-
-<p>When figures of St. Jerome as penitent are introduced in Madonna
-pictures, or in the Passion of Christ, then such figures are devotional,
-and symbolical, in a general sense, of Christian repentance.</p>
-
-<p>There is an early picture of the Crucifixion, by Raphael,<a id="FNanchor_261" href="#Footnote_261" class="fnanchor">[261]</a> in which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</span>
-he has placed St. Jerome at the foot of the cross, beating his breast
-with a stone(86).</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp90" id="i_295" style="max-width: 75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_295.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c86"></a>86  St. Jerome, as Penitent, in a Crucifixion (Raphael)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The pictures from the life of St. Jerome comprise a variety of
-subjects:—1. ‘He receives the cardinal’s hat from the Virgin:’
-sometimes it is the Infant Christ, seated in the lap of the Virgin, who
-presents it to him. 2. ‘He disputes with the Jewish doctors on the
-truth of the Christian religion;’ in a curious picture by Juan de
-Valdes.<a id="FNanchor_262" href="#Footnote_262" class="fnanchor">[262]</a> He stands on one side of a table in an attitude of authority:
-the rabbis, each of whom has a demon looking over his shoulder, are
-searching their books for arguments against him. 3. ‘St. Jerome,
-while studying Hebrew in the solitude of Chalcida, hears in a vision
-the sound of the last trumpet, calling men to judgment.’ This is a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</span>
-common subject, and styled ‘The Vision of St. Jerome.’ I have
-met with no example earlier than the fifteenth century. In general
-he is lying on the ground, and an angel sounds the trumpet from
-above. In a composition by Ribera he holds a pen in one hand and
-a penknife in the other: he seems to have been arrested in the very
-act of mending his pen by the blast of the trumpet: the figure of the
-saint, wasted even to skin and bone, and his look of petrified amazement,
-are very fine, notwithstanding the commonplace action. In a
-picture by Subleyras, in the Louvre, St. Jerome is gazing upwards,
-with an astonished look; three archangels sound their trumpets from
-above. In a picture by Antonio Pereda, at Madrid, St. Jerome not
-only hears in his vision the sound of the last trump, he <i>sees</i> the dead
-arise from their graves around him. Lastly, by way of climax, I may
-mention a picture in the Louvre, by a modern French painter, Sigalon:
-St. Jerome is in a convulsive fit, and the three angels, blowing their
-trumpets in his ears, are like furies sent to torment and madden the
-sinner, rather than to rouse the saint.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>While doing penance in the desert, St. Jerome was sometimes haunted
-by temptations, as well as amazed by terrors.</p>
-
-<p>4. Domenichino, in one of the frescoes in St. Onofrio, represents the
-particular kind of temptation by which the saint was in imagination
-assailed: while he is fervently praying and beating his breast, a circle
-of beautiful nymphs, seen in the background, weave a graceful dance.
-Vasari has had the bad taste to give us a penitent St. Jerome with
-Venus and Cupids in the background: one arch little Cupid takes aim
-at him;—an offensive instance of the extent to which, in the sixteenth
-century, classical ideas had mingled with and depraved Christian Art.<a id="FNanchor_263" href="#Footnote_263" class="fnanchor">[263]</a></p>
-
-<p>5. Guido. ‘St. Jerome translating the Scriptures while an angel
-dictates:’ life size and very fine (except the angel, who is weak, and
-reminds one of a water-nymph<a id="FNanchor_264" href="#Footnote_264" class="fnanchor">[264]</a>); in his pale manner.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>6. Domenichino. ‘St. Jerome is flagellated by an angel for preferring
-Cicero to the Hebrew writings:’ also in the St. Onofrio. The
-Cicero, torn from his hand, lies at his feet. Here the saint is a young
-man, and the whole scene is represented as a vision.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</span></p>
-
-<p>7. But St. Jerome was comforted by visions of glory, as well as
-haunted by terrors and temptations. In the picture by Parmigiano, in
-our National Gallery, St. Jerome is sleeping in the background, while
-St. John the Baptist points upwards to a celestial vision of the Virgin
-and Child, seen in the opening heavens above: the upper part of this
-picture is beautiful, and full of dignity; but the saint is lying stretched
-on the earth in an attitude so uneasy and distorted, that it would seem
-as if he were condemned to do penance even in his sleep; and the St.
-John has always appeared to me mannered and theatrical.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_297" style="max-width: 93.75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_297.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c87"></a>87  St. Jerome and the Lion (Coll’ Antonio da Fiore) Naples</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>8. The story of the lion is often represented. St. Jerome is seated
-in his cell, attired in the monk’s habit and cowl; the lion approaches,
-and lays his paw upon his knee; a cardinal’s hat and books are lying<span class="pagenum" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</span>
-near him; and, to express the self-denial of the saint, a mouse is peeping
-into an empty cup (87).<a id="FNanchor_265" href="#Footnote_265" class="fnanchor">[265]</a></p>
-
-<p>In another example, by Vittore Carpaccio, the lion enters the cell,
-and three monks, attendants on St. Jerome, flee in terror.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>9. The Last Communion of St. Jerome is the subject of one of the
-most celebrated pictures in the world,—the St. Jerome of Domenichino,
-which has been thought worthy of being placed opposite to the Transfiguration
-of Raphael, in the Vatican. The aged saint—feeble,
-emaciated, dying—is borne in the arms of his disciples to the chapel of
-his monastery, and placed within the porch. A young priest sustains
-him; St. Paula, kneeling, kisses one of his thin bony hands; the saint
-fixes his eager eyes on the countenance of the priest, who is about to
-administer the sacrament,—a noble dignified figure in a rich ecclesiastical
-dress; a deacon holds the cup, and an attendant priest the book and
-taper; the lion droops his head with an expression of grief; the eyes
-and attention of all are on the dying saint, while four angels, hovering
-above, look down upon the scene.</p>
-
-<p>Agostino Caracci, in a grand picture now in the Bologna Gallery,
-had previously treated the same subject with much feeling and dramatic
-power: but here the saint is not so wasted and so feeble; St. Paula is
-not present, and the lion is tenderly licking his feet.</p>
-
-<p>Older than either, and very beautiful and solemn, is a picture by
-Vittore Carpaccio, in which the saint is kneeling in the porch of a
-church, surrounded by his disciples, and the lion is seen outside.</p>
-
-<p>10. ‘The Death of St. Jerome.’ In the picture by Starnina he is
-giving his last instructions to his disciples, and the expression of solemn
-grief in the old heads around is very fine. In a Spanish picture he is
-extended on a couch, made of hurdles, and expires in the arms of his
-monks.</p>
-
-<p>In a very fine anonymous print, dated 1614, St. Jerome is dying
-alone in his cell (this version of the subject is contrary to all authority
-and precedent): he presses to his bosom the Gospel and the crucifix;
-the lion looks up in his face roaring, and angels bear away his soul to
-heaven.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</span></p>
-
-<p>11. ‘The Obsequies of St. Jerome.’ In the picture by Vittore
-Carpaccio, the saint is extended on the ground before the high altar,
-and the priests around are kneeling in various attitudes of grief or
-devotion. The lion is seen on one side.<a id="FNanchor_266" href="#Footnote_266" class="fnanchor">[266]</a></p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>I will mention here some other pictures in which St. Jerome figures
-as the principal personage.</p>
-
-<p>St. Jerome introducing Charles V.
-into Paradise is the subject of a large
-fresco, by Luca Giordano, on the staircase
-of the Escurial.</p>
-
-<p>St. Jerome conversing with two
-nuns, probably intended for St. Paula
-and St. Marcella.<a id="FNanchor_267" href="#Footnote_267" class="fnanchor">[267]</a></p>
-
-<p>The sleep of St. Jerome. He is
-watched by two angels, one of whom,
-with his finger on his lip, commands
-silence.<a id="FNanchor_268" href="#Footnote_268" class="fnanchor">[268]</a></p>
-
-
-<div class="figleft illowp40" id="i_299" style="max-width: 31.25em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_299.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c88"></a>88  Venetian St. Jerome</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>It is worth remarking, that in the
-old Venetian pictures St. Jerome does
-not wear the proper habit and hat of
-a cardinal, but an ample scarlet robe,
-part of which is thrown over his head
-as a hood (88).</p>
-
-<p class="p2">The history of St. Jerome, in a
-series, is often found in the churches
-and convents of the Jeronymites, and
-generally consists of the following subjects,
-of which the fourth and sixth are
-often omitted:—</p>
-
-<p>1. He is baptized. 2. He receives the cardinal’s hat from the Virgin.
-3. He does penance in the desert, beating his breast with a stone. 4.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</span>
-He meets St. Augustine. 5. He is studying or writing in a cell. 6.
-He builds the convent at Bethlehem. 7. He heals the wounded lion.
-8. He receives the Last Sacrament. 9. He dies in the presence of his
-disciples. 10. He is buried.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Considering that St. Jerome has ever been venerated as one of the
-great lights of the Church, it is singular that so few churches are dedicated
-to him. There is one at Rome, erected, according to tradition, on
-the very spot where stood the house of Santa Paula, where she entertained
-St. Jerome during his sojourn at Rome in 382. For the high
-altar of this church, Domenichino painted his masterpiece of the Communion
-of St. Jerome already described. The embarkation of Saint
-Paula, to follow her spiritual teacher St. Jerome to the Holy Land, is
-the subject of one of Claude’s most beautiful sea pieces, now in the collection
-of the Duke of Wellington; another picture of this subject, the
-figures as large as life, is in the Brera, by a clever Cremonese painter,
-Giuseppe Bottoni.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>St. Jerome has detained its long; the other Fathers are, as subjects
-of Art, much less interesting.</p>
-
-
-<h3 id="St_Ambrose"><span class="smcap">St. Ambrose.</span></h3>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p><i>Lat.</i> S. Ambrosius. <i>Ital.</i> Sant’ Ambrogio. <i>Fr.</i> St. Ambroise. <i>Ger.</i> Der Heilige Ambrosius.
-Patron Saint of Milan. (April 4, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 397.)</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>We can hardly imagine a greater contrast than between the stern, enthusiastic,
-dreaming, ascetic Jerome, and the statesman-like, practical,
-somewhat despotic <span class="smcap">Ambrose</span>. This extraordinary man, in whose
-person the priestly character assumed an importance and dignity till
-then unknown, was the son of a prefect of Gaul, bearing the same name,
-and was born at Treves in the year 340. It is said that, when an
-infant in the cradle, a swarm of bees alighted on his mouth, without
-injuring him. The same story was told of Plato and of Archilochus,
-and considered prophetic of future eloquence. It is from this circumstance
-that St. Ambrose is represented with the bee-hive near him.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</span></p>
-
-<p>Young Ambrose, after pursuing his studies at Rome with success,
-was appointed prefect of Æmilia and Liguria (Piedmont and Genoa),
-and took up his residence at Milan. Shortly afterwards the Bishop of
-Milan died, and the succession was hotly disputed between the Catholics
-and the Arians. Ambrose appeared in his character of prefect, to allay
-the tumult; he harangued the people with such persuasive eloquence
-that they were hushed into respectful silence; and in the midst a child’s
-voice was heard to exclaim, ‘Ambrose shall be bishop!’ The multitude
-took up the cry as though it had been a voice from heaven, and compelled
-him to assume the sacred office. He attempted to avoid the
-honour thus laid upon him by flight, by entreaties,—pleading that,
-though a professed Christian, he had never been baptized: in vain! the
-command of the emperor enforced the wishes of the people; and
-Ambrose, being baptized, was, within eight days afterwards, consecrated
-bishop of Milan. He has since been regarded as the patron saint of
-that city.</p>
-
-<p>He began by distributing all his worldly goods to the poor; he then
-set himself to study the sacred writings, and to render himself in all
-respects worthy of his high dignity. ‘The Old and the New Testament,’
-says Mr. Milman, ‘met in the person of Ambrose: the implacable
-hostility to idolatry, the abhorrence of every deviation from the
-established formulary of belief;—the wise and courageous benevolence,
-the generous and unselfish devotion to the great interests of humanity.’</p>
-
-<p>He was memorable for the grandeur and magnificence with which he
-invested the ceremonies of worship; they had never been so imposing.
-He particularly cultivated music, and introduced from the East the
-manner of chanting the service since called the Ambrosian chant.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Two things were especially remarkable in the life and character of
-St. Ambrose. The first was the enthusiasm with which he advocated
-celibacy in both sexes: on this topic, as we are assured, he was so persuasive,
-that mothers shut up their daughters lest they should be <i>seduced</i>
-by their eloquent bishop into vows of chastity. The other was his determination
-to set the ecclesiastical above the sovereign or civil power:
-this principle, so abused in later times, was in the days of Ambrose the
-assertion of the might of Christianity, of mercy, of justice, of freedom,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</span>
-over heathenism, tyranny, cruelty, slavery. The dignity with which he
-refused to hold any communication with the Emperor Maximus, because
-he was stained with the blood of Gratian, and his resolute opposition to
-the Empress Justina, who interfered with his sacerdotal privileges, were
-two instances of this spirit. But the most celebrated incident of his life
-is his conduct with regard to the Emperor Theodosius, the last great
-emperor of Rome;—a man of an iron will, a despot, and a warrior.
-That <i>he</i> should bend in trembling submission at the feet of an unarmed
-priest, and shrink before his rebuke, filled the whole world with an
-awful idea of the supremacy of the Church, and prepared the way for
-the Hildebrands, the Perettis, the Caraffas of later times. With regard
-to St. Ambrose, this assumption of moral power, this high prerogative
-of the priesthood, had hitherto been without precedent, and in this its
-first application it certainly commands our respect, our admiration, and
-our sympathy.</p>
-
-<p>Theodosius, with all his great qualities, was subject to fits of violent
-passion. A sedition, or rather a popular affray, had taken place in
-Thessalonica; one of his officers was ill-treated, and some lives lost.
-Theodosius, in the first moment of indignation, ordered an indiscriminate
-massacre of the inhabitants, and seven thousand human beings—men,
-women, and children—were sacrificed. The conduct of Ambrose on
-this occasion was worthy of a Christian prelate: he retired from the
-presence of the emperor, and wrote to him a letter, in which, in the
-name of Christ, of his Church, and of all the bishops over whom he had
-any influence, he denounced this inhuman act with the strongest expressions
-of abhorrence, and refused to allow the sovereign, thus stained
-with innocent blood, to participate in the sacraments of the Church;—in
-fact, excommunicated him. In vain the emperor threatened, supplicated;
-in vain he appeared with all his imperial state before the doors
-of the cathedral of Milan, and commanded and entreated entrance. The
-doors were closed; and even on Christmas-day, when he again as a
-suppliant presented himself, Ambrose appeared at the porch, and absolutely
-forbade his entrance, unless he should choose to pass into the
-sanctuary over the dead body of the intrepid bishop. At length, after
-eight months of interdict, Ambrose consented to relent, on two conditions:
-the first, that the emperor should publish an edict by which no<span class="pagenum" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</span>
-capital punishment could be executed till thirty days after conviction of
-a crime; the second, that he should perform a public penance. The
-emperor submitted; and, clothed in sackcloth, grovelling on the earth,
-with dust and ashes on his head, lay the master of the world before the
-altar of Christ, because of innocent blood hastily and wrongfully shed.
-This was a great triumph, and one of incalculable results—some evil,
-some good.</p>
-
-<p>Another incident in the life of St. Ambrose should be recorded to his
-honour. In his time, ‘the first blood was judicially shed for religious
-opinion’—and the first man who suffered for heresy was Priscilian, a
-noble Spaniard: on this occasion, St. Ambrose and St. Martin of Tours
-raised their protest in the name of Christianity against this dreadful
-precedent; but the animosity of the Spanish bishops prevailed, and
-Priscilian was put to death; so early were bigotry and cruelty the
-characteristics of the Spanish hierarchy! Ambrose refused to communicate
-with the few bishops who had countenanced this transaction: the
-general voice of the Church was against it.</p>
-
-<p>The man who had thus raised himself above all worldly power was
-endued by popular enthusiasm with supernatural privileges: he performed
-cures; he saw visions. At the time of the consecration of the
-new cathedral at Milan, a miraculous dream revealed to him the martyrdom
-of two holy men, Gervasius and Protasius, and the place where
-their bodies reposed. The remains were disinterred, conveyed in
-solemn procession to the cathedral, and deposited beneath the high
-altar; and St. Gervasius and St. Protasius became, on the faith of a
-dream, distinguished saints in the Roman calendar. Ambrose died at
-Milan, in 397, in the attitude and the act of prayer.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>There were many poetical legends and apologues relating to St. Ambrose
-current in the middle ages.</p>
-
-<p>It is related that an obstinate heretic who went to hear him preach,
-only to confute and mock him, beheld an angel visible at his side, and
-prompting the words he uttered; on seeing which, the scoffer was of
-course converted; a subject represented in his church at Milan.</p>
-
-<p>One day, Ambrose went to the prefect Macedonius, to entreat favour
-for a poor condemned wretch; but the doors were shut against him, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</span>
-he was refused access. Then he said, ‘Thou, even thou, shalt fly to
-the church for refuge, and shalt not enter!’ and a short time afterwards,
-Macedonius, being pursued by his enemies, fled for sanctuary to the
-church; but, though the doors were wide open, he could not find the
-entrance, but wandered around in blind perplexity till he was slain. Of
-this incident I have seen no picture.</p>
-
-<p>On another occasion, St. Ambrose, coming to the house of a nobleman
-of Tuscany, was hospitably received; and he inquired concerning
-the state of his host: the nobleman replied, ‘I have never known adversity;
-every day hath seen me increasing in fortune, in honours, in
-possessions. I have a numerous family of sons and daughters, who have
-never cost me a pang of sorrow; I have a multitude of slaves, to whom
-my word is law; and I have never suffered either sickness or pain.’
-Then Ambrose rose hastily from table, and said to his companions,
-‘Arise! fly from this roof, ere it fall upon us; for the Lord is not
-here!’ and scarcely had he left the house, when an earthquake shook
-the ground, and swallowed up the palace with all its inhabitants. I have
-seen this story in a miniature, but cannot at this moment refer to it.</p>
-
-<p>St. Ambrose falls asleep, or into a trance, while celebrating mass, and
-sees in the spirit the obsequies of St. Martin of Tours: the sacristan
-strikes him on the shoulder to wake him. This is the subject of a very
-old mosaic in his church at Milan.</p>
-
-<p>When St. Ambrose was on his death-bed, Christ visited him and
-comforted him; Honorat, bishop of Vercelli, was then in attendance on
-him, and having gone to sleep, an angel waked him, saying, ‘Arise, for
-he departs in this hour;’ and Honorat was just in time to administer
-the sacrament and see him expire. Others who were present beheld
-him ascend to heaven, borne in the arms of angels.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Devotional pictures of St. Ambrose alone as patron saint do not often
-occur. In general he wears the episcopal pallium with the mitre and
-crosier as bishop: the bee-hive is sometimes placed at his feet; but a
-more frequent attribute is the knotted scourge with three thongs. The
-scourge is a received emblem of the castigation of sin: in the hand of
-St. Ambrose it may signify the penance inflicted on the Emperor Theodosius;
-or, as others interpret it, the expulsion of the Arians from Italy,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</span>
-and the triumph of the Trinitarians. It has always this meaning, we
-may presume, when the scourge has three knots, or three thongs. I
-have seen figures of St. Ambrose holding two human bones in his hand.
-When this attribute occurs (as in a picture by <i>Vivarini</i>, <i>Venice Acad.</i>),
-it alludes to the discovery of the relics of Gervasius and Protasius.</p>
-
-<p>Among the few representations of St. Ambrose as patron saint, the
-finest beyond all comparison is that which adorns his chapel in the
-Frari at Venice, painted conjointly by B. Vivarini and Basaiti (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span>
-1498). He is seated on a throne, raised on several steps, attired in his
-episcopal robes and mitre, and bearing the triple scourge in his hand.
-He has a short grey beard, and looks straight out of the picture with an
-expression of stern power;—nothing here of the benignity and humility
-of the Christian teacher! Around his throne stands a glorious company
-of saints: on the right, St. George in complete armour; St. John
-the Baptist; a young saint, bearing a sword and palm, with long hair,
-and the most beautiful expression of mild serene faith, whom I suppose
-to be St. Theodore; St. Sebastian; and another figure behind, part of
-the head only seen. On the left, St. Maurice, armed; the three
-Doctors, St. Gregory, St. Augustine, St. Jerome, and two other saints
-partly seen behind, whose personality is doubtful. All these wait
-round St. Ambrose, as guards and counsellors round a sovereign; two
-lovely little angels sit on the lower step of the throne hymning his
-praise. The whole picture is wonderful for colour, depth, and expression,
-and shows to what a pitch of excellence the Vivarini family had
-attained in these characteristics of the Venetian school, long before it
-had become a school.</p>
-
-<p>Most of the single figures of St. Ambrose represent him in his most
-popular character, that of the stern adversary of the Arians. I remember
-(in the Frari at Venice) a picture in which St. Ambrose in his episcopal
-robes is mounted on a white charger, and flourishing on high his triple
-scourge. The Arians are trampled under his feet, or fly before him. I
-have seen an old print, in which he is represented with a short grey
-beard, stern countenance, and wearing the bishop’s mitre: underneath
-is the inscription ‘<i lang="la">Antiquis ejus imaginibus Mediolani olim depictis ad
-vivum expressa</i>;’ but it seems certain that no authentic portrait of him
-exists.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</span></p>
-
-<p>His church at Milan, the Basilica of Sant’ Ambrogio Maggiore, one
-of the oldest and most interesting churches in Christendom, was founded
-by him in 387, and dedicated to all the Saints. Though rebuilt in the
-ninth century and restored in the seventeenth, it still retains the form
-of the primitive Christian churches (like some of those at Rome and
-Ravenna), and the doors of cypress wood are traditionally regarded as
-the very doors which St. Ambrose closed against the Emperor Theodosius,
-brought hither from the ancient cathedral. Within this venerable
-and solemn old church may be seen one of the most extraordinary and
-best-preserved specimens of Mediæval Art: it is the golden shrine or
-covering of the high altar, much older than the famous <i>pala d’ oro</i> at
-Venice; and the work, or at least the design, of one man:<a id="FNanchor_269" href="#Footnote_269" class="fnanchor">[269]</a> whereas
-the <i>pala</i> is the work of several different artists at different periods. On
-the front of the altar, which is all of plates of gold, enamelled and set
-with precious stones, are represented in relief scenes from the life of
-our Saviour: on the sides, which are of silver-gilt, angels, archangels,
-and medallions of Milanese saints. On the back, also of silver-gilt, we
-have the whole life of St. Ambrose, in a series of small compartments,
-most curious and important as a record of costume and manners, as well
-as an example of the state of Art at that time. I have never seen any
-engraving of this monument, but I examined it carefully. In the centre
-stand the Archangels Michael and Gabriel, in the Byzantine style; and
-below them, St. Ambrose blesses the donor, Bishop Angelbertus, and
-the goldsmith Wolvinus. Around, in twelve compartments, we have
-the principal incidents of the life of St. Ambrose, the figures being, as
-nearly as I can recollect, about six inches high.</p>
-
-<p>1. Bees swarm round his head as he lies in his cradle. 2. He is
-appointed prefect of the Ligurian provinces. 3. He is elected Bishop
-of Milan in 375. 4. He is baptized. 5. He is ordained. 6. and 7. He
-sleeps, and beholds in a vision the obsequies of St. Martin of Tours.
-8. He preaches in the cathedral, inspired by angels. 9. He heals the
-sick and lame. 10. He is visited by Christ. 11. An angel wakes the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</span>
-bishop of Vercelli, and sends him to St. Ambrose. 12. Ambrose dies,
-and angels bear away his soul to heaven.</p>
-
-<p>I was surprised not to find in his church what we consider as the
-principal event of his life—his magnanimous resistance to the Emperor
-Theodosius. In fact, the grand scene between Ambrose and Theodosius
-has never been so popular as it deserves to be: considered merely
-as a subject of painting, it is full of splendid picturesque capabilities;
-for grouping, colour, contrast, background, all that could be desired.
-In the great picture by Rubens,<a id="FNanchor_270" href="#Footnote_270" class="fnanchor">[270]</a> the scene is the porch of the church.
-On the left the emperor, surrounded by his guards, stands irresolute,
-and in a supplicatory attitude, on the steps; on the right and above,
-St. Ambrose is seen, attended by the ministering priests, and stretches
-out his hand to repel the intruder. There is a print, after Andrea del
-Sarto, representing Theodosius on his knees before the relenting prelate.
-In the Louvre is a small picture, by Subleyras, of the reconciliation of
-Ambrose and Theodosius. In our National Gallery is a small and
-beautiful copy, by Vandyck, of the great picture by Rubens.</p>
-
-<p>As joint patrons of Milan, St. Ambrose and St. Carlo Borromeo are
-sometimes represented together, but only in late pictures.</p>
-
-<p>There is a statue of St. Ambrose, by Falconet,<a id="FNanchor_271" href="#Footnote_271" class="fnanchor">[271]</a> in the act of repelling
-Theodosius, which is mentioned by Diderot, with a commentary so characteristic
-of the French anti-religious feeling of that time,—a feeling
-as narrow and one-sided in its way as the most bigoted puritanism,—that
-I am tempted to extract it; only premising, that if, after the
-slaughter at Ismaël, Catherine of Russia had been placed under the ban
-of Christendom, the world would not have been the worse for such an
-exertion of the priestly power.</p>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p lang="fr">C’est ce fougneux évêque qui osa fermer les portes de l’église a Théodose, et à qui un
-certain souverain de par le monde [Frederic of Prussia] qui dans la guerre passée avoit une
-si bonne envie de faire un tour dans la rue des prêtres, et une certaine souveraine [Catherine
-of Russia] qui vient de débarrasser son clergé de toute cette richesse inutile qui l’empêchoit
-d’être respectable, auroient fait couper la barbe et les oreilles, en lui disant: ‘Apprenez,
-monsieur l’abbé, que le temple de votre Dieu est sur mon domain, et que si mon prédécesseur
-vous a accordé par grâce les trois arpens de terrain qu’il occupe, je puis les reprendre et vous
-envoyer porter vos autels et votre fanatisme ailleurs. Ce lieu-ci est la maison du Père commun<span class="pagenum" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</span>
-des hommes, bons ou méchans, et je veux entrer quand il me plaira. Je ne m’accuse point
-à vous; quand je daignerois vous consulter, vous n’en savez pas assez pour me conseiller sur
-ma conduite, et de quel front vous immiscez-veus d’en juger?’ Mais le plat empereur ne
-parla pas ainsi, et l’évêque savoit bien à qui il avoit à faire. Le statuaire nous l’a montré
-dans le moment de son insolent apostrophe.’</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>In Diderot’s criticisms on Art, which are often quoted even now,
-there is in general a far better taste than prevailed in his time, and
-much good sense; but a low tone of sentiment when he had to deal
-with imaginative or religious Art, and an intolerable coarseness—‘most
-mischievous foul sin in chiding sin.’</p>
-
-
-<h3 id="St_Augustine"><span class="smcap">St. Augustine.</span></h3>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p>St. Austin. <i>Lat.</i> Sanctus Augustinus. <i>Ital.</i> Sant’ Agostino. <i>Fr.</i> St. Augustin.
-(Aug. 28, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 430.)</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>St. Augustine, the third of the Doctors of the Church, was born at
-Tagaste, in Numidia, in 354. His father was a heathen; his mother,
-Monica, a Christian. Endowed with splendid talents, a vivid imagination,
-and strong passions, Augustine passed his restless youth in dissipated
-pleasures, in desultory studies, changing from one faith to another,
-dissatisfied with himself and unsettled in mind. His mother, Monica,
-wept and prayed for him, and, in the extremity of her anguish, repaired
-to the bishop of Carthage. After listening to her sorrows, he dismissed
-her with these words: ‘Go in peace; the son of so many tears will
-not perish!’ Augustine soon afterwards went to Rome, where he
-gained fame and riches by his eloquence at the bar; but he was still
-unhappy and restless, nowhere finding peace either in labour or in
-pleasure. From Rome he went to Milan; there, after listening for
-some time to the preaching of Ambrose, he was, after many struggles,
-converted to the faith, and was baptized by the bishop of Milan, in
-presence of his mother, Monica. On this occasion was composed the
-hymn called the ‘Te Deum,’ still in use in our Church; St. Ambrose
-and St. Augustine reciting the verses alternately as they advanced to
-the altar. Augustine, after some time spent in study, was ordained<span class="pagenum" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</span>
-priest, and then bishop of Hippo, a small town and territory not far
-from Carthage. Once installed in his bishopric, he ever afterwards
-refused to leave the flock intrusted to his care, or to accept of any
-higher dignity. His life was passed in the practice of every virtue: all
-that he possessed was spent in hospitality and charity, and his time was
-devoted to the instruction of his flock, either by preaching or writing.
-In 430, after he had presided over his diocese for thirty-five years, the
-city of Hippo was besieged by the Vandals; in the midst of the horrors
-that ensued, Augustine refused to leave his people, and died during the
-siege, being then in his seventy-sixth year. It is said that his remains
-were afterwards removed from Africa to Pavia, by Luitprand, king of
-the Lombards. His writings in defence of Christianity are numerous
-and celebrated; and he is regarded as the patron saint of theologians
-and learned men.</p>
-
-<p>Of his glorious tomb, in the Cathedral of Pavia, I can only say that
-its beauty as a work of art astonished me. I had not been prepared for
-anything so rich, so elegant in taste, and so elaborate in invention. It
-is of the finest florid Gothic, worked in white marble, scarcely discoloured
-by time. Augustine lies upon a bier, and angels of exquisite
-grace are folding his shroud around him. The basso-relievos represent
-the events of his life; the statues of the evangelists, apostles, and other
-saints connected with the history of the Church, are full of dignity and
-character. It comprises in all 290 figures. This magnificent shrine is
-attributed by Cicognara to the Jacobelli of Venice, and by Vasari to
-the two brothers Agostino and Agnolo of Siena; but he does not speak
-with certainty, and the date 1362 seems to justify the supposition of
-Cicognara, the Sienese brothers being then eighty or ninety years old.</p>
-
-<p>Single figures of St. Augustine are not common; and when grouped
-with others in devotional pictures, it is not easy to distinguish him from
-other bishops; for his proper attribute, the heart flaming or transpierced,
-to express the ardour of his piety or the poignancy of his repentance, is
-very seldom introduced: but when a bishop is standing with a book in
-his hand, or a pen, accompanied by St. Jerome, and with no particular
-attribute, we may suppose it to be St. Augustine; and when the title
-of one of his famous writings is inscribed on the book, it of course fixes
-the identity beyond a doubt.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</span></p>
-
-<p>1. B. Vivarini. St. Augustine seated on a throne, as patron saint,
-mitred and robed; alone, stern, and majestic.<a id="FNanchor_272" href="#Footnote_272" class="fnanchor">[272]</a></p>
-
-<p>2. Dosso Dossi. St. Augustine throned as patron, attended by two
-angels; he looks like a jovial patriarch.<a id="FNanchor_273" href="#Footnote_273" class="fnanchor">[273]</a></p>
-
-<p>3. F. Filippo Lippi. St. Augustine writing in his chamber; no
-emblem, no mitre; yet the <i>personalité</i> so marked, that one could not
-mistake him either for Ambrose or Jerome.<a id="FNanchor_274" href="#Footnote_274" class="fnanchor">[274]</a></p>
-
-<p>4. Andrea del Sarto. St. Augustine as doctor; before him stand
-St. Dominic and St. Peter Martyr; beside him St. Laurence, listening;
-in front kneel St. Sebastian and Mary Magdalen.<a id="FNanchor_275" href="#Footnote_275" class="fnanchor">[275]</a></p>
-
-<p>5. V. Carpaccio. St. Augustine standing; a fine, stern, majestic
-figure; he holds his book and scourge.<a id="FNanchor_276" href="#Footnote_276" class="fnanchor">[276]</a></p>
-
-<p>6. Paris Bordone. The Virgin and Child enthroned; the Virgin
-places on the head of St. Augustine, who kneels before her, the jewelled
-mitre.<a id="FNanchor_277" href="#Footnote_277" class="fnanchor">[277]</a></p>
-
-<p>7. Florigerio. St. Augustine, as bishop, and St. Monica, veiled,
-stand on each side of the Madonna.<a id="FNanchor_278" href="#Footnote_278" class="fnanchor">[278]</a></p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>As a <i>series</i> of subjects, the history of St. Augustine is not commonly
-met with; yet certain events in his life are of very frequent
-occurrence.</p>
-
-<p>I shall begin with the earliest.</p>
-
-<p>1. Monica brings her son to school; the master receives him; the
-scholars are sitting in a row conning their hornbooks. The names of
-Monica and Augustine are inscribed in the glories round their heads.
-This is a very curious little oval picture of the early part of the fourteenth
-century.<a id="FNanchor_279" href="#Footnote_279" class="fnanchor">[279]</a></p>
-
-<p>Benozzo Gozzoli has painted the same subject in a large fresco in the
-church of San Geminiano at Volterra (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1460). Monica presents
-her son to the schoolmaster, who caresses him; in the background a
-little boy is being whipped, precisely in the same attitude in which correction
-is administered to this day in some of our schools.</p>
-
-<p>2. St. Augustine under the fig-tree meditating, with the inscription,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</span>
-‘Dolores animæ salutem parturientes;’ and the same subject varied,
-with the inscription, <i>Tolle, lege</i>. He tells us in his Confessions, that
-while still unconverted and in deep communion with his friend Alypius
-on the subject of the Scriptures, the contest within his mind was such
-that he rushed from the presence of his friend and threw himself down
-beneath a fig-tree, pouring forth torrents of repentant tears; and he heard
-a voice, as it were the voice of a child, repeating several times, ‘<i>Tolle,
-lege</i>,’ ‘Take and read;’ and returning to the place where he had left
-his friend, and taking up the sacred volume, he opened it at the verse
-of St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, ‘Not in rioting and drunkenness,
-not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying; but put
-ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh.’
-Considering that this was the voice of God, he took up the religious
-profession, to the great joy of his mother and his friend.</p>
-
-<p>3. C. Procaccino. The Baptism of St. Augustine in the presence of
-St. Monica. This is a common subject in chapels dedicated to St.
-Augustine or St. Monica.<a id="FNanchor_280" href="#Footnote_280" class="fnanchor">[280]</a></p>
-
-<p>4. As the supposed founder of one of the four great religious communities,
-St. Augustine is sometimes represented as giving the rules to
-his Order: or in the act of writing them, while his monks stand around,
-as in a picture by Carletto Cagliari:<a id="FNanchor_281" href="#Footnote_281" class="fnanchor">[281]</a> both are common subjects in the
-houses of the Augustine friars. The habit is black.<a id="FNanchor_282" href="#Footnote_282" class="fnanchor">[282]</a></p>
-
-<p>5. St. Augustine dispensing alms, generally in a black habit, and
-with a bishop’s mitre on his head.</p>
-
-<p>6. St. Augustine, washing the feet of the pilgrims, sees Christ descend
-from above to have his feet washed with the rest; a large picture in
-the Bologna Academy by Desubleo, a painter whose works, with this
-one exception, are unknown to me. The saint wears the black habit of
-an Augustine friar, and is attended by a monk with a napkin in his
-hand. I found the same subject in the Louvre, in a Spanish picture of
-the seventeenth century; above is seen a church (like the Pantheon)
-in a glory, and Christ is supposed to utter the words, ‘<i>Tibi commendo
-Ecclesiam meam</i>.’<a id="FNanchor_283" href="#Footnote_283" class="fnanchor">[283]</a></p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</span></p>
-
-<p>7. St. Augustine, borne aloft by angels in an ecstatic vision, beholds
-Christ in the opening heavens above, St. Monica kneeling below. This
-fine picture, by Vandyck, is or was in the gallery of Lord Methuen at
-Corsham: and at Madrid there is another example, by Murillo: St.
-Augustine kneeling in an ecstasy sees a celestial vision; on one hand
-the Saviour crucified, on the other the Virgin and angels.</p>
-
-
- <div class="figcenter illowp56" id="i_312" style="max-width: 75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_312.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c89"></a>[89] The Vision of St. Augustine (Murillo)</div>
-</div>
-
-
-<p>This, however, is not the famous subject called, in general, 8. ‘The
-Vision of St. Augustine,’ which represents a dream or vision related<span class="pagenum" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</span>
-by himself. He tells us that while busied in writing his Discourse on
-the Trinity, he wandered along the sea-shore lost in meditation. Suddenly
-he beheld a child, who, having dug a hole in the sand, appeared
-to be bringing water from the sea to fill it. Augustine inquired what
-was the object of his task? He replied, that he intended to empty into
-this cavity all the waters of the great deep. ‘Impossible!’ exclaimed
-Augustine. ‘Not more impossible,’ replied the child, ‘than for thee,
-O Augustine! to explain the mystery on which thou art now meditating.’</p>
-
-<p>No subject from the history of St. Augustine has been so often
-treated, yet I do not remember any very early example. It was adopted
-as a favourite theme when Art became rather theological than religious,
-and more intent on illustrating the dogmas of churchmen than the
-teaching of Christ. During the 16th and 17th centuries we find it
-everywhere, and treated in every variety of style; but the <i>motif</i> does
-not vary, and the same fault prevails too generally, of giving us a
-material fact, rather than a spiritual vision or revelation. Augustine,
-arrayed in his black habit or his episcopal robes, stands on the sea-shore,
-gazing with an astonished air on the Infant Christ, who pauses, and
-looks up from his task, holding a bowl, a cup, a ladle, or a shell in his
-hand. Thus we have it in Murillo’s picture—the most beautiful
-example I have seen: the child is heavenly, but not visionary, ‘palpable
-to feeling as to sense.’</p>
-
-<p>In Garofalo’s picture of this subject, now in our National Gallery,
-Augustine is seated on a rock by the margin of the sea, habited in his
-episcopal robes, and with his books and writing implements near him;
-and while he gazes on the mysterious child, the Virgin appears amid a
-choir of angels above: behind Augustine stands St. Catherine, the
-patron saint of theologians and scholars: the little red figure in the
-background represents St. Stephen, whose life and actions are eloquently
-set forth in the homilies of St. Augustine: the introduction of St.
-Catherine, St. Stephen, and the whole court of heaven, gives the picture
-a visionary character. Rubens has painted this subject with all his
-powerful reality: here Augustine wears the black habit of his Order.
-Vandyck in his large grand picture has introduced St. Monica kneeling,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</span>
-thus giving at once the devotional or visionary character.<a id="FNanchor_284" href="#Footnote_284" class="fnanchor">[284]</a> Albert
-Dürer has designed and engraved the same subject. The most singular
-treatment is the classical composition of Raphael, in one of the small
-chiaro-scuro pictures placed significantly under the ‘Dispute of the
-Sacrament.’ St. Augustine is in a Roman dress, bare-beaded, and on
-horseback; his horse starts and rears at the sight of the miraculous child.</p>
-
-<p>There is something at once picturesque and mystical in this subject,
-which has rendered it a favourite with artists and theologians; yet there
-is always, at least in every instance I can recollect, something prosaic
-and literal in the treatment which spoils the poetry of the conception.</p>
-
-<p>9. ‘St. Augustine and St. Stephen bury ‘Count Orgaz’—the
-masterpiece of Domenico el Greco, once in the Cathedral of Toledo,
-now in the Madrid Gallery. This Conde de Orgaz, as Mr. Ford tells
-us in his Handbook, lived in 1312, and had repaired a church in his lifetime,
-and <i>therefore</i> St. Stephen and St. Augustine came down from
-heaven to lay him in his tomb, in presence of Christ, the Virgin, and all
-the court of heaven. ‘The black and gold armour of the dead Count
-is equal to Titian; the red brocades and copes of the saints are admirable;
-less good are the Virgin and celestial groups. I have before
-mentioned the reason why St. Augustine and St. Stephen are often
-represented in companionship.</p>
-
-<p>St. Monica is often introduced into pictures of her son, where she has,
-of course, the secondary place; her dress is usually a black robe, and a
-veil or coif, white or grey, resembling that of a nun or a widow. I
-have met with but one picture where she is supreme; it is in the Carmine
-at Florence. St. Monica is seated on a throne and attended by
-twelve holy women or female saints, six on each side. The very dark
-situation of this picture prevented me from distinguishing individually
-the saints around her, but Monica herself as well as the other figures
-have that <i>grandiose</i> air which belongs to the painter—Filippo Lippi.</p>
-
-<p>I saw in the atelier of the painter Ary Scheffer, in 1845, an admirable
-picture of St. Augustine and his mother Monica. The two figures, not
-quite full length, are seated; she holds his hand in both hers, looking
-up to heaven with an expression of enthusiastic undoubting faith;—<span class="pagenum" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</span>
-‘the son of so many tears cannot be cast away!’ He also is looking
-up with an ardent, eager, but anxious, doubtful expression, which seems
-to say, ‘Help thou my unbelief!’ For profound and truthful feeling
-and significance, I know few things in the compass of modern Art that
-can be compared to this picture.<a id="FNanchor_285" href="#Footnote_285" class="fnanchor">[285]</a></p>
-
-
-<h3 id="St_Gregory"><span class="smcap">St. Gregory.</span></h3>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p><i>Lat.</i> Sanctus Gregorius Magnus. <i>Ital.</i> San Gregorio Magno or Papa. <i>Fr.</i> St. Grégoire.
-<i>Ger.</i> Der Heilige Gregor. (March 12, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 604.)</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>The fourth Doctor of the Latin Church, St. Gregory, styled, and not
-without reason, Gregory the Great, was one of those extraordinary men
-whose influence is not only felt in their own time, but through long
-succeeding ages. The events of his troubled and splendid pontificate
-belong to history; and I shall merely throw together here such particulars
-of his life and character as may serve to render the multiplied representations
-of him both intelligible and interesting. He was born at
-Rome in the year 540. His father, Gordian, was of senatorial rank:
-his mother, Sylvia, who, in the history of St. Gregory, is almost as important
-as St. Monica in the story of St. Augustine, was a woman of
-rare endowments, and, during his childish years, the watchful instructress
-of her son. It is recorded that when he was still an infant she was
-favoured by a vision of St. Antony, in which he promised to her son
-the supreme dignity of the tiara. Gregory, however, commenced his
-career in life as a lawyer, and exercised during twelve years the office
-of prætor or chief magistrate of his native city; yet, while apparently
-engrossed by secular affairs, he became deeply imbued with the religious
-enthusiasm which was characteristic of his time and hereditary in his
-family. Immediately on the death of his father he devoted all the
-wealth he had inherited to pious and charitable purposes, converted his
-paternal home on the Celian Hill into a monastery and hospital for the
-poor, which he dedicated to St. Andrew: then, retiring to a little cell<span class="pagenum" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</span>
-within it, he took the habit of the Benedictine Order, and gave up all
-his time to study and preparation for the duties to which he had devoted
-himself. On the occasion of a terrific plague which almost depopulated
-Rome, he fearlessly undertook the care of the poor and sick. Pope
-Pelagius having died at this time, the people with one voice called upon
-Gregory to succeed him: but he shrank from the high office, and wrote
-to the Emperor Maurice, entreating him not to ratify the choice of the
-people. The emperor sent an edict confirming his election, and thereupon
-Gregory fled from Rome, and bid himself in a cave. Those who
-went in search of him were directed to the place of his concealment by
-a celestial light, and the fugitive was discovered and brought back to
-Rome.</p>
-
-<p>No sooner had he assumed the tiara, thus forced upon him against his
-will, than he showed himself in all respects worthy of his elevation.
-While he asserted the dignity of his station, he was distinguished by his
-personal humility: he was the first pope who took the title of ‘Servant
-of the Servants of God;’ he abolished slavery throughout Christendom
-on religious grounds; though enthusiastic in making converts, he set
-himself against persecution; and when the Jews of Sardinia appealed
-to him, he commanded that the synagogues which had been taken from
-them, and converted into churches, should be restored. He was the
-first who sent missionaries to preach the Gospel in England, roused to
-pity by the sight of some British captives exposed for sale in the market
-at Rome. Shocked at the idea of an eternity of vengeance and torment,
-if he did not originate the belief in purgatory, he was at least the first
-who preached it publicly, and made it an article of faith. In his hatred
-of war, of persecution, of slavery, he stepped not only in advance of his
-own time, but of ours. He instituted the celibacy of the clergy, one of
-the boldest strokes of ecclesiastical power; he reformed the services of
-the Church; defined the model of the Roman liturgy, such as it has
-ever since remained—the offices of the priests, the variety and change
-of the sacerdotal garments; he arranged the music of the chants, and he
-himself trained the choristers. ‘Experience,’ says Gibbon, ‘had shown
-him the efficacy of these solemn and pompous rites to soothe the distress,
-to confirm the faith, to mitigate the fierceness, and to dispel the dark
-enthusiasm of the vulgar; and he readily forgave their tendency to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</span>
-promote the reign of priesthood and superstition.’ If, at a period when
-credulity and ignorance were universal, he showed himself in some instances
-credulous and ignorant, it seems hardly a reproach to one in
-other respects so good and so great.</p>
-
-<p>His charity was boundless, and his vigilance indefatigable: he considered
-himself responsible for every sheep of the flock intrusted to him;
-and when a beggar died of hunger in the streets of Rome, he laid himself
-under a sentence of penance and excommunication, and interdicted himself
-for several days from the exercise of his sacerdotal functions.</p>
-
-<p>Such was St. Gregory the Great, the last pope who was canonised:
-celestial honours and worldly titles have often been worse—seldom so
-well—bestowed.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>During the last two years of his life, his health, early impaired by
-fasts and vigils, failed entirely, and he was unable to rise from his couch.
-He died in 604, in the fourteenth year of his pontificate. They still
-preserve, in the church of the Lateran at Rome, his bed, and the little
-scourge with which he was wont to keep the choristers in order.</p>
-
-<p>The monastery of St. Andrew, which he founded on the Celian Hill,
-is now the church of San Gregorio. To stand on the summit of the
-majestic flight of steps which leads to the portal, and look across to the
-ruined palace of the Cæsars, makes the mind giddy with the rush of
-thoughts. <i>There</i>, before us, the Palatine Hill—pagan Rome in dust:
-<i>here</i>, the little cell, a few feet square, where slept in sackcloth the man
-who gave the last blow to the power of the Cæsars, and first set his foot
-as sovereign on the cradle and capital of their greatness.</p>
-
-<p>St. Gregory was in person tall and corpulent, and of a dark complexion,
-with black hair, and very little beard. He speaks in one of his
-epistles of his large size, contrasted with his weakness and painful infirmities.
-He presented to the monastery of St. Andrew his own
-portrait, and those of his father, and his mother St. Sylvia: they were
-still in existence 300 years after his death, and the portrait of Gregory
-probably furnished that particular type of physiognomy which we trace
-in all the best representations of him, in which he appears of a tall,
-large, and dignified person, with a broad full face, black hair and eyebrows,
-and little or no beard.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</span></p>
-
-<p>As he was, next to St. Jerome, the most popular of the Four Doctors,
-single figures of him abound. They are variously treated: in general,
-he bears the tiara as pope, and the crosier with the double cross, in
-common with other papal saints; but his peculiar attribute is the dove,
-which in the old pictures is always close to his ear. He is often seated
-on a throne in the pontifical robes, wearing the tiara: one hand raised
-in benediction; in the other a book, which represents his homilies, and
-other famous works attributed to him: the dove either rests on his
-shoulder, or is hovering over his head. He is thus represented in the
-fine statue, designed, as it is said, by M. Angelo, and executed by Cordieri,
-in the chapel of St. Barbara, in San Gregorio, Rome; and in the
-picture over the altar-piece of his chapel, to the right of the high altar.
-In the Salviati Chapel, on the left, is the ‘St. Gregory in prayer,’ by
-Annibal Caracci. He is seen in front bareheaded, but arrayed in the
-pontifical habit, kneeling on a cushion, his hands outspread and uplifted;
-the dove descends from on high; the tiara is at his feet, and eight angels
-hover around:—a grand, finely-coloured, but, in sentiment, rather cold
-and mannered picture.<a id="FNanchor_286" href="#Footnote_286" class="fnanchor">[286]</a></p>
-
-<p>By Guercino, St. Gregory seated on a throne, looking upwards, his
-hand on an open book, in act to turn the leaves; the dove hovers at his
-shoulder: to the left stands St. Francis Xavier; on the right, and more
-in front, St. Ignatius Loyola. Behind St. Gregory is an angel playing
-on the viol, in allusion to his love and patronage of sacred music; in
-front an infant angel holds the tiara. The type usually adopted in
-figures of St. Gregory is here exaggerated into coarseness, and the
-picture altogether appears to me more remarkable for Guercino’s faults
-than for his beauties.<a id="FNanchor_287" href="#Footnote_287" class="fnanchor">[287]</a></p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Several of the legends connected with the history of St. Gregory are
-of singular interest and beauty, and have afforded a number of picturesque
-themes for Art: they appear to have arisen out of his exceeding popularity.
-They are all expressive of the veneration in which he was held
-by the people; of the deep impression left on their minds by his eloquence,
-his sanctity, his charity; and of the authority imputed to his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</span>
-numerous writings, which commonly said to have been dictated by
-the Holy Spirit.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>1. John the deacon, his secretary, who has left a full account of his
-life, declares that he beheld the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove
-perched upon his shoulder while he was writing or dictating his famous
-homilies. This vision, or rather figure of speech, has been interpreted
-as a fact by the early painters. Thus, in a quaint old picture in the
-Bologna Gallery, we have St. Gregory seated on a throne writing, the
-celestial dove at his ear. A little behind is seen John the deacon,
-drawing aside a curtain, and looking into the room at his patron with
-an expression of the most naïve astonishment.</p>
-
-<p>2. The Archangel Michael, on the cessation of the pestilence, sheathes
-his sword on the summit of the Mole of Hadrian. I have never seen
-even a tolerable picture of this magnificent subject. There is a picture
-in the Vatican, in which Gregory and a procession of priests are singing
-litanies, and in the distance a little <i>Mola di Adriano</i>, with a little angel
-on the summit;—curious, but without merit of any kind.</p>
-
-<p>3. The Supper of St. Gregory. It is related that when Gregory
-was only a monk, in the Monastery of St. Andrew, a beggar presented
-himself at the gate, and requested alms: being relieved, he came again
-and again, and at length nothing was left for the charitable saint to
-bestow, but the silver porringer in which his mother, Sylvia, had sent
-him a <i>potage</i>; and he commanded that this should be given to the
-mendicant. It was his custom, when he became pope, to entertain
-every evening at his own table twelve poor men, in remembrance of
-the number of our Lord’s apostles. One night, as he sat at supper with
-his guests, he saw, to his surprise, not twelve, but thirteen seated at his
-table. And he called to his steward, and said to him, ‘Did I not command
-thee to invite twelve? and behold, there are thirteen!’ And
-the steward told them over, and replied, ‘Holy Father, there are surely
-twelve only!’ and Gregory held his peace; and after the meal, he
-called forth the unbidden guest, and asked him, ‘Who art thou?’
-And he replied, ‘I am the poor man whom thou didst formerly relieve;
-but my name is the Wonderful, and through me thou shalt
-obtain whatever thou shalt ask of God.’ Then Gregory knew that he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</span>
-had entertained an angel (or, according to another version of the story,
-our Lord himself). This legend has been a frequent subject in painting,
-under the title of ‘The Supper of St. Gregory.’ In the fresco in
-his church at Rome, it is a winged angel who appears at the supper-table.
-In the fresco of Paul Veronese, one of his famous banquet-scenes,
-the stranger seated at the table is the Saviour habited as a
-pilgrim.<a id="FNanchor_288" href="#Footnote_288" class="fnanchor">[288]</a> In the picture painted by Vasari, his masterpiece, now in
-the Bologna Gallery, he has introduced a great number of figures and
-portraits of distinguished personages of his own time, St. Gregory being
-represented under the likeness of Clement VII. The unbidden guest,
-or angel, bears the features of the Saviour.</p>
-
-<p>This is one of many beautiful mythic legends, founded on the words
-of St. Paul in which he so strongly recommends hospitality as one of
-the virtues: ‘Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some
-have entertained angels unawares.’ (Heb. xiii. 2.) Or, as Massinger
-has rendered the apostolic precept,—</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent16">Learn all,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">By this example, to look on the poor</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">With gentle eyes, for in such habits often</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Angels desire an alms.</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>4. The Mass of St. Gregory. On a certain occasion, when St. Gregory
-was officiating at the mass, one who was near him doubted the
-real presence; thereupon, at the prayer of the saint, a vision is suddenly
-revealed of the crucified Saviour himself, who descends upon the
-altar, surrounded by the instruments of his passion. This legend has
-been a popular subject of painting from the beginning of the fifteenth
-century, and is called ‘The Mass of St. Gregory.’ I have met with
-it in every variety of treatment and grouping; but, however treated, it
-is not a pleasing subject. St. Gregory is seen officiating at the altar,
-surrounded by his attendant clergy. Sometimes several saints are introduced
-in a poetical manner, as witnesses of the miracle: as in an old
-picture I saw in the gallery of Lord Northwick;—the crucified Saviour
-descends from the cross, and stands on the altar, or is upborne in the
-air by angels; while all the incidental circumstances and instruments of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</span>
-the Passion,—not merely the crown of thorns, the spear, the nails, but
-the kiss of Judas, the soldiers’ dice, the cock that crew to Peter,—are
-seen floating in the air. As a specimen of the utmost naïveté in this
-representation may be mentioned Albert Dürer’s woodcut.</p>
-
-<p>The least offensive and most elegant in treatment is the marble bas-relief
-in front of the altar in the Chapel of St. Gregory at Rome.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>5. The miracle of the Brandeum. The Empress Constantia sent to
-St. Gregory requesting some of the relics of St. Peter and St. Paul.
-He excused himself, saying that he dared not disturb their sacred remains
-for such a purpose, but he sent her part of a consecrated cloth
-(<i>Brandeum</i>) which had enfolded the body of St. John the Evangelist.
-The empress rejected this gift with contempt: whereupon Gregory, to
-show that such things are hallowed not so much in themselves as by the
-faith of believers, laid the Brandeum on the altar, and after praying he
-took up a knife and pierced it, and blood flowed as from a living body.
-This incident, called the ‘miracle <i>dei Brandei</i>,’ has also been painted.
-Andrea Sacchi has represented it in a grand picture now in the Vatican;
-the mosaic copy is over the altar of St. Gregory in St. Peter’s. Gregory
-holds up to view the bleeding cloth, and the expression of astonishment
-and conviction in the countenances of the assistants is very fine.</p>
-
-<p>6. St. Gregory releases the soul of the Emperor Trajan. In a little
-picture in the Bologna Academy, he is seen praying before a tomb, on
-which is inscribed <span class="smcap">Trajano Imperador</span>; beneath are two angels
-raising the soul of Trajan out of the flames. Such is the usual treatment
-of this curious and poetical legend, which is thus related in the
-Legenda Aurea:—‘It happened on a time, as Trajan was hastening to
-battle at the head of his legions, that a poor widow flung herself in his
-path, and cried aloud for justice, and the emperor stayed to listen to
-her; and she demanded vengeance for the innocent blood of her son,
-killed by the son of the emperor. Trajan promised to do her justice
-when he returned from his expedition. “But, Sire,” answered the
-widow, “should you be killed in battle, who then will do me justice?”
-“My successor,” replied Trajan. And she said, “What will it signify to
-you, great emperor, that any other than yourself should do me justice?
-Is it not better that you should do this good action yourself than leave<span class="pagenum" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</span>
-another to do it?” And Trajan alighted, and having examined into
-the affair, he gave up his own son to her in place of him she had lost,
-and bestowed on her likewise a rich dowry. Now, it came to pass that
-as Gregory was one day meditating in his daily walk, this action of the
-Emperor Trajan came into his mind, and he wept bitterly to think that
-a man so just should be condemned as a heathen to eternal punishment.
-And entering into a church he prayed most fervently that the soul of
-the good emperor might be released from torment. And a voice said to
-him, “I have granted thy prayer, and I have spared the soul of Trajan
-for thy sake; but because thou hast supplicated for one whom the
-justice of God had already condemned, thou shalt choose one of two
-things: either thou shalt endure for two days the fires of purgatory, or
-thou shalt be sick and infirm for the remainder of thy life.” Gregory
-chose the latter, which sufficiently accounts for the grievous pains and
-infirmities to which this great and good man was subjected, even to the
-day of his death.’</p>
-
-<p>This story of Trajan was extremely popular in the middle ages: it is
-illustrative of the character of Gregory, and the feeling which gave rise
-to his doctrine of purgatory. Dante twice alludes to it; he describes
-it as one of the subjects sculptured on the walls of Purgatory, and takes
-occasion to relate the whole story:—</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent8">... There was storied on the rock</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Th’ exalted glory of the Roman prince,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Whose mighty worth moved Gregory to earn</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">His mighty conquest—Trajan the Emperor.</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">A widow at his bridle stood attired</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">In tears and mourning. Round about them troop’d</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Full throng of knights: and overhead in gold</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">The eagles floated, struggling with the wind.</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">The wretch appear’d amid all these to say:</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">‘Grant vengeance, Sire! for, woe beshrew this heart,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">My son is murder’d!’ He, replying, seem’d:</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">‘Wait now till I return.’ And she, as one</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Made hasty by her grief: ‘O Sire, if thou</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Dost not return?’—‘Where I am, who then is,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">May right thee.’—‘What to thee is others’ good,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">If thou neglect thy own?’—‘Now comfort thee,’</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">At length he answers. ‘It beseemeth well</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">My duty be perform’d, ere I move hence.</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">So justice wills; and pity bids me stay.’</div>
-      <div class="verse indent10">Cary’s <span class="smcap">Dante</span>, <i>Purg.</i> x.</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</span></p>
-<p>It was through the efficacy of St. Gregory’s intercession that Dante
-afterwards finds Trajan in Paradise, seated between King David and
-King Hezekiah. (<i>Par.</i> xx.)</p>
-
-<p>As a subject of painting, the story of Trajan was sometimes selected
-as an appropriate ornament for a hall of justice. We find it sculptured
-on one of the capitals of the pillars of the Ducal Palace at Venice: there
-is the figure of the widow kneeling, somewhat stiff, but very simple and
-expressive, and over it in rude ancient letters—‘<i>Trajano Imperador,
-che die justizia a la Vedova</i>.’ In the Town Hall of Ceneda, near Belluna,
-are the three Judgments (<i>i tre Giudizi</i>), painted by Pompeo
-Amalteo: the Judgment of Solomon, the Judgment of Daniel, and the
-Judgment of Trajan. It is painted in the Town Hall of Brescia by
-Giulio Campi, one of a series of eight righteous judgments.</p>
-
-<p>I found the same subject in the church of St. Thomas of Canterbury
-at Verona. ‘The son of the Emperor Trajan trampling over the son
-of the widow’ is a most curious composition by Hans Schaufelein.<a id="FNanchor_289" href="#Footnote_289" class="fnanchor">[289]</a></p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>7. There was a monk, who, in defiance of his vow of poverty, secreted
-in his cell three pieces of gold. Gregory, on learning this, excommunicated
-him, and shortly afterwards the monk died. When Gregory
-heard that the monk had perished in his sin, without receiving absolution,
-he was filled with grief and horror; and he wrote upon a parchment
-a prayer and a form of absolution, and gave it to one of his
-deacons, desiring him to go to the grave of the deceased and read it
-there: on the following night the monk appeared in a vision, and revealed
-to him his release from torment.</p>
-
-<p>This story is represented in the beautiful bas-relief in white marble
-in front of the altar of his chapel; it is the last compartment on the
-right. The obvious intention of this wild legend is to give effect to the
-doctrine of purgatory, and the efficacy of prayers for the dead.</p>
-
-<p>St. Gregory’s merciful doctrine of purgatory also suggested those
-pictures so often found in chapels dedicated to the service of the dead,
-in which he is represented in the attitude of supplication, while on one
-side, or in the background, angels are raising the tormented souls out
-of the flames.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</span></p>
-
-<p>In ecclesiastical decoration I have seen the two popes, St. Gelasius,
-who reformed the calendar in 494, and St. Celestinus, who arranged the
-discipline of the monastic orders, added to the series of beatified Doctors
-of the Church.</p>
-
-
-<h3>II. THE FOUR GREEK FATHERS.</h3>
-
-<p>The Four Greek Fathers are St. John Chrysostom, St. Basil the Great,
-St. Athanasius, and St. Gregory Nazianzen. To these, in Greek pictures,
-a fifth is generally added, St. Cyril of Alexandria.</p>
-
-<p>From the time of the schism between the Eastern and Western
-Churches, these venerable personages, who once exercised such an influence
-over all Christendom, who preceded the Latin Fathers, and were
-in fact their teachers, have been almost banished from the religious representations
-of the west of Europe. When they are introduced collectively
-as a part of the decoration of an ecclesiastical edifice, we may
-conclude in general, that the work is Byzantine and executed under the
-influence of Greek artists.</p>
-
-<p>A signal example is the central dome of the baptistery of St. Mark’s
-at Venice, executed by Greek artists of the 12th and 13th centuries.
-In the four spandrils of the vault are the Greek Fathers seated, writing
-(if I well remember), and in the purest Byzantine style of art. They
-occupy the same places here that we find usually occupied by the Latin
-Doctors in church decoration: each has his name inscribed in Greek
-characters. We have exactly the same representation in the Cathedral
-of Monreale at Palermo. The Greek Fathers have no attributes to
-distinguish them, and the general custom in Byzantine Art of inscribing
-the names over each figure renders this unnecessary: in general, each
-holds a book, or, in some instances, a scroll, which represents his
-writings; while the right hand is raised in benediction, in the Greek
-manner, the first and second finger extended, and the thumb and third
-finger forming a cross. According to the formula published by M.
-Didron, each of the Greek Fathers bears on a scroll the first words of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</span>
-some remarkable passage from his works: thus, St. John Chrysostom
-has ‘God, our God, who hath given us for food the bread of life,’ &amp;c.:
-St. Basil, ‘None of those who are in the bondage of fleshly desires are
-worthy,’ &amp;c.: St. Athanasius, ‘Often, and anew, do we flee to thee, O
-God,’ &amp;c.: St. Gregory Nazianzen, ‘God, the holy among the holies,
-the thrice holy,’ &amp;c.: and St. Cyril, ‘Above all, a Virgin without sin
-or blemish,’ &amp;c.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_324" style="max-width: 125em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_324.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><i>The five Greek Fathers.</i></div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The Greek bishops do not wear mitres; consequently, when in the
-Italian or German pictures St. Basil or any of his companions wear the
-mitre, it is a mistake arising from the ignorance of the artist.</p>
-
-<p>The Fathers of the Greek Church have been represented by Domenichino
-at Grotta Ferrata, placed over the cornice and under the evangelists,
-their proper place: they are majestic figures, with fine heads,
-and correctly draped according to the Greek ecclesiastical costume.
-They are placed here with peculiar propriety, because the convent originally
-belonged to the Greek order of St. Basil, and the founder, St.
-Nilus, was a Greek.<a id="FNanchor_290" href="#Footnote_290" class="fnanchor">[290]</a></p>
-
-<p>The etched outline, from a beautiful ancient Greek miniature, will
-give an accurate idea of the characteristic figures and habits of the
-Greek Fathers.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>As separate devotional and historical representations of these Fathers
-do sometimes, though rarely, occur, I shall say a few words of them
-individually.</p>
-
-
-<h3 id="St_John_Chrysostom"><span class="smcap">St. John Chrysostom.</span></h3>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p><i>Lat.</i> Sanctus Johannes Chrysostom. <i>Ital.</i> San Giovanni Crisostomo, San Giovanni Bocca
-d’ Oro. <i>Fr.</i> St. Jean Chrysostome. Died Sept. 14, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 407. His festival is celebrated
-by the Greeks on the 13th of November, and by the Latin Church on the 27th of January.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>St. John, called <span class="smcap">Chrysostom</span>, or <span class="smcap">of the Golden Mouth</span>, because of his
-extraordinary eloquence, was born at Antioch in 344. His parents
-were illustrious, and the career opened to him was of arts and arms;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</span>
-but from his infancy the bent of his mind was peculiar. He lost his
-father when young; his mother Arthusia, still in the prime of her life,
-remained a widow for his sake, and superintended his education with
-care and intelligence. The remark of Sir James Mackintosh that ‘all
-distinguished men have had able mothers,’ appears especially true of
-the great churchmen and poets. The mother of St. John Chrysostom
-ranks with the Monicas and Sylvias, already described.</p>
-
-<p>John, at the age of twenty, was already a renowned pleader at the
-bar. At the age of twenty-six, the disposition to self-abnegation and
-the passion for solitude, which had distinguished him from boyhood,
-became so strong, that he wished to retire altogether from the world;
-his legal studies, his legal honours, had become hateful to him: he
-would turn hermit. For a time his mother’s tears and prayers restrained
-him. He has himself recorded the pathetic remonstrance in
-which she reminded him of all she had done and suffered in her state of
-widowhood for his sake, and besought him not to leave her. For the
-present he yielded: but two years later he fled from society, and passed
-five or six years in the wilderness near Antioch, devoting himself solely
-to the study of the Scriptures, to penance and prayer; feeding on the
-wild vegetables, and leading a life of such rigorous abstinence that his
-health sank under it, and he was obliged to return to Antioch.</p>
-
-<p>All this time he was not even an ordained priest; but shortly after
-he had emerged from the desert, Flavian, bishop of Antioch, ordained
-him, and appointed him preacher. At the moment of his consecration,
-according to the tradition, a white dove descended on his head, which
-was regarded as the sign of immediate inspiration. He then entered
-on his true vocation as a Christian orator, the greatest next to Paul.
-On one occasion, when the people of Antioch had offended the Emperor
-Theodosius, and were threatened with a punishment like that which
-had fallen on Thessalonica, the eloquence of St. John Chrysostom saved
-them: he was so adored by the people, that when he was appointed
-patriarch of Constantinople, it was necessary to kidnap him, and carry
-him off from Antioch by a force of armed soldiers, before the citizens
-had time to interfere.</p>
-
-<p>From the moment he entered on his high office at Constantinople,
-he became the model of a Christian bishop. Humble, self-denying,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</span>
-sleeping on a bare plank, content with a little bread and pulse, he entertained
-with hospitality the poor and strangers: indefatigable as a
-preacher, he used his great gift of eloquence to convert his hearers to
-what he believed to be the truth: he united the enthusiasm and the
-imagination of the poet, the elegant taste of the scholar, the logic of
-the pleader, with the inspired earnestness of one who had authority
-from above. He was, like St. Jerome, remarkable for his influence
-over women; and his correspondence with one of his female converts
-and friends, Olympias, is considered one of the finest of his works
-remaining to us: but, inexorable in his denunciations of vice, without
-regard to sex or station, he thundered against the irregularities of the
-monks, the luxury and profligacy of the Empress Eudosia, and the
-servility of her flatterers, and brought down upon himself the vengeance
-of that haughty woman, with whom the rest of his life was one long
-contest. He was banished: the voice of the people obliged the emperor
-to recall him. Persisting in the resolute defence of his church privileges,
-and his animadversions on the court and the clergy, he was again
-banished; and, on his way to his distant place of exile, sank under
-fatigue and the cruel treatment of his guards, who exposed him, bareheaded
-and bare-footed, to the burning sun of noon: and thus he
-perished, in the tenth year of his bishopric, and the sixty-third of his age.
-Gibbon adds, that, at the pious solicitation of the clergy and people of
-Constantinople, his relics, thirty years after his death, were transported
-from their obscure sepulchre to the royal city. The Emperor Theodosius
-advanced to receive them as far as Chalcedon, and, falling prostrate
-on the coffin, implored, in the name of his guilty parents, Arcadius and
-Eudosia, the forgiveness of the injured saint.‘</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>It is owing, I suppose, to the intercourse of Venice with the East,
-that one of her beautiful churches is dedicated to San Gian Grisostomo,
-as they call him there, in accents as soft and sonorous as his own Greek.
-Over the high altar is the grandest devotional picture in which I have
-seen this saint figure as a chief personage. It is the masterpiece of
-Sebastian del Piombo,<a id="FNanchor_291" href="#Footnote_291" class="fnanchor">[291]</a> and represents St. John Chrysostom throned<span class="pagenum" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</span>
-and in the act of writing in a great book; behind him, St. Paul. In
-front, to the right, stands St. John the Baptist, and behind him St.
-George as patron of Venice; to the left Mary Magdalene, with a beautiful
-Venetian face; behind her, St. Catherine, patroness of Venice: close
-to St. J. Chrysostom stands St. Lucia holding her lamp; she is here
-the type of celestial light or wisdom.<a id="FNanchor_292" href="#Footnote_292" class="fnanchor">[292]</a> This picture was for a long
-time attributed to Giorgione. There was also a very fine majestic
-figure of this saint by Rubens, in the collection of M. Schamp: he is
-in the habit of a Greek bishop; in one hand he holds the sacramental
-cup, and the left hand rests on the Gospel: the celestial dove hovers
-near him, and two angels are in attendance.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>I cannot quit the history of St. John Chrysostom without alluding
-to a subject well known to collectors and amateurs, and popularly called
-‘<i>La Pénitence de St. Jean Chrysostome</i>.’ It represents a woman undraped,
-seated in a cave, or wilderness, with an infant in her arms; or
-lying on the ground with a new-born infant beside her; in the distance
-is seen a man with a glory round his head, meagre, naked, bearded,
-crawling on his hands and knees in the most abject attitude; beneath,
-or at the top, is inscribed <span class="smcap">S. Johannes Crisostomus</span>.</p>
-
-<p>For a long time this subject perplexed me exceedingly, as I was
-quite unable to trace it in any of the biographies of Chrysostom, ancient
-or modern: the kindness of a friend, learned in all the <i>byways</i> as well
-as the <i>highways</i> of Italian literature, at length assisted me to an explanation.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp60" id="i_329" style="max-width: 62.5em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_329.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c90"></a>90  The Penance of St. Chrysostom (Albert Dürer)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The bitter enmity excited against St. John Chrysostom in his lifetime,
-and the furious vituperations of his adversary, Theophilus of
-Alexandria, who denounced him as one stained by every vice, ‘<i lang="la">hostem
-humanitatis, sacrilegorum principem, immundum dæmonem</i>,’ as a
-wretch who had absolutely delivered up his soul to Satan, were apparently
-disseminated by the monks. Jerome translated the abusive
-attack of Theophilus into Latin; and long after the slanders against
-Chrysostom had been silenced in the East, they survived in the West. To
-this may be added the slaughter of the Egyptian monks by the friends<span class="pagenum" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</span>
-of Chrysostom in the streets of Constantinople; which, I suppose, was
-also retained in the traditions, and mixed up with the monkish fictions.
-It seems to have been forgotten who John Chrysostom really was;
-his name only survived in the popular ballads and legends as an epitome
-of every horrible crime; and to account for his being, notwithstanding
-all this, a <i>saint</i>, was a difficulty which in the old legend is surmounted
-after a very original, and, I must needs add, a very audacious fashion.
-‘I have,’ writes my friend, ‘three editions of this legend in Italian,
-with the title <i>La Historia di San Giovanni Boccadoro</i>. It is in <i>ottava
-rima</i>, thirty-six stanzas in all, occupying two leaves of letter-press.
-It was originally composed in the fifteenth century, and reprinted again<span class="pagenum" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</span>
-and again, like the ballads and tales hawked by itinerant ballad-mongers,
-from that day to this, and as well known to the lower orders
-as “Jack the Giant-killer” here. I will give you the story as succinctly
-and as properly as I can. A gentleman of the high roads, named
-Schitano, confesses his robberies and murders to a certain Frate, who
-absolves him, upon a solemn promise not to do three things—</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza"><div lang="it">
-    <div class="verse indent0">Che tu non facci falso sacramento,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Nè homicidio, nè adulterare.</div>
-  </div></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Schitano thereupon takes possession of a cave, and turns <i>Romito</i>
-(Hermit) in the wilderness. A neighbouring king takes his daughter
-out hunting with him; a white deer starts across their path; the king
-dashes away in pursuit ten miles or more, forgetting his daughter;
-night comes on; the princess, left alone in the forest, wanders till she
-sees a light, and knocks for admittance at the cave of Schitano. He
-fancies at first that it must be the “Demonio,” but at length he admits
-her after long hesitation, and turns her horse out to graze. Her beauty
-tempts him to break one of his vows; the fear of discovery induces
-him to violate another by murdering her, and throwing her body into a
-cistern. The horse, however, is seen by one of the cavaliers of the
-court, who knocks and inquires if he has seen a certain “donzella” that
-way? The hermit swears that he has not beheld a Christian face for
-three years, thus breaking his third vow; but, reflecting on this three-fold
-sin with horror, he imposes on himself a most severe penance (“un’
-aspra penitenza”), to wit—</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza"><div lang="it">
-    <div class="verse indent0">Di stare sette anni nell’ aspro diserto.</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Pane non mangerò nè berò vino,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Nè mai risguarderò il ciel scoperto,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Non parlerò Hebraico nè Latino,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Per fin che quel ch’ io dico non è certo,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Che un fantin di sei di porga favella,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">“Perdonato t’ ha Dio; va alla tua cella.”</div>
-  </div></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>That is, he swears that for seven years he will neither eat bread nor
-drink wine, nor look up in the face of heaven, nor speak either Hebrew
-or Latin, until it shall come to pass that an infant of seven days old
-shall open its mouth and say, “Heaven hath pardoned thee—go in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</span>
-peace.” So, stripping off his clothes, he crawls on hands and knees like
-the beasts of the field, eating grass and drinking water.</p>
-
-<p>‘Nor did his resolution fail him—he persists in this “aspra penitenza”
-for seven years—</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza"><div lang="it">
-    <div class="verse indent0">Sette anni e sette giorni nel diserto;</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Come le bestie andava lui carpone,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">E mai non risguardò il ciel scoperto,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Peloso egli era a modo d’ un montone;</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Spine e fango il suo letto era per certo,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Del suo peccato havea contrizione;</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">E ogni cosa facea con gran fervore,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Per purgar il suo fallo e grand’ errore.</div>
-  </div></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>In the meantime it came into the king’s head to draw the covers where
-the hermit was leading this life. The dogs of course <i>found</i>, but neither
-they nor the king could make anything of this new species of animal,
-“<i>che pareva un orso</i>.” So they took him home in a chain and deposited
-him in their zoological collection, where he refused meat and bread,
-and persisted in grazing. On new year’s day the queen gives birth to
-a son, who, on the seventh day after he is born, says distinctly to the
-hermit,—</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza"><div lang="it">
-    <div class="verse indent16">Torna alla tua cella,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Che Dio t’ ha perdonato il tuo peccato,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Levati su, Romito! ova favella!</div>
-  </div></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>But the hermit does not <i>speak</i> as commanded; he makes signs that he
-will write. The king orders the inkstand to be brought, but there is
-no ink in it: so Schitano at once earns his surname of Boccadoro
-(Chrysostom) by a simple expedient: he puts the pen to his mouth,
-wets it with his saliva, and writes in letters of gold—</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza"><div lang="it">
-    <div class="verse indent0">Onde la penna in bocca si metteva,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">E a scrivere cominciò senza dimoro,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Col sputo, lettere che parevan d’ oro!</div>
-  </div></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>‘After seven years and seven days, he opens his golden mouth in
-speech, and confesses his foul crimes to the king; cavaliers are despatched
-in search of the body of the princess; as they approach the cavern they
-hear celestial music, and in the end they bring the donzella out of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</span>
-cistern alive and well, and very sorry to leave the blessed Virgin and
-the angels, with whom she had been passing her time most agreeably:
-she is restored to her parents with universal <i>festa e allegrezza</i>, and she
-announces to the hermit that he is pardoned and may return to his cell,
-which he does forthwith, and ends in leading the life of a saint, and
-being beatified. The “<i>discreti auditori</i>” are invited to take example—</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza"><div lang="it">
-    <div class="verse indent0">Da questo Santo pien di leggiadria</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Che Iddio sempre perdona a’ peccatori,</div>
-  </div></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>and are finally informed that they may purchase this edifying history
-on easy terms, to wit, a halfpenny—</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza"><div lang="it">
-    <div class="verse indent0">Due quattrini dia senza far più parole.</div>
-  </div></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The price, however, rose; for in the next century the line is altered
-thus:—</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza"><div lang="it">
-    <div class="verse indent0">Pero ciascun che comperarne vuole,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Tre quattrini mi dia senza più parole.’</div>
-  </div></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The woodcuts prefixed to the ballad represent this saintly Nebuchadnezzar
-on all fours, surprised by the king with his huntsmen and dogs;
-but no female figure, as in the German prints, in which the German
-version of the legend has evidently been in the mind of the artists. It
-differs in some respects from the Italian ballad. I shall therefore give
-as much of it here as will explain the artistic treatment of the story.</p>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p>‘When John Chrysostom was baptized, the Pope<a id="FNanchor_293" href="#Footnote_293" class="fnanchor">[293]</a> stood godfather.
-At seven years old he went to school, but he was so dull and backward,
-that he became the laughing-stock of his schoolfellows. Unable to endure
-their mockery, he took refuge in a neighbouring church, and
-prayed to the Virgin; and a voice whispered, “Kiss me on the mouth,
-and thou shalt be endowed with all learning.” He did so, and, returning
-to the school, he surpassed all his companions, so that they remained
-in astonishment: as they looked, they saw a golden ring or streak round<span class="pagenum" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</span>
-his mouth, and asked him how it came there? and when he told them,
-they wondered yet more. Thence he obtained the name of Chrysostom.
-John was much beloved by his godfather the Pope, who ordained him
-priest at a very early age; but the first time he offered the sacrifice of
-the mass, he was struck to the heart by his unworthiness, and resolved
-to seek his salvation in solitude; therefore, throwing off his priestly
-garments, he fled from the city, and made his dwelling in a cavern of
-the rock, and lived there a long while in prayer and meditation.</p>
-
-<p>‘Now not far from the wilderness in which Chrysostom dwelt, was the
-capital of a great king; and it happened that one day, as the princess
-his daughter, who was young and very fair, was walking with her companions,
-there came a sudden and violent gust of wind, which lifted her
-up and carried her away, and set her down in the forest, far off; and
-she wandered about till she came to the cave of Chrysostom, and
-knocked at the door. He, fearing some temptation of the devil, would
-not let her in; but she entreated, and said, “I am no demon, but a
-Christian woman; and if thou leavest me here, the wild beasts will devour
-me!” So he yielded perforce, and arose and let her in. And
-he drew a line down the middle of his cell, and said, “That is your part,
-this is mine; and neither shall pass this line.” But this precaution was
-in vain, for passion and temptation overpowered his virtue; he over-stepped
-the line, and sinned. Both repented sorely; and Chrysostom,
-thinking that if the damsel remained longer in his cave it would only
-occasion further sin, carried her to a neighbouring precipice, and flung
-her down. When he had done this deed, he was seized with horror and
-remorse; and he departed and went to Rome to his godfather the Pope,
-and confessed all, and entreated absolution. But his godfather knew
-him not; and, being seized with horror, he drove him forth, and refused
-to absolve him. So the unhappy sinner fled to the wilderness, and made
-a solemn vow that he would never rise from the earth nor look up, but
-crawl on his hands and knees, until he had expiated his great sin and
-was absolved by Heaven.</p>
-
-<p>‘When he had thus crawled on the earth for fifteen years, the queen
-brought forth a son; and when the Pope came to baptize the child, the
-infant opened its mouth and said, “I will not be baptized by thee, but
-by St. John;” and he repeated this three times: and none could understand<span class="pagenum" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</span>
-this miracle; but the Pope was afraid to proceed. In the meantime,
-the king’s huntsmen had gone to the forest to bring home game
-for the christening feast: there, as they rode, they beheld a strange
-beast creeping on the ground; and not knowing what it might be, they
-threw a mantle over it and bound it in a chain and brought it to the
-palace. Many came to look on this strange beast, and with them came
-the nurse with the king’s son in her arms; and immediately the child
-opened its mouth and spake, “John, come thou and baptize me!” He
-answered, “If it be God’s will, speak again!” And the child spoke the
-same words a second and a third time. Then John stood up; and the
-hair and the moss fell from his body, and they brought him garments;
-and he took the child, and baptized him with great devotion.</p>
-
-<p>‘When the king heard his confession, he thought, “Perhaps this was
-my daughter, who was lost and never found;” and he sent messengers
-into the forest to seek for the remains of his daughter, that her bones at
-least might rest in consecrated ground. When they came to the foot
-of the precipice, there they found a beautiful woman seated, naked, and
-holding a child in her arms; and John said to her, “Why sittest thou
-here alone in the wilderness?” And she said, “Dost thou not know
-me? I am the woman who came to thy cave by night, and whom thou
-didst hurl down this rock!” Then they brought her home with great
-joy to her parents.‘<a id="FNanchor_294" href="#Footnote_294" class="fnanchor">[294]</a></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>This extravagant legend becomes interesting for two reasons: it shows
-the existence of the popular feeling and belief with regard to Chrysostom,
-long subsequent to those events which aroused the hatred of the
-early monks; and it has been, from its popular notoriety, embodied in
-some rare and valuable works of art, which all go under the name of
-‘the Penance or Penitence of Johannes Chrysostom or Crisostomos.’</p>
-
-<p>1. A rare print by Lucas Cranach, composed and engraved by
-himself. In the centre is an undraped woman reclining on the ground
-against a rock, and contemplating her sleeping infant, which is lying on
-her lap; a stag, a hind crouching, a pheasant feeding near her, express
-the solitude of her life; in the background is ‘the savage man’ on all<span class="pagenum" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</span>
-fours, and browsing: here, he has no glory round his head. The whole
-composition is exceedingly picturesque.</p>
-
-<p>2. A rare and beautiful print by B. Beham, and repeated by Hans
-Sebald Beham, represents a woman lying on the ground with her back
-turned to the spectator; a child is near her; Chrysostom is seen
-crawling in the background, with the glory round his head.</p>
-
-<p>3. A small print by Albert Dürer, also exquisitely engraved (from
-which I give a sketch). Here the woman is sitting at the entrance of a
-rocky cave, feeding her child from her bosom: in the background the
-‘savage man’ crawling on all fours, and a glory round his head. This
-subject has been called St. Geneviève of Brabant; but it is evidently
-the same as in the two last-named compositions.</p>
-
-<p>All these prints, being nearly contemporaneous, show that the legend
-must have been particularly popular about this time (1509-1520).
-There is also an old French version of the story which I have not
-seen.</p>
-
-
-<h3 id="St_Basil_the_Great"><span class="smcap">St. Basil the Great.</span></h3>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p><i>Lat.</i> St. Basilius Magnus. <i>Ital.</i> San Basilio Magno. <i>Fr.</i> St. Basile. (June 14, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 380.)</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>St. Basil, called the Great, was born at Cesarea in Cappadocia, in the
-year 328. He was one of a family of saints. His father St. Basil, his
-mother St. Emmelie, his two brothers St. Gregory of Nyssa and St.
-Peter of Sebaste, and his sister St. Macrina, were all distinguished for
-their sanctity, and renowned in the Greek calendar. The St. Basil who
-takes rank as the second luminary of the Eastern Church, and whose
-dogmatical and theological works influenced the faith of his own age,
-and consequently of ours, was the greatest of all. But, notwithstanding
-his importance in the Greek Church, he figures so seldom in the productions
-of Western Art, that I shall content myself with relating just
-so much of his life and actions as may render the few representations of
-him interesting and intelligible.</p>
-
-<p>He owed his first education to his grandmother St. Macrina the elder,
-a woman of singular capacity and attainments, to whom he has in various
-parts of his works acknowledged his obligations. For several years he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</span>
-pursued his studies in profane learning, philosophy, law, and eloquence,
-at Constantinople, and afterwards at Athens, where he had two companions
-and fellow-students of very opposite character: Gregory of Nazianzen,
-afterwards the <i>Saint</i>; and Julian, afterwards the <i>Apostate</i>.</p>
-
-<p>The success of the youthful Basil in all his studies, and the reputation
-he had obtained as an eloquent pleader, for a time swelled his heart with
-vanity, and would have endangered his salvation but for the influence of
-his sister, St. Macrina, who in this emergency preserved him from
-himself, and elevated his mind to far higher aims than those of mere
-worldly science and worldly distinction. From that period, and he was
-then not more than twenty-eight, Basil turned his thoughts solely to the
-edification of the Christian Church; but first he spent some years in
-retreat among the hermits of the desert, as was the fashion of that day,
-living, as they did, in abstinence, poverty, and abstracted study; acknowledging
-neither country, family, home, nor friends, nor fortune,
-nor worldly interests of any kind, but with his thoughts fixed solely on
-eternal life in another world. In these austerities he, as was also usual,
-consumed and ruined his bodily health; and remained to the end of his
-life a feeble wretched invalid,—a circumstance which was supposed to
-contribute greatly to his sanctity. He was ordained priest in 362, and
-bishop of Cesarea in 370; his ordination on the 14th of June being
-kept as one of the great feasts of the Eastern Church.</p>
-
-<p>On the episcopal throne he led the same life of abstinence and
-humility as in a cavern of the desert; and contended for the doctrine of
-the Trinity against the Arians, but with less of vehemence, and more of
-charity, than the other Doctors engaged in the same controversy. The
-principal event of his life was his opposition to the Emperor Valens,
-who professed Arianism, and required that, in the Church of Cesarea,
-Basil should perform the rites according to the custom of the Arians.
-The bishop refused: he was threatened with exile, confiscation, death:
-he persisted. The emperor, fearing a tumult, resolved to appear in the
-church on the day of the Epiphany, but not to communicate. He came,
-hoping to overawe the impracticable bishop, surrounded by all his state,
-his courtiers, his guards. He found Basil so intent on his sacred office
-as to take not the slightest notice of him; those of the clergy around
-him continued to chant the service, keeping their eyes fixed in the profoundest<span class="pagenum" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</span>
-awe and respect on the countenance of their bishop. Valens,
-in a situation new to him, became agitated: he had brought his oblation;
-he advanced with it; but the ministers at the altar, not knowing whether
-Basil would accept it, dared not take it from his hands. Valens stood
-there for a moment in sight of all the people, rejected before the altar,—he
-lost his presence of mind, trembled, swooned, and would have
-fallen to the earth, if one of the attendants had not received him in
-his arms. A conference afterwards took place between Basil and the
-emperor; but the latter remained unconverted, and some concessions to
-the Catholics was all that the bishop obtained.</p>
-
-<p>St. Basil died in 379, worn out by disease, and leaving behind him
-many theological writings. His epistles, above all, are celebrated, not
-only as models of orthodoxy, but of style.</p>
-
-<p>Of St. Basil, as of St. Gregory and St. John Chrysostom, we have
-the story of the Holy Ghost, in visible form as a dove of wonderful
-whiteness, perched on his shoulder, and inspiring his words when he
-preached. St. Basil is also celebrated as the founder of Monachism in
-the East. He was the first who enjoined the vows of poverty, chastity,
-and obedience; and his Rule became the model of all other monastic
-Orders. There is, in fact, no other Order in the Greek Church, and
-when either monks or nuns appear in a Greek or a Russian picture they
-must be Basilicans, and no other: the habit is a plain black tunic with
-a cowl, the tunic fastened round the waist with a girdle of cord or
-leather. Such is the dress of the Greek caloyer, and it never varies.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The devotional figures of St. Basil represent him, or ought to represent
-him, in the Greek pontificals, bareheaded, and with a thin worn
-countenance, as he appears in the etching of the Greek Fathers.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>‘The Emperor Valens in the church at Cesarea,’ an admirably
-picturesque subject, has received as little justice as the scene between
-Ambrose and Theodosius. When the French painter Subleyras was at
-Rome in 1745, he raised himself to name and fame by his portrait of
-Benedict XIV.,<a id="FNanchor_295" href="#Footnote_295" class="fnanchor">[295]</a> and received, through the interest of his friend Cardinal<span class="pagenum" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</span>
-Valenti, the commission to paint a picture for one of the mosaics
-in St. Peter’s. The subject selected was the Emperor Valens fainting
-in presence of St. Basil. We have all the pomp of the scene:—the
-altar, the incense, the richly attired priests on one side; on the other,
-the Imperial court. It is not easy to find fault, for the picture is well
-drawn, well composed, in the mannered taste of that time; well coloured,
-rather tenderly than forcibly; and Lanzi is enthusiastic in his praise of
-the draperies; yet, as a whole, it leaves the mind unimpressed. As
-usual, the original sketch for this picture far excels the large composition.<a id="FNanchor_296" href="#Footnote_296" class="fnanchor">[296]</a></p>
-
-<p>The prayers of St. Basil were supposed by the Armenian Christians,
-partly from his sanctity, and partly from his intellectual endowments,
-to have a peculiar, almost resistless, power; so that he not only redeemed
-souls from purgatory, but even lost angels from the abyss of hell.
-‘On the sixth day of the creation, when the rebellious angels fell from
-heaven through that opening in the firmament which the Armenians
-call Arocea, and we the Galaxy, one unlucky angel, who had no participation
-in their sin, but seems to have been entangled in the crowd,
-fell with them.’ (A moral, I presume, on the consequences of keeping
-bad company.) ‘And this unfortunate angel was not restored till he
-had obtained, it is not said how, the prayers of St. Basil. His condition
-meantime, from the sixth day of the creation to the fourth century of
-the Christian era, must have been even more uncomfortable than that of
-Klopstock’s repentant demon in “The Messiah.”’</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>There are many other beautiful legendary stories of St. Basil, but,
-as I have never met with them in any form of Art, I pass them over
-here. One of the most striking has been versified by Southey in his
-ballad-poem, ‘All for Love.’ It would afford a great variety of
-picturesque subjects.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</span></p>
-
-
-<h3 id="St_Athanasius"><span class="smcap">St. Athanasius.</span></h3>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p><i>Lat.</i> S. Athanasius, Pater Orthodoxiæ. <i>Ital.</i> Sant’ Atanasio. <i>Fr.</i> St. Athanase.
-(May 2, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 373.)</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>St. Athanasius, whose famous Creed remains a stumbling-block in
-Christendom, was born at Alexandria, about the year 298; he was consequently
-the eldest of the Greek Fathers, though he does not in that
-Church take the first rank. He, like the others, began his career by
-the study of profane literature, science, and eloquence; but, seized by
-the religious spirit of the age, he, too, fled to the desert, and became,
-for a time, the pupil of St. Anthony. He returned to Alexandria, and
-was ordained deacon. His first appearance as a public character was at
-the celebrated council of Nice (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 325), where he opposed Arius and
-his partisans with so much zeal and eloquence, that he was thenceforth
-regarded as the great pillar of orthodoxy. He became Bishop of
-Alexandria the following year; and the rest of his life was a perpetual
-contest with the Arians. The great schism of the early Church blazed
-at this time in the East and in the West, and Athanasius, by his invincible
-perseverance and intrepidity, procured the victory for the
-Catholic party. He died in 372, after having been Bishop of Alexandria
-forty-six years, of which twenty years had been spent in exile and
-tribulation.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>It is curious that, notwithstanding his fame and his importance in the
-Church, St. Athanasius should be, as a patron and a subject of Art, of
-all saints the most unpopular. He figures, of course, as one of the
-series of Greek Doctors; but I have never met with any separate
-representation of him, and I know not any church dedicated to him, nor
-any picture representing the vicissitudes of his unquiet life, fraught as
-it was with strange reverses and picturesque incidents. Such <i>may</i>
-exist, but in Western Art, at least, they have never been prominent.
-According to the Greek formula, he ought to be represented old, bald-headed,
-and with a long white beard, as in the etching.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</span></p>
-
-
-<h3 id="St_Gregory_Nazianzen"><span class="smcap">St. Gregory Nazianzen.</span></h3>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p><i>Gr.</i> St. Gregory Theologos. <i>Lat.</i> S. Gregorius Nazianzenus. <i>Ital.</i> San Gregorio Nazianzeno.
-<i>Fr.</i> St. Grégoire de Naziance. <i>Ger.</i> St. Gregor von Nazianz. (May 9, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 390.)</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>This Doctor, like St. Basil, was one of a family of saints; his father,
-St. Gregory, having been bishop of Nazianzus before him; his mother,
-St. Nonna, famous for her piety; and two of his sisters, St. Gorgonia
-and St. Cesarea, also canonized. Gregory was born about the year
-328; and his mother, who fondly believed that he had been granted to
-her prayers, watched over his early education, and guided his first steps
-in piety and literature. When a boy, he had a singular dream, which
-he has related himself. He beheld in his sleep two virgins of celestial
-beauty; they were clothed in white garments, and their faces shone
-upon him like two stars out of heaven: they took him in their arms and
-kissed him as if he had been their child. He, charmed by their virgin
-beauty and their caresses, asked who they were, and whence they came?
-One of them replied, ‘I am called Chastity, and my sister here is
-Temperance; we come to thee from Paradise, where we stand continually
-before the throne of Christ, and taste ineffable delights: come to us,
-my son, and dwell with us for ever;’ and having spoken thus, they left
-him and flew upwards to heaven. He followed them with longing eyes
-till they disappeared, and as he stretched his arms towards them he
-awoke.</p>
-
-<p>This dream—how natural in a boy educated between a tender
-mother, who had shielded him, as only mothers can, against all sinful
-temptations, and a lovely and saintly sister!—he regarded as a direct
-revelation from heaven: it decided his future life, and he made a vow
-of perpetual continence and temperance. Like the other Greek doctors,
-he began by the study of profane literature and rhetoric. He went to
-Athens, where he formed an enduring friendship with St. Basil, and
-pursued his studies with Julian, afterwards Cæsar and Apostate. After
-leaving Athens, in his thirtieth year, he was baptized; and, devoting
-himself solemnly to the service of God and the study of the Scriptures,
-like his friend Basil, he destroyed his health by his austerities and mortifications:
-he confesses that they were wholly repugnant to his nature<span class="pagenum" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</span>
-—a nature sensitive, imaginative, poetical; but this of course only
-added to their merit and efficacy. His aged father withdrew him from
-his solitude, and ordained him as his coadjutor: in 362 he succeeded to
-the bishopric of Nazianzus: but great part of his time was still spent at
-Constantinople, whither he was invited to preach against the Arians.
-It was a strange spectacle to see, in the capital of the world, a man,
-from a distant province and an obscure town, of small shrunken stature,
-bald-headed, wrinkled, haggard with vigils and fasting, poor, ill-clothed,
-and in his address unpolished and abrupt, stand up to oppose himself to
-a luxurious court and prevalent sect. The people began by stoning
-him; but at length his earnestness and eloquence overcame all opposition.</p>
-
-<p>Religious disputes were the fashion at that time in Constantinople,
-not merely among the priesthood, but among the laity, the lawyers, and
-above all the women, who were heard, in assemblies and at feasts, at
-home and abroad, declaiming and arguing on the most abstruse mysteries
-of the evangelical doctrine, till they lost temper and modesty:—so
-true it is, that there is nothing new under the sun. This was in
-378, and St. Gregory found more difficulty in silencing their squabbles
-than in healing the schisms of the Church. He was ordained Bishop
-of Constantinople by the favour of Theodosius; but, unable to endure
-the odious cabals and uncharitable contests which at that time distracted
-and disgraced Christianity, he resigned his sacred office, and retired to
-a small paternal estate, where he lived, with his usual self-denial and
-austerity, till his death. He composed in his retreat a number of
-beautiful poems in his native Greek: he was, in fact, the earliest Christian
-poet on record. These poems are not hymns only, but lyrics, in
-which he poured forth his soul, his aspirations, his temptations, his joys,
-his sufferings, his plaintive supplications to Christ, to aid him in his
-perpetual combats against a too vivid imagination, and feelings and
-passions which not even age and penance had subdued.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>St. Gregory Nazianzen ought to be represented as an old man wasted
-by fasting and vigils, with a bald head, a long beard of a reddish colour,
-and eyebrows the same. He is always the last in a series of the Four
-Greek Fathers, and, though often occurring in Greek Art, the popularity<span class="pagenum" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</span>
-of St. Gregory the <span class="smcap">Great</span> has completely banished St. Gregory
-the <span class="smcap">Poet</span> from Western Art.</p>
-
-<p>There remains, however, a very valuable and singular monument to
-the honour of St. Gregory Nazianzen, in the Greek MS. of his sermons
-preserved in the Imperial Library at Paris, and adorned with Byzantine
-miniatures, which must once have been beautiful and brilliant: ruined
-as they are, they present some of the most ancient examples which
-remain to us of the treatment of many sacred subjects from the Old and
-the New Testament, and give a high idea of the classic taste and the
-skill of the Byzantine limners of the ninth century. Besides the sacred
-subjects, we have numerous scenes interspersed from the life of Gregory
-himself, his friend St. Basil, and the Emperor Theodosius. As these
-are subjects which are exceptional, I need not describe them. Of the
-style of the miniatures I have already spoken, and given one example
-(<i>v.</i> p. 75).</p>
-
-
-<h3 id="St_Cyril"><span class="smcap">St. Cyril.</span></h3>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p><i>Lat.</i> S. Cyrillus. <i>Ital.</i> San Cirillo. <i>Fr.</i> St. Cyrille. (Jan. 28, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 444.)</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>St. Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria from the year 412 to 444, was
-famous in his time as deeply engaged in all the contests which disturbed
-the early Christian Church. He has left a great number of theological
-writings, which are regarded as authority in matters of faith. He,
-appears to have been violent against the so-called heresies of that day,
-and opposed Nestorius with the same determined zeal and inexorable
-firmness with which Athanasius had opposed Arius. The ascendency
-of Cyril was disgraced by the death of the famous female mathematician
-and philosopher Hypatia, murdered with horrible cruelty, and within
-the walls of a church, by the fanatic followers of the Patriarch, if he
-did not himself connive at it. He is much more venerated in the
-Greek than in the Latin Church. In the Greek representations he is
-the only bishop who has his head covered; he wears a veil or hood,
-coming over his head, falling down on his shoulders, and the front
-embroidered with a cross, as in the illustration.</p>
-
-<p>With the Greek Fathers I conclude the list of those saints who are
-generally represented in their collective character, grouped, or in a
-series.</p>
-
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</span></p>
-
-
-<h2 id ="St_Mary_etc">
-<span class="hid">St. Mary Magdalene, St. Martha, St. Lazarus,
-St. Marímín, St. Marcella, St. Mary of Egypt, and the Beatified Penitents.</span></h2>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp80" id="t_379">
-  <img src="images/t_379.png" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption">St. Mary Magdalene, St. Martha, St. Lazarus,
-St. Marímín, St. Marcella, St. Mary of Egypt, and the Beatified Penitents.
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="small">
-
-
-<h3 id="St_Mary_Magdalene"><span class="smcap">St. Mary Magdalene.</span></h3>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p><i>Lat.</i> Sancta Maria Magdalena. <i>Ital.</i> Santa Maria Maddalena. <i>Fr.</i> La Madeleine. La
-Sainte Demoiselle pécheresse. (July 22, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 68.) Patroness of Provence, of Marseilles,
-and of frail and penitent women.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Of all the personages who figure in history, in poetry, in art, Mary
-Magdalene is at once the most unreal and the most real:—the most
-<i>unreal</i>, if we attempt to fix her identity, which has been a subject of
-dispute for ages; the most <i>real</i>, if we consider her as having been, for
-ages, recognised and accepted in every Christian heart as the impersonation
-of the penitent sinner absolved through faith and love. In
-this, her mythic character, she has been surrounded by associations
-which have become fixed in the imagination, and which no reasoning,
-no array of facts, can dispel. This is not the place to enter into disputed
-points of biblical criticism; they are quite beside our present
-purpose. Whether Mary Magdalene, ‘out of whom Jesus cast seven
-devils,’ Mary of Bethany, and the ‘woman who was a sinner,’ be, as
-some authorities assert, three distinct persons, or, as others affirm, one
-and the same individual under different designations, remains a question
-open to dispute, nothing having been demonstrated on either side, from
-Scripture or from tradition; and I cannot presume even to give an
-opinion where doctors—and doctors of the Church, too—disagree;
-Origen and St. Chrysostom taking one side of the question, St. Clement
-and St. Gregory the other. Fleury, after citing the opinions of both
-sides, thus beautifully sums up the whole question:—‘Il importe de
-ne pas croire témérairement ce que l’Évangile ne dit point, et de ne
-pas mettre la religion à suivre aveuglement toutes les opinions populaires:
-<i>la foi est trop précieuse pour la prodiguer ainsi</i>; mais la charité<span class="pagenum" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</span>
-l’est encore plus; et ce qui est le plus important, c’est d’éviter les disputes
-qui peuvent l’altérer tant soit peu.’ And this is most true;—in
-his time the fast hold which the Magdalene had taken of the affections
-of the people was not to be shaken by theological researches and doubts.
-Here critical accuracy was nothing less than profanation and scepticism,
-and to have attacked the sanctity of the Blessed Mary Magdalene
-would have embittered and alienated many kindly and many believing
-spirits. It is difficult to treat of Mary Magdalene; and this difficulty
-would be increased infinitely if it were absolutely necessary to enter on
-the much-vexed question of her scriptural character and identity: one
-thing only appeals certain,—that such a person, whatever might have
-been her veritable appellation, did exist. The woman who, under the
-name of Mary Magdalene,—whether that name be rightfully or wrongfully
-bestowed,—stands before us, sanctified in the imagination and in
-the faith of the people in her combined character of Sinner and of
-Saint, as the first-fruits of Christian penitence,—is a reality, and not a
-fiction. Even if we would, we cannot do away with the associations
-inseparably connected with her name and her image. Of all those to
-whom much has been forgiven, she was the first: of all the tears since
-ruefully shed at the foot of the cross of suffering, hers were the first:
-of all the hopes which the Resurrection has since diffused through
-nations and generations of men, hers were the first. To her sorrowful
-image how many have looked up through tears, and blessed the pardoning
-grace of which she was the symbol—or rather the impersonation!
-Of the female saints, some were the chosen patrons of certain virtues—others
-of certain vocations; but the accepted and glorified penitent
-threw her mantle over all, and more especially over those of her own
-sex, who, having gone astray, were recalled from error and from shame,
-and laid down their wrongs, their sorrows, and their sins in trembling
-humility at the feet of the Redeemer.</p>
-
-<p>Nor is it only the popularity of Mary Magdalene as the representative
-and the patroness of repentant sinners which has multiplied her
-image through all Christendom. As a subject for painting,</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent0">Whether the fair one sinner it or saint it,</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>it is rich in picturesque capabilities. It combines all that can inspire,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</span>
-with all that can chasten the fancy; yet, when we review what has been
-done, how inadequate the result! In no class of subjects have the
-mistakes of the painters, even the most distinguished, been so conspicuous
-as in the representation of the penitent Magdalene; and it must
-be allowed that, with all its advantages and attractions, it is a subject
-full of perils and difficulties. Where the penitent prevails, the saint
-appears degraded; where the wasted, unclad form is seen attenuated by
-vigils and exposed in haggard unseemliness, it is a violation of that first
-great rule of Art which forbids the repulsive and the painful. And
-herein lies the fault of the earlier schools, and particularly of the old
-Greek and German painters;—their matter-of-fact ugliness would be
-intolerable, if not redeemed by the intention and sentiment. On the
-other hand, where sensual beauty has obviously been the paramount
-idea in the artist’s work, defeating its holiest purpose and perverting its
-high significance, the violation of the moral sentiment is yet more revolting.
-This is especially the fault of the later painters, more particularly
-of the schools of Venice and Bologna: while the French painters
-are yet worse, adding affectation to licentiousness of sentiment; the
-Abbé Mèry exclaims with reasonable and pious indignation against that
-‘<i>air de galanterie</i>’ which in his time was regarded as characteristic of
-Mary Magdalene. The ‘larmoyantes’ penitents of Greuze—Magdalenes
-<i>à la Pompadour</i>—are more objectionable to my taste than those
-of Rubens.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>I shall give the legend of the Magdalene here as it was accepted by
-the people, and embodied by the arts, of the middle ages, setting aside
-those Eastern traditions which represent the Mary of Bethany and the
-Magdalene as distinct personages, and place the death and burial-place
-of Mary Magdalene at Ephesus. Our business is with the Western
-legend, which has been the authority for Western Art. This legend,
-besides attributing to one individual, and blending into one narrative,
-the very few scattered notices in the Gospels, has added some other
-incidents, inconceivably wild and incredible, leaving her, however, the
-invariable attributes of the frail loving woman, the sorrowing penitent,
-and the devout enthusiastic saint.</p>
-
-<p>Mary Magdalene was of the district of Magdala, on the shores of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</span>
-sea of Galilee, where stood her castle, called Magdalon; she was the
-sister of Lazarus and of Martha, and they were the children of parents
-reputed noble, or, as some say, of royal race. On the death of their
-father, Syrus, they inherited vast riches and possessions in land, which
-were equally divided between them. Lazarus betook himself to the
-military life; Martha ruled her possessions with great discretion, and
-was a model of virtue and propriety,— perhaps a little too much addicted
-to worldly cares: Mary, on the contrary, abandoned herself to luxurious
-pleasures, and became at length so notorious for her dissolute life, that
-she was known through all the country round only as ‘<span class="smcap">the Sinner</span>.’
-Her discreet sister, Martha, frequently rebuked her for these disorders,
-and at length persuaded her to listen to the exhortations of Jesus,
-through which her heart was touched and converted. The seven
-demons which possessed her, and which were expelled by the power of
-the Lord, were the seven deadly sins to which she was given over before
-her conversion. On one occasion Martha entertained the Saviour in
-her house, and, being anxious to feast him worthily, she was ‘cumbered
-with much serving.’ Mary, meanwhile, sat at the feet of Jesus, and
-heard his words, which completed the good work of her conversion;
-and when, some time afterwards, he supped in the house of Simon the
-Pharisee, she followed him thither, ‘and she brought an alabaster box
-of ointment, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them
-with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with
-ointment; and He said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.’ She became
-afterwards one of the most devoted of his followers; ‘ministered to
-him of her substance;’ attended him to Calvary, and stood weeping at
-the foot of the cross. She, with the other Mary, watched by his tomb,
-and was the first to whom he appeared after the resurrection; her
-unfaltering faith, mingled as it was with the intensest grief and love,
-obtained for her this peculiar mark of favour. It is assumed by several
-commentators that our Saviour appeared first to Mary Magdalene
-because she, of all those whom he had left on earth, had most need of
-consolation:—‘<i>The disciples went away to their own home; but Mary
-stood without the sepulchre, weeping.</i>’</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Thus far the notices in the Gospel and the suggestions of commentators:<span class="pagenum" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</span>
-the old Provençal legend then continues the story. After the
-ascension, Lazarus with his two sisters, Martha and Mary; with Maximin,
-one of the seventy-two disciples, from whom they had received
-baptism; Cedon, the blind man whom our Saviour had restored to
-sight; and Marcella, the handmaiden who attended on the two sisters,
-were by the heathens set adrift in a vessel without sails, oars, or
-rudder; but, guided by Providence, they were safely borne over the
-sea till they landed in a certain harbour which proved to be Marseilles,
-in the country now called France. The people of the land were pagans,
-and refused to give the holy pilgrims food or shelter; so they were fain
-to take refuge under the porch of a temple; and Mary Magdalene
-preached to the people, reproaching them for their senseless worship of
-dumb idols; and though at first they would not listen, yet being after
-a time convinced by her eloquence, and by the miracles performed by
-her and by her sister, they were converted and baptized. And Lazarus
-became, after the death of the good Maximin, the first bishop of Marseilles.</p>
-
-<p>These things being accomplished, Mary Magdalene retired to a desert
-not far from the city. It was a frightful barren wilderness, in the
-midst of horrid rocks and caves: and here for thirty years she devoted
-herself to solitary penance for the sins of her past life, which she had
-never ceased to bewail bitterly. During this long seclusion, she was
-never seen or heard of, and it was supposed that she was dead. She
-fasted so rigorously, that but for the occasional visits of the angels, and
-the comfort bestowed by celestial visions, she must have perished.
-Every day during the last years of her penance, the angels came down
-from heaven and carried her up in their arms into regions where she
-was ravished by the sounds of unearthly harmony, and beheld the glory
-and the joy prepared for the sinner that repenteth. One day a certain
-hermit, who dwelt in a cell on one of those wild mountains, having
-wandered farther than usual from his home, beheld this wondrous vision—the
-Magdalene in the arms of ascending angels, who were singing
-songs of triumph as they bore her upwards; and the hermit, when he
-had a little recovered from his amazement, returned to the city of Marseilles,
-and reported what he had seen. According to some of the
-legends, Mary Magdalene died within the walls of the Christian church,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</span>
-after receiving the sacrament from the hand of St. Maximin; but the
-more popular accounts represent her as dying in her solitude, while
-angels watched over and ministered to her.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The middle of the thirteenth century was an era of religious excitement
-all over the south of Europe. A sudden fit of penitence—‘una
-subita compunzione,’ as an Italian author calls it—seized all hearts;
-relics and pilgrimages, and penances and monastic ordinances, filled all
-minds. About this period, certain remains, supposed to be those of
-Mary Magdalene and Lazarus, were discovered at a place since called
-St. Maximin, about twenty miles north of Toulon. The discovery
-strongly excited the devotion and enthusiasm of the people; and a
-church was founded on the spot by Charles, Count of Provence (the
-brother of St. Louis), as early as 1279. A few years afterwards, this
-prince was vanquished and taken prisoner by the king of Aragon, and
-when at length set free after a long captivity, he ascribed his deliverance
-particularly to the intercession of his chosen patroness, Mary
-Magdalene. This incident greatly extended her fame as a saint of
-power; and from this time we may date her popularity, and those
-sculptural and pictorial representations of her, under various aspects,
-which, from the fourteenth century to the present time, have so multiplied,
-that scarcely any Catholic place of worship is to be found without
-her image. In fact, it is difficult for us, in these days, to conceive, far
-more difficult to sympathise with, the passionate admiration and devotion
-with which she was regarded by her votaries in the middle ages.
-The imputed sinfulness of her life only brought her nearer to them.
-Those who did not dare to lift up their eyes to the more saintly models
-of purity and holiness,—to the martyrs who had suffered in the cause of
-chastity,—took courage to invoke her intercession. The extravagant
-titles bestowed upon her in the middle ages—‘<i lang="fr">l’amante de Jésus-Christ</i>,’
-‘<i lang="fr">la bien-aimée du Sauveur</i>,’ ‘<i lang="fr">la très-saincte demoiselle pécheresse</i>,’—and
-others which I should hardly dare to transcribe, show the spirit in
-which she was worshipped, particularly in the south of France, and the
-kind of chivalrous sentiment which mingled with the devotion of her
-adorers. I found in an old French sermon a eulogium of Mary Magdalene,
-which for its eloquence and ingenuity seems to me without a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</span>
-parallel. The preacher, while acknowledging the excesses which brought
-her a penitent to the feet of Christ, is perfectly scandalised that she
-should be put on a par with common sinners of the same class, and that
-on the faith of a passage in St. Luke, <span lang="fr">‘on a osé flétrir une des plus
-belles âmes qui soient jamais sorties des mains du Créateur!’</span> He rather
-glorifies her as a kind of Aspasia, to whom, indeed, he in a manner
-compares her.<a id="FNanchor_297" href="#Footnote_297" class="fnanchor">[297]</a></p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</span></p>
-
-<p>The traditional scene of the penance of the Magdalene, a wild spot
-between Toulon and Marseilles, is the site of a famous convent called
-La Sainte Beaume (which in the Provençal tongue signifies <i>Holy
-Cave</i>), formerly a much frequented place of pilgrimage. It is built on
-the verge of a formidable precipice; near it is the grotto in which the
-saint resided; and to Mount Pilon, a rocky point about six hundred
-feet above the grotto, the angels bore her seven times a day to pray.
-This convent was destroyed and pillaged at the commencement of the
-French Revolution. It was filled with relics and works of art, referring
-to the life and the worship of the Magdalene.</p>
-
-<p>But the most sumptuous fane ever erected to her special honour is
-that which, of late years, has arisen in the city of Paris. The church,
-or rather the temple, of La Madeleine stands an excelling monument, if
-not of modern piety, at least of modern Art. It is built on the model
-of the temple of Jupiter at Athens:—</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent0">That noble type is realised again</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">In perfect form; and dedicate—to whom?</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">To a poor Syrian girl of lowliest name—</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">A hapless creature, pitiful and frail</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">As ever wore her life in sin and shame!</div>
-    <div class="verse indent10"><span class="smcap">R. M. Milnes.</span></div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The saint, whether she were ‘the lowly Syrian girl’ or the ‘Princess
-of Magdala,’ would be equally astonished to behold herself thus
-honoured with a sort of pagan magnificence in the midst of a luxurious
-capital, and by a people more remarkable for scoffing than for praying.
-Even in the successive vicissitudes of this splendid edifice there is
-something strange. That which is now the temple of the lowly penitent
-was, a few years ago, <i>Le Temple de la Gloire</i>.</p>
-
-<p>Let us now turn to those characteristic representations with which
-painting and sculpture have made us familiar, and for which both Scripture<span class="pagenum" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</span>
-and legendary tradition have furnished the authority and the
-groundwork. These are so numerous and so infinitely varied that I
-find it necessary here, as in the case of St. Jerome, to arrange them
-under several heads.</p>
-
-<p>The devotional representations may be divided into two classes. 1.
-Those which represent the Magdalene as patron saint. 2. Those which
-represent her penitence in the desert.</p>
-
-<p>The historical subjects may also be divided into two classes. 1. Those
-scenes from Gospel story in which Mary Magdalene figures as a chief
-or conspicuous personage. 2. The scenes taken from her legendary life.</p>
-
-<p>In all these subjects the accompanying attribute is the alabaster box
-of ointment; which has a double significance: it may be the perfume
-which she poured over the feet of the Saviour, or the balm and spices
-which she had prepared to anoint his body. Sometimes she carries it
-in her hand, sometimes it stands at her feet, or near her; frequently, in
-later pictures, it is borne by an attendant angel. The shape varies
-with the fancy of the artist; it is a small vase, a casket, a box, a cup
-with a cover; more or less ornamented, more or less graceful in form;
-but always there—the symbol at once of her conversion and her love,
-and so peculiar that it can leave no doubt of her identity.</p>
-
-<p>Her drapery in the ancient pictures is usually red, to express the
-fervour of her love; in modern representations, and where she figures
-as penitent, it is either blue or violet; violet, the colour of mourning
-and penitence—blue, the colour of constancy. To express both the
-love and the sorrow, she sometimes wears a violet-coloured tunic and a
-red mantle. The luxuriant hair ought to be fair or golden. Dark-haired
-Magdalenes, as far as I can remember, belong exclusively to the
-Spanish school.</p>
-
-<p>1. When exhibited to us as the patron saint of repentant sinners,
-Mary Magdalene is sometimes a thin wasted figure with long dishevelled
-hair, of a pale golden hue, falling over her shoulders almost to the
-ground; sometimes a skin or a piece of linen is tied round her loins,
-but not seldom her sole drapery is her long redundant hair. The most
-ancient single figure of this character to which I can refer is an old picture
-in the Byzantine manner, as old perhaps as the thirteenth century,
-and now in the Academy at Florence. She is standing as patroness,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</span>
-covered only by her long hair, which falls in dark brown masses to her
-feet: the colour, I imagine, was originally much lighter. She is a
-meagre, haggard, grim-looking figure, and holds in her hand a scroll,
-on which is inscribed in ancient Gothic letters—</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp50" id="i_352a" style="max-width: 18.75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_352a.png" alt="The gothic letters" />
-</div>
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza"><div lang="it">
-    <div class="verse indent0">Ne despectetis</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Vos qui peccare soletis</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Exemplo meo</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Vos reparate Deo.<a id="FNanchor_298" href="#Footnote_298" class="fnanchor">[298]</a></div>
-  </div></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-<div class="figright illowp30" id="i_352b" style="max-width: 21.875em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_352b.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c91"></a>91  Mary Magdalene (Donatello)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Rude and unattractive as is this specimen of ancient Art, I could not
-look at it without thinking how often it
-must have spoken hope and peace to the
-soul of the trembling sinner, in days when
-it hung, not in a picture-gallery to be
-criticised, but in a shrine to be worshipped.
-Around this figure, in the manner
-of the old altar-pieces, are six small
-square compartments containing scenes
-from her life.</p>
-
-<p>The famous statue carved in wood by
-Donatello, in point of character may be
-referred to this class of subjects: she
-stands over her altar in the Baptistery at
-Florence, with clasped hands, the head
-raised in prayer; the form is very expressive
-of wasting grief and penance, but
-too meagre for beauty. ‘<i lang="it">Egli, la volle
-specchio alle penitenti, non incitamento
-alla cupidizia degli sguardi, come avenne
-ad altri artisti</i>,’ says Cicognara; and,
-allowing that beauty has been sacrificed to
-expression, he adds, ‘but if Donatello had
-done all, what would have remained for
-Canova?’ That which remained for Canova to do, he has done; he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</span>
-has made her as lovely as possible, and he has dramatised the sentiment:
-she is more the penitent than the patron saint. The display of the
-beautiful limbs is chastened by the humility of the attitude—half
-kneeling, half prostrate; by the expression of the drooping head—‘all
-sorrow’s softness charmed from its despair.’ Her eyes are fixed on the
-cross which lies extended on her knees; and she weeps—not so much
-her own past sins, as the sacrifice it has cost to redeem them. This is
-the prevailing sentiment, or, as the Germans would call it, the <i>motive</i>
-of the representation, to which I should feel inclined to object as deficient
-in dignity and severity, and bordering too much on the <i>genre</i> and
-dramatic style: but the execution is almost faultless. Very beautiful
-is another modern statue of the penitent Magdalene, executed in marble
-for the Count d’Espagnac, by M. Henri de Triqueti. She is half
-seated, half reclining on a fragment of rock, and pressing to her bosom
-a crown of thorns, at once the mourner and the penitent: the sorrow is
-not for herself alone.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp80" id="i_354" style="max-width: 75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_354.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c92"></a>92  Mary Magdalene (Lucas v. Leyden)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>But, in her character of patron saint, Mary Magdalene was not
-always represented with the squalid or pathetic attributes of humiliation
-and penance. She became idealised as a noble dignified creature bearing
-no traces of sin or of sorrow on her beautiful face; her luxuriant
-hair bound in tresses round her head; her drapery rich and ample; the
-vase of ointment in her hand or at her feet, or borne by an angel near
-her. Not unfrequently she is attired with the utmost magnificence,
-either in reference to her former state of worldly prosperity, or rather,
-perhaps, that with the older painters, particularly those of the German
-school, it was a common custom to clothe all the ideal figures of female
-saints in rich habits. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries such
-representations of the Magdalene are usual both in Italian and German
-Art. A beautiful instance may be seen in a picture by Signorelli, in
-the Cathedral of Orvieto, where she is standing in a landscape, her
-head uncovered, and the rich golden hair partly braided, partly flowing
-over her shoulders; she wears a magnificent tunic embroidered with
-gold, over it a flowing mantle descending to her feet; she holds the
-vase with her left hand, and points to it with her right. If it were not
-for the saintly aureole encircling her head, this figure, and others similar
-to it, might be mistaken for Pandora. See, for example, the famous<span class="pagenum" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</span>
-print by Lucas v. Leyden, where she stands on clouds with an embroidered
-coif and flowing mantle, holding the vase in her left hand,
-and lifting the cover with her right (in the sketch it is reversed): and
-in the half-length by Leonardo, or one of his school. The want of a
-religious sentiment gives such figures a very heathen and <i>Pandora</i> look,
-so that the aureole alone fixes the identity. This is not the case with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</span>
-a noble Magdalene by Dennis Calvert, in the Manfrini Palace at
-Venice. She is standing in a fine bold landscape; one hand sustains
-her ample crimson drapery, the other holds her vase; her fair hair falls
-in masses over her shoulders, and she looks down on her worshippers
-with a serious dignified compassion. This is one of the finest pictures
-of the later Bologna school, finer and truer in sentiment than any of the
-Caracci and Guido Magdalenes.</p>
-
-<p>In this her wholly divine and ideal character of saint and intercessor,
-Mary Magdalene is often most beautifully introduced as standing near
-the throne of the Virgin, or as grouped with other saints. In two of
-the most famous pictures in the world she is thus represented. In the
-St. Cecilia of Raphael, she stands on the left, St. Paul being on the
-right of the principal figure; they are here significant of the conversion
-of the man through <i>power</i>, of the woman through <i>love</i>, from a state of
-reprobation to a state of reconcilement and grace. St. Paul leans in
-deep meditation on his sword. Mary Magdalene is habited in ample
-drapery of blue and violet, which she sustains with one hand, and bears
-the vase in the other. She looks out of the picture with a benign
-countenance and a particularly graceful turn of the head. Raphael’s
-original design for this picture (engraved by Marc Antonio) is, however,
-preferable in the sentiment given to the Magdalene: she does not look
-<i>out</i> of the picture, but she looks <i>up</i>: <i>she</i> also hears the divine music
-which has ravished St. Cecilia. In the picture she is either unconscious
-or inattentive.</p>
-
-<p>In the not less celebrated St. Jerome of Correggio she is on the left
-of the Madonna, bending down with an expression of the deepest adoration
-to kiss the feet of the infant Christ, while an angel behind holds
-up the vase of ointment: thus recalling to our minds, and shadowing
-forth in the most poetical manner, that memorable act of love and
-homage rendered at the feet of the Saviour. Parmigiano has represented
-her, in a Madonna picture, as standing on one side, and the
-prophet Isaiah on the other. Lord Ashburton has a fine picture by
-Correggio, in which we have the same ideal representation: she is here
-grouped with St. Peter, St. Margaret, and St. Leonardo.</p>
-
-<p>There are two classes of subjects in which Mary Magdalene is richly
-habited, and which must be carefully distinguished; those above described,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</span>
-in which she figures as patron saint, and those which represent
-her <i>before</i> her conversion, as the votary of luxury and pleasure. In the
-same manner we must be careful to distinguish those figures of the
-penitent Magdalene which are wholly devotional in character and
-intention, and which have been described in the first class, from those
-which represent her in the act of doing penance, and which are rather
-dramatic and sentimental than devotional.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>2. The penance of the Magdalene is a subject which has become,
-like the penance of St. Jerome, a symbol of Christian penitence, but
-still more endeared to the popular imagination by more affecting and
-attractive associations, and even more eminently picturesque,—so
-tempting to the artists, that by their own predilection for it they have
-assisted in making it universal. In the display of luxuriant female
-forms, shadowed (not hidden) by redundant fair hair, and flung in all
-the <i>abandon</i> of solitude, amid the depth of leafy recesses, or relieved by
-the dark umbrageous rocks; in the association of love and beauty with
-the symbols of death and sorrow and utter humiliation; the painters
-had ample scope, ample material, for the exercise of their imagination,
-and the display of their skill: and what has been the result? They
-have abused these capabilities even to licence; they have exhausted the
-resources of Art in the attempt to vary the delineation; and yet how
-seldom has the ideal of this most exquisite subject been—I will not say
-realised—but even approached? We have Magdalenes who look as if
-they never could have sinned, and others who look as if they never
-could have repented; we have Venetian Magdalenes with the air of
-courtesans, and Florentine Magdalenes with the air of Ariadnes; and
-Bolognese Magdalenes like sentimental Niobes; and French Magdalenes,
-<i>moitié galantes</i>, <i>moitié dévotes</i>; and Dutch Magdalenes, who wring
-their hands like repentant washerwomen. The Magdalenes of Rubens
-remind us of nothing so much as of the ‘unfortunate Miss Bailey;’
-and the Magdalenes of Van Dyck are fine ladies who have turned
-Methodists. But Mary Magdalene, such as we have conceived her,
-mournful yet hopeful,—tender yet dignified,—worn with grief and
-fasting, yet radiant with the glow of love and faith, and clothed with
-the beauty of holiness,—is an ideal which painting has not yet realised.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</span>
-Is it beyond the reach of Art? We might have answered this question,
-had Raphael attempted it;—but he has not. His Magdalene at the
-feet of Christ is yet unforgiven—the forlorn castaway, not the devout
-penitent.</p>
-
-<p>The Magdalene doing penance in her rocky desert first became a
-popular subject in the sixteenth century; in the seventeenth it was at
-the height of favour. There are two distinct versions of the subject,
-infinitely varied as to detail and sentiment: either she is represented as
-bewailing her sins, or as reconciled to Heaven.</p>
-
-<p>In the former treatment she lies prostrate on the earth, or she is
-standing or kneeling at the entrance of the cave (in some of the old
-illuminated missals the upper part of her body is seen emerging from a
-cave, or rather a hole in the ground), the hands clasped, or extended
-towards heaven; the eyes streaming with tears; the long yellow hair
-floating over the shoulders. The crucifix, the skull, and sometimes the
-scourge, are introduced as emblems of faith, mortality, and penance;
-weeping angels present a crown of thorns.</p>
-
-<p>In the latter treatment she is reading or meditating; the expression
-is serene or hopeful; a book lies beside the skull; angels present the
-palm, or scatter flowers; a vision of glory is seen in the skies.</p>
-
-<p>The alabaster box is in all cases the indispensable attribute. The
-eyes are usually raised, if not in grief, in supplication or in aspiration.
-The ‘uplifted eye’ as well as the ‘loose hair’ became a characteristic;
-but there are some exceptions. The conception of character and situation,
-which was at first simple, became more and more picturesque, and
-at length theatrical—a mere vehicle for sentiment and attitude.</p>
-
-<p>1. The earliest example I can remember of the Penitent Magdalene,
-<i>dramatically</i> treated, remains as yet unsurpassed,—the reading Magdalene
-of Correggio, in the Dresden Gallery. This lovely creation has
-only one fault the virginal beauty is that of a Psyche or a Seraph.
-In Oelenschläger’s drama of ‘Correggio,’ there is a beautiful description
-of this far-famed picture; he calls it ‘Die Gottinn des Waldes
-Frömmigkeit,’—the goddess of the religious solitude. And in truth,
-if we could imagine Diana reading instead of hunting, she might have
-looked thus. Oelenschläger has made poetical use of the tradition that
-Correggio painted this Magdalene for a poor monk who was his confessor<span class="pagenum" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</span>
-or physician; and thus he makes Silvestro comment on the
-work:—</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent16">What a fair picture!—</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">This dark o’erhanging shade, the long fair hair,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">The delicate white skin, the azure robe,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">The full luxuriant life, the grim death’s head,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">The tender womanhood, and the great book:—</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">These various contrasts have you cunningly</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Brought into sweetest harmony.</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>But truer, at least nobler in sentiment, is the Magdalene by the same
-painter (in the Manfrini Palace, Venice), of the same size and similarly
-draped in dark blue; but here <i>standing</i> at the entrance of her cave.
-She leans her elbow on the book which lies on the rock, and appears to
-be meditating on its contents. The head, seen in front, is grand and
-earnest, with a mass of fair hair, a large wide brow, and deep, deep eyes
-full of mystery. The expression of power in this head pleases me
-especially, because true to the character, as I conceive it.</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent0">Doch ist es schön von einem Weibe, mein’ ich,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Einmal gefallen wieder sich zu heben;</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Es gibt sehr wen’ge Männer, die das können!</div>
-  </div>
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent6">Yes! it is good to see a hapless woman,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">That once has fallen, redeem herself! In truth,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">There be few men, methinks, could do as much.</div>
-    <div class="verse indent20"><i>Correggio</i>, Act i. Scene 1.</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>I do not know why this lovely Manfrini picture should be so much
-less celebrated than the Dresden Magdalene: while the latter has been
-multiplied by copies and engravings, I do not remember a single print
-after the Manfrini Magdalene. There is a bad feeble copy in the
-Louvre;<a id="FNanchor_299" href="#Footnote_299" class="fnanchor">[299]</a> I know no other.</p>
-
-<p>2. There is a celebrated picture by Timoteo della Vite, in the Bologna
-Gallery. She is standing before the entrance of her cavern, arrayed
-in a crimson mantle; her long hair is seen beneath descending to
-her feet; the hands joined in prayer, the head declined on one side, and
-the whole expression that of girlish innocence and simplicity, with a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</span>
-touch of the pathetic. A mendicant, not a Magdalene, is the idea suggested;
-and, for myself, I confess that at the first glance I was reminded
-of the little Red-Riding-Hood, and could think of no sin that could
-have been attributed to such a face and figure, beyond the breaking of
-a pot of butter: yet the picture is very beautiful.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_359" style="max-width: 62.5em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_359.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c93"></a>93 Mary Magdalene (Timoteo della Vite)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>3. The Magdalene of Titian was so celebrated in his own time, that
-he painted at least five or six repetitions of it, and copies and engravings
-have since been multiplied. The eyes, swimming in tears, are raised to
-heaven; the long dishevelled hair floats over her shoulders; one hand<span class="pagenum" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</span>
-is pressed on her bosom, the other rests on the skull; the forms are full
-and round, the colouring rich; a book and a box of ointment lie before
-her on a fragment of rock. She is sufficiently woeful, but seems rather
-to regret her past life than to repent of it, nor is there anything in the
-expression which can secure us against a relapse. Titian painted the
-original for Charles V. His idea of the <i>pose</i> was borrowed, as we are
-told, from an antique statue, and his model was a young girl, who being
-fatigued with long standing, the tears ran down her face, and Titian
-attained the desired expression.’(!) His idea therefore of St. Mary
-Magdalene was the fusion of an antique statue and a girl taken out of
-the streets; and with all its beauties as a work of art—and very beautiful
-it is—this <i>chef-d’œuvre</i> of Titian is, to my taste, most unsatisfactory.</p>
-
-<p>4. Cigoli’s Magdalene is seated on a rock, veiled <i>only</i> by her long
-hair, which falls over the whole figure; the eyes, still wet with tears,
-are raised to heaven; one arm is round a skull, the right hand rests on
-a book which is on her knees.</p>
-
-<p>5. The Magdalene of Carlo Cignani, veiled in her dishevelled hair,
-and wringing her hands, is also most affecting for the fervent expression
-of sorrow; both these are in the Florence Gallery.<a id="FNanchor_300" href="#Footnote_300" class="fnanchor">[300]</a></p>
-
-<p>6. Guido, regarded as the painter of Magdalenes <i>par excellence</i>, has
-carried this mistake yet farther; he had ever the classical Niobe in his
-mind, and his saintly penitents, with all their exceeding loveliness,
-appear to me utterly devoid of that beauty which has been called ‘the
-beauty of holiness;’ the reproachful grandeur of the Niobe is diluted
-into voluptuous feebleness; the tearful face, with the loose golden hair
-and uplifted eyes, of which he has given us at least ten repetitions,
-however charming as art—as painting, are unsatisfactory as religious
-representations. I cannot except even the beautiful study in our National
-Gallery, nor the admired full-length in the Sciarra Palace, at
-Rome; the latter, when I saw it last, appeared to me poor and mannered,
-and the pale colouring not merely delicate, but vapid. A head<span class="pagenum" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</span>
-of Mary Magdalene reading, apparently a study from life, is, however,
-in a grand style.<a id="FNanchor_301" href="#Footnote_301" class="fnanchor">[301]</a></p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_361" style="max-width: 62.5em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_361.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c94"></a>94 Mary Magdalene (Murillo)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>7. Murillo’s Magdalene, in the Louvre, kneeling, with hands crossed
-on her bosom, eyes upraised, and parted lips, has eager devout hope as
-well as sorrow in the countenance. 8. But turn to the Magdalene of
-Alonzo Cano, which hangs near: drooping, negligent of self; the very
-hands are nerveless, languid, dead.<a id="FNanchor_302" href="#Footnote_302" class="fnanchor">[302]</a> Nothing but woe, guilt, and
-misery are in the face and attitude: <i>she</i> has not yet looked into the face
-of Christ, nor sat at his feet, nor heard from his lips, ‘Woman, thy
-sins be forgiven thee,’ nor dared to hope; it is the penitent only: the
-whole head is faint, and the whole heart sick. 9. But the beautiful
-Magdalene of Annibal Caracci has heard the words of mercy; <i>she</i> has<span class="pagenum" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</span>
-memories which are not of sin only; angelic visions have already come
-to her in that wild solitude: she is seated at the foot of a tree; she
-leans her cheek on her right hand, the other rests on a skull; she is in
-deep contemplation; but her thoughts are not of death: the upward
-ardent look is full of hope, and faith, and love. The fault of this beautiful
-little picture lies in the sacrifice of the truth of the situation to the
-artistic feeling of beauty—the common fault of the school; the forms
-are large, round, full, untouched by grief and penance.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp80" id="i_362" style="max-width: 75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_362.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c95"></a>95  Mary Magdalene (Annibal Caracci)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>10. Vandyck’s Magdalenes have the same fault as his Madonnas;
-they are not feeble nor voluptuous, but they are too elegant and ladylike.
-I remember, for example, a Deposition by Vandyck, and one of
-his finest pictures, in which Mary Magdalene kisses the hand of the
-Saviour quite with the air of a princess. The most beautiful of his
-penitent Magdalenes is the half-length figure with the face in profile,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</span>
-bending with clasped hands over the crucifix; the skull and knotted
-scourge lie on a shelf of rock behind; underneath is the inscription,
-‘<i lang="it">Fallit gratia, et vana est pulchritudo; mulier timens Dominum ipsa
-laudabitur</i>.’ (Prov. xxxi. 30.) 11. Rubens has given us thirteen
-Magdalenes, more or less coarse; in one picture<a id="FNanchor_303" href="#Footnote_303" class="fnanchor">[303]</a> she is tearing her
-hair like a disappointed virago; in another, the expression of grief is
-overpowering, but it is that of a woman in the house of correction.
-From this sweeping condemnation I must make one exception; it is
-the picture known as ‘The Four Penitents.’<a id="FNanchor_304" href="#Footnote_304" class="fnanchor">[304]</a> In front the Magdalene
-bows down her head on her clasped hands with such an expression of
-profound humility as Rubens only, when painting out of nature and his
-own heart, could give. Christ, with an air of tender yet sublime compassion,
-looks down upon her:—‘Thy sins be forgiven thee!’ Behind
-Christ and the Magdalene stand Peter, David, and Didymus, the penitent
-thief; the faces of these three, thrown into shadow to relieve the
-two principal figures, have a self-abased, mournful expression. I have
-never seen anything from the hand of Rubens at once so pure and
-pathetic in sentiment as this picture, while the force and truth of the
-painting are, as usual, wonderful. No one should judge Rubens who
-has not studied him in the Munich Gallery.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The <span class="smcap">Historical Subjects</span> from the life of Mary Magdalene are
-either scriptural or legendary; and the character of the Magdalene, as
-conceived by the greatest painters, is more distinctly expressed in those
-scriptural scenes in which she is an important figure, than in the single
-and ideal representations. The illuminated Gospels of the ninth century
-furnish the oldest type of Mary, the penitent and the sister of Lazarus,
-but it differs from the modern conception of the Magdalene. She is in
-such subjects a secondary scriptural personage, one of the accessories in
-the history of Christ, and nothing more: no attempt was made to give
-her importance, either by beauty, or dignity, or prominence of place,
-till the end of the thirteenth century.</p>
-
-<p>The sacred subjects in which she is introduced are the following:—</p>
-
-<p>1. Jesus at supper with Simon the Pharisee.—‘And she began<span class="pagenum" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</span>
-to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hair of her
-head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with ointment.’ (Luke
-vii. 30.)</p>
-
-<p>2. Christ is in the house of Martha and Mary.—‘And she sat at
-Jesus’ feet, and heard his words; but Martha was cumbered with much
-serving.’ (Luke x. 39, 40.)</p>
-
-<p>3. The Raising of Lazarus.—‘Lord, if thou hadst been here, my
-brother had not died.’ (John xi. 32.)</p>
-
-<p>4. The Crucifixion.—‘Now there stood by the cross Mary Magdalene.’
-(John xix. 25; Matt. xxvii. 56.)</p>
-
-<p>5. The Deposition from the Cross.—‘And Mary Magdalene, and the
-mother of Jesus, beheld where he was laid.’ (Mark xv. 47.)</p>
-
-<p>6. The Maries at the Sepulchre.—‘And there was Mary Magdalene
-and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre.’ (Matt. xxvii.
-61.)</p>
-
-<p>7. Christ appears to Mary Magdalene in the Garden, called the <i>Noli
-me tangere</i>.—‘Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father.’
-(John xx. 17.)</p>
-
-<p>In the first, second, and last of these subjects, the Magdalene is one
-of the two principal figures, and necessary to the action; in the others
-she is generally introduced, but in some instances omitted; and as all
-belong properly to the life of Christ, I shall confine myself now to a
-few remarks on the characteristic treatment of the Magdalene in each.</p>
-
-<p>1. The supper with Simon has been represented in every variety of
-style. The earliest and simplest I can call to mind is the fresco of
-Taddeo Gaddi in the Rinuccini Chapel at Florence. The Magdalene
-bends down prostrate on the feet of the Saviour; she is in a red dress,
-and her long yellow hair flows down her back; the seven devils by
-which she was possessed are seen above, flying out of the roof of the
-house in the shape of little black monsters. Raphael, when treating
-the same subject, thought only of the religious significance of the action,
-and how to express it with the utmost force and the utmost simplicity.
-There are few figures—our Saviour, the Pharisee, four apostles, and
-two attendants: Mary Magdalene, in front, bends over the feet of
-Christ, while her long hair half conceals her face and almost sweeps the
-ground; nothing can exceed the tenderness and humility of the attitude<span class="pagenum" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</span>
-and the benign dignity of Christ. As an example of the most opposite
-treatment, let us turn to the gorgeous composition of Paul Veronese;
-we have a stately banquet-room, rich architecture, a crowd of about
-thirty figures; and the Magdalene is merely a beautiful female with
-loose robes, dishevelled tresses, and the bosom displayed: this gross
-fault of sentiment is more conspicuous in the large picture in the Durazzo
-Palace at Genoa than in the beautiful finished sketch in the collection
-of Mr. Rogers.<a id="FNanchor_305" href="#Footnote_305" class="fnanchor">[305]</a> A fine sketch by the same painter, but quite
-different, is at Alton Towers. The composition of Rubens, of which a
-very fine sketch is in the Windsor collection, is exceedingly dramatic:
-the dignity of Christ and the veneration and humility of the Magdalene
-are admirably expressed; but the disdainful surprise of some of the
-assistants, and the open mockery of others,—the old man in spectacles
-peering over to convince himself of the truth,—disturb the solemnity
-of the feeling: and this fault is even more apparent in the composition
-of Philippe de Champagne, where a young man puts up his finger with
-no equivocal expression. In these two examples the moment chosen is
-not ‘<i>Thy sins are forgiven thee</i>,’ but the scepticism of the Pharisee
-becomes the leading idea: ‘<i>This man, if he were a prophet, would have
-known who and what manner of woman this is.</i>’</p>
-
-<p>2. Christ in the house of Martha and Mary. Of this beautiful subject
-I have never seen a satisfactory version; in the fresco by Taddeo
-Gaddi in the Rinuccini Chapel the subject becomes legendary rather
-than scriptural. Mary Magdalene is seated at the feet of Christ in an
-attitude of attention; Martha seems to expostulate; three of the disciples
-are behind; a little out of the principal group, St. Marcella, also
-with a glory round her head, is seen cooking. At Hampton Court there
-is a curious picture of this subject by Hans Vries, which is an elaborate
-study of architecture: the rich decoration of the interior has been criticised;
-but, according to the legend, Martha and Mary lived in great
-splendour; and there is no impropriety in representing their dwelling
-as a palace, but a very great impropriety in rendering the decorations
-of the palace more important than the personages of the scene. In a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</span>
-picture by Old Bassano, Christ is seen entering the house; Mary Magdalene
-goes forward to meet him; Martha points to the table where
-Lazarus sits composedly cutting a slice of sausage, and in the corner
-St. Marcella is cooking at a fire. In a picture by Rubens, the treatment
-is similar. The holy sisters are like two Flemish farm servants, and
-Christ—but I dare not proceed:—in both these instances, the colouring,
-the expression, the painting of the accessories—the vegetables and
-fruit, the materials and implements for cooking a feast—are as animated
-and true to nature as the conception of the whole scene is trivial, vulgar,
-and, to a just taste, intolerably profane.</p>
-
-<p>One of the most modern compositions of this scene which has attracted
-attention is that of Overbeck, very simple and poetical, but deficient in
-individual expression.</p>
-
-<p>3. The raising of Lazarus was selected by the early Christians as an
-emblem, both of the general resurrection, and the resurrection of our
-Saviour, at a time that the resurrection of the Saviour in person was
-considered a subject much too solemn and mysterious to be dealt with
-by the imitative arts. In its primitive signification, as the received
-emblem of the resurrection of the dead, we find this subject abounding
-in the catacombs, and on the sarcophagi of the third and fourth centuries.
-The usual manner of representation shows the dead man swathed
-like a mummy, under the porch of a temple resembling a tomb, to
-which there is an ascent by a flight of steps. Christ stands before him,
-and touches him with a wand. Sometimes there are two figures only,
-but in general Mary Magdalene is kneeling by. There is one instance
-only in which Christ stands surrounded by the apostles, and the two
-sisters are kneeling at his feet:—‘Lord, hadst thou been here, my
-brother had not died.’<a id="FNanchor_306" href="#Footnote_306" class="fnanchor">[306]</a></p>
-
-<p>In more modern Art this subject loses its mystic signification, and
-becomes simply a scriptural incident. It is treated like a scene in a
-drama, and the painters have done their utmost to vary the treatment.
-But, however varied as regards the style of conception and the number
-of personages, Martha and Mary are always present, and, in general,
-Mary is at the feet of our Saviour. The incident is of course one of
-the most important in the life of Christ, and is never omitted in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</span>
-series, nor yet in the miracles of our Saviour. But, from the beginning
-of the fourteenth century, it forms one of the scenes of the story of
-Mary Magdalene. The fresco of Giovanni da Milano at Assisi contains
-thirteen figures, and the two sisters kneeling at the feet of Christ have
-a grand and solemn simplicity; but Mary is not here in any respect
-distinguished from Martha, and both are attired in red.</p>
-
-<p>In the picture in our National Gallery, the kneeling figure of Mary
-looking up in the face of Jesus, with her grand severe beauty and earnest
-expression, is magnificent: but here, again, Mary of Bethany is not
-Mary Magdalene, nor the woman ‘who was a sinner;’ and I doubt
-whether Michael Angelo intended to represent her as such. On the
-other hand, the Caracci, Rubens, and the later painters are careful to
-point out the supposed identity, by the long fair hair, exposed and dishevelled,
-the superior beauty and the superior prominence and importance
-of the figure, while Martha stands by, veiled, and as a secondary
-personage.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>4. In the Crucifixion, where more than the three figures (the Redeemer,
-the Virgin, and St. John) are introduced, the Magdalene is
-almost always at the foot of the cross, and it is said that Giotto gave
-the first example. Sometimes she is embracing the cross, and looking
-up with all the abandonment of despairing grief, which is more picturesque
-than true in sentiment; finer in feeling is the expression of
-serene hope tempering the grief. In Rubens’ famous ‘Crucifixion’ at
-Antwerp, she has her arms round the cross, and is gazing at the executioner
-with a look of horror: this is very dramatic and striking, but the
-attention of the penitent ought to be fixed on the dying Saviour, to the
-exclusion of every other thought or object. In Vandyck’s ‘Crucifixion,’
-the face of the Magdalene seen in front is exquisite for its
-pathetic beauty. Sometimes the Virgin is fainting in her arms. The
-box of ointment is frequently placed near, to distinguish her from the
-other Maries present.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>5. In the Descent or Deposition from the Cross, and in the Entombment,
-Mary Magdalene is generally conspicuous. She is often
-supporting the feet or one of the hands of the Saviour; or she stands<span class="pagenum" id="Page_368">[Pg 368]</span>
-by weeping; or she sustains the Virgin; or (which is very usual in
-the earlier pictures) she is seen lamenting aloud, with her long tresses
-disordered, and her arms outspread in an ecstasy of grief and passion;
-or she bends down to embrace the feet of the Saviour, or to kiss his
-hand; or contemplates with a mournful look one of the nails, or the
-crown of thorns, which she holds in her hand.</p>
-
-<p>In the Pietà, of Fra Bartolomeo, in the Pitti Palace, the prostrate
-abandonment in the figure of the Magdalene, pressing the feet of Christ
-to her bosom, is full of pathetic expression; in the same gallery is the
-Pietà by Andrea del Sarto, where the Magdalene, kneeling, wrings her
-hands in mute sorrow. But in this, as in other instances, Raphael has
-shown himself supreme: there is a wonderful little drawing by him, in
-which Nicodemus and others sustain the body of the Saviour, while
-Mary Magdalene lies prostrate bending her head over his feet, which
-she embraces; the face is wholly concealed by the flowing hair, but
-never was the expression of overwhelming love and sorrow conveyed
-with such artless truth.</p>
-
-<p>6. The Maries at the Sepulchre. The women who carry the spices
-and perfumes to the tomb of Jesus are called, in Greek Art, the
-<i>Myrrhophores</i>, or myrrh-bearers: with us there are usually three,
-Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and John, and Mary
-Salome. In Matthew, two women are mentioned; in Mark, three; in
-Luke, the number is indefinite; and in John, only one is mentioned,
-Mary Magdalene. There is scarcely a more beautiful subject in the
-whole circle of Scripture story than this of the three desolate affectionate
-women standing before the tomb in the grey dawn, while the
-majestic angels are seen guarding the hallowed spot. I give, as one of
-the earliest examples, a sketch from the composition of Duccio: the
-rules of perspective were then unknown,—but what a beautiful simplicity
-in the group of women! how fine the seated angel!—‘The
-angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the
-stone from the door and sat upon it.’ I have seen one instance, and
-only one, in which the angel is in the act of descending; in general, the
-version according to St. John is followed, and the ‘two men in shining
-garments’ are seated within the tomb. There is a famous engraving,
-after a design by Michael Angelo, called ‘The three Maries going to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_369">[Pg 369]</span>
-the Sepulchre:’ it represents three old women veiled, and with their
-backs turned—very awful; but they might as well be called the three
-Fates, or the three Witches, as the three Maries. The subject has
-never been more happily treated than by Philip Veit, a modern German
-artist, in a print which has become popular; he has followed the version
-of Matthew: ‘As it began to dawn, came Mary Magdalene and the
-other Mary to see the sepulchre.’ The attitude of motionless sorrow;
-the anxious expectant looks, fixed on the tomb; the deep shadowy stillness;
-the morning light just breaking in the distance, are very truly
-and feelingly expressed.</p>
-
-<p>7. The ‘Noli me tangere’ is the subject of many pictures; they do
-not vary in the simplicity of the <i>motif</i>, which is fixed by tradition, and
-admits but of two persons. The composition of Duccio, as one of the
-series of the Passion of Christ, is extremely grand; and the figure of
-Mary, leaning forward as she kneels, with outstretched hands, full of
-expression. The old fresco of Taddeo Gaddi, in the Rinuccini Chapel,<a id="FNanchor_307" href="#Footnote_307" class="fnanchor">[307]</a>
-is also exquisite. Two of the finest in conception and treatment are,
-notwithstanding, in striking contrast to each other. One is the Titian
-in the collection of Mr. Rogers:<a id="FNanchor_308" href="#Footnote_308" class="fnanchor">[308]</a> the Magdalene, kneeling, bends forward
-with eager expression, and one hand extended to touch him: the
-Saviour, drawing his linen garment round him, shrinks back from her
-touch—yet with the softest expression of pity. Besides the beauty
-and truth of the expression, this picture is transcendent as a piece of
-colour and effect; while the rich landscape and the approach of morning
-over the blue distance are conceived with a sublime simplicity. Not
-less a miracle of Art, not less poetical, but in a far different style, is the
-Rembrandt in the Queen’s Gallery: at the entrance of the sepulchre
-the Saviour is seen in the habiliments of a gardener, and Mary Magdalene
-at his feet, adoring. This picture exhibits, in a striking degree,
-all the wild originality and peculiar feeling of Rembrandt: the forms
-and characters are common; but the deep shadow of the cavern tomb,
-the dimly-seen supernatural beings within it, the breaking of the dawn
-over the distant city, are awfully sublime, and worthy of the mysterious<span class="pagenum" id="Page_370">[Pg 370]</span>
-scene. Barroccio’s great altar-piece, which came to England with the
-Duke of Lucca’s pictures, once so famous, and well known from the
-fine engraving of Raphael Morghen, is poor compared with any of
-these: Christ is effeminate and commonplace,—Mary Magdalene all
-in a flutter.</p>
-
-<p>I now leave these scriptural incidents, to be more fully considered
-hereafter, and proceed to the fourth class of subjects pertaining to the
-life of the Magdalene—those which are taken from the wild Provençal
-legends of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.</p>
-
-<p>1. ‘La Danse de la Madeleine’ is the title given to a very rare and
-beautiful print by Lucas v. Leyden. It represents Mary Magdalene
-abandoned to the pleasures of the world. The scene is a smiling and
-varied landscape; in the centre Mary Magdalene, with the anticipative
-glory round her head, is seen dancing along to the sound of a flute and
-tabor, while a man in a rich dress leads her by the hand: several groups
-of men and women are diverting themselves in the foreground; in the
-background, Mary Magdalene, with a number of gay companions, is
-chasing the stag; she is mounted on horseback, and has again the glory
-round her head: far in the distance she is seen borne upwards by the
-angels. This singular and suggestive composition is dated 1519. There
-is a fine impression in the British Museum.</p>
-
-<p>2. ‘Mary Magdalene rebuked by her sister Martha for her vanity
-and luxury.’ I believe I am the first to suggest that the famous picture
-in the Sciarra Palace, by Leonardo da Vinci, known as ‘Modesty
-and Vanity,’ is a version of this subject. When I saw it, this idea was
-suggested, and no other filled my mind. The subject is one often
-treated, and here treated in Leonardo’s peculiar manner. The attitude
-of the veiled figure is distinctly that of remonstrance and rebuke; the
-other, decked and smiling, looks out of the picture holding flowers in
-her hand, as yet unconvinced, unconverted: the vase of ointment stands
-near her. In other pictures there is no doubt as to the significance of
-the subject; it has been gracefully treated in a picture by Giovanni
-Lopicino, now in the gallery of the Belvedere at Vienna. She is seated
-at her toilette; her maid is binding her luxuriant hair; Martha, standing
-by, appears to be remonstrating with great fervour. There is a
-pretty picture by Elisabetta Sirani of the same scene, similarly treated.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_371">[Pg 371]</span></p>
-
-<p>3. ‘Mary Magdalene conducted by her sister Martha to the feet of
-Jesus.’ Of this most beautiful subject, I know but one composition of
-distinguished merit. It is by Raphael, and exists only in the drawing,
-and the rare engraving by Marc Antonio. Christ sits within the porch
-of the Temple, teaching four of his disciples who stand near him.
-Martha and Mary are seen ascending the steps which lead to the portico:
-Martha, who is veiled, seems to encourage her sister, who looks
-down. I observe that Passavant and others are uncertain as to the
-subject of this charming design: it has been styled ‘The Virgin Mary
-presenting the Magdalene to Christ;’ but with any one who has carefully
-considered the legend, there can be no doubt as to the intention of
-the artist. ‘Mary Magdalene listening to the preaching of our Saviour,
-with Martha seated by her side,’ is one of the subjects in the series by
-Gaudenzio Ferrari at Vercelli: it is partly destroyed. We have the
-same subject by F. Zucchero; Mary, in a rich dress, is kneeling at the
-feet of the Saviour, who is seated under a portico; Martha, veiled,
-stands near her, and there are numerous spectators and accessories.</p>
-
-<p>4. ‘The Magdalene renouncing the Vanities of the World’ is also
-a very attractive subject. In a picture by Guido she has partly divested
-herself of her rich ornaments, and is taking some pearls from her hair,
-while she looks up to heaven with tearful eyes. In a sketch by Rubens,
-in the Dulwich Gallery, she is seated in a forest solitude, still arrayed
-in her worldly finery, blue satin, pearls, &amp;c., and wringing her hands
-with an expression of the bitterest grief. The treatment, as usual with
-him, is coarse, but effective. In his large picture at Vienna, with the
-figures life-size, Mary is spurning with her feet a casket of jewels, and
-throwing herself back with her hands clasped in an agony of penitence:
-while Martha sits behind, gazing on her with an expression so demurely
-triumphant as to be almost comic. There is an exquisite little picture
-by Gerard Douw in the Berlin Gallery, in which the Magdalene, in a
-magnificent robe of crimson and sables, is looking up to heaven with an
-expression of sorrow and penitence; the table before her is covered
-with gold and jewels. ‘Mary Magdalene renouncing the World,’ by
-Le Brun, is a famous picture, now in the Louvre. She looks up to
-heaven with tearful eyes, and is in the act of tearing off a rich mantle;
-a casket of jewels lies overturned at her feet. This picture is said to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_372">[Pg 372]</span>
-be the portrait of Madame de la Vallière, by whose order it was painted
-for the church of the Carmelites at Paris, where she had taken refuge
-from the court and from the world. It has that sort of theatrical grace
-and grandeur, that mannered mediocrity, characteristic of the painter
-and the time.<a id="FNanchor_309" href="#Footnote_309" class="fnanchor">[309]</a> There is a Magdalene in the Gallery at Munich by Le
-Brun, which is to me far preferable; and this, and not the Paris one, I
-presume to be the portrait of the Duchesse de la Vallière. In a picture
-by Franceschini she has flung off her worldly ornaments, which lie
-scattered on the ground, and holds a scourge in her hand, with which
-she appears to have castigated herself: she sinks in the arms of one of
-her attendant maidens, while Martha, standing by, seems to speak of
-peace, and points towards heaven: the figures are life-size.<a id="FNanchor_310" href="#Footnote_310" class="fnanchor">[310]</a> None of
-these pictures, with the exception of the precious Leonardo in the Sciarra
-Palace, have any remarkable merit as pictures. The scenes between
-Mary and Martha are capable of the most dramatic and effective illustration,
-but have never yet been worthily treated.</p>
-
-<p>5. ‘The embarkation of the Magdalene in Palestine, with Martha,
-Lazarus, and the others, cast forth by their enemies in a vessel without
-sails or rudder, but miraculously conducted by an angel,’ is another
-subject of which I have seen no adequate representation. There is a
-mediocre picture by Curradi in the Florence Gallery. Among the
-beautiful frescoes of Gaudenzio Ferrari in the Church of St. Cristoforo
-at Vercelli, is the voyage of the Magdalene and her companions, and
-their disembarkation at Marseilles.<a id="FNanchor_311" href="#Footnote_311" class="fnanchor">[311]</a></p>
-
-<p>6. ‘Mary Magdalene preaching to the inhabitants of Marseilles’
-has been several times represented in the sculpture and stained glass of
-the old cathedrals in the south of France. In the Hôtel de Cluny there
-is a curious old picture in distemper attributed to King René of Provence,
-the father of our Margaret of Anjou, and famous for his skill as
-a limner. Mary Magdalene is standing on some steps, arrayed in loose
-white drapery, and a veil over her head. She is addressing earnestly a
-crowd of listeners, and among them we see King René and his wife
-Jeanne de Laval on thrones with crown and sceptre:—a trifling anachronism
-of about 1400 years, but it may be taken in a poetical and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_373">[Pg 373]</span>
-allegorical sense. The port of Marseilles is seen in the background.
-The same subject has been classically treated in a series of bas-reliefs
-in the porch of the Certosa at Pavia: there is a mistake, however, in
-exhibiting her as half naked, clothed only in a skin, and her long hair<span class="pagenum" id="Page_374">[Pg 374]</span>
-flowing down over her person: for she was at this time the missionary
-saint, and not yet the penitent of the desert.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp80" id="i_373" style="max-width: 75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_373.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c96"></a>96 The Assumption of the Magdalene (Albert Dürer)</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>7. ‘Mary Magdalene borne by angels above the summit of Mount
-Pilon,’ called also ‘The Assumption of the Magdalene,’ is a charming
-subject when treated in the right spirit. Unfortunately, we are oftener
-reminded of a Pandora, sustained by a group of Cupids, or a Venus
-rising out of the sea, than of the ecstatic trance of the reconciled penitent.
-It was very early a popular theme. In the treatment we find
-little variety. She is seen carried upwards very slightly draped, and
-often with no other veil than her redundant hair, flowing over her
-whole person. She is in the arms of four, five, or six angels. Sometimes
-one of the angels bears the alabaster box of ointment; far below
-is a wild mountainous landscape, with a hermit looking up at the vision,
-as it is related in the legend. The illustration is from a fine woodcut
-of Albert Dürer (96).</p>
-
-<p>In a hymn to the Magdalene, by an old Provençal poet (Balthazar
-de la Burle) there is a passage describing her ascent in the arms of
-angels, which, from its vivid graphic naïveté, is worthy of being placed
-under this print of Albert Dürer:—</p>
-
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza"><div lang="fr">
-    <div class="verse indent0">Ravengat lou jour los anges la portavan</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Ben plus hault que lou roc.</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Jamais per mauvais temps que fessa ne freddura,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Autre abit non avia que la sien cabellura,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Que como un mantel d’or tant eram bels e blonds</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">La couvria de la testa fin al bas des talons.</div>
-  </div></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The fresco by Giulio Romano, in which she is reclining amid clouds,
-and sustained by six angels, while her head is raised and her arms extended
-with the most ecstatic expression, was cut from the walls of a
-chapel in the Trinità di Monte, at Rome, and is now in our National
-Gallery.</p>
-
-<p>One of the finest pictures ever painted by Ribera is the Assumption
-of the Magdalene in the Louvre, both for beauty of expression and
-colour. She is here draped, and her drapery well managed. The
-Spanish painters never fell into the mistake of the Italians; they give
-us no Magdalenes which recall the idea of a Venus Meretrix. The
-rules of the Inquisition were here absolute, and held the painters in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_375">[Pg 375]</span>
-wholesome check, rendering such irreligious innovations inadmissible
-and unknown. In the Turin Gallery there is an Assumption of the
-Magdalene by Dennis Calvert, admirably painted, in which she is carried
-up by four Apollo-like angels, who, with their outstretched arms, form
-a sort of throne on which she is seated: she is herself most lovely,
-draped in the thin undress of a Venus; and the whole composition, at
-first view, brought to my fancy the idea of a Venus rising from the sea,
-throned in her shell and sustained by nymphs and cupids.</p>
-
-<p>In general, the early painters, Albert Dürer, Vivarini, Lorenzo di
-Credi, Benedetto Montagna, represent her in an upright position, with
-hands folded in prayer, or crossed over her bosom, and thus soaring
-upwards, without effort of will or apparent consciousness; while the
-painters of the seventeenth century (with whom this was a favourite
-subject) strained their imagination to render the form and attitude
-voluptuously graceful, and to vary the action of the attendant angels,
-until, in one or two instances, the representation became at once
-absurdly prosaic and offensively theatrical. F. Zucchero, Cambiasi,
-Lanfranco, Carlo Maratti, have all given us versions of this subject in a
-florid, mannered style.</p>
-
-<p>Over the high altar of the Madeleine, at Paris, is the same subject in
-a marble group, by Marochetti, rather above life-size. Two angels bear
-her up, while on each side an archangel kneels in adoration.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>8. The Last Communion of the Magdalene is represented in two
-different ways, according to the two different versions of the story: in
-the first, she expires in her cave, and angels administer the last sacraments;
-one holds a taper, another presents the cup, a third the wafer.
-This has been painted by Domenichino. In the other version, she
-receives the sacrament from the hand of St. Maximin, who wears the
-episcopal robes, and the Magdalene kneels before him, half-naked,
-emaciated, and sustained by angels: the scene is the porch of a church.</p>
-
-<p>9. The Magdalene dying in the Wilderness, extended on the bare
-earth, and pressing the crucifix to her bosom, is a frequent subject in the
-seventeenth century. One of the finest examples is the picture of Rustichino
-in the Florence Gallery. The well-known ‘Dying Magdalene’
-of Canova has the same merits and defects as his Penitent Magdalene.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_376">[Pg 376]</span></p>
-
-<p>I saw a picture at Bologna by Tiarini, of which the conception
-appeared to me very striking and poetical. The Virgin, ‘La Madre
-Addolorata,’ is seated, and holds in her hand the crown of thorns,
-which she contemplates with a mournful expression; at a little distance
-kneels Mary Magdalene with long dishevelled hair, in all the abandonment
-of grief. St. John stands behind, with his hands clasped, and his
-eyes raised to heaven.</p>
-
-<p>When the Magdalene is introduced into pictures of the ‘Incredulity
-of Thomas,’ it is in allusion to a famous parallel in one of the Fathers,
-in which it is insisted, ‘that the faith of Mary Magdalene, and the
-doubts of Thomas, were equally serviceable to the cause of Christ.’</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Among the many miracles imputed to the Magdalene, one only has
-become popular as a subject of Art. Besides being extremely naïve and
-poetical, it is extremely curious as illustrating the manners of the time.
-It was probably fabricated in the fourteenth century, and intended as a
-kind of parable, to show that those who trusted in Mary Magdalene, and
-invoked her aid, might in all cases reckon upon her powerful intercession.
-It is thus related:—</p>
-
-<p>‘Soon after Mary Magdalene landed in Provence, a certain prince
-of that country arrived in the city of Marseilles with his wife, for the
-purpose of sacrificing to the gods; but they were dissuaded from doing
-so by the preaching of Mary Magdalene: and the prince one day said
-to the saint, “We greatly desire to have a son. Canst thou obtain for
-us that grace from the God whom thou preachest?” And the Magdalene
-replied, “If thy prayer be granted, wilt thou then believe?” And
-he answered, “Yes, I will believe.” But shortly afterwards, as he still
-doubted, he resolved to sail to Jerusalem to visit St. Peter, and to find
-out whether his preaching agreed with that of Mary Magdalene. His
-wife resolved to accompany him: but the husband said, “How shall that
-be possible, seeing that thou art with child, and the dangers of the sea
-are very great?” But she insisted, and, throwing herself at his feet,
-she obtained her desire. Then, having laden a vessel with all that was
-necessary, they set sail; and when a day and a night were come and
-gone, there arose a terrible storm. The poor woman was seized prematurely
-with the pains of childbirth; in the midst of the tempest she<span class="pagenum" id="Page_377">[Pg 377]</span>
-brought forth her first-born son, and then died. The miserable father,
-seeing his wife dead, and his child deprived of its natural solace, and
-crying for food, wrung his hands in despair, and knew not what to do.
-And the sailors said, “Let us throw this dead body into the sea, for as
-long as it remains on board the tempest will not abate.” But the prince,
-by his entreaties, and by giving them money, restrained them for a
-while. Just then, for so it pleased God, they arrived at a rocky island,
-and the prince laid the body of his wife on the shore, and, taking the
-infant in his arms, he wept greatly, and said, “O Mary Magdalene! to
-my grief and sorrow didst thou come to Marseilles! Why didst thou
-ask thy God to give me a son only that I might lose both son and wife
-together? O Mary Magdalene! have pity on my grief, and, if thy
-prayers may avail, save at least the life of my child!” Then he laid
-down the infant on the bosom of the mother, and covered them both
-with his cloak, and went on his way, weeping. And when the prince
-and his attendants had arrived at Jerusalem, St. Peter showed him all
-the places where our Saviour had performed his miracles, and the hill
-on which he had been crucified, and the spot from whence he had
-ascended into heaven. Having been instructed in the faith by St.
-Peter, at the end of two years the prince embarked to return to his own
-country, and passing near to the island in which he had left his wife, he
-landed in order to weep upon her grave.</p>
-
-<p>‘Now, wonderful to relate!—his infant child had been preserved
-alive by the prayers of the blessed Mary Magdalene; and he was accustomed
-to run about on the sands of the sea-shore, to gather up
-pebbles and shells; and when the child, who had never beheld a man,
-perceived the strangers, he was afraid, and ran and hid himself under
-the cloak which covered his dead mother; and the father, and all who
-were with him, were filled with astonishment; but their surprise was
-still greater when the woman opened her eyes, and stretched out her
-arms to her husband. Then they offered up thanks, and all returned
-together to Marseilles, where they fell at the feet of Mary Magdalene,
-and received baptism. From that time forth, all the people of Marseilles
-and the surrounding country became Christians.’</p>
-
-<p>The picturesque capabilities of this extravagant but beautiful legend
-will immediately suggest themselves to the fancy;—the wild sea-shore<span class="pagenum" id="Page_378">[Pg 378]</span>
-—the lovely naked infant wandering on the beach—the mother, slumbering
-the sleep of death, covered with the mysterious drapery—the
-arrival of the mariners—what opportunity for scenery and grouping,
-colour and expression! It was popular in the Giotto school, which
-arose and flourished just about the period when the enthusiasm for
-Mary Magdalene was at its height; but later painters have avoided it,
-or, rather, it was not sufficiently accredited for a Church legend; and I
-have met with no example later than the end of the fourteenth century.</p>
-
-<p>The old fresco of Taddeo Gaddi in the S. Croce at Florence will give
-some idea of the manner in which the subject was usually treated. In
-the foreground is a space representing an island; water flowing round
-it, the water being indicated by many strange fishes. On the island a
-woman lies extended with her hands crossed upon her bosom; an infant
-lifts up the mantle, and seems to show her to a man bending over her;
-the father on his knees, with hands joined, looks devoutly up to heaven;
-four others stand behind expressing astonishment or fixed attention. In
-the distance is a ship, in which sits a man with a long white beard, in
-red drapery; beside him another in dark drapery: beyond is a view of
-a port with a lighthouse, intended, I presume, for Marseilles. The
-story is here told in a sort of Chinese manner as regards the drawing,
-composition, and perspective; but the figures and heads are expressive
-and significant.</p>
-
-<p>In the Chapel of the Magdalene at Assisi, the same subject is given
-with some variation. The bark containing the pilgrims is guided by an
-angel, and the infant is seated by the head of the mother, as if watching
-her.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The life of Mary Magdalene in a series of subjects, mingling the
-scriptural and legendary incidents, may often be found in the old
-French and Italian churches, more especially in the chapels dedicated
-to her: and I should think that among the remains of ancient painting
-now in course of discovery in our own sacred edifices they cannot fail to
-occur.<a id="FNanchor_312" href="#Footnote_312" class="fnanchor">[312]</a> In the mural frescoes, in the altar-pieces, the stained glass, and
-the sculpture of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, such a series<span class="pagenum" id="Page_379">[Pg 379]</span>
-perpetually presents itself; and, well or ill executed, will in general be
-found to comprise the following scenes:—</p>
-
-<p>1. Her conversion at the feet of the Saviour. 2. Christ entertained
-in the house of Martha: Mary sits at his feet to hear his words. 3.
-The raising of Lazarus. 4. Mary Magdalene and her companions
-embark in a vessel without sails, oars, or rudder. 6. Steered by an
-angel, they land at Marseilles. 6. Mary Magdalene preaches to the
-people. 7. The miracle of the mother and child. 8. The penance of
-the Magdalene in a desert cave. 9. She is carried up in the arms of
-angels. 10. She receives the sacraments from the hands of an angel or
-from St. Maximin. 11. She dies, and angels bear her spirit to heaven.<a id="FNanchor_313" href="#Footnote_313" class="fnanchor">[313]</a></p>
-
-<p>The subjects vary of course in number and in treatment, but, with
-some attention to the foregoing legend, they will easily be understood
-and discriminated. Such a series was painted by Giotto in the Chapel
-of the Bargello at Florence (where the portrait of Dante was lately discovered),
-but they are nearly obliterated; the miracle of the mother
-and child is, however, to be distinguished on the left near the entrance.
-The treatment of the whole has been imitated by Taddeo Gaddi in the
-Rinuccini Chapel at Florence, and by Giovanni da Milano and Giottino
-in the Chapel of the Magdalene at Assisi; on the windows of the Cathedrals
-of Chartres and Bourges; and in a series of bas-reliefs round the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_380">[Pg 380]</span>
-porch of the Certosa of Pavia, executed in the classical style of the
-sixteenth century.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>On reviewing generally the infinite variety which has been given to
-these favourite subjects, the life and penance of the Magdalene, I must
-end where I began; in how few instances has the result been satisfactory
-to mind or heart, or soul or sense! Many have well represented
-the particular situation, the appropriate sentiment, the sorrow, the hope,
-the devotion: but who has given us the <i>character</i>? A noble creature,
-with strong sympathies, and a strong will, with powerful faculties of
-every kind, working for good or evil such a woman Mary Magdalene
-must have been, even in her humiliation; and the feeble, girlish,
-commonplace, and even vulgar women who appear to have been usually
-selected as models by the artists, turned into Magdalenes by throwing
-up their eyes and letting down their hair, ill represent the enthusiastic
-convert or the majestic patroness.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>I must not quit the subject of the Magdalene without some allusion
-to those wild legends which suppose a tender attachment (but of course
-wholly pure and Platonic) to have existed between her and St. John
-the Evangelist.<a id="FNanchor_314" href="#Footnote_314" class="fnanchor">[314]</a> In the enthusiasm which Mary Magdalene excited in
-the thirteenth century, no supposition that tended to exalt her was
-deemed too extravagant: some of her panegyrists go so far as to insist
-that the marriage at Cana, which our Saviour and his mother honoured
-by their presence, was the marriage of St. John with the Magdalene;
-and that Christ repaired to the wedding-feast on purpose to prevent the
-accomplishment of the marriage, having destined both to a state of
-greater perfection. This fable was never accepted by the Church; and
-among the works of art consecrated to religious purposes I have never
-met with any which placed St. John and the Magdalene in particular<span class="pagenum" id="Page_381">[Pg 381]</span>
-relation to each other, except when they are seen together at the foot
-of the cross, or lamenting with the Virgin over the body of the Saviour:
-but such was the popularity of these extraordinary legends towards the
-end of the thirteenth and in the beginning of the fourteenth century,
-that I think it possible such may exist, and, for want of this key, may
-appear hopelessly enigmatical.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_381" style="max-width: 125em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_381.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><i>Martha presents her sister Mary to our Lord.</i></div>
-</div>
-
-<p>In a series of eight subjects which exhibit the life of St. John prefixed
-to a copy of the Revelation,<a id="FNanchor_315" href="#Footnote_315" class="fnanchor">[315]</a> there is one which I think admits
-of this interpretation. The scene is the interior of a splendid building
-sustained by pillars. St. John is baptizing a beautiful woman, who is
-sitting in a tub; she has long golden hair. On the outside of the
-building seven men are endeavouring to see what is going forward: one
-peeps through the key-hole; one has thrown himself flat on the ground,
-and has his eye to an aperture; a third, mounted on the shoulders of
-another, is trying to look in at a window; a fifth, who cannot get near
-enough, tears his hair in an agony of impatience; and another is bawling
-into the ear of a deaf and blind comrade a description of what he has
-seen. The execution is French, of the fourteenth century; the taste,
-it will be said, is also <i>French</i>; the figures are drawn with a pen and
-slightly tinted: the design is incorrect; but the vivacity of gesture and
-expression, though verging on caricature, is so true, and so comically
-dramatic, and the whole composition so absurd, that it is impossible to
-look at it without a smile.</p>
-
-
-<h3 id="St_Martha"><span class="smcap">St. Martha.</span></h3>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p><i>Ital.</i> Santa Marta, Vergine, Albergatrice di Cristo. <i>Fr.</i> Sainte Marthe, la Travailleuse.
-Patroness of cooks and housewives. (June 29, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 84.)</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Martha has shared in the veneration paid to her sister. The important
-part assigned to her in the history of Mary has already been adverted
-to; she is always represented as the instrument through whom
-Mary was converted, the one who led her first to the feet of the Saviour.
-‘Which thing,’ says the story, should not be accounted as the least<span class="pagenum" id="Page_382">[Pg 382]</span>
-of her merits, seeing that Martha was a chaste and prudent virgin, and
-the other publicly contemned for her evil life; notwithstanding which,
-Martha did not despise her, nor reject her as a sister, but wept for her
-shame and admonished her gently and with persuasive words; and reminded
-her of her noble birth, to which she was a disgrace, and that
-Lazarus, their brother, being a soldier, would certainly get into trouble
-on her account. So she prevailed, and conducted her sister to the
-presence of Christ, and afterwards, as it is well known, she lodged and
-entertained the Saviour in her own house.‘<a id="FNanchor_316" href="#Footnote_316" class="fnanchor">[316]</a></p>
-
-<p>According to the Provençal legend, while Mary Magdalene converted
-the people of Marseilles, Martha preached to the people of Aix and its
-vicinity. In those days the country was ravaged by a fearful dragon,
-called the <i>Tarasque</i>, which during the day lay concealed in the river
-Rhone. Martha overcame this monster by sprinkling him with holy
-water, and having bound him with her girdle (or, as others say, her
-garter), the people speedily put an end to him. The scene of this
-legend is now the city of <i>Tarascon</i>, where there is, or was, a magnificent
-church, dedicated to St. Martha, and richly endowed by Louis XI.</p>
-
-<p>The same legends assure us that St. Martha was the first who founded
-a monastery for women; the first, after the blessed Mother of Christ,
-who vowed her virginity to God; and that when she had passed many
-years in prayer and good works, feeling that her end was near, she desired
-to be carried to a spot where she could see the glorious sun in
-heaven, and that they should read to her the history of the passion of
-Christ; and when they came to the words, ‘Father, into thy hands I
-commend my spirit,’ she died.</p>
-
-<p>As Mary Magdalene is the patroness of repentant frailty, so Martha
-is the especial patroness of female discretion and good housekeeping.
-In this character, she is often represented with a skimmer or ladle in
-her hand, or a large bunch of keys is attached to her girdle. For
-example, in a beautiful old German altar-piece attributed to Albert
-Dürer,<a id="FNanchor_317" href="#Footnote_317" class="fnanchor">[317]</a> she is standing in a magnificent dress, a jewelled turban, and
-holding a well-known implement of cookery in her hand. In a missal
-of Henry VIII.,<a id="FNanchor_318" href="#Footnote_318" class="fnanchor">[318]</a> she is represented with the same utensil, and her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_383">[Pg 383]</span>
-name is inscribed beneath. In general, however, her dress is not rich
-but homely, and her usual attributes as patron saint are the pot of holy
-water, the asperge in her hand, and a dragon bound at her feet. In the
-chapels dedicated to the Magdalene, she finds her appropriate place as
-pendant to her sister, generally distinguished by her close coif and by
-being draped in blue or dark brown or grey; while the Magdalene is
-usually habited in red. When attended by her dragon, St. Martha is
-sometimes confounded with St. Margaret, who is also accompanied by a
-dragon: but it must be remembered that St. Margaret bears a crucifix
-or palm, and St. Martha the pot of holy water; and in general the
-early painters have been careful to distinguish these attributes.</p>
-
-<p>St. Martha, besides being a model of female discretion, sobriety, and
-chastity, and the patroness of good housewives, was, according to the
-old legends, the same woman who was healed by Christ, and who in
-gratitude erected to his honour a bronze statue, which statue is said to
-have existed in the time of Eusebius, and to have been thrown down
-by Julian the Apostate.<a id="FNanchor_319" href="#Footnote_319" class="fnanchor">[319]</a></p>
-
-<p>When Martha and Mary stand together as patronesses, one represents
-the <i>active</i>, the other the <i>contemplative</i>, Christian life.</p>
-
-<p>Martha is generally introduced among the holy women who attend
-the crucifixion and entombment of our Lord. In a most beautiful
-Entombment by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Martha kisses the hand of the
-Saviour, while Mary Magdalene is seen behind with outspread arms:
-Lazarus and Maximin stand at the head of the Saviour.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary, is revered as the first
-bishop and patron saint of Marseilles, and is generally represented with
-the mitre and stole. There are at least fifty saints who wear the same
-attire; but when a figure in episcopal robes is introduced into the same
-picture, or the same series, with Martha and Mary, it may be presumed,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_384">[Pg 384]</span>
-if not otherwise distinguished, to be St. Lazarus: sometimes, but rarely,
-the introduction of a bier, or his resurrection, in the background, serves
-to fix the identity. Grouped with these three saints, we occasionally
-find St. Marcella (or Martilla), who accompanied them from the East,
-but who is not distinguished by any attribute; nor is anything particular
-related of her, except that she wrote the life of Martha, and
-preached the Gospel in Sclavonia.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>There are beautiful full-length figures of Mary, Martha, Lazarus,
-and Marcella, in the Brera at Milan, painted by one of the Luini school,
-and treated in a very classical and noble style; draped, and standing in
-niches to represent statues. At Munich are the separate figures of
-Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, by Grünewald: Lazarus is seen standing
-by his bier; Mary, in the rich costume of a German lady of rank,
-presents her vase; and Martha is habited like a German <i>hausfrau</i>, with
-her dragon at her feet. They are much larger than life, admirably
-painted, and full of character, though somewhat grotesque in treatment.</p>
-
-<p>Over the altar of the church ‘La Major’ at Marseilles, stands
-Lazarus as bishop; Mary on the right, and Martha on the left: underneath
-these three statues runs a series of bas-reliefs containing the
-history of Lazarus. 1. He is recalled to life. 2. Seated on the edge
-of his tomb, he addresses the spectators. 3. He entertains Christ. 4.
-The arrival at Marseilles. 5. He preaches to the people. 6. He is
-consecrated bishop. 7. He suffers martyrdom.</p>
-
-<p>In a tabernacle or triptica by Nicolò Frumenti (<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1461),<a id="FNanchor_320" href="#Footnote_320" class="fnanchor">[320]</a> the
-central compartment represents the raising of Lazarus, who has the
-truest and most horrid expression of death and dawning life I ever
-beheld. On the volet to the right is the supper in the house of Levi,
-and the Magdalene anointing the feet of the Saviour; on the left volet,
-Martha meets him on his arrival at Bethany: ‘Lord, if thou hadst
-been here, my brother had not died.’</p>
-
-<p>In the chapel of Mary Magdalene at Assisi, we find, besides the
-history of her life, full-length figures of Mary, Martha, Lazarus, and
-Maximin. Mary, a beautiful dignified figure, as usual in rich red<span class="pagenum" id="Page_385">[Pg 385]</span>
-drapery, stands to the right of the altar, holding out her hand to a
-kneeling Franciscan: on the left Martha stands in grey drapery with a
-close hood: Lazarus and Maximin as bishops.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>This will give an idea of the manner in which these personages are
-either grouped together or placed in connection with each other.</p>
-
-
-<h3 id="St_Mary_of_Egypt"><span class="smcap">St. Mary of Egypt.</span></h3>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p><i>Ital.</i> Santa Maria Egiziaca Penitente. <i>Fr.</i> Sainte Marie l’Égyptienne, La Gipesienne,
-La Jussienne. (April 2, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 433.)</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>I place the story of St. Mary of Egypt here, for though she had no
-real connection with the Magdalene, in works of art they are perpetually
-associated as <i lang="fr">les bienheureuses pécheresses</i>, and in their personal
-and pictorial attributes not unfrequently confounded. The legend of
-Mary <i>Egyptiaca</i> is long anterior to that of Mary Magdalene. It was
-current in a written form so early as the sixth century, being then received
-as a true history; but it appears to have been originally one of
-those instructive parables or religious romances which, in the early ages
-of the Church, were composed and circulated for the edification of the
-pious. In considering the manners of that time, we may easily believe
-that it may have had some foundation in fact. That a female anchoret
-of the name of Mary lived and died in a desert of Palestine near the
-river Jordan—that she there bewailed her sins in solitude for a long
-course of years, and was accidentally discovered—is a very ancient tradition,
-supported by contemporary evidence. The picturesque, miraculous,
-and romantic incidents with which the story has been adorned,
-appear to have been added to enhance the interest; and, in its present
-form, the legend is attributed to St. Jerome.</p>
-
-<p>‘Towards the year of our Lord 365, there dwelt in Alexandria a
-woman whose name was Mary, and who in the infamy of her life far
-exceeded Mary Magdalene. After passing seventeen years in every
-species of vice, it happened that one day, while roving along the sea-shore,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_386">[Pg 386]</span>
-she beheld a ship ready to sail, and a large company preparing to
-embark. She inquired whither they were going? They replied that
-they were going up to Jerusalem, to celebrate the feast of the true
-cross. She was seized with a sudden desire to accompany them; but
-having no money, she paid the price of her passage by selling herself to
-the sailors and pilgrims, whom she allured to sin by every means in her
-power. On their arrival at Jerusalem, she joined the crowds of
-worshippers who had assembled to enter the church; but all her
-attempts to pass the threshold were in vain; whenever she thought to
-enter the porch, a supernatural power drove her back in shame, in
-terror, in despair. Struck by the remembrance of her sins, and filled
-with repentance, she humbled herself and prayed for help; the interdiction
-was removed, and she entered the church of God, crawling on her
-knees. Thenceforward she renounced her wicked and shameful life,
-and, buying at a baker’s three small loaves, she wandered forth into solitude,
-and never stopped or reposed till she had penetrated into the
-deserts beyond the Jordan, where she remained in severest penance,
-living on roots and fruits, and drinking water only; her garments
-dropped away in rags piecemeal, leaving her unclothed; and she prayed
-fervently not to be left thus exposed: suddenly her hair grew so long
-as to form a covering for her whole person (or, according to another
-version, an angel brought her a garment, from heaven). Thus she
-dwelt in the wilderness, in prayer and penance, supported only by her
-three small loaves, which, like the widow’s meal, failed her not, until,
-after the lapse of forty-seven years, she was discovered by a priest named
-Zosimus. Of him she requested silence, and that he would return at
-the end of a year, and bring with him the elements of the holy sacrament,
-that she might confess and communicate, before she was released
-from earth. And Zosimus obeyed her, and returned after a year; but
-not being able to pass the Jordan, the penitent, supernaturally assisted,
-passed over the water to him; and, having received the sacrament with
-tears, she desired the priest to leave her once more to her solitude, and
-to return in a year from that time. And when he returned he found
-her dead, her hands crossed on her bosom. And he wept greatly; and,
-looking round, he saw written in the sand these words:—“O Father
-Zosimus, bury the body of the poor sinner, Mary of Egypt! Give<span class="pagenum" id="Page_387">[Pg 387]</span>
-earth to earth, and dust to dust, for Christ’s sake!” He endeavoured
-to obey this last command, but being full of years, and troubled and
-weak, his strength failed him, and a lion came out of the wood and
-aided him, digging with his paws till the grave was sufficiently large to
-receive the body of the saint, which being committed to the earth, the
-lion retired gently, and the old man returned home, praising God, who
-had shown mercy to the penitent.’</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>In single figures and devotional pictures, Mary of Egypt is portrayed
-as a meagre, wasted, aged woman, with long hair, and holding in her
-hand three small loaves. Sometimes she is united with Mary Magdalene,
-as joint emblems of female penitence; and not in painting only,
-but in poetry,—</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent10">Like redeemed Magdalene,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Or that Egyptian penitent, whose tears</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Fretted the rock, and moisten’d round her cave</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">The thirsty desert.</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Thus they stand together in a little rare print by Marc’ Antonio, the
-one distinguished by her vase, the other by her three loaves. Sometimes,
-when they stand together, Mary Magdalene is young, beautiful,
-richly dressed; and Mary of Egypt, a squalid, meagre, old woman,
-covered with rags: as in a rare and curious print by Israel von
-Mecken.<a id="FNanchor_321" href="#Footnote_321" class="fnanchor">[321]</a></p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Pictures from her life are not common. The earliest I have met
-with is the series painted on the walls of the Chapel of the Bargello, at
-Florence, above the life of Mary Magdalene: they had been whitewashed
-over. In seeking for the portrait of Dante, this whitewash has
-been in part removed; and it is only just possible for those acquainted
-with the legend to trace in several compartments the history of Mary
-of Egypt.</p>
-
-<p>1. Detached subjects are sometimes met with. In the church of San
-Pietro-in-Pò, at Cremona, they preserve relics said to be those of Mary
-of Egypt: and over the altar there is a large picture by Malosso,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_388">[Pg 388]</span>
-representing the saint at the door of the Temple at Jerusalem, and
-repulsed by a miraculous power. She is richly dressed, with a broad-brimmed
-hat, and stands on the step, as one endeavouring to enter,
-while several persons look on,—some amazed, others mocking.</p>
-
-<p>2. Mary of Egypt doing penance in the desert is easily confounded
-with the penitent Magdalene. Where there is no skull, no vase of
-ointment, no crucifix near her, where the penitent is aged, or at least
-not young and beautiful, with little or no drapery, and black or grey
-hair, the picture may be presumed to represent Mary of Egypt, and not
-the Magdalene, however like in situation and sentiment. There is a
-large fine picture of this subject at Alton Towers.</p>
-
-<p>3. The first meeting of Mary and the hermit Zosimus has been
-painted by Ribera: in this picture her hair is grey and short, her skin
-dark and sunburnt, and she is clothed in rags.</p>
-
-<p>4. In another picture by the same painter she is passing over the
-Jordan by the help of angels; she is seen floating in the air with her
-hands clasped, and Zosimus is kneeling by. This subject might easily
-be confounded with the Assumption of the Magdalene, but the sentiment
-ought to distinguish them; for, instead of the ecstatic trance of
-the Magdalene, we have merely a miraculous incident: the figure is but
-little raised above the waters, and the hermit is kneeling on the shore.<a id="FNanchor_322" href="#Footnote_322" class="fnanchor">[322]</a></p>
-
-<p>5. St. Mary receives the last communion from the hands of Zosimus.
-I have known this subject to be confounded with the last communion of
-the Magdalene. The circumstances of the scene, as well as the
-character, should be attended to. Mary of Egypt receives the sacrament
-in the desert; a river is generally in the background: Zosimus is
-an aged monk. Where the Magdalene receives the sacrament from the
-hands of Maximin, the scene is a portico or chapel with rich architecture,
-and Maximin wears the habit of a bishop.</p>
-
-<p>6. The death of Mary of Egypt. Zosimus is kneeling beside her,
-and the lion is licking her feet or digging her grave. The presence
-of the lion distinguishes this subject from the death of Mary Magdalene.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_389">[Pg 389]</span></p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp90" id="i_389" style="max-width: 93.75em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_389.jpg" alt="" />
-  <div class="caption"><a id="c97"></a>97  The Death of Mary of Egypt</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>St. Mary of Egypt was early a popular saint in France, and particularly
-venerated by the Parisians, till eclipsed by the increasing
-celebrity of the Magdalene. She was styled, familiarly, La Gipesienne
-(the Gipsy), softened by time into La Jussienne. The street in which
-stood a convent of reformed women, dedicated to her, is still <i lang="fr">la Rue
-Jussienne</i>.</p>
-
-<p>We find her whole story in one of the richly painted windows of the
-cathedral of Chartres; and again in the ‘Vitraux de Bourges,’ where
-the inscription underneath is written ‘Segiptiaca.’</p>
-
-<p>Among the best modern frescoes which I saw at Paris, was the decoration
-of a chapel in the church of St. Merry, dedicated to Ste. Marie
-l’Égyptienne: the religious sentiment and manner of middle-age Art
-are as usual imitated, but with a certain unexpected originality in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_390">[Pg 390]</span>
-conception of some of the subjects which pleased me. 1. On the wall,
-to the right, she stands leaning on the pedestal of the statue of the
-Madonna in a meditative attitude, and having the dress and the dark
-complexion of an Egyptian dancing-girl; a crowd of people are seen
-behind entering the gates of the Temple, at which she alone has been
-repulsed. 2. She receives the communion from the hand of Zosimus,
-and is buried by a lion.</p>
-
-<p>On the left-hand wall. 3. Her apotheosis. She is borne aloft by
-many angels, two of whom swing censers, and below is seen the empty
-grave watched by a lion. 4. Underneath is a group of hermits, to
-whom the aged Zosimus is relating the story of the penitence and death
-of St. Mary of Egypt.</p>
-
-<p>I do not in general accept modern representations as authorities, nor
-quote them as examples; but this resuscitation of Mary of Egypt in a
-city where she was so long a favourite saint, appears to me a curious
-fact. Her real existence is doubted even by the writers of that
-Church which, for fourteen centuries, has celebrated her conversion
-and glorified her name. Yet the poetical, the moral significance
-of her story remains; and, as I have reason to know, can still impress
-the fancy, and, through the fancy, waken the conscience and touch the
-heart.</p>
-
-<p>There were several other legends current in the early ages of
-Christianity, promulgated, it should seem, with the distinct purpose of
-calling the frail and shining woman to repentance. If these were not
-pure inventions, if the names of these beatified penitents retained in the
-offices of the Church must be taken as evidence that they <i>did</i> exist, it
-is not less certain that the prototype in all these cases was the reclaimed
-woman of the Scriptures, and that it was the pitying charity of Christ
-which first taught men and angels to rejoice over the sinner that
-repenteth.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The legend of <span class="smcap">Mary</span>, the niece of the hermit Abraham<a id="FNanchor_323" href="#Footnote_323" class="fnanchor">[323]</a> must not
-be confounded with that of Mary of Egypt. The scene of this story is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_391">[Pg 391]</span>
-placed in the deserts of Syria. The anchoret Abraham had a brother,
-who lived in the world and possessed great riches, and when he died,
-leaving an only daughter, she was brought to her uncle Abraham,
-apparently because of his great reputation for holiness, to be brought up
-as he should think fit. The ideas of this holy man, with regard to
-education, seem to have been those entertained by many wise and
-religious people since his time; but there was this difference, that he
-did not show her the steep and thorny way to heaven, and choose for
-himself ‘the primrose path of dalliance.’ Instead of applying to his
-charge a code of morality as distinct as possible from his own, he, more
-just, only brought up his niece in the same ascetic principles which he
-deemed necessary for the salvation of all men.</p>
-
-<p>Mary, therefore, being brought to her uncle when she was only seven
-years old, he built a cell close to his own, in which he shut her up; and,
-through a little window, which opened between their cells, he taught
-her to say her prayers, to recite the Psalter, to sing hymns, and dedicated
-her to a life of holiness and solitude, praying continually that she
-might be delivered from the snares of the arch-enemy, and keeping her
-far, as he thought, from all possibility of temptation; while he daily
-instructed her to despise and hate all the pleasures and vanities of
-the world.</p>
-
-<p>Thus Mary grew up in her cell till she was twenty years old: then
-it happened that a certain youth, who had turned hermit and dwelt in
-that desert, came to visit Abraham to receive his instructions; and he
-beheld through the window the face of the maiden as she prayed in her
-cell, and heard her voice as she sang the morning and the evening
-hymn; and he was inflamed with desire of her beauty, till his whole
-heart became as a furnace for the love of her; and forgetting his
-religious vocation, and moved thereto by the devil, he tempted Mary,
-and she fell. When she came to herself, her heart was troubled; she
-beat her breast and wept bitterly, thinking of what she had been, what
-she had now become; and she despaired, and said in her heart, ‘For
-me there is no hope, no return; shame is my portion evermore!’ So
-she fled, not daring to meet the face of her uncle, and went to a distant
-place, and lived a life of sin and shame for two years.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_392">[Pg 392]</span></p>
-
-<p>Now, on the same night that she fled from her cell, Abraham had
-a dream; and he saw in his dream a monstrous dragon, who came to
-his cell, and finding there a beautiful white dove, devoured it, and returned
-to his den. When the hermit awoke from his dream he was
-perplexed, and knew not what it might portend; but again he dreamt,
-and he saw the same dragon, and he put his foot on its head, and
-crushed it, and took from its maw the beautiful dove, and put it in
-his bosom, and it came to life again, and spread its wings and flew
-towards heaven.</p>
-
-<p>Then the old man knew that this must relate to his niece Mary; so
-he took up his staff, and went forth through the world seeking her
-everywhere. At length he found her, and seeing her overpowered
-with shame and despair, he exhorted her to take courage, and comforted
-her, and promised to take her sin and her penance on himself. She
-wept and embraced his knees, and said, ‘O my father! if thou
-thinkest there is hope for me, I will follow thee whithersoever thou
-goest, and kiss thy footsteps which lead me out of this gulf of sin and
-death!’ So he prayed with her, and reminded her that God did not
-desire the death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn from his
-wickedness and live; and she was comforted. And the next morning
-Abraham rose up and took his niece by the hand, leaving behind them
-her gay attire and jewels and ill-gotten wealth. And they returned
-together to the cell in the wilderness.</p>
-
-<p>From this time did Mary lead a life of penitence and of great
-humility, ministering to her aged uncle, who died glorifying God: after
-his death, she lived on many years, praising God, and doing good in
-humbleness and singleness of heart, and having favour with the people;
-so that from all the country round they brought the sick, and those who
-were possessed, and she healed them,—such virtue was in her prayers,
-although she had been a sinner! Nay, it is written, that even the
-touch of her garment restored health to the afflicted. At length she
-died, and the angels carried her spirit out of the shadow and the cloud
-of sin, into the glory and the joy of heaven.</p>
-
-<p>Although the legend of Mary the Penitent is accepted by the Church,
-which celebrates her conversion on the 29th of October, effigies of her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_393">[Pg 393]</span>
-must be rare; I have never met with any devotional representation of
-her. A print attributed to Albert Dürer represents the hermit
-Abraham bringing back his penitent niece to his cell.<a id="FNanchor_324" href="#Footnote_324" class="fnanchor">[324]</a></p>
-
-<p>In the Louvre are two large landscapes by Philippe de Champagne,
-which in poetry and grandeur of conception come near to those of
-Niccolò Poussin; both represent scenes from the life of Mary the
-Penitent. In the first, amid a wild and rocky landscape, is the cell of
-Abraham, and Mary, sitting within it, is visited by the young hermit
-who tempted her to sin: in the second, we have the same wilderness,
-under another aspect; Mary, in a rude secluded hut, embowered in
-trees, is visited by pilgrims and votaries, who bring to her on their
-shoulders and on litters, the sick and the afflicted, to be healed by her
-prayers. The daughter of Champagne, whom he tenderly loved, was a
-nun at Port-Royal, and I think it probable that these pictures (like
-others of his works) were painted for that celebrated convent.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>St. Thais, a renowned Greek saint, is another of these ‘<i lang="fr">bienheureuses
-pécheresses</i>,’ not the same who sat at Alexander’s feast, and fired
-Persepolis, but a firebrand in her own way. St. Pelagia, called <i>Pelagia
-Meretrix</i> and <i>Pelagia Mima</i> (for she was also an actress), is another.
-These I pass over without further notice, because I have never seen nor
-read of any representation of them in Western Art.</p>
-
-<p>St. Afra, who sealed her conversion with her blood, will be found
-among the Martyrs.</p>
-
-<p>Poets have sung, and moralists and sages have taught, that for the
-frail woman there was nothing left but to die; or if more remained for
-her to suffer, there was at least nothing left for her to be or do: no
-choice between sackcloth and ashes and the livery of sin. The beatified
-penitents of the early Christian Church spoke another lesson; spoke
-divinely of hope for the fallen, hope without self-abasement or defiance.
-We, in these days, acknowledge no such saints: we have even done our
-best to dethrone Mary Magdalene; but we have martyrs,—‘by the
-pang without the palm,’—and <i>one</i> at least among these who has not died<span class="pagenum" id="Page_394">[Pg 394]</span>
-without lifting up a voice of eloquent and solemn warning; who has
-borne her palm on earth, and whose starry crown may be seen on high
-even now, amid the constellations of Genius.</p>
-
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_394" style="max-width: 62.5em;">
-  <img class="w100" src="images/i_394.jpg"  alt="An Angel" />
-</div>
-
-
-<p class="center">
-LONDON: PRINTED BY<br />
-SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE<br />
-AND PARLIAMENT STREET<br />
-</p>
-
-
-<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> Milman, Hist. of Christianity, iii. 540.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="label">[2]</a> Venice; SS. Giovanni e Paolo.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="label">[3]</a> Siena; San Domenico.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_4" href="#FNanchor_4" class="label">[4]</a> Rome; Vatican.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_5" href="#FNanchor_5" class="label">[5]</a> Dresden Gal.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_6" href="#FNanchor_6" class="label">[6]</a> The Saints who do not appear in these volumes will be found in the ‘Legends of the
-Monastic Orders.’</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_7" href="#FNanchor_7" class="label">[7]</a> ‘Avant le 5me siècle le nimbe chrétien ne se voit pas sur les monuments <i>authentiques</i>.’
-(Didron, Iconographie, p. 101.)</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_8" href="#FNanchor_8" class="label">[8]</a> A metal circle, like a round plate, was fastened on the head of those statues placed in
-the open air, to defend them from the rain or dust. Some of the ancient glories are very
-like those plates, but I do not think they are derived from them.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_9" href="#FNanchor_9" class="label">[9]</a> I believe these coloured glories to be symbolical, but am not sure of the application of
-the colours. Among the miniatures of the <i>Hortus Deliciarum</i>, painted in 1180, is a representation
-of the celestial paradise, in which the virgins, the apostles, the martyrs, and
-confessors wear the golden nimbus; the prophets and the patriarchs, the white or silver
-nimbus; the saints who strove with temptation, the red nimbus; those who were married
-have the nimbus green, while the beatified penitents have theirs of a yellowish white, somewhat
-shaded. (Didron, Iconographie Chrétienne, p. 168.)</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_10" href="#FNanchor_10" class="label">[10]</a> In the example of St. Jerome, a lion may have originally typified any hinderance in the
-way of study or of duty; in allusion to the text, ‘The slothful man saith, There is a lion by
-the way.’ Prov. xxvi. 13.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_11" href="#FNanchor_11" class="label">[11]</a> <i>Vide</i> ‘Legends of the Madonna.’</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_12" href="#FNanchor_12" class="label">[12]</a> In the Spanish schools the colour of our Saviour’s mantle is generally a deep rich
-violet.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_13" href="#FNanchor_13" class="label">[13]</a> Bologna Gal.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_14" href="#FNanchor_14" class="label">[14]</a> 2 Sam. xiv. 17.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_15" href="#FNanchor_15" class="label">[15]</a> Gen. xxxii. 1, 2; Ps. ciii. 21; 1 Kings xxii. 19; Job i. 6.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_16" href="#FNanchor_16" class="label">[16]</a> Gen. xxii. 11; Exod. xiv. 19; Num. xx. 16; Gen. xxi. 17; Judg. xiii. 3; 2 Kings
-i. 3; Ps.xxxiv. 7; Judith xiii. 20.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_17" href="#FNanchor_17" class="label">[17]</a> 2 Sam. xxiv. 16; 2 Kings xix. 35; Gen: xviii. 8; Num. xxii. 31; 1 Chron. xxi. 16;
-Gen. xix. 13.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_18" href="#FNanchor_18" class="label">[18]</a> Calmet.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_19" href="#FNanchor_19" class="label">[19]</a> Matt. xxvi. 53; Heb. xii. 22; Matt. xxii. 30; Luke xx. 36; Matt. xix. 24; Luke i. 11;
-Acts v. 19, <i>et passim</i>; Luke xv. 10; 1 Peter i. 12; Luke xvi. 22; Heb. i. 14; 1 Cor. xi. 10;
-Matt. i. 20, xvi. 27, xxv. 31.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_20" href="#FNanchor_20" class="label">[20]</a> Rom. viii. 38; Col. i. 16; Ephes. i. 21.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_21" href="#FNanchor_21" class="label">[21]</a> I know not whether it be necessary to observe here, that in early Art the souls of the
-blessed are not represented as angels, nor regarded as belonging to this order of spiritual
-beings, though I believe it is a very common notion that we are to rise from the dead with
-the angelic attributes as well as the angelic nature. For this belief there is no warrant in
-Scripture, unless Mark xii. 25 be so interpreted.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_22" href="#FNanchor_22" class="label">[22]</a> Now in the Collection of Prince Wallerstein at Kensington Palace.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_23" href="#FNanchor_23" class="label">[23]</a> Vasari, p. 648. Fl. edit.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_24" href="#FNanchor_24" class="label">[24]</a> I saw in the palace of the Bishop of Norwich an elegant little bas-relief in alabaster,
-exhibiting the nine choirs, each represented by a single angel. The first (the Seraphim)
-hold the sacramental cup; the Cherubim, a book; the Thrones, a throne; the Principalities,
-a bunch of lilies; the Archangels are armed. The other attributes are not clearly made out.</p>
-
-<p>The figures have been ornamented with painting and gilding, now partially worn off, and
-the style is of the early part of the fifteenth century. It appeared to me to have formed one
-of the compartments of an altar-piece.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_25" href="#FNanchor_25" class="label">[25]</a> As in the picture in our National Gallery, No. 10.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_26" href="#FNanchor_26" class="label">[26]</a> Vatican: Raphael’s fresco.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_27" href="#FNanchor_27" class="label">[27]</a> <i>v.</i> Purg. c. viii.; Par. c. xxxi.; Purg. c. xxiv.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_28" href="#FNanchor_28" class="label">[28]</a> The Cherubim in the upper lights of the painted windows at St. Michael’s, Coventry, and
-at Cirencester, are represented each standing on a white wheel with eight spokes. They
-have six wings, of peacocks’ feathers, of a rich yellow colour. A white cross surmounts the
-forehead, and both arms and legs are covered with short plumage. The extremities are
-human and bare. At Cirencester the Cherubim hold a book; at Coventry a scroll.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_29" href="#FNanchor_29" class="label">[29]</a> In the sacristy of the Vatican.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_30" href="#FNanchor_30" class="label">[30]</a> In the Louvre.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_31" href="#FNanchor_31" class="label">[31]</a> In the Cathedral at Orvieto.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_32" href="#FNanchor_32" class="label">[32]</a> In the <i>Frari</i> at Venice.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_33" href="#FNanchor_33" class="label">[33]</a> Gen. xviii., xlviii. 16.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_34" href="#FNanchor_34" class="label">[34]</a> Purg. c. viii.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_35" href="#FNanchor_35" class="label">[35]</a> 1 Kings vi. 23.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_36" href="#FNanchor_36" class="label">[36]</a> MS. 10th century. Paris, Bibl. Nationale.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_37" href="#FNanchor_37" class="label">[37]</a> MS. 13th century, Breviaire de St. Louis.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_38" href="#FNanchor_38" class="label">[38]</a> Paris. Bibl. Nat., No. 510. G. MS.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_39" href="#FNanchor_39" class="label">[39]</a> As in the legend of Prometheus. (Plato, Protag. p. 320.)</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_40" href="#FNanchor_40" class="label">[40]</a> Sutherland Gallery.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_41" href="#FNanchor_41" class="label">[41]</a> As in Raphael’s fresco in the Vatican.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_42" href="#FNanchor_42" class="label">[42]</a> As in the picture by Allston, painted for Lord Egremont, and now at Petworth.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_43" href="#FNanchor_43" class="label">[43]</a> As in a picture by F. Bol.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_44" href="#FNanchor_44" class="label">[44]</a> See ‘Legends of the Madonna,’ p. 180.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_45" href="#FNanchor_45" class="label">[45]</a> For several curious and interesting particulars relative to these subjects, see the
-‘Legends of the Madonna,’ pp. 247, 256.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_46" href="#FNanchor_46" class="label">[46]</a> The picture is, I suspect, not by Poussin, but by Stella. There is another, similar, by
-Guido; Louvre, 1057.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_47" href="#FNanchor_47" class="label">[47]</a> Ciampini, p. 131, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 394.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_48" href="#FNanchor_48" class="label">[48]</a> Greek MS. <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 867.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_49" href="#FNanchor_49" class="label">[49]</a> Paris, Bib. Nat., No. 510.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_50" href="#FNanchor_50" class="label">[50]</a> In the Academy at Florence: they must have formed the side wings to an enthroned
-Madonna and Child.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_51" href="#FNanchor_51" class="label">[51]</a> Gallery of the Vatican.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_52" href="#FNanchor_52" class="label">[52]</a> S. Maria del Popolo, Rome.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_53" href="#FNanchor_53" class="label">[53]</a> The mosaics in the dome of the Chigi chapel are so ill lighted that it is difficult to
-observe them in detail, but they have lately been rendered cheaply accessible in the fine set
-of engravings by Gruner, an artist who in our day has revived the pure and correct design
-and elegant execution of Marc Antonio.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_54" href="#FNanchor_54" class="label">[54]</a> As in the fresco in the Vatican.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_55" href="#FNanchor_55" class="label">[55]</a> See the engraving under this title by Marc Antonio; it is properly St. Cecilia, and not
-St. Félicité.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_56" href="#FNanchor_56" class="label">[56]</a> It is now in the Lanti chapel in the church of the Lateran.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_57" href="#FNanchor_57" class="label">[57]</a> Mr. Ruskin remarks very truly, that in early Christian art there is a certain confidence,
-in the way in which angels trust to their wings, very characteristic of a period of bold and
-simple conception. Modern science has taught us that a wing cannot be anatomically joined
-to a shoulder; and in proportion as painters approach more and more to the scientific as
-distinguished from the contemplative state of mind, they put the wings of their angels on
-more timidly, and dwell with greater emphasis on the human form with less upon the wings,
-until these last become a species of decorative appendage, a mere <i>sign</i> of an angel. But in
-Giotto’s time an angel was a complete creature, as much believed in as a bird, and the way
-in which it would or might cast itself into the air and lean hither and thither on its plumes,
-was as naturally apprehended as the manner of flight of a chough or a starling. Hence
-Dante’s simple and most exquisite synonym for angel, “Bird of God;” and hence also a
-variety and picturesqueness in the expression of the movements of the heavenly hierarchies
-by the earlier painters, ill replaced by the powers of foreshortening and throwing naked limbs
-into fantastic positions, which appear in the cherubic groups of later times.’ The angels
-from the Campo Santo at Pisa, numbered 12, 21, and 32, are instances of this bird-like form.
-They are <i>Uccelli di Dio</i>. Those numbered 27, 28, and 37 are examples of the later treatment.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_58" href="#FNanchor_58" class="label">[58]</a> <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1352. Florence, S. Maria Novella.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_59" href="#FNanchor_59" class="label">[59]</a> Greek mosaic, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1174.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_60" href="#FNanchor_60" class="label">[60]</a> MS. of the Book of Revelation, fourteenth century. Trinity College, Dublin.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_61" href="#FNanchor_61" class="label">[61]</a> Coll. of the Duke of Sutherland.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_62" href="#FNanchor_62" class="label">[62]</a> Hôtel de Cluny, 399.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_63" href="#FNanchor_63" class="label">[63]</a> <i>v.</i> Il perfetto Legendario. 1659.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_64" href="#FNanchor_64" class="label">[64]</a> The Gnostics taught that the universe was created by the Seven Great Angels, who
-ranked next to the <i>Eons</i>, or direct emanations from God: ‘and when a distribution was
-afterwards made of things, the chief of the creating angels had the people of the Jews particularly
-to his share; a doctrine which in the main was received by many ancients.’—See
-Lardner’s ‘History of the Early Heresies.’ I have alluded to the angel pictured as the agent
-in creation (p. 39), but the Seven creating Angels I have not met with in art. This was one
-of the Gnostic fancies condemned by the early Church.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_65" href="#FNanchor_65" class="label">[65]</a> Le Livre des Angeles de Dieu, MS. Paris Bibl. Nat.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_66" href="#FNanchor_66" class="label">[66]</a> Dr. Arnold has some characteristic remarks on the half-human effigies of Satan; he
-objects to the Miltonic representation:—‘By giving a human likeness, and representing him
-as a bad man, you necessarily get some image of what is good, as well as of what is bad, for
-no man is entirely evil.’—‘The hoofs, the horns, the tail, were all useful in this way, as
-giving you an image of something altogether disgusting; and so Mephistophiles, and the
-utterly contemptible and hateful character of the Little Master in Sintram, are far more true
-than the Paradise Lost.’—<i>Life</i>, vol. ii.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_67" href="#FNanchor_67" class="label">[67]</a> Vatican MSS., No. 1613, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 989.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_68" href="#FNanchor_68" class="label">[68]</a> <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1365. Eremitani. Padua.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_69" href="#FNanchor_69" class="label">[69]</a> Greek Apocalypse MS. Paris Bibl. Nat.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_70" href="#FNanchor_70" class="label">[70]</a> Siena Acad.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_71" href="#FNanchor_71" class="label">[71]</a> By Marco di Ravenna. Bartsch, xiv. 106.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_72" href="#FNanchor_72" class="label">[72]</a> Brescia. S. Maria delle Grazie.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_73" href="#FNanchor_73" class="label">[73]</a> Milan, Brera.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_74" href="#FNanchor_74" class="label">[74]</a> Boisserée Gallery.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_75" href="#FNanchor_75" class="label">[75]</a> <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1400. Engraved in Lusinio’s ‘Early Florentine Masters.’</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_76" href="#FNanchor_76" class="label">[76]</a> Milan. Brera.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_77" href="#FNanchor_77" class="label">[77]</a> Psalter of St. Louis. Bib. de l’Arsenal, Paris.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_78" href="#FNanchor_78" class="label">[78]</a> See ante, p. 111, for the figure of St. Michael.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_79" href="#FNanchor_79" class="label">[79]</a> St. Ephrem, Bib. Orient. tom. i. p. 78. De Beausobre, vol. ii. p. 17.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_80" href="#FNanchor_80" class="label">[80]</a> Didron, Manuel grec., p. 101.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_81" href="#FNanchor_81" class="label">[81]</a> Judges vi. 11.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_82" href="#FNanchor_82" class="label">[82]</a> 2 Sam. xxiv. 16.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_83" href="#FNanchor_83" class="label">[83]</a> Calmet.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_84" href="#FNanchor_84" class="label">[84]</a> De Oratione, cap. xii.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_85" href="#FNanchor_85" class="label">[85]</a> Bottari, Tab. xxii. On the early Christian sarcophagi, as I have already observed, there
-are no winged angels. In the oft-repeated subject of the ‘Three Children in the burning
-fiery furnace,’ the fourth figure, when introduced, may represent <i>a</i> son of God,—i.e. an
-angel; or <i>the</i> Son of God, i.e. Christ, as it has been interpreted in both senses.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_86" href="#FNanchor_86" class="label">[86]</a> Bel and the Dragon, 26.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_87" href="#FNanchor_87" class="label">[87]</a> Bottari, 15, 49, 84.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_88" href="#FNanchor_88" class="label">[88]</a> See ‘Legends of the Madonna.’</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_89" href="#FNanchor_89" class="label">[89]</a> ‘The stone on which stood the angel Gabriel when he announced to the most Blessed
-Virgin the great mystery of the Incarnation,’ is among the relies enumerated as existing in
-the church of the Santa Croce at Rome.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_90" href="#FNanchor_90" class="label">[90]</a> In Paradise he sings for ever the famous salutation:—</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent0">Cantando <i lang="la">Ave Maria gratia plena</i></div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Dinanzi a lei le sue ali distese.</div>
-      <div class="verse indent20"><span class="smcap">Dante</span>, <i>Par.</i> 32.</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_91" href="#FNanchor_91" class="label">[91]</a> See the Ursuline Manual. ‘When an angel anciently appeared to the patriarchs or
-prophets, he was received with due honour as being exalted above them, both by nature and
-grace; but when an archangel visited Mary, he was struck with her superior dignity and
-pre-eminence, and, approaching, saluted her with admiration and respect. Though accustomed
-to the lustre of the highest heavenly spirits, yet he was dazzled and amazed at the
-dignity and spiritual glory of her whom he came to salute Mother of God, while the attention
-of the whole heavenly court was with rapture fixed upon her.’</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_92" href="#FNanchor_92" class="label">[92]</a> The Annunciation and the Death of the Virgin, and the office and character of the announcing
-angel in both subjects, are fully treated and illustrated in the ‘Legends of the
-Madonna,’ pp. 179, 334.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_93" href="#FNanchor_93" class="label">[93]</a> As in a very curious print by ‘Le Graveur de 1466;’ and there are other instances.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_94" href="#FNanchor_94" class="label">[94]</a> Chants Royaux. Paris Bibl. Nat. MS. No. 6,989.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_95" href="#FNanchor_95" class="label">[95]</a> Mr. Stirling entitles this picture ‘An Angel appearing to a Bishop at his prayers.’</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_96" href="#FNanchor_96" class="label">[96]</a> In the church of S. Marziale, Venice.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_97" href="#FNanchor_97" class="label">[97]</a> Passavant’s Rafael, vol. ii. pp. 6, 150.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_98" href="#FNanchor_98" class="label">[98]</a> Madrid Gallery.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_99" href="#FNanchor_99" class="label">[99]</a> Louvre, No. 358.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_100" href="#FNanchor_100" class="label">[100]</a> In our National Gallery.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_101" href="#FNanchor_101" class="label">[101]</a> Rupertus, Commentar. in Apocal. c. 4. Mark xvi. 16.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_102" href="#FNanchor_102" class="label">[102]</a> Fl. Acad.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_103" href="#FNanchor_103" class="label">[103]</a> There is a small and beautiful picture by Giulio Romano in the Belvedere at Vienna,
-representing the emblems of the Four Evangelists grouped in a picturesque manner, which
-was probably suggested by Raphael’s celebrated picture, which is in the Pitti palace at
-Florence.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_104" href="#FNanchor_104" class="label">[104]</a> Grosvenor Gallery.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_105" href="#FNanchor_105" class="label">[105]</a> Dresden Gallery. No. 828.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_106" href="#FNanchor_106" class="label">[106]</a> Paris, Bib. du Roi, No. 510.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_107" href="#FNanchor_107" class="label">[107]</a> <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1377. Eng. in Rossini, pl. 24.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_108" href="#FNanchor_108" class="label">[108]</a> Designed by Titian, and executed by F. Zuccati.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_109" href="#FNanchor_109" class="label">[109]</a> It is so like Giorgione in sentiment and colour that it has been attributed to him. For
-this expressive votive group, see the frontispiece to vol. ii., and the legends of the four patron
-saints above mentioned.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_110" href="#FNanchor_110" class="label">[110]</a> Beneath the monument of Nicolò Orsini, in the SS. Giovanni-e-Paolo at Venice. A very
-remarkable and beautiful picture of this class is in the Berlin Gallery (No. 316). St. Mark,
-enthroned and holding his gospel open on his knees, is instructing three of the <i>Procuradori
-di San Marco</i>, who kneel before him in their rich crimson dresses, and listen reverently.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_111" href="#FNanchor_111" class="label">[111]</a> Venice Ducal Palace.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_112" href="#FNanchor_112" class="label">[112]</a> Fl. Gal.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_113" href="#FNanchor_113" class="label">[113]</a> Venice Acad.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_114" href="#FNanchor_114" class="label">[114]</a> Brera, Milan.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_115" href="#FNanchor_115" class="label">[115]</a> Brera, Milan.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_116" href="#FNanchor_116" class="label">[116]</a> <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1500. Scuola di S. Marco, Venice.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_117" href="#FNanchor_117" class="label">[117]</a> Fl. Gal.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_118" href="#FNanchor_118" class="label">[118]</a> The <i>Procuradori</i> had the charge of the church and the treasury of St. Mark.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_119" href="#FNanchor_119" class="label">[119]</a> Sanuto, Vite de’ Duci Veneti.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_120" href="#FNanchor_120" class="label">[120]</a> Acad. Venice.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_121" href="#FNanchor_121" class="label">[121]</a> Acad. Venice.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_122" href="#FNanchor_122" class="label">[122]</a> Ibid.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_123" href="#FNanchor_123" class="label">[123]</a> Venice, Ducal Palace.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_124" href="#FNanchor_124" class="label">[124]</a> The little black Virgin of the Monte della Guardia, near Bologna, I saw carried in grand
-procession through the streets of that city, in May 1847. The following inscription is engraved
-on a tablet in the church of San Domenico and San Sisto at Rome: ‘Here at the
-high altar is preserved that image of the most blessed Mary, which, being delineated by St.
-Luke the Evangelist, received its colours and form divinely. This is that image with which
-St. Gregory the Great (according to St. Antonine), as a suppliant, purified Rome; and the
-pestilence being dispelled, the angel messenger of peace, from the summit of the castle of
-Adrian, commanding the Queen of Heaven to rejoice, restored health to the city.’ A Virgin
-in the Ara Cœli pretends to the same honour: both these are black and ugly, while that in
-the S. Maria in Cosmedino is of uncommon dignity and beauty. See ‘Legends of the
-Madonna,’ Introduction, p. xli.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_125" href="#FNanchor_125" class="label">[125]</a> MS. <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1500. Paris, Bib. Imp.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_126" href="#FNanchor_126" class="label">[126]</a> F. Rizi. <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1660.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_127" href="#FNanchor_127" class="label">[127]</a> As in the Missal of Henry VIII. Bodleian, Oxford.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_128" href="#FNanchor_128" class="label">[128]</a> Both among the fine lithographs of the Boisserée Gallery. (<i>v.</i> Nos. 5, 15, 25.)</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_129" href="#FNanchor_129" class="label">[129]</a> Acad. Bologna.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_130" href="#FNanchor_130" class="label">[130]</a> Musée, Marseilles.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_131" href="#FNanchor_131" class="label">[131]</a> Leigh Court, Gal. of Mr. Miles.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_132" href="#FNanchor_132" class="label">[132]</a> Petersburg, Gal. of Prince Narishken. Eng. by Müller.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_133" href="#FNanchor_133" class="label">[133]</a> Munich Gal.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_134" href="#FNanchor_134" class="label">[134]</a> Westmin. Abbey.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_135" href="#FNanchor_135" class="label">[135]</a> Rome, S. Maria-sopra-Minerva.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_136" href="#FNanchor_136" class="label">[136]</a> <i>v.</i> ‘Legends of the Madonna.’</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_137" href="#FNanchor_137" class="label">[137]</a> Brera, Milan.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_138" href="#FNanchor_138" class="label">[138]</a> We find among the relics exhibited on great occasions in the church of the S. Croce at
-Rome ‘the cup in which St. John, the apostle and evangelist, by command of Domitian the
-emperor, drank poison without receiving any injury; which afterwards being tasted by his
-attendants, on the instant they fell dead.’</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_139" href="#FNanchor_139" class="label">[139]</a> Vatican MSS., tenth century.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_140" href="#FNanchor_140" class="label">[140]</a> MSS., ninth century. Paris Nat. Library.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_141" href="#FNanchor_141" class="label">[141]</a> Vatican, Christian Museum.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_142" href="#FNanchor_142" class="label">[142]</a> Johannis Brompton Cronicon, 955.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_143" href="#FNanchor_143" class="label">[143]</a> Dart’s Hist. of Westminster.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_144" href="#FNanchor_144" class="label">[144]</a> <i>v.</i> Legend of St. Edward the Confessor in the ‘Legends of the Monastic Orders,’ p. 99.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_145" href="#FNanchor_145" class="label">[145]</a> Rome. S. M. in Trastevere. S. Prassede. S. Clemente. S. Cecilia.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_146" href="#FNanchor_146" class="label">[146]</a> Bottari, Tab. xxviii.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_147" href="#FNanchor_147" class="label">[147]</a> The churches in the eastern provinces of France, particularly in Champagne, exhibit
-marked traces of the influence of Greek Art in the eleventh and twelfth centuries.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_148" href="#FNanchor_148" class="label">[148]</a> <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 451. Ciampini, Vet. Mon. p. 1, c. iv.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_149" href="#FNanchor_149" class="label">[149]</a> Matt. xix. 28; and Luke xxii. 30.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_150" href="#FNanchor_150" class="label">[150]</a> I must refer the reader to Mr. Cockerell’s illustrations and restorations of the rich and
-multifarious and significant sculpture of Wells Cathedral.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_151" href="#FNanchor_151" class="label">[151]</a> Luke xxii. 30.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_152" href="#FNanchor_152" class="label">[152]</a> Venice Acad., fourteenth century.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_153" href="#FNanchor_153" class="label">[153]</a> Rosini, vol. iii. p. 75.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_154" href="#FNanchor_154" class="label">[154]</a> Convent of Chilandari, Mount Athos.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_155" href="#FNanchor_155" class="label">[155]</a> Vatican, Sala del Pozzo.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_156" href="#FNanchor_156" class="label">[156]</a> Vatican.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_157" href="#FNanchor_157" class="label">[157]</a> Greek MS., ninth century. Paris, Bibl. du Roi, No. 510.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_158" href="#FNanchor_158" class="label">[158]</a> A set of martyrdoms is in the Frankfort Museum; another is mentioned in Bartsch,
-viii. 22.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_159" href="#FNanchor_159" class="label">[159]</a> Eusebius says that <i>all</i> the Apostles suffered martyrdom; but this is not borne out by any
-ancient testimony.—<i>Lardner’s Cred. of Gospel Hist.</i> vol. viii. p. 81.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_160" href="#FNanchor_160" class="label">[160]</a> They were fortunately engraved for D’Agincourt’s <i>Histoire de l’Art</i>, before they were destroyed
-by fire.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_161" href="#FNanchor_161" class="label">[161]</a> St. Guthlac’s Book. Ethelwold’s Benedictional.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_162" href="#FNanchor_162" class="label">[162]</a> As in the mosaic on the tomb of Otho II. (Lateran Mus.).</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_163" href="#FNanchor_163" class="label">[163]</a> Bottari, Tab. xxv.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_164" href="#FNanchor_164" class="label">[164]</a> One of the finest I have ever seen is the ‘Saint Pierre au Donateur,’ by Gaudenzio
-Ferrari; holding his keys (both of gold), he presents a kneeling votary, a man of middle age,
-who probably bore his name. The head of St. Peter is very characteristic, and has an
-energetic pleading expression, almost <i>demanding</i> what he requires for his votary. The whole
-picture is extremely fine. (<i>Turin Gallery</i>, No. 19.)</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_165" href="#FNanchor_165" class="label">[165]</a> Milan, Brera (No. 189).</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_166" href="#FNanchor_166" class="label">[166]</a> What St. Clement says is to this purpose: that St. Peter’s hearers at Rome were desirous
-of having his sermons writ down for their use; that they made their request to Mark to leave
-them a written memorial of the doctrine they had received by word of mouth; that they did
-not desist from their entreaties till they had prevailed upon him; and St. Peter confirmed
-that writing by his authority, that it might be read in the churches.’—<span class="smcap">Lardner</span>, <i>Cred.</i>,
-vol. i. p. 250.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_167" href="#FNanchor_167" class="label">[167]</a> Fl. Gal.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_168" href="#FNanchor_168" class="label">[168]</a> Brera, Milan.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_169" href="#FNanchor_169" class="label">[169]</a> Gian Bellini: Venice. S. M. de’ Frari.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_170" href="#FNanchor_170" class="label">[170]</a> Vienna Gal.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_171" href="#FNanchor_171" class="label">[171]</a> Bartsch, vi. 92.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_172" href="#FNanchor_172" class="label">[172]</a> ‘Le Christ à la Colonne.’ <i>Louvre</i>, No. 550.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_173" href="#FNanchor_173" class="label">[173]</a> Tab. xxi.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_174" href="#FNanchor_174" class="label">[174]</a> Hampton Court.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_175" href="#FNanchor_175" class="label">[175]</a> Madrid Gal., No. 114.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_176" href="#FNanchor_176" class="label">[176]</a> Bridgewater Gal.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_177" href="#FNanchor_177" class="label">[177]</a> Cathedral at Malines.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_178" href="#FNanchor_178" class="label">[178]</a> Gal. of the Hague.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_179" href="#FNanchor_179" class="label">[179]</a> This picture, formerly in the Brera, is now in England, in the gallery of Lord Ward. It
-is the finest and most characteristic specimen of the master I have ever seen.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_180" href="#FNanchor_180" class="label">[180]</a> It is signed <span class="smcap">MẽdulaÉ</span>, and attributed to Giulio della Mendula; a painter (except through
-this picture) unknown to me.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_181" href="#FNanchor_181" class="label">[181]</a> Brancacci Chapel, Florence.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_182" href="#FNanchor_182" class="label">[182]</a> Berlin Gal., No. 313.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_183" href="#FNanchor_183" class="label">[183]</a> Louvre, No. 685.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_184" href="#FNanchor_184" class="label">[184]</a> As in the Greek mosaics in the Cathedral of Monreale, near Palermo.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_185" href="#FNanchor_185" class="label">[185]</a> Several such pictures are in the royal collections at Windsor and Hampton Court.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_186" href="#FNanchor_186" class="label">[186]</a> Moore makes a characteristic remark on this fresco; he is <i>amazed</i> at the self-denial of
-the painter who could cross this fine group with the black iron bars which represent the
-prison.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_187" href="#FNanchor_187" class="label">[187]</a> Some Protestant writers have set aside St. Peter’s ministry at Rome, as altogether
-apocryphal; but Gieseler, an author by no means credulous, considers that the historical
-evidence is in favour of the tradition (<i>v.</i> Text-book of Eccles. Hist. p. 53). This is the
-more satisfactory because, even to Protestants, it is not agreeable to be at Rome and to be
-obliged to reject certain associations which add to the poetical, as well as to the religious,
-interest of the place.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_188" href="#FNanchor_188" class="label">[188]</a> He represented her as a resuscitation of the famous Helen of Troy, which is said to have
-suggested to Goethe the resuscitation of Helena in the second part of ‘Faust.’</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_189" href="#FNanchor_189" class="label">[189]</a> MS., Vatican, No. 6409. 10th century.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_190" href="#FNanchor_190" class="label">[190]</a> In the sacristy of the Vatican.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_191" href="#FNanchor_191" class="label">[191]</a> In the Brancacci Chapel at Florence.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_192" href="#FNanchor_192" class="label">[192]</a> In the Gallery of the Vatican.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_193" href="#FNanchor_193" class="label">[193]</a> Vatican. Capella Paolina.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_194" href="#FNanchor_194" class="label">[194]</a> <i>v.</i> Il perfetto Legendario.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_195" href="#FNanchor_195" class="label">[195]</a> There was an oratory in the church of the Franciscans at Varallo, in which they celebrated
-a yearly festival in honour of St. Petronilla. While Gaudenzio Ferrari was painting
-there the series of frescoes in the chapel of the crucifixion on the Sacro Monte, he promised
-to paint for the festival an effigy of the saint. The eve of the day arrived, and still it was
-not begun: the people murmured, and reproached him, which he affected to treat jestingly;
-but he arose in the night, and with no other light than the beams of the full moon, executed
-a charming figure of St. Petronilla, which still exists. She stands holding a book, a white
-veil over her head, and a yellow mantle falling in rich folds: she has no distinctive emblem.
-‘Gaudenzio, che in una bella notte d’estate dipinse fra ruvide muraglie una Santa tutta
-grazia e pudore mentre un pallido raggio di luna sbucato dalla frondosa chioma d’albero
-dolcemente gl’irradia la fronte calva e la barba rossiccia, presenta un non so che di ideale e
-di romanzesco che veramente rapisce.’—Opere di Gaudenzio Ferrari, No. 21. (Maggi, Turin.
-It is to be regretted that in this valuable work neither the pages nor the plates are numbered.)</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_196" href="#FNanchor_196" class="label">[196]</a> Second or third century. Bosio, p. 519.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_197" href="#FNanchor_197" class="label">[197]</a> <i>v.</i> Münter’s Sinnbilder, p. 35.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_198" href="#FNanchor_198" class="label">[198]</a> <i>v.</i> Zani. Enc. delle Belle Arti.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_199" href="#FNanchor_199" class="label">[199]</a> In the gallery of Mr. Miles, at Leigh Court.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_200" href="#FNanchor_200" class="label">[200]</a> Those who consult the engravings by Santi Bartoli and Landon must bear in mind that
-almost all the references are erroneous. See Passavant’s ‘Rafael,’ ii. 245.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_201" href="#FNanchor_201" class="label">[201]</a> The clergy who permitted Sir James Thornhill to paint the cupola of St. Paul’s with
-Scripture scenes, refused to admit any other paintings into the church. Perhaps they were
-justified; but not by the plea of Bishop Terrick—the fear of idolatry.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_202" href="#FNanchor_202" class="label">[202]</a> This series, the most important work of the painter, Hans Schaufelein, is not mentioned
-in Kugler’s Handbook. It is engraved in outline in the ‘New Florence Gallery,’ published in
-1837.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_203" href="#FNanchor_203" class="label">[203]</a> ‘St. Paul prevents his jailor from killing himself’ (Acts xvi.) has been lately painted
-by Claude Hallé, and is now in the Louvre. (École française, No. 283.)</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_204" href="#FNanchor_204" class="label">[204]</a> In the Dresden Gal., No. 821.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_205" href="#FNanchor_205" class="label">[205]</a> Bartsch, vii. 79.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_206" href="#FNanchor_206" class="label">[206]</a> Théologie des Peintres.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_207" href="#FNanchor_207" class="label">[207]</a> In several ancient pictures and bas-reliefs the cross has the usual form, but he is not
-nailed—always bound with cords, as in the ancient bas-relief over the portal of his church at
-Vercelli.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_208" href="#FNanchor_208" class="label">[208]</a> Gallery of the Vatican.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_209" href="#FNanchor_209" class="label">[209]</a> Munich, 363.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_210" href="#FNanchor_210" class="label">[210]</a> In the collection of Mr. Miles at Leigh Court.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_211" href="#FNanchor_211" class="label">[211]</a> Hermogenes was the name of a famous Gnostic teacher and philosopher; thence, I suppose,
-adopted into this legend.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_212" href="#FNanchor_212" class="label">[212]</a> <i>v.</i> Southey, ‘Pilgrim of Compostella.’</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_213" href="#FNanchor_213" class="label">[213]</a> Passavant’s Rafael, I. 508.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_214" href="#FNanchor_214" class="label">[214]</a> Duomo, Siena.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_215" href="#FNanchor_215" class="label">[215]</a> Belvedere, Vienna.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_216" href="#FNanchor_216" class="label">[216]</a> Venice Acad.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_217" href="#FNanchor_217" class="label">[217]</a> Rome, S. Maria-in-Trastevere. <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1397.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_218" href="#FNanchor_218" class="label">[218]</a> Stirling’s ‘Artists of Spain,’ ii. p. 753.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_219" href="#FNanchor_219" class="label">[219]</a> Legenda Aurea.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_220" href="#FNanchor_220" class="label">[220]</a> Gallery of Antwerp.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_221" href="#FNanchor_221" class="label">[221]</a> Passavant’s Rafael, II. 116.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_222" href="#FNanchor_222" class="label">[222]</a> Eng. by Audran.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_223" href="#FNanchor_223" class="label">[223]</a> Gal. Vatican.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_224" href="#FNanchor_224" class="label">[224]</a> Fl. Acad.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_225" href="#FNanchor_225" class="label">[225]</a> Fl. Gal.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_226" href="#FNanchor_226" class="label">[226]</a> Florence, Casa Ruccellai.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_227" href="#FNanchor_227" class="label">[227]</a> The romantic Legend of the <i>sacratissima cintola</i>, ‘the most sacred girdle of the Virgin,’
-is given at length in the ‘Legends of the Madonna,’ p. 344.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_228" href="#FNanchor_228" class="label">[228]</a> ‘Very soon after the Lord was risen, he went to James, and showed himself to him.
-For James had solemnly sworn that he would eat no bread from the time that he had drunk
-the cup of the Lord till he should see him risen from among them that sleep. “Bring,” saith
-the Lord, “a table and bread.” He took bread, and blessed and brake it, and then gave it
-to James the Just, and said to him, “My brother, eat thy bread; for the Son of man is risen
-from among them that sleep.”’—St. Jerome, as quoted in Lardner, <i>Lives of the Apostles</i>,
-chap. xvi.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_229" href="#FNanchor_229" class="label">[229]</a> Matt. xiii. 55; Mark xv. 40.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_230" href="#FNanchor_230" class="label">[230]</a> Fl. Gal.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_231" href="#FNanchor_231" class="label">[231]</a> Fl. Acad.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_232" href="#FNanchor_232" class="label">[232]</a> See Ford’s ‘Handbook of Spain;’ also Goethe’s ‘Theory of Colours,’ translated by Sir
-C. Eastlake. ‘When a yellow colour is communicated to dull and coarse surfaces, such as
-common cloth, felt, or the like, on which it does not appear with full energy, the disagreeable
-effect alluded to is apparent. By a slight and scarcely perceptible change, the beautiful impression
-of fire and gold is transformed into one not undeserving the epithet foul, and the
-colour of honour and joy reversed to that of ignominy and aversion. To this impression, the
-yellow hats of bankrupts, and the yellow circles on the mantles of Jews, may have owed their
-origin.’ (P. 308.)</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_233" href="#FNanchor_233" class="label">[233]</a> Fl. Gal.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_234" href="#FNanchor_234" class="label">[234]</a> Manfrini P., Venice.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_235" href="#FNanchor_235" class="label">[235]</a> Fl. Acad.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_236" href="#FNanchor_236" class="label">[236]</a> In the gallery of Lord Charlemont, Dublin.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_237" href="#FNanchor_237" class="label">[237]</a> MS., No. 7206. Bib. du Roi.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_238" href="#FNanchor_238" class="label">[238]</a> Florence, S. Maria Novella. It is clear that the extravagant legends which refer to
-Judas Iscariot were the inventions of the middle ages, and are as little countenanced by the
-writings of the early fathers as by the Gospels. Eusebius says, that ‘Christ gave like gifts
-to Judas with the other apostles; that once our Saviour had good hopes of him on account of
-the power of the free will, for Judas was not of such a nature as rendered his salvation impossible;
-like the other apostles, he might have been instructed by the Son of God, and might
-have been a sincere and good disciple.’ (Quoted in Lardner, vol. viii. p. 77.) The Mahometans
-believe that Christ did not die, that he ascended alive into heaven, and that Judas
-was crucified in his likeness. (Curzon, p. 185.)</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_239" href="#FNanchor_239" class="label">[239]</a> The Greek expression, ‘leaning on his bosom, or on his lap,’ is not, I believe, to be taken
-literally, being used to signify an intimate and affectionate intercourse.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_240" href="#FNanchor_240" class="label">[240]</a> Florence Acad.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_241" href="#FNanchor_241" class="label">[241]</a> In the series of compositions from the life of Christ, now in the Academy at Florence;
-beautifully and faithfully engraved by P. Nocchi.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_242" href="#FNanchor_242" class="label">[242]</a> This is also observable in the Last Supper by Nicolò Petri in the San Francesco at Pisa.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_243" href="#FNanchor_243" class="label">[243]</a> For a signal example, see Stirling’s ‘Artists of Spain,’ p. 493.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_244" href="#FNanchor_244" class="label">[244]</a> For some remarks on the subject of the Pentecost, <i>v.</i> ‘Legends of the Madonna,’
-p. 325.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_245" href="#FNanchor_245" class="label">[245]</a> Acad. Venice. Giovanni ed Antonio da Murano. 1440.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_246" href="#FNanchor_246" class="label">[246]</a> As I have frequent occasion to refer to pictures painted for the <i>Scuole</i> of Venice, it may
-be as well to observe that the word <i>scuola</i>, which we translate <i>school</i>, is not a place of education,
-but a confraternity for charitable purposes,—visiting the sick, providing hospitals,
-adopting orphans, redeeming prisoners and captives, &amp;c. In the days of the republic these
-schools were richly supported and endowed, and the halls, churches, and chapels attached to
-them were often galleries of art: such were the schools of St. Mark, St. Ursula, St. Roch, the
-Carità and others. Unhappily, they exist no longer; the French seized on their funds, and
-Austria does not like confraternities of any kind. The Scuola della Carità is now the Academy
-of Arts.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_247" href="#FNanchor_247" class="label">[247]</a> Acad. Venice. Gio. da Udine.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_248" href="#FNanchor_248" class="label">[248]</a> Frankfort Museum.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_249" href="#FNanchor_249" class="label">[249]</a> We missed the opportunity, now never more to be recalled, of obtaining this admirable
-picture when it was sold out of the Fesch collection.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_250" href="#FNanchor_250" class="label">[250]</a> I believe the figure called St. Bonaventura, to represent St. Jerome, because, in accordance
-with the usual scheme of ecclesiastical decoration, the greatest of the four Latin Fathers
-would take the first place, and the cardinal’s hat and the long flowing beard are his proper
-attribute; whereas there is no example of a St. Bonaventura with a beard, or wearing the
-monastic habit without the Franciscan cord. The Arundel Society have engraved this fine
-figure under the name of St. Bonaventura.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_251" href="#FNanchor_251" class="label">[251]</a> Dresden Gal.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_252" href="#FNanchor_252" class="label">[252]</a> Imp. Gal., St. Petersburg.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_253" href="#FNanchor_253" class="label">[253]</a> Vienna Gal.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_254" href="#FNanchor_254" class="label">[254]</a> In the catalogue, St. Cunegunda is styled <i>St. Elizabeth Queen of Hungary</i>, and St. Elizabeth
-of Hungary is styled <i>St. Elizabeth Queen of Portugal</i>.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_255" href="#FNanchor_255" class="label">[255]</a> Irish Bishop of Würtzburg, and Patron, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 689.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_256" href="#FNanchor_256" class="label">[256]</a> ‘In this picture we recognise the master to whom Albert Dürer was indebted for his
-education; indeed, Wohlgemuth here surpasses his great scholar in the expression of gentleness
-and simplicity, particularly in the heads of some of the female saints.’—<i>Handbook of
-Painting: German, Flemish, and Dutch Schools</i>, p. 111.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_257" href="#FNanchor_257" class="label">[257]</a> Florence, Ogni Santi.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_258" href="#FNanchor_258" class="label">[258]</a> Bologna, S. Maria Maggiore.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_259" href="#FNanchor_259" class="label">[259]</a> The picture, originally at Naples, was purchased or appropriated by Philip IV. for the
-Church of the Escurial, which belonged to the Jeronymites.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_260" href="#FNanchor_260" class="label">[260]</a> Milan, Brera.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_261" href="#FNanchor_261" class="label">[261]</a> Collection of Lord Ward.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_262" href="#FNanchor_262" class="label">[262]</a> Louvre, Sp. Gal.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_263" href="#FNanchor_263" class="label">[263]</a> P. Pitti, Florence.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_264" href="#FNanchor_264" class="label">[264]</a> Lichtenstein Gal.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_265" href="#FNanchor_265" class="label">[265]</a> Kugler pronounces this to be a Flemish picture (<i>v.</i> ‘Handbook,’ p. 190).</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_266" href="#FNanchor_266" class="label">[266]</a> The three frescoes by Carpaccio are in the Church of San Giorgio de’ Schiavoni at
-Venice.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_267" href="#FNanchor_267" class="label">[267]</a> It was in the Standish Gal. in the Louvre.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_268" href="#FNanchor_268" class="label">[268]</a> Engraved by Loli.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_269" href="#FNanchor_269" class="label">[269]</a> Wolvinus, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 832. ‘His name seems to indicate that he was of Teutonic race—a circumstance
-which has excited much controversy amongst the modern Italian antiquaries.’—<i>Murray’s
-Handbook.</i></p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_270" href="#FNanchor_270" class="label">[270]</a> Belvedere Gal., Vienna.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_271" href="#FNanchor_271" class="label">[271]</a> Paris, Invalides.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_272" href="#FNanchor_272" class="label">[272]</a> SS. Giovan e Paolo, Venice.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_273" href="#FNanchor_273" class="label">[273]</a> Brera, Milan.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_274" href="#FNanchor_274" class="label">[274]</a> Fl. Gal.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_275" href="#FNanchor_275" class="label">[275]</a> Pitti Pal. This fine picture was painted for the Agostini.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_276" href="#FNanchor_276" class="label">[276]</a> Brera, Milan.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_277" href="#FNanchor_277" class="label">[277]</a> Berlin Gal.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_278" href="#FNanchor_278" class="label">[278]</a> Acad., Venice.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_279" href="#FNanchor_279" class="label">[279]</a> Vatican, Christian Museum.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_280" href="#FNanchor_280" class="label">[280]</a> Cremona.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_281" href="#FNanchor_281" class="label">[281]</a> Belvedere, Vienna.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_282" href="#FNanchor_282" class="label">[282]</a> <i>v.</i> ‘Legends of the Monastic Orders,’ p. 191.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_283" href="#FNanchor_283" class="label">[283]</a> I believe this picture was afterwards in the possession of Mr. Dennistoun, of Dennistoun.
-Mr. Stirling mentions it as a fine specimen of Murillo’s second style.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_284" href="#FNanchor_284" class="label">[284]</a> Once in Lord Methuen’s Gallery at Corsham.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_285" href="#FNanchor_285" class="label">[285]</a> It was in the possession of Her Majesty the Ex-Queen of the French, who paid for it
-25,000f.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_286" href="#FNanchor_286" class="label">[286]</a> There is a duplicate in the Bridgewater Gallery.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_287" href="#FNanchor_287" class="label">[287]</a> Sutherland Gal.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_288" href="#FNanchor_288" class="label">[288]</a> Vicenza. S. Maria del Monte.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_289" href="#FNanchor_289" class="label">[289]</a> Bartsch, <i>Le Peintre Graveur</i>, vii. 264.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_290" href="#FNanchor_290" class="label">[290]</a> For an account of St. Nilus, and the foundation of Grotta Ferrata, see the ‘Legends of
-the Monastic Orders.’</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_291" href="#FNanchor_291" class="label">[291]</a> According to Sansovino, begun by Giorgione and finished by Sebastian.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_292" href="#FNanchor_292" class="label">[292]</a> Dante, <i>Inf.</i> c. xi.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_293" href="#FNanchor_293" class="label">[293]</a> The Greek word <i>Papa</i>, here translated <i>der Papst</i> (the Pope), betrays the Eastern origin
-of the story. It is the general title of the Greek priesthood, and means simply a priest,
-elevated in the German legend into ‘the Pope.’</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_294" href="#FNanchor_294" class="label">[294]</a> Koburgher, ‘Legendensammlung,’ 1488, p. 325. Heller’s ‘Leben und Werke Albrecht
-Dürer’s,’ p. 440.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_295" href="#FNanchor_295" class="label">[295]</a> Sutherland Gal.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_296" href="#FNanchor_296" class="label">[296]</a> ‘<i>La Messe de saint Basile.</i>’ Louvre, École française, No. 508.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_297" href="#FNanchor_297" class="label">[297]</a> ‘Pour vous ramener à des idées plus favorables à la Madeleine, vous transportant au
-temps et aux circonstances où vécut cette célèbre Israélite, je pourrais vous dire, <span class="smcap">Messieurs</span>,
-que l’antiquité, ne jugeant pas équitable d’exiger plus de vertu du sexe réputé pour le plus
-faible, ne croyait pas les femmes déshonorées de ce qui ne déshonorait pas les hommes à ses
-yeux; qu’elle a d’ailleurs toujours été bien moins sévère à des sentiments qui, naissant avec
-nous, lui paraissaient une partie de nous-mêmes, et qu’elle n’attacha jamais aucune idée
-flétrissante aux suites d’une passion qu’elle trouvait presque aussi pardonnable que naturelle.
-Les grâces de la beauté étaient alors regardées comme les autres talents; et l’art de plaire,
-aussi autorisé que les autres arts, loin d’inspirer de l’éloignement,’ &amp;c.</p>
-
-<p>After describing, in glowing terms, her splendid position in the world, her illustrious rank,
-her understanding, ‘<i>droit, solide, et délicat</i>,’ her ‘<i>grâce</i>,’ her ‘<i>esprit</i>,’ her wondrous beauty,
-particularly her superb hair, ‘<i>cultivé avec tant de soin, arrangé avec tant d’art</i>;’—and
-lamenting that a creature thus nobly gifted should have been cast away upon the same rock
-which had shipwrecked the greatest, the most illustrious, of her <i>compatriotes, ‘le fort Samson,
-le preux David, le sage Salomon</i>;’ he goes on to describe, with real eloquence, and in a less
-offensive strain of panegyric, her devotion at the foot of the cross, her pious visit to the tomb
-by break of day, braving the fury of the guards, the cruelty of the Jews, and taking the
-place of the apostles, who were dispersed or fled. And thus he winds up with a moral, most
-extraordinary when we recollect that it was preached from a pulpit by a grave doctor in
-theology:—</p>
-
-<p>‘Jeunes personnes qui vivez encore dans l’innocence! apprenez donc de la Madeleine
-combien grands sont les périls de la jeunesse, de la beauté, de tous les dons purement
-naturels; souvenez-vous que le désir excessif de plaire est toujours dangereux, rarement
-innocent, et qu’il est bien difficile de donner beaucoup de sentiments, sans en prendre soi-même.
-A la vue des faiblesses de la jeune Israélite, comprenez de quelle importance est,
-pour vous, la garde de votre cœur; et à quels désordres il vous expose, si vous ne vous
-accoutumez à le contrarier sans cesse, en tous ses penchants.</p>
-
-<p>‘Femmes mondaines, et peut-être voluptueuses! apprenez de la Madeleine à revenir de vos
-écarts; ils ont été, dans vous, le fruit de la faiblesse humaine; que votre retour soit le fruit
-de votre correspondance à la grâce. Et pourriez-vous ou vous proposer un modèle plus digne
-d’être suivi que celui que vous présente Madeleine, ou trouver ailleurs un motif plus puissant
-de le suivre?</p>
-
-<p>‘Et vous qui, fières d’une réserve que vous ne devez peut-être qu’à votre insensibilité,
-vous en faites un rempart, à l’abri duquel vous croyez pouvoir mépriser toute la terre, et dont
-la mondanité de Madeleine elle-même a peut-être scandalisé la précieuse vertu! femmes plus
-vaines que sages! apprenez de notre Sainte, qu’il n’y a que la grâce de Dieu et une attention
-continuelle sur nous-mêmes qui puissent nous aider constamment contre la pente qui nous
-précipite vers le mal; et craignez qu’on ne puisse vous dire, à son sujet, ce quo Saint
-Augustin disait à une dévote de votre caractère, pleine d’elle-même et médisante: “Plût
-à Dieu que vous eussiez donné dans les mêmes excès dont vous croyez si volontiers les
-autres capables! vous seriez moins éloignée du royaume de Dieu; du moins vous auriez
-de l’humanité!”’</p>
-
-<p>Le Brun’s Magdalene is just the Magdalene described by this preacher: both one and the
-other are as like the Magdalene of Scripture as Leo X. was like St. Peter.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_298" href="#FNanchor_298" class="label">[298]</a> The original Latin distich runs thus:—</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent0">Ne desperetis vos qui peccare soletis,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Exemploque meo vos reparate Deo.</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_299" href="#FNanchor_299" class="label">[299]</a> It was in the Standish Gallery belonging to Louis-Philippe, and now dispersed.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_300" href="#FNanchor_300" class="label">[300]</a> There is a beautiful half-length female figure, attributed to Correggio, and engraved
-under the title of ‘Gismunda ’ weeping over the heart of her lover, in the collection of
-the Duke of Newcastle. The duplicate in the Belvedere Gallery at Vienna is there styled a
-Magdalene, and attributed correctly to Francesco Furini.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_301" href="#FNanchor_301" class="label">[301]</a> Lichtenstein Gal.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_302" href="#FNanchor_302" class="label">[302]</a> These two pictures were sold out of the Louvre with King Louis-Philippe’s pictures.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_303" href="#FNanchor_303" class="label">[303]</a> Turin Gallery.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_304" href="#FNanchor_304" class="label">[304]</a> Munich Gallery, No. 266. There is an inferior repetition in the Royal Gallery at Turin.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_305" href="#FNanchor_305" class="label">[305]</a> The great picture formerly in the Durazzo Palace is now in the Royal Gallery at Turin.
-It is wonderful for life and colour, and dramatic feeling—a masterpiece of the painter in his
-characteristic style.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_306" href="#FNanchor_306" class="label">[306]</a> Bottari, Tab. xxx.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_307" href="#FNanchor_307" class="label">[307]</a> Santa Croce, Florence.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_308" href="#FNanchor_308" class="label">[308]</a> This beautiful and valuable picture has been bequeathed by the poet to the National
-Gallery.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_309" href="#FNanchor_309" class="label">[309]</a> The print by Edelinck is considered as the masterpiece of that celebrated engraver.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_310" href="#FNanchor_310" class="label">[310]</a> Dresden Gal.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_311" href="#FNanchor_311" class="label">[311]</a> See p. 379, <i>note</i>.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_312" href="#FNanchor_312" class="label">[312]</a> There are about 150 churches in England dedicated in honour of Mary Magdalene.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_313" href="#FNanchor_313" class="label">[313]</a> There is a fine series of frescoes from the life of Mary Magdalene by Gaudenzio Ferrari, in
-the church of St. Cristoforo at Vercelli. 1. Mary and Martha are seated, with a crowd of others,
-listening to Christ, who is preaching in a pulpit. Martha is veiled and thoughtful: Mary, richly
-dressed, looks up eagerly.—Half destroyed. 2. Mary anoints the feet of the Saviour: she lays
-her head down on his foot with a tender humiliation: in the background the Maries at the
-sepulchre and the <i>Noli me tangere</i>.—This also in great part ruined. 3. The legend of the
-Prince of Provence and his wife, who are kneeling before Lazarus and Mary. Martha is to
-the left, and Marcella behind. In the background are the various scenes of the legend:—the
-embarkation; the scene on the island; the arrival at Jerusalem; the return to Marseilles
-with the child. This is one of the best preserved, and the heads are remarkably fine.
-4. Mary Magdalene sustained by angels, her feet resting between the wings of one of them,
-is borne upwards. All the upper part of the figure is destroyed. In the background are the
-last communion and burial of the Magdalene. I saw these frescoes in October 1855. They
-suffered greatly from the siege in 1638, when several bombs shattered this part of the wall,
-and will soon cease to exist. They are engraved in their present state in Pianazzi’s ‘Opere
-di Gaudenzio Ferrari,’ No. 19.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_314" href="#FNanchor_314" class="label">[314]</a> Bayle, Dict. Hist.; Molanus, lib. iv., de Hist. Sacrar. S. Mag., cap. xx. p. 428;
-Thomasium, prefat. 78. The authority usually cited is Abdius, a writer who pretended to
-have lived in the first century, and whom Bayle styles ‘the most impudent of legendary
-impostors.’</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_315" href="#FNanchor_315" class="label">[315]</a> Paris, Bibliothèque du Roi, MS. 7013, fourteenth century.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_316" href="#FNanchor_316" class="label">[316]</a> Il Perfetto Legendario.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_317" href="#FNanchor_317" class="label">[317]</a> Queen’s Gal.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_318" href="#FNanchor_318" class="label">[318]</a> Bodleian MSS., Oxford.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_319" href="#FNanchor_319" class="label">[319]</a> It is perhaps in reference to this tradition that St. Martha has become the patroness of an
-order of charitable women, who serve in the hospitals, particularly the military hospitals, in
-France and elsewhere,—her brother Lazarus having been a soldier.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_320" href="#FNanchor_320" class="label">[320]</a> Fl. Gal.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_321" href="#FNanchor_321" class="label">[321]</a> B. Museum.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_322" href="#FNanchor_322" class="label">[322]</a> It was in the Sp. Gal. in the Louvre, now dispersed.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_323" href="#FNanchor_323" class="label">[323]</a> Santa Maria Penitente.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_324" href="#FNanchor_324" class="label">[324]</a> ‘Leben und Werke Von Albrecht Dürer,’ No. 2067.</p>
-
-</div>
-</div>
-
-
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