_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.