his wife Anna whose family were of Bethlehem. “Their lives were plain
and right in the sight of the Lord and pious and faultless before men.”
Thus they lived for twenty years without children. Now at a certain
great feast of the Lord, when Joachim was about to offer his gifts, the
high-priest opposed him saying, “It is not lawful seeing thou hast not
begot issue in Israel.” Joachim, much concerned, found upon inquiry,
that all the righteous except himself had raised up seed in Israel. He
remembered Abraham, how that God in the end of his life had given him
his son Isaac, and he would not be seen of his wife but retired into
the wilderness where he fasted forty days and nights and vowed neither
to eat nor drink until the Lord should look down upon him. And his
wife Anna was sore distressed and mourned for her widowhood and her
barrenness.
Then an angel of the Lord appeared to her saying, “Behold Joachim thy
husband is coming with his shepherds; an angel of the Lord hath also
told him that his prayer is heard.” And Anna stood by the golden gate
and saw Joachim coming with the shepherds, and she ran to him and
hanging about his neck, said: “Now I know that the Lord hath greatly
blessed me.” And they returned home together. And when her time was
come, Anna brought forth a daughter, and she said: “The Lord hath this
day magnified my soul,” and she called the child Mary.
The =Nativity of the Blessed Virgin=. _Ital._ La Nascità della B.
Vergine. _Fr._ La Naissance de la S. Vierge. _Ger._ Die Geburt Mariä.
(Sept. 8.)
This is the next historical picture, and as Joachim and Anna were
“exceedingly rich,” the scene is usually a chamber richly decorated. A
glory sometimes surrounds the head of the child. Neighbours and friends
are sometimes introduced who have come to tender their congratulations.
The =Presentation of the Virgin=. _Ital._ La Presentazione ove nostra
Signora piccioletta sale i gradi del Tempio. _Ger._ Joachim und Anna
weihen ihre Tochter Maria im Tempel; Die Vorstellung der Jungfrau im
Tempel. (Nov. 21.)
“And when the child was three years old, Joachim said: ‘Let us invite
the daughters of the Hebrews, who are undefiled, and let them take
each a lamp, and let them be lighted, that the child may not turn back
again, and her mind be set against the temple of the Lord.’
“And they did thus till they ascended into the temple of the Lord. And
the high-priest received her, and blessed her, and said, ‘Mary, the
Lord God hath magnified thy name to all generations, and to the very
end of time by thee will the Lord shew His redemption to the children
of Israel.’”
[Illustration:
Photo. Alinari
THE PRESENTATION OF THE VIRGIN IN THE TEMPLE.—TITIAN
(Academy, Venice.)]
“And he placed her upon the third step of the altar, and the Lord gave
unto her grace, and she danced with her feet, and all the house of
Israel loved her.” (_Protevangelion_, vii., 3-5.)
The theme does not vary. Mary, who should be portrayed as an infant
of three years, is often represented as a child of ten or twelve.
Sometimes she wears a blue, but more generally a white garment; her
hair is long and golden, and she is seen ascending the steps which lead
to the porch of the temple. These steps are always fifteen in number.
In the account given in the Gospel of the Birth of Mary it says, “And
there were about the temple, according to the fifteen Psalms of degrees
[those Psalms are, from the 120th to the 134th, including both],
fifteen stairs to ascend. For the temple being built in a mountain, the
altar of burnt-offering, which was without, could not be come near but
by stairs.” (Chap. iv., 32.)
The life of Mary in the temple is represented in various ways. She is
seen instructing her companions, sometimes spinning or embroidering on
tapestry. Often she is attended by angels, and it was believed that
angels supplied her with celestial food. It has also been asserted that
she had the privilege which was granted to no other woman, of going
into the Holy of Holies to pray before the Ark of the Covenant.
The =Marriage of the Virgin=. _Ital._ Il sposalizio. _Fr._ Le Mariage
de la Vierge. _Ger._ Die Trauung Mariä. (January 23.)
The legend of the Marriage of Joseph and Mary is founded upon the
account given in the _Protevangelion_, which relates that “when Mary
was twelve years of age the priests met in council to know what should
be done with her, and the high-priest Zacharias entered into the Holy
of Holies, and taking away with him the breastplate of judgment made
prayers concerning her. And behold the angel of the Lord came to him
and commanded him to go forth and call together all the widowers among
the people, and let every one of them bring his rod, and he by whom
the Lord should shew a sign should be the husband of Mary. And the
criers went out through all Judæa, and the trumpet of the Lord sounded,
and all the people ran and met together. Joseph also, throwing away
his hatchet, went out to meet them; and when they were met they went
to the high-priest taking every man his rod. The high-priest received
their rods and went into the temple to pray. When he came forth and
distributed them, there was no miracle until the last rod was taken by
Joseph, and behold a dove proceeded out of the rod and flew upon the
head of Joseph. And the high-priest said to him, ‘Thou art the person
chosen to take the Virgin of the Lord to keep her for him.’ But Joseph
at first refused, saying, ‘I am an old man’; then, fearing the wrath of
the high-priest and the displeasure of the Lord, he took her unto his
house, and said unto her, ‘Behold, I have taken thee from the Temple of
the Lord, and now I will leave thee in my house; I must go to mind my
trade of building. The Lord be with thee!’”
The painters have used for their text an old legend which relates
that the suitors for the hand of Mary, among whom was the son of
the high-priest, deposited their wands overnight in the temple, and
the next morning the rod of Joseph was found to have budded forth
in flower. The disappointed suitors broke their wands in a frenzy
of wrath, and one of them, whose name was Agabus (a youth of noble
family), fled to Mount Carmel and became an anchorite.
Marriage among the Jews being a civil contract instead of a religious
rite, nearly all the early painters represent the ceremony as taking
place in the open air in a garden or landscape, or in front of the
Temple. Mary, a beautiful maiden attended by a train of virgins, stands
on the right, and Joseph is on the left; behind him are gathered the
disappointed suitors. This is the traditional treatment from Giotto
down to Raphael.
In ancient art Joseph has been sometimes represented as very old, and
again as not more than thirty. But in the best pictures of the Italian
and Spanish schools he is middle-aged, with brown hair and short, curly
beard, his face expressing infinite mildness and kindliness. The crutch
or stick became his conventional attribute from earlier times, when he
was depicted as very old, leaning upon a crutch.
The =Annunciation=. _Ital._ L’Annunciazione. _Fr._ L’Annonciation, La
Salutation Angélique. _Ger._ Die Verkündigung, Der englische Gruss.
(March 25.)
From the thirteenth century onward, the Annunciation became the
expression of a theological dogma, and formed part of every
altar-piece, whatever its subject,—whether a Nativity or Coronation, or
the Last Supper—appearing in the predella below or the spandrils of the
arches above; and was frequently painted or carved on the doors of a
triptychon or tabernacle.
It is related in the _Protevangelion_ (chap. ix., 7) that “Mary went
out to draw water and heard a voice saying unto her ‘Hail thou who art
full of grace, the Lord is with thee; thou art blessed among women.’
And she looked round to the right and to the left to see whence that
voice came, and then trembling went into her house, and laying down
the water-pot, she took the purple and sat down in her seat to work it.
And behold the angel of the Lord stood by her, and said, ‘Fear not,
Mary, for thou hast found favour in the sight of God.’”
[Illustration:
Photo. Alinari
THE ANNUNCIATION.—BOTTICELLI
(Uffizi, Florence.)]
St. Bernard gives the following version of the legend. Mary was
studying the book of Isaiah and as she came to the verse, “Behold, a
virgin shall conceive, and bear a son” she thought within herself,
“How blessed the woman of whom these words are written! Would I might
be but her handmaid to serve her, and allowed to kiss her feet!” And at
that moment the angel appeared and revealed to her that the prophecy
was fulfilled in herself.
In early art the annunciation is treated as a religious mystery. The
scene is usually a porch or portico with arcades. The Virgin stands, or
if she is seated, it is on a sort of raised throne; the angel stands
before her at a little distance; sometimes she is within the portico
and he is without. Gabriel is the commanding figure, while the Virgin’s
attitude—she is usually represented shrinking back with drooping eyes
and hands folded on her breast—is always expressive of the utmost
submission and humility. Gabriel is usually represented clothed in
white, with large many-coloured wings, his flowing hair bound by a
jewelled tiara. He holds the sceptre in his left hand, while the right
is extended in benediction as well as salutation, “Hail! thou that art
highly favoured! Blessed art thou among women!”
Sometimes the two figures were not in the same picture, but were placed
each side of the altar, that of the Virgin being usually placed to the
right. In some of the old pictures the figure of the angel is seen
flying down from heaven.
From the beginning of the fourteenth century the increased reverence
paid to the Virgin demanded that she be represented as the superior
being, the _Regina angelorum_, and the angel is depicted bowing before
her or kneeling as to a queen.
[Illustration:
Photo. Alinari
THE VISITATION.—ALBERTINELLI
(Uffizi, Florence.)]
When the annunciation is an event given in the series of the Life of
the Virgin, the place is usually in the house. The fountain is rarely
introduced. Gabriel either bears the lily or it is in some other
part of the picture. Sometimes he has the olive, typical of peace,
or a sceptre with a scroll inscribed _Ave Maria! Gratia plena!_ The
work basket, expressing the industry of Mary, is rarely omitted, and
to typify her temperance a dish of fruit and a pitcher of water are
frequently introduced.
The lily in the hand of the angel is not merely the emblem of purity
but the symbol of the Virgin—“I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of
the valley.” A lily is often introduced in a vase near the Virgin or in
the foreground of the picture. Sometimes the dove as the Holy Spirit
hovers over the head of the Virgin or enters by the open window.
The =Visitation=. _Ital._ La Visitazione di Maria. _Fr._ La Visitation
de la Vierge. _Ger._ Die Heimsuchung Mariä. (July 2.)
After the annunciation of the angel, we are told that “Mary arose and
went up into the hill country with haste, to the house of her cousin
Elizabeth, and saluted her.” This meeting of the two kinswomen is
usually styled in art, the _Visitation_ and, sometimes, the _Salutation
of Elizabeth_. It is important in its religious significance as being
the first recognition of the character of the Messiah. “Whence is this
to me,” exclaims Elizabeth, “that the mother of my Lord should come to
me?” (Luke i., 43.)
[Illustration:
Photo. Alinari
SIBYL PROPHESYING TO AUGUSTUS CÆSAR THE COMING OF CHRIST.—B. PERUZZI
(Church of the Fontegiusta, Siena.)]
In the representations of this scene the number of the figures, the
locality and circumstance vary greatly. Sometimes only the two women
are represented, without accessories of any kind. The scene is often
a garden or open porch in front of a house, and this garden is noted
in the traditions of the East. The legends relate that the Virgin, as
she walked in the garden of Zacharias during her stay with her cousin
Elizabeth, meditating deeply and reverently upon the holy destiny that
was hers, happened to touch a certain flower that bloomed there with
her most blessed hand—which, from being without odour before, became
from that moment of a delicious fragrance.
The =Nativity=. _Ital._ Il Presepio, Il Nascimento del Nostro Signore.
_Fr._ La Nativité. _Ger._ Die Geburt Christi. (Dec. 25.)
In the early Christian traditions this great event is preceded and
accompanied by several circumstances which have often been rendered in
art.
According to an old legend, the Emperor Augustus Cæsar betook himself
to the sibyl Tiburtina, to ask whether he should accept the divine
honours the Senate had decreed to him. The sibyl, after meditating
some days, took the emperor aside and showed him an altar; and above
the altar, in the opening heavens, he saw a beautiful Virgin holding
an infant in her arms, and at the same time a voice was heard saying,
“This is the altar of the Son of the living God.” Then Augustus caused
an altar to be erected on the Capitoline Hill, with this inscription,
“Ara primogeniti Dei”; and in later times the church called the
Ara-Cœli, with its flight of one hundred and twenty-four marble steps,
was built on this spot.
The sibylline prophecy is believed to have occurred a short time
before the Nativity, about the time that there went forth from the
Emperor Augustus a decree that all the Jews should be taxed who were of
Bethlehem in Judæa.
It is related that Joseph therefore saddled his ass and took his
wife to Bethlehem, the city from whence he came. As they were near
there (within three miles), Joseph, turning about, saw that Mary was
sorrowful, but when he looked again she smiled. And before they were
come there Mary said: “Take me down, for I suffer.”
The Nativity, when treated historically, is represented in a stable
or cavern, at midnight and in winter. The earlier pictures give Mary
the appearance of suffering, but from the fourteenth century, this
treatment was abandoned. “To her alone,” said St. Bernard, “did not the
punishment of Eve extend.”
The attendants and Mary are represented in the “posture and guise
of worshippers,” kneeling or bending over the Child, or pointing to
the manger in which he lies. The Virgin is bathed in the light which
surrounds the Child like a glory. Joseph is sitting or stands leaning
on his staff and often holds a taper or light to show that it is night.
The angels who sing the _Gloria in excelsis_ are never omitted. At
first these were three in number, but in later pictures the mystic
three became a band of angels.
The ox and the ass are always introduced as accessories,—according
to the prophecy: “The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s
crib” (Is. i., 3). The ox typified the Jews and the ass the Gentiles.
The Jews were likened unto the ox because they bore the yoke of the
law, whereas the ass represented the Gentiles because it bore Christ
willingly, when He rode into Jerusalem.
[Illustration:
Photo. Alinari
THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS.—D. GHIRLANDAJO
(Academy, Florence.)]
The shepherds are frequently in the background.
When other figures are introduced, they are saints or votaries for whom
the picture was painted.
The =Adoration of the Shepherds=. _Ital._ L’Adorazione dei Pastori.
_Fr._ L’Adoration des Bergers. _Ger._ Die Anbetung der Hirten.
“And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into
heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto
Bethlehem, and see this thing which has come to pass, which the Lord
has made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and
Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.” (St. Luke ii., 15-16.)
Being come, they tender their offerings of fruits, lambs, or doves, and
with heads uncovered they acknowledge and worship the divine Child. In
some pictures their women, sheep, and even their dogs accompany them.
There is an old legend that Simon and Jude, afterwards apostles, were
with the shepherds.
Sometimes the Infant sleeps and Joseph or Mary raises the veil from His
face to show Him to the shepherds.
The flowers sometimes scattered by angels are supposed to have been
gathered in heaven.
The =Adoration of the Magi=.[5] _Ital._ L’Adorazione de’ Magi,
L’Epifania. _Fr._ L’Adoration des Rois Mages. _Ger._ Die Anbetung der
Weisen aus dem Morgenland, Die heiligen drei Könige. (Jan. 6.)
This subject, the most extraordinary incident in the early life of our
Saviour, has been set before us in every style and form of art, from
the third century to the present time.
Magi, in the Persian tongue, signifies “wise men”; and they were in
their own country kings or princes, from what country is not said. The
prophecy of Balaam had been held in remembrance by their people. “I
shall see him, but not now; I shall behold him, but not nigh; there
shall come a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel.”
When the Eastern sages beheld this wondrous and long-expected star,
they rejoiced greatly; and taking leave of their relations and friends
set forth on their long and perilous journey, the star going before
them, until it stood over the place where the young Child was—He who
was born King of Kings.
[Illustration:
Photo. Alinari
THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI.—BOTTICELLI
(Uffizi, Florence.)]
The artists made good use of the picturesque possibilities of the
story, and in their hands it grew from a symbol to a scene of dramatic
splendour. It is the oldest subject in Christian art, and taken in the
early religious sense, it signified the calling of the Gentiles.
In the earlier representations the Virgin-mother is seated and holds
the Child upright on her knee. The Wise Men, always three in number and
all alike, approach in attitudes of adoration, and behind them are seen
their camels’ heads, showing the land whence they came—the land of the
East.
But in the fourteenth century legends the Three Wise Men or Kings
became distinct characters, each with a name, and in the pictures they
represent the three ages of man. Jasper or Caspar is very old, Melchior
in the prime of life, and Balthazar young. Sometimes the latter or his
servant is black, to indicate that Christ came to save all races of
men. These pictures of the Magi reflect all the pomp and circumstance
that was the custom of the times in which the artists lived, and the
details vary with the nationality of the artist.
It is related that when they returned to the East they abandoned all
their possessions and went about preaching the new gospel; that they
were baptised by Thomas and put to death by the heathen. Their remains
were discovered and removed to Constantinople by the Empress Helena,
and after being carried to Milan during the first crusade were finally
placed in the cathedral at Cologne by the Emperor Barbarossa, and
repose there in a magnificent shrine. Wherever one sees the sign _Drei
Könige_, or _Trois Rois_, in front of Continental hotels, or _Three
Kings_ above the doors of English inns, it refers to the Magi.
The =Purification of the Virgin=, the =Presentation=, and the
=Circumcision of Christ=. _Ital._ La Purificazione della B. Vergine.
_Ger._ Die Darbringung im Tempel, Die Beschneidung Christi.
The Virgin, after the birth of her Son, complied with all the
requirements of the Mosaic law. The circumcision and the naming of
Christ have often been painted to express the first of the sorrows of
the Virgin. But the Presentation in the Temple has been selected with
better taste for the same purpose, and the prophecy of Simeon, “Yea, a
sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,” becomes the first of the
Seven Sorrows.
It is related that, about 260 years before Christ, Ptolemy
Philadelphus, desiring to have the Hebrew Scriptures translated into
Greek for his famous library, asked the high-priest of the Jews to
send him scribes and interpreters. In response to his demand, six of
the most learned rabbis of the twelve tribes of Israel, seventy-two
persons in all, were sent into Egypt, among them Simeon, a man full of
learning. To him fell the book of Isaiah to translate. When he came
to the verse, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son,” he
doubted in his own mind how such a thing could be, and, fearing to give
offence to the Greeks, he used the Greek word “a young woman” for the
Hebrew word “virgin.” He had no sooner written it, however, than an
angel leaned over the page and blotted it out, setting down the right
word in its place. Completely dumfounded Simeon essayed again and
again to substitute the word “young woman,” as seemed to him fitting
and proper, and each time the angel effaced the word substituting the
Greek word for “virgin” in its place.
Then it was disclosed to Simeon that the miracle that he had dared to
doubt was not only possible, but that he “should not see death until he
had seen the Lord’s Christ.” So for nearly three centuries he remained
on earth, until all had come to pass. He was brought to the Temple on
the very day that Mary came there to present her Son, and taking the
Child in his arms, he exclaimed, “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant
depart in peace, according to thy word.”
Anna, the prophetess, is often introduced. She also testifies unto
Christ, but does not take Him in her arms as did Simeon, hence she was
considered to typify the Synagogue, which prophesied the Messiah, but
did not embrace Him when he came.
When represented in Greek art, this picture is often called the _Nunc
Dimittis_.
The =Flight into Egypt=. _Ital._ La Fuga in Egitto. _Fr._ La Fuite de
la Sainte Famille en Egypte. _Ger._ Die Flucht nach Aegypten.
There are many legends in connection with this journey that have been
illustrated by the artists. One is that when it became known that the
Holy Family had fled from Bethlehem, Herod sent his officers in pursuit
of them. The Holy Family, knowing they were pursued, after travelling
some distance, came to a field where a man was sowing wheat. And the
Virgin said to the husbandman: “If any shall ask you whether we have
passed this way, ye shall answer, ‘Such persons passed this way when
I was sowing this wheat.’” And lo! in the space of a single night the
seed had grown ready for the harvest! And next morning the officers of
Herod came by, and inquired of the husbandman, saying, “Have you seen
an old man with a woman and child travelling this way?” And the man,
who was reaping his wheat in great wonder and joy, replied: “Yes.” And
they asked him again, “How long is it since?” And he answered: “When I
was sowing this wheat.” And at this the officers of Herod turned back.
Another very old tradition, taken from the First Gospel of Infancy
(chap. viii.), relates that on their way they met two robbers who
protected them from their confederates, and that they were the two
thieves who were later crucified with Christ.
Another tradition is that both the ox and the ass went with the Holy
Family into Egypt, and they are occasionally introduced in some
pictures of this event, but generally the group is confined to Joseph,
Mary, and the Child.
The =Repose of the Holy Family=. _Ital._ Il Riposo. _Fr._ Le Repos de
la Sainte Famille. _Ger._ Die Ruhe in Aegypten.
This subject has been considered one of the most graceful and
attractive in the whole range of sacred art.
The _Riposo_, so called is either the rest on the journey, or at
the close of the journey, called the Flight into Egypt. Some of the
features stamp the intention at once; as, the ass grazing in the
distance; a wallet and pilgrim’s staff near Joseph; the date tree; the
fallen idols; the Virgin taking water from a fountain—the fountain
refers to a tradition that when the Holy Family came to Matarea they
rested in a grove of sycamores, and here a fountain miraculously gushed
forth for their refreshment.
In pictures of the _Riposo_ angels often minister to the comfort of
the Holy Family, and there is a legend that each night angels pitched
a tent for their protection and shelter, and watched over and guarded
them until morning.
[Illustration:
Photo. Alinari
REPOSE OF THE HOLY FAMILY—“MADONNA DEL SACCO”—ANDREA DEL SARTO
(Church of the Annunziata, Florence.)]
When other figures than the Holy Family and attendant angels are
introduced, it is not a _Riposo_, but merely a Holy Family.