wilderness not far from Marseilles, and here she lived in solitude for
thirty years, fasting and doing penance and mourning for her past sins.
If it had not been for angels, and the comfort bestowed upon her by
celestial visions, she must have perished. A hermit who lived not far
off in the desert once beheld angels bearing her in their arms towards
heaven, and hurried to the city to tell of his vision. Some legends
assert that St. Mary died in a church after receiving the sacrament
from St. Maximin, but the more popular versions represent her as dying
in her solitude, watched over to the last by angels.
Devotional pictures represent her as patron saint and as the penitent.
The historical pictures are those scenes from the Gospel in which she
is conspicuous, and the scenes from her legendary life. In all these
subjects the accompanying attribute is the alabaster box of ointment
which has a twofold meaning; it may be the precious ointment which
she poured over the feet of Christ, or the balm and spices that were
brought to anoint his body. Sometimes she carries it in her hand, or
it stands at her feet or near her; frequently, in later pictures, it
is borne by an attendant angel. It may be a small vase, or a casket; a
cup with a cover, or a box; the form varying according to the artist’s
fancy—but it is always there, the symbol of her conversion and her
love, and so unmistakable that there can be no doubt of her identity.
In the ancient pictures she is usually represented in red, to express
the fervour of her love. In modern pictures, and where she appears as
the penitent, she wears blue or violet,—violet, the colour of mourning
and penitence; blue, the colour of constancy. Where both love and
sorrow are expressed, she wears a violet-coloured tunic and a red
mantle. Her long, luxuriant hair is light or golden in colour.
As patron saint she became idealised into a noble, imposing woman,
retaining no trace of sin or sorrow on her beautiful face. If it were
not for the nimbus she might be mistaken for Pandora. As in scenes
before her conversion, she is richly attired.
The Magdalene doing penance in the desert became a favourite subject
with the artists in the sixteenth century. She was represented in two
aspects; first as bemoaning her sins, where she appears lying prostrate
upon the ground, or standing or kneeling at the entrance to her cave;
her long yellow hair flows over her shoulders, her hands are clasped
or raised towards heaven, and her eyes are streaming with tears. The
crucifix, skull, and sometimes the scourge are seen symbolising faith,
mortality, and penance. In the second she has made her atonement and
is seen reading and meditating with a serene and uplifted countenance.
Angels scatter flowers or present the palm; a book rests beside the
skull, and the skies are bright with a vision of glory. In every
instance the alabaster box appears.
The _Noli me tangere_ is the subject of many pictures; the arrangement
is arbitrary and fixed by tradition and only admits of the two figures
of Christ and the Magdalene.
Before leaving the subject of those who were intimately connected with
our Lord in His lifetime, a few words upon the Last Supper in art may
perhaps find a fitting place here.
XV.—THE LAST SUPPER
=The Last Supper.= _Ital._ Il Cenacolo, La Cena. _Fr._ La Cène. _Ger._
Das Abendmahl Christi.
[Illustration:
Photo. Alinari
THE LAST SUPPER.—D. GHIRLANDAJO
(Convent of the Ognissanti, Florence.)]
This event in the life of Christ has, next to the crucifixion, a
most important place in art, where the subject has been treated
dramatically, historically, and mystically. When the picture is painted
for an altar or chapel of the Holy Sacrament, it is _mystical_ or
_devotional_, and represents the institution of the Eucharist. In
such representations Judas is either absent, or is seen stealing from
the room. The subject has been a favourite one for the decoration
of refectories of convents and hospitals, and it is then treated in
the _historical_ sense—Christ’s celebration of the passover with His
disciples; or dramatically, at the moment when Christ says, “Verily I
say unto you that one of you shall betray me,” or when His disciples,
“exceeding sorrowful,” say unto Him, “Lord, is it I?” and He replies,
“He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray
me.” In this scene the usual arrangement places Christ in the middle of
a long table with John leaning against Him and the apostles, seated or
starting up in dismay, on either side. Judas sits alone on the opposite
side of the table.
These distinctions must be borne in mind in judging of the treatment of
the various artists.
XVI.—THE FOUR LATIN FATHERS
“The Evangelists and 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” (Jameson’s _Sacred and Legendary Art_).
=St. Jerome.= _Lat._ Sanctus Hieronymus. _Ital._ San Geronimo, or
Girolamo. _Fr._ St. Jérome, Hiérome, or Géroisme. _Ger._ Der Heilige
Hieronimus.
As a subject of painting, St. Jerome is by far the most popular of the
four Latin doctors, not only because of the interesting character of
the man and the varied and picturesque incidents of his life, but also
as founder of Monachism in the West and as the translator of the Old
and New Testaments into Latin.
St. Jerome was born in 342 in Dalmatia, and was the son of a nobleman
named Eusebius. While still very young he was sent to Rome to complete
his studies. He became a finished scholar and was particularly fond
of the classics. There for a time he abandoned himself to a life of
pleasure, but his nature was so strong, and his love of learning so
great, that he soon tired of dissipation and taking up the study of law
he became famous for his eloquence.
When over thirty he travelled into Gaul and visited the schools of
learning there. About this time he was baptised and took the vows of
celibacy.
In the year 373 he travelled to the East to visit the scenes of the
life of Christ. Here he encountered hermits and ascetics, and becoming
enamoured of the idea of a life of solitude, he retired to a desert
and there spent four years in study and seclusion, leading a life of
penance and self-denial. As further penance he studied Hebrew, which he
detested, and made his great translation of the Bible into Latin, which
has ever since been celebrated as the “Vulgate.”
After ten years in the East he returned to Rome, his fiery enthusiasm
still unsubdued by the years of solitude and penance. He preached the
doctrine of denial and abstinence, boldly attacking the self-indulgence
of the clergy. His influence was enormous, and particularly so over
the Roman women. His most celebrated convert was Paula, a noble Roman
matron, descended from the Scipios and the Gracchi. Marcella was
another, who founded a religious community and has been called the
first nun.
[Illustration:
Photo. Alinari
ST. AUGUSTINE AND ST. JEROME—CRIVELLI
(Academy, Venice.)]
After three years in Rome he returned to Palestine and lived and died
in a monastery he had founded at Bethlehem. Feeling the approach of
death, he caused himself to be carried to the chapel, received the
sacrament for the last time from the priest, and then expired, dying in
420 A. D.
In the legends of St. Jerome, as he sat within the gates of the
monastery at Bethlehem, a lion entered, limping. The brothers fled
in terror; but St. Jerome met him as if he were a guest. The lion
lifted to him his paw and St. Jerome, taking it, found a thorn, which
he extracted, and the grateful lion stayed with him ever after. The
saint employed him to guard an ass, who brought them firewood from the
forest. One day some merchants stole the ass from the pasture while the
lion slept, and the latter, after looking for him in vain returned to
his master much cast down and ashamed. Jerome, believing he had eaten
the ass, compelled the lion to carry the wood. One day, having finished
his task, the lion, who was always seeking his companion, saw a caravan
of merchants passing by, with a string of camels led on a cord by an
ass: recognising his old friend, he drove all the camels into the
convent, so terrifying the merchants that they came to St. Jerome and
confessed the theft, and were pardoned.
The lion in pictures of St. Jerome is supposed to refer to this legend,
but in reality, from earliest times, the lion was given to the saint as
a symbol of his fiery nature, and to typify his life in the wilderness.
And in later times the legend was invented to explain the symbol.
[Illustration:
Photo. Alinari
ST. AMBROSE.—BERGOGNONE
(Certosa, Pavia.)]
Devotional pictures represent him in one of his three great
characters,—first as patron saint and Doctor of the Church. He usually
stands full length, dressed in cardinal’s robes or with a cardinal’s
hat at his feet (although there is no historical authority for making
him cardinal, as cardinal-priests were not ordained until three
centuries later). When his head is uncovered, his forehead is very high
and bald, his beard long, reaching almost to his waist, his features
fine and sharp, and his nose aquiline. In his hand he holds a book or
scroll, frequently the emblematical church.
In his second character of translator of the Scriptures, he is usually
seated in a cave, or cell. He has a loose robe over his wasted form
and his eyes are bent on his book or writing, or he glances up as if
seeking heavenly inspiration. An angel is sometimes dictating to him.
The penitent St. Jerome is the recognised symbol in the Christian
Church of penitence, self-denial, and humiliation. The scene is usually
a rocky solitude, St. Jerome, half-naked and almost a skeleton, with
unkempt hair and beard, is kneeling before a crucifix, beating his
breast with a stone. The lion is nearly always introduced, sometimes
crouching at his feet.
=St. Ambrose.= _Lat._ S. Ambrosius. _Ital._ Sant’ Ambrogio. _Fr._ St.
Ambroise. _Ger._ Der Heilige Ambrosius.
Ambrose was the son of a prefect of Gaul, and was born at Trèves in the
year 340. The story that when still an infant a swarm of bees alighted
on his mouth without injuring him is related by all his chroniclers.
This was interpreted as a sign of future eloquence,[8] and for this
reason the beehive becomes the symbol of St. Ambrose. The same story
was related of Plato and Archilochus, and with the same interpretation.
Ambrose studied at Rome, and after that was made prefect of Æmilia and
Liguria (Piedmont and Genoa), and dwelt at Milan. About this time the
Bishop of Milan died and a fierce dispute arose between the Catholics
and Arians as to who should succeed him. Ambrose appeared, as prefect,
to quell the disorder. He spoke so wisely, with an eloquence so
persuasive, that the tumult ceased, and suddenly out of the hush that
followed his speech a voice like a child’s was heard, saying, “Ambrose
shall be bishop!” The multitude took up the cry with enthusiasm. In
vain Ambrose pleaded that he was only a catechumen. The wishes of the
people, confirmed by the approbation of the emperor, finally prevailed.
Ambrose was baptised, and in eight days he was consecrated Bishop
of Milan. He gave all his worldly goods to the poor, studied the
Scriptures earnestly, introduced from the East the manner of chanting
the service since called the _Ambrosian Chant_, and it was he who
invested the services of the Church with that magnificence and grandeur
of form that has ever since made its ceremonies so imposing.
St. Ambrose advocated celibacy in both sexes, and held that
ecclesiastical power was above that of sovereign or civil power. The
most celebrated example of this was his humiliation of the Emperor
Theodosius. The latter, angered by a sedition in Thessalonica, had
ordered a general massacre. For this murderous act, by which seven
thousand lives were sacrificed, Ambrose forbade him to enter the
church. At length, after eight months of interdict, during which the
emperor had stormed and pleaded, Ambrose relented, upon the emperor’s
performing public penance for his sin. The emperor, completely cowed,
submitted, and clad in sackcloth, with dust and ashes upon his head,
prostrated himself before the altar of Christ.
There are many legends of this saint. At the consecration of the
Cathedral at Milan, the relics of St. Gervasius and St. Protasius were
miraculously revealed to him in a dream. The remains were disinterred,
conveyed in solemn procession to the cathedral, and deposited beneath
the high altar.
He performed many cures and had many visions, and died at Milan in the
year 397.
St. Ambrose is usually represented in bishop’s robes, with mitre and
crozier; the beehive is sometimes placed at his feet, but his more
frequent attribute is a knotted scourge with three thongs, the scourge
symbolising the castigation of sin. In the hand of St. Ambrose it may
also signify the penance inflicted on the Emperor Theodosius, or the
expulsion of the Arians from Italy and the triumph of the Trinitarians.
It has this meaning when the scourge has three knots or three thongs.
When St. Ambrose holds two human bones in his hand, this attribute
alludes to the discovery of the relics of St. Gervasius and St.
Protasius. Devotional pictures of him alone are rare.
=St. Augustine.= St. Austin. _Lat._ Sanctus Augustinus. _Ital._ Sant’
Agostino. _Fr._ St. Augustin.
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. With splendid talents, his youth was passed in
every form of vice and dissipation, to the great sorrow of his mother,
who never ceased praying for his conversion. She related her grief
to the Bishop of Carthage, who after listening to her, said, “Go in
peace; the son of so many tears will not perish!”
St. Augustine practised law for a time in Rome. Here his eloquence
soon brought him distinction and wealth, but driven by some chance,
restless, unsettled and unhappy, Augustine went to Milan, and there,
after many struggles, he was converted by St. Ambrose, and was baptised
by him in the presence of his mother, Monica.
[Illustration:
Photo. Alinari
ST. AUGUSTINE AT SCHOOL.—BENOZZO GOZZOLI
(Church of San Agostino, San Gimignano.)]
On this occasion was composed the _Te Deum_ still used in the Church,
St. Ambrose and St. Augustine reciting the verses alternately as they
advanced to the altar.
St. Augustine, after devoting some time to study, was ordained a priest
and afterwards became the Bishop of Hippo, near Carthage, where he
died thirty-five years later, at the time the city was besieged by the
Vandals. His writings are very celebrated.
St. Augustine is not often represented in art alone; and when grouped
with others in devotional pictures it is often difficult to distinguish
him from other bishops, for his proper attribute, the heart flaming
or transpierced, to express the ardour of his piety or the intensity
of his repentance, is rarely introduced. When a bishop stands with a
book or a pen in his hand, accompanied by St. Jerome, St. Augustine is
probably intended.
His most frequent symbols are: books at his feet or in his hand;
a heart flaming or transfixed by an arrow; bishop’s robes, mitre,
crozier; infant by the seashore.
The subject most often represented in art is the _Vision of St.
Augustine_. While meditating on his “Discourse on the Trinity,” he
strolled along the seashore, and saw a little child attempting to fill
a hole in the sand with water he was bringing from the sea. Augustine
inquired what he was doing, and the child replied he was going to
empty all the waters of the sea into that hole. “That is impossible!”
exclaimed St. Augustine. “Not more impossible,” returned the child,
“than for a finite mind to contain the Infinite”—and he vanished.
The version of the child’s reply more often given, is: “Not more
impossible than for thee, O Augustine! to explain the mystery on which
thou art now meditating.”
=St. Gregory.= _Lat._ Sanctus Gregorius Magnus. _Ital._ San Gregorio
Magno, or Papa. _Fr._ St. Grégoire. _Ger._ Der Heilige Gregor.
St. Gregory, known as Gregory the Great, was born in Rome in the year
540, and came of a patrician family. His mother had a vision when he
was an infant that he would be pope. He was a lawyer until his father’s
death, but after coming into his inheritance he gave all that he had
to charities, converted his home on the Celian hill into a monastery
and hospital, and dedicated it to St. Andrew. He lived there in a cell
and, adopting the habit of the Benedictine Order, devoted himself to
study. When a terrible plague broke out in Rome he gave himself up to
nursing the sick. Pope Pelagius was one of the victims, and the people
desired Gregory as his successor. Gregory believed himself unworthy and
entreated the emperor not to heed the wishes of the people, but the
emperor confirmed their choice. Then Gregory fled from Rome and hid
himself in a cave. But those who sought for him were directed to him by
a celestial light, and brought him back to Rome.
As pope he showed himself in all respects worthy. Although exalting
his high office, he himself was the most humble of men and was the
first pope to call himself the “servant of the servants of God”—_Servus
servorum Dei_. He abolished slavery throughout Christendom and was
the first to send missionaries to England, his pity being excited by
seeing some British captives for sale in the market-place. It was he
who made the belief in purgatory an article of faith. He instituted
the celibacy of the clergy, reformed the services of the Church,
and introduced the style of chanting still called Gregorian. His
charities were boundless. He died in 604, in the fourteenth year of his
pontificate, and was the last pope who was canonised.
His bed and the little scourge with which he was wont to keep the
choristers in order are still preserved in the Church of the Lateran,
Rome.
Next to St. Jerome he was the most popular of the Four Fathers, and
single pictures of him abound, variously treated, but generally he
bears the tiara as pope, and the crozier with double cross. His
peculiar attribute is the dove which, in the old pictures, was placed
close to the ear. Frequently he is seated on a throne wearing the
pontifical robes and tiara, one hand raised in benediction, and the
other holding a book. The dove rests on his shoulder or hovers over his
head.
Legends of St. Gregory have furnished many picturesque themes for art.
John the deacon, his secretary, declared that he beheld the Holy Ghost,
in the form of a dove perched upon his shoulder while he was writing
his famous homilies. This vision has been represented as a reality by
the early painters.
[Illustration:
Photo. Alinari
MIRACLE OF THE BRANDEUM.—ANDREA SACCHI
(Vatican, Rome.)]
A favourite legend is that while a monk in the monastery of St. Andrew
a beggar asked for alms, and being helped, came again and again,
receiving aid until there was nothing left but a silver porringer
which his mother Sylvia had sent to St. Gregory. This, too, he gave
to the beggar. Now it happened that it was his custom, after he became
pope, to entertain every evening at supper twelve poor men, in memory
of our Lord’s apostles. But one evening he counted thirteen; and
calling his steward to him he asked how it was, but the latter, greatly
mystified, could only count twelve. After the meal was finished,
Gregory called forth the unbidden guest and asked him who he was. 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 our Lord Himself. This legend has been
frequently painted under the title of _The Supper of St. Gregory_.
In the legend of the Brandeum the Empress Constantia sent to St.
Gregory desiring some of the relics of St. Peter and St. Paul. He, not
daring to disturb their sacred remains, sent her part of a consecrated
cloth (_brandeum_) which had enfolded the body of St. John the
Evangelist. The empress rejected the gift with scorn. Then Gregory, to
show that miracles are not wrought so much by things as by the faith of
believers, laid the _brandeum_ on the altar and, after praying, cut it
with a knife and blood flowed from it as from a living body. This was
called the _Miracle dei Brandei_.
It was Pope Gregory who sent St. Augustine of Canterbury to England.
FOOTNOTES:
[8] “Son pere en fut epouvanté, et dit, Si cet enfant vit, il sera
réservé à de grandes destinées” (_La Legende Dorée_).
XVII.—THE PATRON SAINTS OF CHRISTENDOM
All saints may be considered patron saints either of some trade
or industry, or of some especial province or city. But there is a
vast difference between those whose fame is confined to a certain
locality—as St. Januarius, who is worshipped only in Naples, St.
Corentin, who is little known out of Brittany, or St. Denis, whose name
belongs almost exclusively to France—and those other _great saints_ who
are reverenced in all the countries of the world alike.
These are St. George, St. Sebastian, St. Christopher, SS. Cosmo and
Damian, St. Roch and St. Nicholas, and the four virgin patronesses,
St. Catherine, St. Barbara, St. Margaret, and St. Ursula. Although
without the apostolic and scriptural sanction accorded to St. Peter
of Rome, and the other great apostles, these saints have been from
earliest times the object of universal faith and worship, and invested
with a pre-eminent dignity and authority that puts them in a class by
themselves.
=St. George of Cappadocia.= _Lat._ Sanctus Georgius. _Ital._ San
Giorgio. _Fr._ St. Georges. _Ger._ Der Heilige Georgius, or Jorg or
Georg.
St. George was born in Cappadocia of a noble family. His parents were
Christians and he was a tribune in the Roman army. One time as he was
on his way to join his legion, he came to a city in Libya called
Selene, whose inhabitants were in terror of a fearful dragon, who lived
in a marsh outside the walls, and devoured their flocks and herds.
These being gone, the people, fearing the dragon might enter the city,
sent out daily two sheep to appease his hunger, and when they had no
more sheep left they were forced to sacrifice each day two children who
were chosen by lot, and sent forth to be devoured.
[Illustration:
Photo. Alinari
ST. GEORGE.—DONATELLO
(Bargello, Florence.)]