event without the presence of the shepherds; nor is the supernatural
announcement to the shepherds often treated as a separate subject: it
generally forms part of the background of the Nativity; but there are
some striking examples.
In a print by Rembrandt, he has emulated, in picturesque and poetical
treatment, his famous Vision of Jacob, in the Dulwich Gallery. The
angel (always supposed to be Gabriel) appears in a burst of radiance
through the black wintry midnight, surrounded by a multitude of the
heavenly host. The shepherds fall prostrate, as men amazed and "sore
afraid;" the cattle flee different ways in terror (Luke ii. 9.) I do
not say that this is the most elevated way of expressing the scene;
but, as an example of characteristic style, it is perfect.
THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS.
_Ital._ L' Adorazione del Pastori. _Fr._ L'Adoration des Bergers.
_Ger._ Die Anbetung der Hirten.
The story thus proceeds:--When the angels were gone away into heaven,
the shepherds came with haste, "and found Mary, and Joseph, and the
young Child lying in a manger."
Being come, they present their pastoral offerings--a lamb, or doves,
or fruits (but these, considering the season, are misplaced); they
take off their hats with reverence, and worship in rustic fashion.
In Raphael's composition, the shepherds, as we might expect from him,
look as if they had lived in Arcadia. In some of the later Italian
pictures, they pipe and sing. It is the well-known custom in Italy
for the shepherds of the Campagna, and of Calabria, to pipe before the
Madonna and Child at Christmas time; and these _Piffereri_, with their
sheepskin jackets, ragged hats, bagpipes, and tabors, were evidently
the models reproduced in some of the finest pictures of the Bolognese
school; for instance, in the famous Nativity by Annibale Caracci,
where a picturesque figure in the corner is blowing into the bagpipes
with might and main. In the Venetian pictures of the Nativity, the
shepherds are accompanied by their women, their sheep, and even their
dogs. According to an old legend, Simon and Jude, afterwards apostles,
were among these shepherds.
When the angels scatter flowers, as in compositions by Raphael and
Ludovico Caracci, we must suppose that they were not gathered on
earth, but in heaven.
The Infant is sometimes asleep:--so Milton sings--
"But see the Virgin blest
Hath laid her Babe to rest!"
In a drawing by Raphael, the Child slumbers, and Joseph raises the
coverlid, to show him to a shepherd. We have the same idea in several
other instances. In a graceful composition by Titian, it is the Virgin
Mother who raises the veil from the face of the sleeping Child.
* * * * *
From the number of figures and accessories, the Nativity thus treated
as an historical subject becomes capable of almost endless variety;
but as it is one not to be mistaken, and has a universal meaning and
interest, I may now leave it to the fancy and discrimination of the
observer.
THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI.
_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, the most extraordinary incident in the early life of our
Saviour, rests on the authority of one evangelist only. It is
related by St. Matthew so briefly, as to present many historical and
philosophical difficulties. I must give some idea of the manner in
which these difficulties were elucidated by the early commentators,
and of the notions which prevailed in the middle ages relative to the
country of the Three Kings, before it will be possible to understand
or to appreciate the subject as it has been set before us in every
style of art, in every form, in every material, from the third century
to the present time.
In the first place, who were these Magi, or these kings, as they are
sometimes styled? "To suppose," says the antique legend, "that they
were called Magi because they were addicted to magic, or exercised
unholy or forbidden arts, would be, heaven save us! a rank heresy."
No! Magi, in the Persian tongue, signifies "wise men." They were,
in their own country, kings or princes, as it is averred by all the
ancient fathers; and we are not to be offended at the assertion,
that they were at once princes and _wise_ men,--"Car à l'usage de ce
temps-là les princes et les rois etoient très sages!"[1]
[Footnote 1: Quoted literally from the legend in the old French
version of the _Flos Sanctorum_.]
They came from the eastern country, but from what country is not
said; whether from the land of the Arabians, or the Chaldeans, or the
Persians, or the Parthians.
It is written in the Book of Numbers, that when Balaam, the son of
Beor, was called upon to curse the children of Israel, he, by divine
inspiration, uttered a blessing instead of a curse. And he took up
this parable, and said, "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." And the people of that country, though
they were Gentiles, kept this prophecy as a tradition among them, and
waited with faith and hope for its fulfilment. When, therefore, their
princes and wise men beheld a star different in its appearance and
movement from those which they had been accustomed to study (for they
were great astronomers), they at once knew its import, and hastened
to follow its guidance. According to an ancient commentary on St.
Matthew, this star, on its first appearance, had the form of a radiant
child bearing a sceptre or cross. In a fresco by Taddeo Gaddi, it is
thus figured; and this is the only instance I can remember. But to
proceed with our story.
When the eastern sages beheld this wondrous and long-expected star,
they rejoiced greatly; and they arose, and taking leave of their lands
and their vassals, their relations and their friends, set forth on
their long and perilous journey across vast deserts and mountains,
and broad rivers, the star going before them, and arrived at length at
Jerusalem, with a great and splendid train of attendants. Being come
there, they asked at once, "Where is he who is born king of the Jews?"
On hearing this question, King Herod was troubled, and all the city
with him; and he inquired of the chief priests where Christ should
be born. And they said to him, "in Bethlehem of Judea." Then Herod
privately called the wise men, and desired they would go to Bethlehem,
and search for the young child (he was careful not to call him
_King_), saying, "When ye have found him, bring me word, that I may
come and worship him also." So the Magi departed, and the star which
they had seen in the east went before them, until it stood over the
place where the young child was--he who was born King of kings. They
had travelled many a long and weary mile; "and what had they come for
to see?" Instead of a sumptuous palace, a mean and lowly dwelling; in
place of a monarch surrounded by his guards and ministers and all the
terrors of his state, an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid
upon his mother's knee, between the ox and the ass. They had come,
perhaps, from some far-distant savage land, or from some nation
calling itself civilized, where innocence had never been accounted
sacred, where society had as yet taken no heed of the defenceless
woman, no care for the helpless child; where the one was enslaved,
and the other perverted: and here, under the form of womanhood
and childhood, they were called upon to worship the promise of
that brighter future, when peace should inherit the earth, and
righteousness prevail over deceit, and gentleness with wisdom reign
for ever and ever! How must they have been amazed! How must they have
wondered in their souls at such a revelation!--yet such was the faith
of these wise men and excellent kings, that they at once prostrated
themselves, confessing in the glorious Innocent who smiled upon them
from his mother's knee, a greater than themselves--the image of a
truer divinity than they had ever yet acknowledged. And having bowed
themselves down--first, as was most fit, offering _themselves_,--they
made offering of their treasure, as it had been written in ancient
times, "The kings of Tarshish and the isles shall bring presents,
and the kings of Sheba shall offer gifts." And what were these gifts?
Gold, frankincense, and myrrh; by which symbolical oblation they
protested a threefold faith;--by gold, that he was king; by incense,
that he was God; by myrrh, that he was man, and doomed to death. In
return for their gifts, the Saviour bestowed upon them others of more
matchless price. For their gold he gave them charity and spiritual
riches; for their incense, perfect faith; and for their myrrh, perfect
truth and meekness: and the Virgin, his mother, also bestowed on them
a precious gift and memorial, namely, one of those linen bands in
which she had wrapped the Saviour, for which they thanked her with
great humility, and laid it up amongst their treasures. When they had
performed their devotions and made their offerings, being warned in a
dream to avoid Herod, they turned back again to their own dominions;
and the star which had formerly guided them to the west, now went
before them towards the east, and led them safely home. When they were
arrived there, they laid down their earthly state; and in emulation of
the poverty and humility in which they had found the Lord of all power
and might, they distributed their goods and possessions to the poor,
and went about in mean attire, preaching to their people the new king
of heaven and earth, the CHILD-KING, the Prince of Peace. We are not
told what was the success of their mission; neither is it anywhere
recorded, that from that time forth, every child, as it sat on
its mother's knee, was, even for the sake of that Prince of Peace,
regarded as sacred--as the heir of a divine nature--as one whose tiny
limbs enfolded a spirit which was to expand into the man, the king,
the God. Such a result was, perhaps, reserved for other times, when
the whole mission of that divine Child should be better understood
than it was then, or is _now_. But there is an ancient oriental
tradition, that about forty years later, when St. Thomas the apostle
travelled into the Indies, he found these Wise Men there, and did
administer to them the rite of baptism; and that afterwards, in
carrying the light of truth into the far East, they fell among
barbarous Gentiles, and were put to death; thus each of them receiving
in return for the earthly crowns they had cast at the feet of the
Saviour, the heavenly crown of martyrdom and of everlasting life.
Their remains, long afterwards discovered, were brought to
Constantinople by the Empress Helena; thence in the time of the first
Crusade they were transported to Milan, whence they were carried off
by the Emperor Barbarossa, and deposited in the cathedral at Cologne,
where they remain to this day, laid in a shrine of gold and gems; and
have performed divers great and glorious miracles.
* * * * *
Such, in few words, is the church legend of the Magi of the East,
the "three Kings of Cologne," as founded on the mysterious Gospel
incident. Statesmen and philosophers, not less than ecclesiastics,
have, as yet, missed the whole sense and large interpretation of the
mythic as well as the scriptural story; but well have the artists
availed themselves of its picturesque capabilities! In their hands
it has gradually expanded from a mere symbol into a scene of the
most dramatic and varied effect and the most gorgeous splendour. As a
subject it is one of the most ancient in the whole range of Christian
art. Taken in the early religions sense, it signified the calling
of the Gentiles; and as such we find it carved in bas-relief on
the Christian sarcophagi of the third and fourth centuries, and
represented with extreme simplicity. The Virgin mother is seated on a
chair, and holds the Infant upright on her knee. The Wise Men, always
three in number, and all alike, approach in attitudes of adoration.
In some instances they wear Phrygian caps, and their camels' heads
are seen behind them, serving to express the land whence they came,
the land of the East, as well as their long journey; as on one of the
sarcophagi in the Christian Museum of the Vatican. The star in these
antique sculptures is generally omitted; but in one or two instances
it stands immediately over the chair of the Virgin. On a sarcophagus
near the entrance of the tomb of Galla Placidia, at Ravenna, they are
thus represented.
The mosaic in the church of Santa Maria Maggiore at Rome, is somewhat
later in date than these sarcophagi (A.D. 440), and the representation
is very peculiar and interesting. Here the Child is seated alone on a
kind of square pedestal, with his hand raised in benediction; behind
the throne stand two figures, supposed to be the Virgin and Joseph; on
each side, two angels. The kings approach, dressed as Roman warriors,
with helmets on their heads.
In the mosaic in the church of Sant' Appollinare-Novo, at Ravenna
(A.D. 534), the Virgin receives them seated on a throne, attended
by the archangels; they approach, wearing crowns on their heads,
and bending in attitudes of reverence: all three figures are exactly
alike, and rather less in proportion than the divine group.
* * * * *
Immediately on the revival of art we find the Adoration of the Kings
treated in the Byzantine style, with few accessories. Very soon,
however, in the early Florentine school, the artists began to avail
themselves of that picturesque variety of groups of which the story
admitted.
In the legends of the fourteenth century, the kings had become
distinct personages, under the names of Caspar (or Jasper), Melchior,
and Balthasar: the first being always a very aged man, with a long
white beard; the second, a middle-aged man; the third is young, and
frequently he is a Moor or Negro, to express the King of Ethiopia
or Nubia, and also to indicate that when the Gentiles were called
to salvation, all the continents and races of the earth, of whatever
complexion, were included. The difference of ages is indicated in
the Greek formula; but the difference of complexion is a modern
innovation, and more frequently found in the German than in the
Italian schools. In the old legend of the Three Kings, as inserted in
Wright's "Chester Mysteries," Jasper, or Caspar, is King of Tarsus,
the land of merchants; he makes the offering of gold. Melchior, the
King of Arabia and Nubia, offers frankincense; and Balthasar, King of
Saba,--"the land of spices and all manner of precious gums,"--offers
myrrh.[1]
[Footnote 1: The names of the Three Kings appear for the first time in
a piece of rude sculpture over the door of Sant' Andrea at Pistoia, to
which is assigned the date 1166. (_Vide_ D'Agincourt, _Scultura_, pl.
xxvii.)]
It is very usual to find, in the Adoration of the Magi, the angelic
announcement to the shepherds introduced into the background; or, more
poetically, the Magi approaching on one side, and the shepherds on the
other. The intention is then to express a double signification; it is
at once the manifestation to the Jews, and the manifestation to the
Gentiles.
The attitude of the Child varies. In the best pictures he raises his
little hand in benediction. The objection that he was then only an
infant of a few days old is futile: for he was from his birth the
CHRIST. It is also in accordance with the beautiful and significant
legend which describes him as dispensing to the old wise men the
spiritual blessings of love, meekness, and perfect faith, in return
for their gifts and their homage. It appears to me bad taste,
verging on profanity, to represent him plunging his little hand into
the coffer of gold, or eagerly grasping one of the gold pieces.
Neither should he be wrapped up in swaddling clothes, nor in any
way a subordinate figure in the group; for it is the Epiphany, the
Manifestation of a divine humanity to Jews and Gentiles, which is
to be expressed; and there is meaning as well as beauty in those
compositions which represent the Virgin at lifting a veil and showing
him to the Wise Man.
The kingly character of the adorers, which became in the thirteenth
century a point of faith, is expressed by giving them all the
paraphernalia and pomp of royalty according to the customs of the
time in which the artist lived. They are followed by a vast train
of attendants, guards, pages, grooms, falconers with hawks; and, in
a picture by Gaudenzio Ferrari, we have the court-dwarf, and, in a
picture by Titian, the court-fool, both indispensable appendages of
royal state in those times. The Kings themselves wear embroidered
robes, crowns, and glittering weapons, and are booted and spurred as
if just alighted from a long journey; even on one of the sarcophagi
they are seen in spurs.
The early Florentine and Venetian painters profited by the commercial
relations of their countries with the Levant, and introduced all kinds
of outlandish and oriental accessories to express the far country
from which the strangers had arrived; thus we have among the presents,
apes, peacocks, pheasants, and parrots. The traditions of the crusades
also came in aid, and hence we have, the plumed and jewelled turbans,
the armlets and the scymitars, and, in the later pictures, even
umbrellas and elephants. I remember, in an old Italian print of this
subject, a pair of hunting leopards or _chetas_.
It is a question whether Joseph was present--whether he _ought_ to
have been present: in one of the early legends, it is asserted that
he hid himself and would not appear, out of his great humility, and
because it should not be supposed that he arrogated any relationship
to the divine Child. But this version of the scene is quite
inconsistent with the extreme veneration afterwards paid to Joseph;
and in later times, that is, from the fifteenth century, he is seldom
omitted. Sometimes he is seen behind the chair of the Virgin, leaning
on his stick, and contemplating the scene with a quiet admiration.
Sometimes he receives the gifts offered to the Child, acting the part
of a treasurer or chamberlain. In a picture by Angelico one of the
Magi grasps his hand as if in congratulation. In a composition by
Parmigiano one of the Magi embraces him.
It was not uncommon for pious votaries to have themselves painted
in likeness of one of the adoring Kings. In a picture by Sandro
Botticelli, Cosmo de' Medici is thus introduced; and in a large and
beautifully arranged composition by Leonardo da Vinci, which unhappily
remains as a sketch only, the three Medici of that time, Cosmo,
Lorenzo, and Giuliano, are figured as the three Kings. (Both these
pictures are in the Florence Gal.)
A very remarkable altar-piece, by Jean Van Eyck, represents the
worship of the Magi. In the centre, Mary and her Child are seated
within a ruined temple; the eldest of the three Kings kneeling, does
homage by kissing the hand of the Child: it is the portrait of Philip
the Good, Duke of Burgundy. The second, prostrate behind him with a
golden beaker in his hand, is supposed to be one of the great officers
of his household. The third King exhibits the characteristic portrait
of Charles the Bold; there is no expression of humility or devotion
either in his countenance or attitude; he stands upright, with a lofty
disdainful air, as if he were yet unresolved whether he would kneel
or not. On the right of the Virgin, a little in the foreground, stands
Joseph in a plain red dress, holding his hat in his hand, and looking
with as air of simple astonishment at his magnificent guests. All the
accessories in this picture, the gold and silver vessels, the dresses
of the three Kings sparking with jewels and pearls, the velvets,
silks, and costly furs, are painted with the most exquisite finish and
delicacy, and exhibit to us the riches of the court of Burgundy, in
which Van Eyck then resided. (Munich Gal, 45.)
In Raphael's composition, the worshippers wear the classical, not the
oriental costume; but an elephant with a monkey on his back is seen
in the distance, which at once reminds us of the far East. (Rome,
Vatican.)
Ghirlandajo frequently painted the Adoration of the Magi, and shows
in his management of the accessories much taste and symmetry. In one
of his compositions, the shed forms a canopy in the centre; two of
the Kings kneel in front. The country of the Ethiopian King is not
expressed by making him of a black complexion, but by giving him
a Negro page, who is in the act of removing his master's crown.
(Florence, Pitti Pal.)
A very complete example of artificial and elaborate composition may be
found in the drawing by Baldassare Peruzzi in our National Gallery.
It contains at least fifty figures; in the centre, a magnificent
architectural design; and wonderful studies of perspective to the
right and left, in the long lines of receding groups. On the whole,
it is a most skilful piece of work; but to my taste much like a
theatrical decoration,--pompous without being animated.
A beautiful composition by Francia I must not pass over.[1] Here, to
the left of the picture, the Virgin is seated on the steps of a ruined
temple, against which grows a fig-tree, which, though it be December,
is in full leaf. Joseph kneels at her side, and behind her are two
Arcadian shepherds, with the ox and the ass. The Virgin, who has
a charming air of modesty and sweetness, presents her Child to the
adoration of the Wise Men: the first of these kneels with joined
hands; the second, also kneeling, is about to present a golden vase;
the Negro King, standing, has taken off his cap, and holds a censer
in his hand; and the divine infant raises his hand in benediction.
Behind the Kings are three figures on foot, one a beautiful youth in
an attitude of adoration. Beyond these are five or six figures on
horseback, and a long train upon horses and camels is seen approaching
in the background. The landscape is very beautiful and cheerful: the
whole picture much in the style of Francia's master, Lorenzo Costa. I
should at the first glance have supposed it to be his, but the head of
the Virgin is unmistakably Francia.
[Footnote 1: Dresden Gal. Arnold, the well-known print-seller at
Dresden, has lately published a very beautiful and finished engraving
of this fine picture; the more valuable, because engravings after
Francia are very rare.]
There are instances of this subject idealized into a mystery; for
example, in a picture by Palma Vecchio (Milan, Brera), St. Helena
stands behind the Virgin, in allusion to the legend which connects
her with the history of the Kings. In a picture by Garofalo, the star
shining above is attended by angels bearing the instruments of the
Passion, while St. Bartholomew, holding his skin, stands near the
Virgin and Child: it was painted for the abbey of St. Bartholomew, at
Ferrara.
Among the German examples, the picture by Albert Durer, in the tribune
of the Florence Gallery; and that of Mabuse, in the collection of Lord
Carlisle, are perhaps the most perfect of their kind.
In the last-named picture the Virgin, seated, in a plain dark-blue
mantle, with the German physiognomy, but large browed, and with a very
serious, sweet expression, holds the Child. The eldest of the Kings,
as usual, offers a vase of gold, out of which Christ has taken a
piece, which be holds in his hand. The name of the King, JASPER, is
inscribed on the vase; a younger King behind holds a cup. The black
Ethiopian king, Balthasar, is conspicuous on the left; he stands,
crowned and arrayed in gorgeous drapery, and, as if more fully to mark
the equality of the races--at least in spiritual privileges--his train
is borne by a white page. An exquisite landscape is seen through the
arch behind, and the shepherds are approaching in the middle distance.
On the whole, this is one of the most splendid pictures of the early
Flemish school I have ever seen; for variety of character, glow of
colour, and finished execution, quite unsurpassed.
In a very rich composition by Lucas van Leyden, Herod is seen in the
background, standing in the balcony of his palace, and pointing out
the scene to his attendants.
As we might easily imagine, the ornamental painters of the Venetian
and Flemish schools delighted in this subject, which allowed them full
scope for their gorgeous colouring, and all their scenic and dramatic
power. Here Paul Veronese revelled unreproved in Asiatic magnificence:
here his brocaded robes and jewelled diadems harmonized with his
subject; and his grand, old, bearded, Venetian senators figured,
not unsuitably, as Eastern Kings. Here Rubens lavished his ermine
and crimson draperies, his vases, and ewers, and censers of flaming
gold;--here poured over his canvas the wealth "of Ormuz and of Ind."
Of fifteen pictures of this subject, which he painted at different
times, the finest undoubtedly is that in the Madrid Gallery. Another,
also very fine, is in the collection of the Marquis of Westminster.
In both these, the Virgin, contrary to all former precedent, is
not seated, but _standing_, as she holds up her Child for worship.
Afterwards we find the same position of the Virgin in pictures by
Vandyck, Poussin, and other painters of the seventeenth century. It is
quite an innovation on the old religious arrangement; but in the utter
absence of all religious feeling, the mere arrangement of the figures,
except in an artistic point of view, is of little consequence.
As a scene of oriental pomp, heightened by mysterious shadows and
flashing lights, I know nothing equal to the Rembrandt in the
Queen's Gallery; the procession of attendants seen emerging from the
background through the transparent gloom is quite awful; but in this
miraculous picture, the lovely Virgin Mother is metamorphosed into a
coarse Dutch _vrow_, and the divine Child looks like a changeling imp.
In chapels dedicated to the Nativity or the Epiphany, we frequently
find the journey of the Wise Men painted round the walls. They
are seen mounted on horseback, or on camels, with a long train of
attendants, here ascending a mountain, there crossing a river; here
winding through a defile, there emerging from a forest; while the
miraculous star shines above, pointing out the way. Sometimes we have
the approach of the Wise Men on one side of the chapel, and their
return to their own country on the other. On their homeward journey
they are, in some few instances, embarking in a ship: this occurs in
a fresco by Lorenzo Costa, and in a bas-relief in the cathedral of
Amiens. The allusion is to a curious legend mentioned by Arnobius the
Younger, in his commentary on the Psalms (fifth century). He says,
in reference to the 48th Psalm, that when Herod found that the three
Kings had escaped from him "in ships of Tarsus," in his wrath he
burned all the vessels in the port.
There is a beautiful fresco of the journey of the Magi in the Riccardi
Chapel at Florence, painted by Benozzo Gozzoli for the old Cosmo de'
Medici.
"The Baptism of the Magi by St. Thomas," is one of the compartments
of the Life of the Virgin, painted by Taddeo Gaddi, in the Baroncelli
Chapel at Florence, and this is the only instance I can refer to.
* * * * *
Before I quit this subject--one of the most interesting in the whole
range of art--I must mention a picture by Giorgione in the Belvedere
Gallery, well known as one of the few undoubted productions of that
rare and fascinating painter, and often referred to because of its
beauty. Its signification has hitherto escaped all writers on art, as
far as I am acquainted with them, and has been dismissed as one of his
enigmatical allegories. It is called in German, _Die Feldmässer_ (the
Land Surveyors), and sometimes styled in English the _Geometricians_,
or the _Philosophers_, or the _Astrologers_. It represents a wild,
rocky landscape, in which are three men. The first, very aged, in as
oriental costume, with a long gray beard, stands holding in his hand
an astronomical table; the next, a man in the prime of life, seems
listening to him; the third, a youth, seated and looking upwards,
holds a compass. I have myself no doubt that this beautiful picture
represents the "three wise men of the East," watching on the Chaldean
hills the appearance of the miraculous star, and that the light
breaking in the far horizon, called in the German description the
rising sun, is intended to express the rising of the star of Jacob.[1]
In the sumptuous landscape, and colour, and the picturesque rather
than religious treatment, this picture is quite Venetian. The
interpretation here suggested I leave to the consideration of the
observer; and without allowing myself to be tempted on to further
illustration, will only add, in conclusion, that I do not remember
any Spanish picture of this subject remarkable either for beauty or
originality.[2]
[Footnote 1: There is also a print by Giulio Bonasoni, which appears
to represent the wise men watching for the star. (_Bartsch_, xv.
156.)]
[Footnote 2: In the last edition of the Vienna Catalogue, this picture
has received its proper title.]
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.
After the birth of her Son, Mary was careful to fulfil all the
ceremonies of the Mosaic law. As a first-born son, he was to be
redeemed by the offering of five shekels, or a pair of young pigeons
(in memory of the first-born of Egypt). But previously, being born
of the children of Abraham, the infant Christ was submitted to the
sanguinary rite which sealed the covenant of Abraham, and received
the name of JESUS--"that name before which every knee was to bow,
which was to be set above the powers of magic, the mighty rites
of sorcerers, the secrets of Memphis, the drugs of Thessaly, the
silent and mysterious murmurs of the wise Chaldees, and the spells
of Zoroaster; that name which we should engrave on our hearts, and
pronounce with our most harmonious accents, and rest our faith on, and
place our hopes in, and love with the overflowing of charity, joy, and
adoration." (v. Bishop Taylor's Life of Christ.)
The circumcision and the naming of Christ have many times been painted
to express the first of the sorrows of the Virgin, being the first of
the pangs which her Son was to suffer on earth. 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 an undecided point whether the Adoration of the Magi took
place thirteen days, or one year and thirteen days after the birth of
Christ. In a series of subjects artistically arranged, the Epiphany
always precedes, in order of time, that scene in the temple which
is sometimes styled the Purification, sometimes the Presentation and
sometimes the _Nunc Dimitis_. They are three distinct incidents; but,
as far as I can judge, neither the painters themselves, nor those who
have named pictures, have been careful to discriminate between them.
On a careful examination of various compositions, some of special
celebrity, which are styled, in a general way, the Presentation in
the Temple, it will appear, I think, that the idea uppermost in the
painter's mind has been to represent the prophecy of Simeon.
No doubt, in later times, the whole scene, as a subject of art, was
considered in reference chiefly to the Virgin, and the intention was
to express the first of her Seven Sorrows. But in ancient art, and
especially in Greek art, the character of Simeon assumed a singular
significance and importance, which so long as modern art was
influenced by the traditional Byzantine types, modified, in some
degree, the arrangement and sentiment of this favourite subject.
It is related that when Ptolemy Philadelphus about 260 years before
Christ, resolved to have the Hebrew Scriptures translated into
Greek, for the purpose of placing them in his far-famed library,
he despatched messengers to Eleazar, the High Priest of the Jews,
requiring him to send scribes and interpreters learned in the Jewish
law to his court at Alexandria. Thereupon Eleazar selected six of
the most learned Rabbis from each of the twelve tribes of Israel,
seventy-two persons in all, and sent them to Egypt, in obedience to
the commands of King Ptolemy, and among these was Simeon, a priest,
and a man full of learning. And it fell to the lot of Simeon to
translate the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he came to that
verse where it is written, "Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear
a son," he began to misdoubt, in his own mind, how this could be
possible; and, after long meditation, fearing to give scandal and
offence to the Greeks, he rendered the Hebrew word _Virgin_ by a Greek
word which signifies merely a _young woman_; but when he had written
it down, behold an angel effaced it, and substituted the right word.
Thereupon he wrote it again and again; and the same thing happened
three times; and he remained astonished and confounded. And while he
wondered what this should mean, a ray of divine light penetrated his
soul; it was revealed to him that the miracle which, in his human
wisdom he had presumed to doubt, was not only possible, but that he,
Simeon, "should not see death till he had seen the Lord's Christ."
Therefore he tarried on earth, by the divine will, for nearly three
centuries, till that which he had disbelieved had come to pass. He was
led by the Spirit to the temple on the very day when Mary came there
to present her Son, and to make her offering, and immediately, taking
the Child in his arms, he exclaimed, "Lord, _now_ lettest thou thy
servant depart in peace, according to thy word." And of the Virgin
Mother, also, he prophesied sad and glorious things.
Anna the Prophetess, who was standing by, also testified to the
presence of the theocratic King: but she did not take him in her arms,
as did Simeon. (Luke ii. 82.) Hence, she was early regarded as a
type of the synagogue, which prophesied great things of the Messiah,
but, nevertheless, did not embrace him when he appeared, as did the
Gentiles.
That these curious legends relative to Simeon and Anna, and their
symbolical interpretation, were well known to the old painters, there
can be no doubt; and both were perhaps in the mind of Bishop Taylor
when he wrote his eloquent chapter on the Presentation. "There be
some," he says, "who wear the name of Christ on their heads, to make
a show to the world; and there be some who have it always in their
mouths; and there be some who carry Christ on their shoulders, as
if he were a burthen too heavy to bear; and there be some--who is
me!--who trample him under their feet, but _he_ is the true Christian
who, _like Simeon_, embraces Christ, and takes him to his heart."
Now, it seems to me that it is distinctly the acknowledgment of
Christ by Simeon,--that is, Christ received by the Gentiles,--which
is intended to be placed before us in the very early pictures of the
Presentation, or the _Nunc dimittis_, as it is always styled in Greek
art. The appearance of an attendant, bearing the two turtle-doves,
shows it to be also the so-called Purification of the Virgin. In
an antique formal Greek version we have the Presentation exactly
according to the pattern described by Didron. The great gold censer is
there; the cupola, at top; Joseph carrying the two young pigeons, and
Anna behind Simeon.
* * * * *
In a celebrated composition by Fra Bartolomeo, there is the same
disposition of the personages, but an additional female figure. This
is not Anna, the mother of the Virgin (as I have heard it said), but
probably Mary Salome, who had always attended on the Virgin ever since
the Nativity at Bethlehem.
The subject is treated with exquisite simplicity by Francia; we have
just the same personages as in the rude Greek model, but disposed with
consummate grace. Still, to represent the Child as completely undraped
has been considered as a solecism. He ought to stretch out his hands
to his mother and to look as if he understood the portentous words
which foretold his destiny. Sometimes the imagination is assisted by
the choice of the accessories; thus Fra Bartolomeo has given us, in
the background of his group, Moses holding the _broken_ table of the
old law; and Francia represents in the same manner the sacrifice
of Abraham; for thus did Mary bring her Son as an offering. In many
pictures Simeon raises his eyes to heaven in gratitude; but those
painters who wished to express the presence of the Divinity in the
person of Christ, made Simeon looking at the Child, and addressing
_him_ as "Lord."
THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT.
_Ital._ La Fuga in Egitto. _Fr._ La Fuite de la Sainte Famille en
Egypte. _Ger._ Die Flucht nach Ægypten.
The wrath of Herod against the Magi of the East who had escaped from
his power, enhanced by his fears of the divine and kingly Infant,
occasioned the massacre of the Innocents, which led to the flight
of the Holy Family into Egypt. Of the martyred children, in their
character of martyrs, I have already spoken, and of their proper place
in a scheme of ecclesiastical decoration. There is surely something
very pathetic in that feeling which exalted these infant victims into
objects of religious veneration, making them the cherished companions
in heavenly glory of the Saviour for whose sake they were sacrificed
on earth. He had said, "Suffer little children to come unto me;"
and to these were granted the prerogatives of pain, as well as the
privileges of innocence. If, in the day of retribution, they sit at
the feet of the Redeemer, surely they will appeal against us, then and
there;--against us who, in these days, through our reckless neglect,
slay, body and soul, legions of innocents,--poor little unblest
creatures, "martyrs by the pang without the palm,"--yet dare to call
ourselves Christians.
* * * * *
The Massacre of the Innocents, as an event, belongs properly to the
life of Christ: it is not included in a series of the life of the
Virgin, perhaps from a feeling that the contrast between the most
blessed of women and mothers, and those who wept distracted for their
children, was too painful, and did not harmonize with the general
subject. In pictures of the Flight into Egypt, I have seen it
introduced allusively into the background; and in the architectural
decoration of churches dedicated to the Virgin Mother, as Notre Dame
de Chartres, it finds a place, but not often a conspicuous place;[1]
it is rather indicated than represented. I should pass over the
subject altogether, best pleased to be spared the theme, but
that there are some circumstances connected with it which require
elucidation, because we find them introduced incidentally into
pictures of the Flight and the _Riposo_.
[Footnote 1: It is conspicuous and elegantly treated over the door of
the Lorenz Kirche at Nuremberg.]
Thus, it is related that among the children whom Herod was bent on
destroying, was St. John the Baptist; but his mother Elizabeth fled
with him to a desert place, and being pursued by the murderers, "the
rock opened by a miracle, and close upon Elizabeth and her child;"
which means, as we may presume, that they took refuge in a cavern,
and were concealed within it until the danger was over. Zacharias,
refusing to betray his son, was slain "between the temple and the
altar," (Matt, xxiii. 35.) Both these legends are to be met with
in the Greek pictures, and in the miniatures of the thirteenth and
fourteenth centuries.[1]
[Footnote 1: They will be found treated at length in the artistic
subjects connected with St. John the Baptist.]
From the butchery which made so many mothers childless, the divine
Infant and his mother were miraculously saved; for an angel spoke to
Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise, and take the young child and his
mother, and flee into Egypt." This is the second of the four angelic
visions which are recorded of Joseph. It is not a frequent subject
in early art, but is often met with in pictures of the later schools.
Joseph is asleep in his chair, the angel stands before him, and, with
a significant gesture, points forward--"arise and flee!"
There is an exquisite little composition by Titian, called a _Riposo_,
which may possibly represent the preparation for the Flight. Here Mary
is seated under a tree nursing her Infant, while in the background is
a sort of rude stable, in which Joseph is seen saddling the ass, while
the ox is on the outside.
In a composition by Tiarini, we see Joseph holding the Infant, while
Mary, leaning one hand on his shoulder, is about to mount the ass.
In a composition by Poussin, Mary, who has just seated herself on the
ass, takes the Child from the arms of Joseph. Two angels lead the ass,
a third kneels in homage, and two others are seen above with a curtain
to pitch a tent.
* * * * *
I must notice here a tradition that both the ox and the ass who stood
over the manger at Bethlehem, accompanied the Holy Family into Egypt.
In Albert Durer's print, the ox and the ass walk side by side. It is
also related that the Virgin was accompanied by Salome, and Joseph by
three of his sons. This version of the story is generally rejected
by the painters; but in the series by Giotto in the Arena at Padua,
Salome and the three youths attend on Mary and Joseph; and I remember
another instance, a little picture by Lorenzo Monaco, in which Salome,
who had vowed to attend on Christ and his mother as long as she lived,
is seen following the ass, veiled, and supporting her steps with a
staff.
But this is a rare exception. The general treatment confines the group
to Joseph, the mother, and the Child. To Joseph was granted, in those
hours of distress and danger, the high privilege of providing for
the safety of the Holy Infant--a circumstance much enlarged upon in
the old legends, and to express this more vividly, he is sometimes
represented in early Greek art as carrying the Child in his arms, or
on his shoulder, while Mary follows on the ass. He is so figured
on the sculptured doors of the cathedral of Beneventum, and in the
cathedral of Monreale, both executed by Greek artists.[1] But we are
not to suppose that the Holy Family was left defenceless on the long
journey. The angels who had charge concerning them were sent to guide
them by day, to watch over them by night, to pitch their tent before
them, and to refresh them with celestial fruit and flowers. By the
introduction of these heavenly ministers the group is beautifully
varied.
[Footnote 1: 11th century. Also at Città di Castello; same date.]
Joseph, says the Gospel story, "arose by night;" hence there is both
meaning and propriety in those pictures which represent the Flight
as a night-scene, illuminated by the moon and stars, though I believe
this has been done more to exhibit the painter's mastery over effects
of dubious light, than as a matter of biblical accuracy. Sometimes an
angel goes before, carrying a torch or lantern, to light them on the
way; sometimes it is Joseph who carries the lantern.
In a picture by Nicolo Poussin, Mary walks before, carrying the
Infant; Joseph follows, leading the ass; and an angel guides them.
The journey did not, however, comprise one night only. There is,
indeed, an antique tradition, that space and time were, on this
occasion, miraculously shortened to secure a life of so much
importance; still, we are allowed to believe that the journey extended
over many days and nights; consequently it lay within the choice of
the artist to exhibit the scene of the Flight either by night or by
day.
In many representations of the Flight into Egypt, we find in the
background men sowing or cutting corn. This is in allusion to the
following legend:--
When it was discovered that the Holy Family had fled from Bethlehem,
Herod sent his officers in pursuit of them. And it happened that when
the Holy Family had travelled some distance, they 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 corn.'"
For the holy Virgin was too wise and too good to save her Son by
instructing the man to tell a falsehood. But behold, a miracle! For
by the power of the Infant Saviour, in the space of a single night,
the seed sprung up into stalk, blade, and ear, fit for the sickle.
And next morning the officers of Herod came up, and inquired of the
husbandman, saying, "Have you seen an old man with a woman and a Child
travelling this way?" And the man, who was reaping his wheat, in great
wonder and admiration, replied "Yes." And they asked again, "How long
is it since?" And he answered. "When I was sowing this wheat." Then
the officers of Herod turned back, and left off pursuing the Holy
Family.
A very remarkable example of the introduction of this legend occurs
in a celebrated picture by Hans Hemling (Munich Gal., Cabinet iv. 69),
known as "Die Sieben Freuden Mariä." In the background, on the left,
is the Flight into Egypt; the men cutting and reaping corn, and the
officers of Herod in pursuit of the Holy Family. By those unacquainted
with the old legend, the introduction of the cornfield and reapers
is supposed to be merely a decorative landscape, without any peculiar
significance.
* * * * *
In a very beautiful fresco by Pinturicchio, (Rome, St. Onofrio), the
Holy Family are taking their departure from Bethlehem. The city,
with the massacre of the Innocents, is seen in the background. In the
middle distance, the husbandman cutting corn; and nearer, the palm
tree bending down.
* * * * *
It is supposed by commentators that Joseph travelled from Bethlehem
across the hilly country of Judea, taking the road to Joppa, and then
pursuing the way along the coast. Nothing is said in the Gospel of the
events of this long and perilous journey of at least 400 miles, which,
in the natural order of things, must have occupied five or six weeks;
and the legendary traditions are very few. Such as they are, however,
the painters have not failed to take advantage of them.
We are told that on descending from the mountains, they came down
upon a beautiful plain enamelled with flowers, watered by murmuring
streams, and shaded by fruit trees. In such a lovely landscape have
the painters delighted to place some of the scenes of the Flight into
Egypt. On another occasion, they entered a thick forest, a wilderness
of trees, in which they must have lost their way, had they not been
guided by an angel. Here we encounter a legend which has hitherto
escaped, because, indeed, it defied, the art of the painter. As the
Holy Family entered this forest, all the trees bowed themselves down
in reverence to the Infant God; only the aspen, in her exceeding pride
and arrogance, refused to acknowledge him, and stood upright. Then the
Infant Christ pronounced a curse against her, as he afterwards cursed
the barren fig tree; and at the sound of his words the aspen began to
tremble through all her leaves, and has not ceased to tremble even to
this day.
We know from Josephus the historian, that about this time Palestine
was infested by bands of robbers. There is an ancient tradition, that
when the Holy Family travelling through hidden paths and solitary
defiles, had passed Jerusalem, and were descending into the plains of
Syria, they encountered certain thieves who fell upon them; and one
of them would have maltreated and plundered them, but his comrade
interfered, and said, "Suffer them, I beseech thee, to go in peace,
and I will give thee forty groats, and likewise my girdle;" which
offer being accepted, the merciful robber led the Holy Travellers
to his stronghold on the rock, and gave them lodging for the night.
(Gospel of Infancy, ch. viii.) And Mary said to him, "The Lord God
will receive thee to his right hand, and grant thee pardon of thy
sins!" And it was so: for in after times these two thieves were
crucified with Christ, one on the right hand, and one on the left;
and the merciful thief went with the Saviour into Paradise.
The scene of this encounter with the robbers, near Ramla, is still
pointed out to travellers, and still in evil repute as the haunt of
banditti. The crusaders visited the spot as a place of pilgrimage;
and the Abbé Orsini considers the first part of the story as
authenticated; but the legend concerning the good thief he admits
to be doubtful. (Vie de la Ste. Vierge.)
As an artistic subject this scene has been seldom treated. I have seen
two pictures which represent it. One is a fresco by Giovanni di San
Giovanni, which, having been cut from the wail of some suppressed
convent, is now in the academy at Florence. The other is a composition
by Zuccaro.
One of the most popular legends concerning the Flight into Egypt is
that of the palm or date tree, which at the command of Jesus bowed
down its branches to shade and refresh his mother; hence, in the scene
of the Flight, a palm tree became a usual accessory. In a picture by
Antonello Mellone, the Child stretches out his little hand and lays
hold of the branch: sometimes the branch is bent down by angel hands.
Sozomenes relates, that when the Holy Family reached the term of
their journey, and approached the city of Heliopolis in Egypt, a tree
which grew before the gates of the city, and was regarded with great
veneration as the seat of a god, bowed down its branches at the
approach of the Infant Christ. Likewise it is related (not in legends
merely, but by grave religious authorities) that all the idols of the
Egyptians fell with their faces to the earth. I have seen pictures of
the Flight into Egypt, in which broken idols lie by the wayside.
* * * * *
In the course of the journey the Holy Travellers had to cross rivers
and lakes; hence the later painters, to vary the subject, represented
them as embarking in a boat, sometimes steered by an angel. The first,
as I have reason to believe, who ventured on this innovation, was
Annibale Caracci. In a picture by Poussin, the Holy Family are about
to embark. In a picture by Giordano, an angel with one knee bent,
assists Mary to enter the boat. In a pretty little picture by Teniers,
the Holy Family and the ass are seen in a boat crossing a ferry by
moonlight; sometimes they are crossing a bridge.
I must notice here a little picture by Adrian Vander Werff, in which
the Virgin, carrying her Child, holds by the hand the old decrepit
Joseph, who is helping her, or rather is helped by her, to pass a
torrent on some stepping-stones. This is quite contrary to the feeling
of the old authorities, which represent Joseph as the vigilant and
capable guardian of the Mother and her Child: but it appears to have
here a rather particular and touching significance; it was painted by
Vander Werff for his daughter in his old age, and intended to express
her filial duty and his paternal care.
The most beautiful Flight into Egypt I have ever seen, is a
composition by Gaudenzio Ferrari. The Virgin is seated and sustained
on the ass with a quite peculiar elegance. The Infant, standing on her
knee, seems to point out the way; an angel leads the ass, and Joseph
follows with the staff and wallet. In the background the palm tree
inclines its branches. (At Varallo, in the church of the Minorites.)
Claude has introduced the Flight of the Holy Family as a landscape
group into nine different pictures.
THE REPOSE OF THE HOLY FAMILY.
_Ital._ Il Riposo. _Fr._ Le Repos de la Sainte Famille. _Ger._ Die
Ruhe in Ægypten.
The subject generally styled a "Riposo" is one of the most graceful
and most attractive in the whole range of Christian art. It is not,
however, an ancient subject, for I cannot recall an instance earlier
than the sixteenth century; it had in its accessories that romantic
and pastoral character which recommended it to the Venetians and to
the landscape-painters of the seventeenth century, and among these we
must look for the most successful and beautiful examples.
I must begin by observing that it is a subject not only easily
mistaken by those who have studied pictures; but perpetually
misconceived and misrepresented by the painters themselves. Some
pictures which erroneously bear this title, were never intended to
do so. Others, intended to represent the scene, are disfigured
and perplexed by mistakes arising either from the ignorance or the
carelessness of the artist.
We must bear in mind that the Riposo, properly so called, is not
merely the Holy Family seated in a landscape; it is an episode of
the Flight into Egypt, and is either the rest on the journey, or at
the close of the journey; quite different scenes, though all go by
the same name. It is not an ideal religious group, but a reality, a
possible and actual scene; and it is clear that the painter, if he
thought at all, and did not merely set himself to fabricate a pretty
composition, was restricted within the limits of the actual and
possible, at least according to the histories and traditions of the
time. Some of the accessories introduced would stamp the intention at
once; as the date tree, and Joseph gathering dates; the ass feeding in
the distance; the wallet and pilgrim's staff laid beside Joseph; the
fallen idols; the Virgin scooping water from a fountain; for all these
are incidents which properly belong to the Riposo.
It is nowhere recorded; either in Scripture or in the legendary
stories, that Mary and Joseph in their flight were accompanied by
Elizabeth and the little St. John; therefore, where either of these
are introduced, the subject is not properly a _Riposo_, whatever the
intention of the painter may have been: the personages ought to be
restricted to the Virgin, her Infant, and St. Joseph, with attendant
angels. An old woman is sometimes introduced, the same who is
traditionally supposed to have accompanied them in their flight. If
this old woman be manifestly St. Anna or St. Elizabeth, then it is not
a _Riposo_, but merely a _Holy Family_.
It is related that the Holy Family finally rested, after their long
journey, in the village of Matarea, beyond the city of Hermopolis (or
Heliopolis), and took up their residence in a grove of sycamores, a
circumstance which gave the sycamore tree a sort of religions interest
in early Christian times. The crusaders imported it into Europe; and
poor Mary Stuart may have had this idea, or this feeling when she
brought from France, and planted in her garden, the first sycamores
which grew in Scotland.
Near to this village of Matarea, a fountain miraculously sprung up
for the refreshment of the Holy Family. It still exists, as we
are informed by travellers, and is still styled by the Arabs, "The
Fountain of Mary."[1] This fountain is frequently represented, as in
the well-known Riposo by Correggio, where the Virgin is dipping a bowl
into the gushing stream, hence called the "Madonna _della Scodella_"
(Parma): in another by Baroccio (Grosvenor Gal.), and another by
Domenichino (Louvre, 491).
[Footnote 1: The site of this fountain is about four miles N.E. of
Cairo.]
In this fountain, says another legend, Mary washed the linen of the
Child. There are several pictures which represent the Virgin washing
linen in a fountain; for example, one by Lucio Massari, where, in a
charming landscape, the little Christ takes the linen out of a basket,
and Joseph hangs it on a line to dry. (Florence Gal.)
The ministry of the angels is here not only allowable, but beautifully
appropriate; and never has it been more felicitously and more
gracefully expressed than in a little composition by Lucas Cranach,
where the Virgin and her Child repose under a tree, while the angels
dance in a circle round them. The cause of the Flight--the Massacre
of the Innocents--is figuratively expressed by two winged boys, who,
seated on a bough of the tree, are seen robbing a nest, and wringing
the necks of the nestlings, while the parent-birds scream and flutter
over their heads: in point of taste, this significant allegory had
been better omitted; it spoils the harmony of composition. There
is another similar group, quite as graceful, by David Hopfer.
Vandyck seems to have had both in his memory when he designed the
very beautiful Riposo so often copied and engraved (Coll. of Lord
Ashburton); here the Virgin is seated under a tree, in an open
landscape, and holds her divine Child; Joseph, behind, seems asleep;
in front of the Virgin, eight lovely angels dance in a round, while
others, seated in the sky, make heavenly music.
In another singular and charming Riposo by Lucas Cranach, the Virgin
and Child are seated under a tree; to the left of the group is a
fountain, where a number of little angels appear to be washing linen;
to the right, Joseph approaches leading the ass, and in the act of
reverently removing his cap.
There is a Riposo by Albert Durer which I cannot pass over. It is
touched with all that homely domestic feeling, and at the same time
all that fertility of fancy, which are so characteristic of that
extraordinary man. We are told that when Joseph took up his residence
at Matarea in Egypt, he provided for his wife and Child by exercising
his trade as a carpenter. In this composition he appears in the
foreground dressed as an artisan with an apron on, and with an axe in
his hand is shaping a plank of wood. Mary sits on one side spinning
with her distaff, and watching her Infant slumbering in its cradle.
Around this domestic group we have a crowd of ministering angels; some
of these little winged spirits are assisting Joseph, sweeping up the
chips and gathering them into baskets; others are merely "sporting at
their own sweet will." Several more dignified-looking angels, having
the air of guardian spirits, stand or kneel round the cradle, bending
over it with folded hands.[1]
[Footnote 1: In the famous set of wood cuts of the Life of the Virgin
Mary.]
In a Riposo by Titian, the Infant lies on a pillow on the ground, and
the Virgin is kneeling before him, while Joseph leans on his pilgrim's
staff, to which is suspended a wallet. In another, two angels,
kneeling, offer fruits in a basket; in the distance, a little angel
waters the ass at a stream. (All these are engraved.)
The angels, according to the legend, not only ministered to the Holy
Family, but pitched a tent nightly, in which they were sheltered.
Poussin, in an exquisite picture, has represented the Virgin and Child
reposing under a curtain suspended from the branches of a tree and
partly sustained by angels, while others, kneeling, offer fruit.
(Grosvenor Gal.)
Poussin is the only painter who has attempted to express the locality.
In one of his pictures the Holy Family reposes on the steps of an
Egyptian temple; a sphinx and a pyramid are visible in the background.
In another Riposo by the same master, an Ethiopian boy presents fruits
to the Infant Christ. Joseph is frequently asleep, which is hardly
consonant with the spirit of the older legends. It is, however, a
beautiful idea to make the Child and Joseph both reposing, while the
Virgin Mother, with eyes upraised to heaven, wakes and watches, as
in a picture by Mola (Louvre, 269); but a yet more beautiful idea to
represent the Virgin and Joseph sunk in sleep, while the divine Infant
lying in his mother's arms wakes and watches for both, with his little
hands joined in prayer, and his eyes fixed on the hovering angels or
the opening skies above.
In a Riposo by Rembrandt, the Holy Family rest by night, and are
illuminated only by a lantern suspended on the bough of a tree, the
whole group having much the air of a gypsy encampment. But one of
Rembrandt's imitators has in his own way improved on this fancy; the
Virgin sleeps on a bank with the Child on her bosom; Joseph, who looks
extremely like an old tinker, is doubling his fist at the ass, which
has opened its mouth to bray.
* * * * *
Before quitting the subject of the Riposo, I must mention a very
pretty and poetical legend, which I have met with in one picture only;
a description of it may, however, lead to the recognition of others.
There is, in the collection of Lord Shrewsbury, at Alton Towers, a
Riposo attributed to Giorgione, remarkable equally for the beauty and
the singularity of the treatment. The Holy Family are seated in the
midst of a wild but rich landscape, quite in the Venetian style;
Joseph is asleep; the two children are playing with a lamb. The
Virgin, seated holds a book, and turns round, with an expression of
surprise and alarm, to a female figure who stands on the right. This
woman has a dark physiognomy, ample flowing drapery of red and white,
a white turban twisted round her head, and stretches out her hand with
the air of a sibyl. The explanation of this striking group I found
in an old ballad-legend. Every one who has studied the moral as well
as the technical character of the various schools of art, must have
remarked how often the Venetians (and Giorgione more especially)
painted groups from the popular fictions and ballads of the time; and
it has often been regretted that many of these pictures are becoming
unintelligible to us from our having lost the key to them, in losing
all trace of the fugitive poems or tales which suggested them.
The religious ballad I allude to must have been popular in the
sixteenth century; it exists in the Provençal dialect, in German,
and in Italian; and, like the wild ballad of St. John Chrysostom, it
probably came in some form or other from the East. The theme is, in
all these versions, substantially the same. The Virgin, on her arrival
in Egypt, is encountered by a gypsy (Zingara or Zingarella), who
crosses the Child's palm after the gypsy manner, and foretells all the
wonderful and terrible things which, as the Redeemer of mankind, he
was destined to perform and endure on earth.
An Italian version which lies before me is entitled, _Canzonetta
nuova, sopra la Madonna, quando si partò in Egitto col Bambino Gesù
e San Giuseppe_, "A new Ballad of our Lady, when she fled into Egypt
with the Child Jesus and St. Joseph."
It begins with a conversation between the Virgin, who has just arrived
from her long journey, and the gypsy-woman, who thus salutes her:--
ZINGARELLA.
Dio ti salvi, bella Signora,
E ti dia buona ventura.
Ben venuto, vecchiarello,
Con questo bambino bello!
MADONNA.
Ben trovata, sorella mia,
La sua grazia Dio ti dia.
Ti perdoni i tuoi peccati
L' infinità sua bontade.
ZINGARELLA.
Siete stanchi e meschini,
Credo, poveri pellegrini
Che cercate d' alloggiare.
Vuoi, Signora, scavalcare?
MADONNA.
Voi che siete, sorella mia,
Tutta piena di cortesia,
Dio vi renda la carità
Per l'infinità sua bontà.
Noi veniam da Nazaretta,
Siamo senza alcun ricetto,
Arrivati all' strania
Stanchi e lassi dalla via!
GYPSY.
God save thee, fair Lady, and give thee good luck
Welcome, good old man, with this thy fair Child!
MARY.
Well met, sister mine! God give thee grace, and of
his infinite mercy forgive thee thy sins!
GYPSY.
Ye are tired and drooping, poor pilgrims, as I think,
seeking a night's lodging. Lady, wilt thou choose to alight?
MARY.
O sister mine! full of courtesy, God of his infinite goodness
reward thee for thy charity. We are come from
Nazareth, and we are without a place to lay our heads,
arrived in a strange land, all tired and weary with the way!
The Zingarella then offers them a resting-place, and straw and fodder
for the ass, which being accepted, she asks leave to tell their
fortune, but begins by recounting, in about thirty stanzas, all the
past history of the Virgin pilgrim; she then asks to see the Child--
Ora tu, Signora mia.
Che sei piena di cortesia,
Mostramelo per favore
Lo tuo Figlio Redentore!
And now, O Lady mine, that art full of courtesy, grant
me to look upon thy Son, the Redeemer!
The Virgin takes him from the arms of Joseph--
Datemi, o caro sposo,
Lo mio Figlio grazioso!
Quando il vide sta meschina
Zingarella, che indovina!
Give me, dear husband, my lovely boy, that this poor
gypsy, who is a prophetess, may look upon him.
The gypsy responds with becoming admiration and humility, praises
the beauty of the Child, and then proceeds to examine his palm: which
having done, she breaks forth into a prophecy of all the awful future,
tells how he would be baptized, and tempted, scourged, and finally
hung upon a cross--
Questo Figlio accarezzato
Tu lo vedrai ammazzato
Sopra d'una dura croce,
Figlio bello! Figlio dolce!
but consoles the disconsolate Mother, doomed to honour for the sake of
us sinners--
Sei arrivata a tanti onori
Per noi altri Peccatori!
and ends by begging an alms--
Non ti vo' più infastidire,
Bella Signora; so chi hai a fare.
Dona la limosinella
A sta povera Zingarella
true repentance and eternal life.
Vo' una vera contrizione
Per la tua intercezione,
Accio st' alma dopo morte
Tragga alle celesti porte!
And so the story ends.
There can be no doubt, I think, that we have here the original theme
of Giorgione's picture, and perhaps of others.
In the Provençal ballad, there are three gypsies, men, not women,
introduced, who tell the fortune of the Virgin and Joseph, as well
as that of the Child, and end by begging alms "to wet their thirsty
throats." Of this version there is a very spirited and characteristic
translation by Mr. Kenyon, under the title of "a Gypsy Carol."[1]
[Footnote 1: A Day at Tivoli, with other Verses, by John Kenyon, p.
149.]
THE RETURN FROM EGYPT.
According to some authorities, the Holy Family sojourned in Egypt
during a period of seven years, but others assert that they returned
to Judea at the end of two years.
In general the painters have expressed the Return from Egypt by
exhibiting Jesus as no longer an infant sustained in his mother's
arms, but as a boy walking at her side. In a picture by Francesco
Vanni, he is a boy about two or three years old, and carries a little
basket full of carpenter's tools. The occasion of the Flight and
Return is indicated by three or four of the martyred Innocents, who
are lying on the ground. In a picture by Domenico Feti two of the
Innocents are lying dead on the roadside. In a very graceful, animated
picture by Rubens, Mary and Joseph lead the young Christ between them,
and the Virgin wears a large straw hat.
HISTORICAL SUBJECTS.