{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_69581/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_69581","id":"gutenberg_69581","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69581","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Art","Category: History - Medieval/Middle Ages","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Christian art and symbolism","Christian saints in art"],"text":"Transcriber\u2019s Notes\n\nObvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations\nin hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other\nspelling and punctuation remains unchanged.\n\nThe woodcut number 48, The Symbol of St. Matthew. _Mosaic._, does\nnot exist.\n\nOn page 191, in the section on St. Peter and St.Paul, \u012aC\u0304. X\u0304C\u0304. is an\nnear approximation of the actual symbol.\n\nItalics are represented thus _italic_, bold thus =bold= and\nsuperscripts thus y^{en}.\n\n\n\n\n                                Sacred\n\n                                  AND\n\n                            Legendary Art.\n\n                                VOL. I.\n\n\n\n\n  THE LATEST EDITIONS OF MRS. JAMESON\u2019S WORKS ON SACRED AND LEGENDARY\n                            CHRISTIAN ART.\n\n\n  The Fifth Edition, in 2 vols. square crown 8vo. with 19 Etchings on\n              Copper and 187 Woodcuts, price 31_s._ 6_d._\n\nLEGENDS of the SAINTS and MARTYRS as represented in the Fine Arts,\nforming the FIRST SERIES of \u2018Sacred and Legendary Art.\u2019 By Mrs. JAMESON.\n\nII. LEGENDS of the MONASTIC ORDERS. Third Edition, with 11 Etchings and\n88 Woodcuts. 1 vol. 21_s._\n\nIII. LEGENDS of the MADONNA. Third Edition, with 27 Etchings and 165\nWoodcuts. 1 vol. 21_s._\n\nIV. HISTORY of OUR LORD as exemplified in Works of Art. By Mrs. JAMESON\nand Lady EASTLAKE. Second Edition, with 31 Etchings and 281 Woodcuts. 2\nvols. 42_s._\n\n\u2042 Of these 312 Illustrations, all prepared specially for the \u2018History\nof Our Lord,\u2019 nearly one-third of the whole number have now been\nengraved for the first time.\n\n \u2018We have in these volumes, penned in a truth-seeking spirit and\n illustrated with a copious generosity which at once elucidates and\n adorns each section of the subject, contributions to the literature of\n CHRISTIAN ART, for which every artist and every student of theology\n will confess debt of private gratitude. To thoughtful inquirers,\n richest mines are here opened for meditation. To minds prepared for\n deeper draughts to quench the thirst for knowledge, wells are dug and\n fountains are made to flow even in the desert tracks of time where\n pilgrim\u2019s foot seldom attempts to tread. We think that Lady EASTLAKE\n has done special service in bringing into popular view recondite\n stores which have hitherto been sealed for public use. She has, by\n appeal to the early heads of Christ in the Catacombs, by reference to\n Christian sarcophagi of the fourth century, to ivories as old as the\n sixth century, and Greek MSS. and Byzantine miniatures of the ninth\n century, enabled the art-student to tract the history of types and\n antetypes, and to analyse the rudimentary germs which, from age to\n age accumulating strength and growing in comeliness, at length issued\n forth in perfected pictorial form. _It is to this, the infancy of art,\n that at the present moment peculiar interest attaches._\u2019\n                                                  BLACKWOOD\u2019S MAGAZINE.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: _The Assumption of the Magdalena_.]\n\n\n\n\n                                Sacred\n\n                                  AND\n\n                            Legendary Art.\n\n                           BY MRS. JAMESON.\n\n\n                               VOLUME I.\n\n                              CONTAINING\n\n        LEGENDS OF THE ANGELS AND ARCHANGELS, THE EVANGELISTS,\n               THE APOSTLES, THE DOCTORS OF THE CHURCH,\n                        AND ST. MARY MAGDALENE,\n\n                   AS REPRESENTED IN THE FINE ARTS.\n\n\n                           _SIXTH EDITION._\n\n\n                                LONDON:\n                       LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.\n                                 1870.\n\n\n\n\n                          LONDON: PRINTED BY\n                SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE\n                         AND PARLIAMENT STREET\n\n\n\n\n                                PREFACE\n\n                                  TO\n\n                          THE THIRD EDITION.\n\n\nThe Author ventures to hope that, on comparing this Third Edition of\n\u2018Sacred and Legendary Art\u2019 with the two preceding, it will be found\ngreatly improved, and rendered more worthy of the kind approbation and\nsympathy with which it has been received. The whole has been carefully\nrevised; the references to the pictures and other works of Art\ncorrected from the latest authorities, and many new examples have been\nadded. All the Illustrations, which were formerly etched on copper,\nhave been newly etched on steel; two have been omitted, and three\nothers, as more interesting and appropriate, have been substituted; and\ntwelve new woodcuts have been introduced. In a work so multifarious in\nits nature, and comprising so many hundred subjects and references,\nthere may remain some errors and omissions, but they have not occurred\nfrom want of care; and I must not omit to express due thanks for the\nobservations and corrections which have been forwarded to me from time\nto time, and which have been in this Edition carefully attended to.\n\n                                                                  A. J.\n\n _January 1857._\n\n\n\n\n                                PREFACE\n\n                                  TO\n\n                          THE FIRST EDITION.\n\n                                (1848.)\n\n\nThis book was begun six years ago, in 1842. It has since been often\nlaid aside, and again resumed. In this long interval, many useful and\ndelightful works have been written on the same subject, but still\nthe particular ground I had chosen remained unoccupied; and, amid\nmany difficulties, and the consciousness of many deficiencies, I was\nencouraged to proceed, partly by the pleasure I took in a task so\ncongenial\u2014partly by the conviction that such a work has long been\nwanted by those who are not contented with a mere manual of reference,\nor a mere catalogue of names. This book is intended not only to be\nconsulted, but to be read\u2014if it be found worth reading. It has been\nwritten for those who are, like myself, unlearned; yet less, certainly,\nwith the idea of instructing, than from a wish to share with others\nthose pleasurable associations, those ever new and ever various aspects\nof character and sentiment, as exhibited in Art, which have been a\nsource of such vivid enjoyment to myself.\n\nThis is the utmost limit of my ambition; and, knowing that I cannot\nescape criticism, I am at least anxious that there should be no mistake\nas to purpose and intention. I hope it will be clearly understood that\nI have taken throughout the \u00e6sthetic and not the religious view of\nthose productions of Art which, in as far as they are informed with a\ntrue and earnest feeling, and steeped in that beauty which emanates\nfrom genius inspired by faith, may cease to be Religion, but cannot\ncease to be Poetry; and as poetry only I have considered them.\n\nThe difficulty of selection and compression has been the greatest of\nall my difficulties; there is not a chapter in this book which might\nnot have been more easily extended to a volume than compressed into a\nfew pages. Every reader, however, who is interested in the subject,\nmay supply the omissions, follow out the suggestions, and enjoy the\npleasure of discovering new exceptions, new analogies, for himself.\nWith regard to the arrangement, I am afraid it will be found liable\nto objections; but it is the best that, after long consideration and\nmany changes, I could fix upon. It is not formal, nor technical, like\nthat of a catalogue or a calendar, but intended to lead the fancy\nnaturally from subject to subject as one opened upon another, with\njust sufficient order to keep the mind unperplexed and the attention\nunfatigued amid a great diversity of objects, scenes, stories, and\ncharacters.\n\nThe authorities for the legends have been the _Legenda Aurea_ of\nVoragine, in the old French and English translations; the _Flos\nSanctorum_ of Ribadeneira, in the old French translation; the _Perfetto\nLegendario_, editions of Rome and Venice; the _Legende delle Sante\nVergini_, Florence and Venice; the large work of Baillet, _Les Vies\ndes Saints_, in thirty-two volumes, most useful for the historical\nauthorities; and Alban Butler\u2019s _Lives of the Saints_. All these have\nbeen consulted for such particulars of circumstance and character as\nmight illustrate the various representations, and then compressed into\na narrative as clear as I could render it. Where one authority only has\nbeen followed, it is usually placed in the margin.\n\nThe First Part contains the legends of the scriptural personages and\nthe primitive fathers.\n\nThe Second Part contains those sainted personages who lived, or are\nsupposed to have lived, in the first ages of Christianity, and whose\nreal history, founded on fact or tradition, has been so disguised by\npoetical embroidery, that they have in some sort the air of ideal\nbeings. As I could not undertake to go through the whole calendar,\nnor yet to make my book a catalogue of pictures and statues, I have\nconfined myself to the saints most interesting and important, and (with\nvery few exceptions) to those works of Art of which I could speak from\nmy own knowledge.\n\nThe legends of the monastic orders, and the history of the Franciscans\nand Dominicans, considered merely in their connexion with the revival\nand development of the Fine Arts in the thirteenth and fourteenth\ncenturies, open so wide a range of speculation,\u2014the characteristics of\nthese religious enthusiasts of both sexes are so full of interest and\nbeauty as artistic conceptions, and as psychological and philosophical\nstudies so extraordinary, that I could not, in conscience, compress\nthem into a few pages: they form a volume complete in itself, entitled\n\u2018Legends of the Monastic Orders.\u2019\n\nThe little sketches and woodcuts are trifling as illustrations, and\ncan only assist the memory and the fancy of the reader but I regret\nthis the less, inasmuch as those who take an interest in the subject\ncan easily illustrate the book for themselves. To collect a portfolio\nof prints, including those works of art which are cited under each\nhead as examples, with a selection from the hundreds of others which\nare not cited, and arrange them in the same order\u2014with reference, not\nto schools, or styles, or dates, but to subject merely\u2014would be an\namusing, and I think not a profitless, occupation. It could not be\ndone in the right spirit without leading the mind far beyond the mere\npleasure of comparison and criticism, to \u2018thoughts more elevate and\nreasonings high\u2019 of things celestial and terrestrial, as shadowed forth\nin form by the wit and the hand of man.\n\n[Illustration: An Angel]\n\n\n\n\n                               CONTENTS\n\n                                  OF\n\n                           THE FIRST VOLUME.\n\n\n                                                                   PAGE\n  PREFACE                                                             v\n\n  INTRODUCTION:\n\n  I. Of the Origin and general Significance of the Legends represented\n  in Art                                                               1\n\n  II. Of the Distinction to be drawn between Devotional and Historical\n  Subjects                                                            11\n\n  III. Of the Patron Saints of particular Countries, Cities, and\n  Localities                                                          18\n\n  IV. Of certain Emblems and Attributes of general Application        23\n\n  V. Of the Significance of Colours. Conclusion                       35\n\n\n                       OF ANGELS AND ARCHANGELS.\n\n  OF ANGELS. Antiquity of the Belief in Angels. Early Notions respecting\n  them. How represented in the Old Testament. In the New Testament.\n  Angelic Hierarchies. The Nine Choirs. Seraphim, Cherubim. General\n  Characteristics in Painting. Infant Angels. Wings. Angels of Dante.\n  Angels as Messengers, Choristers, Guardians. As Ministers of Wrath.\n  As Agents in the Creation. Manner in which the principal Painters have\n  set forth the Angelic Forms and Attributes                          41\n\n  THE ARCHANGELS. The Seven Archangels. The Four Archangels. The Three\n  Archangels                                                          87\n\n  ST. MICHAEL                                                         94\n\n  ST. GABRIEL                                                        118\n\n  ST. RAPHAEL                                                        126\n\n  Additional Notes on Angels                                         131\n\n\n                         THE FOUR EVANGELISTS.\n\n  The earliest Types: as Four Books; as Four Rivers; as the Four\n  Mysterious Animals; the Human and Animal Forms combined; with Wings;\n  as Men                                                             132\n\n  ST. MATTHEW. His Legend. His Attributes. Pictures from his Life not\n  common                                                             143\n\n  ST. MARK. His Legend. Devotional Pictures: as Evangelist; as the\n  Disciple of Peter; as the Patron Saint of Venice. The Legend of the\n  Fisherman. The Legend of the Christian Slave. The Translation of the\n  Body of St. Mark                                                   147\n\n  ST. LUKE. His Legend. Devotional Figures. Attributes: as Evangelist\n  and Painter. St. Luke painting the Virgin                          154\n\n  ST. JOHN. His Legend. Devotional Pictures: as Evangelist; as Apostle;\n  as Prophet. Subjects from his Life; Legend of St. John and the Robber;\n  of the two Young Men; of Drusiana; of the Huntsman and the Partridge.\n  The Martyrdom of St. John. Legend of the Death of St. John. Legend of\n  Galla Placidia. Of King Edward the Confessor                       157\n\n  The Six Writers of the Canonical Epistles, as a series             172\n\n\n                         THE TWELVE APOSTLES.\n\n  Ancient Types: as Twelve Sheep; as Twelve Doves; as Twelve Men. How\n  grouped in Ecclesiastical Decoration. In the Old Mosaics; their proper\n  place. Examples from various Painters. Historical Subjects relating to\n  the Twelve Apostles: the Pentecost; the Separation of the Twelve\n  Apostles to preach the Gospel; the Twelve Baptisms; the Twelve\n  Martyrdoms                                                         173\n\n  ST. PETER and ST. PAUL. The Ancient Greek Types. Examples of the early\n  Treatment of these two Apostles: in the old Mosaics; in early\n  Sculpture; in Pictures                                             185\n\n  ST. PETER. His peculiar Attributes: as Apostle and Patron Saint; as\n  the Head and Founder of the Roman Church; St. Peter as Pope. Subjects\n  from the Scriptural Life of St. Peter. Legendary Stories connected\n  with St. Peter. The Legend of Simon Magus; of the \u2018_Domine, quo\n  vadis?_\u2019 of Processus and Martinian. The Martyrdom of St. Peter.\n  St. Peter as Keeper of the Gates of Paradise. The Legend of St.\n  Petronilla. The Life of St. Peter in a Series of Subjects          193\n\n  ST. PAUL. Earliest Type. Attributes of St. Paul: the Sword. Subjects\n  from his Life. Stoning of Stephen. Conversion of St. Paul. The Vision\n  of St. Paul. Miracles of St. Paul. His Martyrdom. The Legend of\n  Plautilla. The Life of St. Paul in a Series of Subjects            212\n\n  ST. ANDREW. The Legend. Attributes. Historical Subjects from the Life\n  of St. Andrew. Flagellation. Adoration of the Cross. Martyrdom as\n  represented by Guido, Domenichino, and Murillo                     226\n\n  ST. JAMES MAJOR. Story and Character as represented in Scripture. St.\n  James as Patron of Spain. The Legend of Santiago. The Battle of\n  Clavijo. The Pilgrims of Compostella. The Devotional Figures and\n  Attributes of St. James the Apostle. As Tutelar Saint of Spain.\n  Pictures from his Legend                                           230\n\n  ST. PHILIP. The Legend of the Idol and the Serpent. Devotional\n  Pictures and Attributes. Subjects from his Legend. Distinction between\n  St. Philip the Apostle and St. Philip the Deacon                   241\n\n  ST. BARTHOLOMEW. The Legend. The Attributes. Martyrdom             244\n\n  ST. THOMAS. Origin of his peculiar Attribute. The Legend of King\n  Gondoforus. The Incredulity of St. Thomas. The Legend of the \u2018_Madonna\n  della Cintola_.\u2019 Martyrdom of St. Thomas                           245\n\n  ST. JAMES MINOR. First Bishop of Jerusalem. Attributes. Resemblance to\n  Christ. Subjects from his Life. Martyrdom. Frescoes at Padua       250\n\n  ST. SIMON AND ST. JUDE. Legend and Attributes. Represented as\n  Children                                                           252\n\n  ST. MATTHIAS. Attributes                                           254\n\n  JUDAS ISCARIOT. Scriptural Character. Legends relating to him; how\n  represented in various Subjects                                    255\n\n  THE LAST SUPPER. Its importance as a Sacred Subject. Devotional when\n  it represents the Institution of the Eucharist. Historical when it\n  represents the Detection of Judas. Various Examples. Giotto. Duccio of\n  Siena. Angelico da Fiesole. Luca Signorelli. Ghirlandajo. Albert\n  D\u00fcrer. Leonardo da Vinci. Raphael. Andrea del Sarto. Titian.\n  Poussin.                                                            261\n\n  Faults and Mistakes committed by Painters in representing the Last\n  Supper                                                             273\n\n  ST. BARNABAS. His Legend. Popular at Venice as Kinsman of St. Mark.\n  Represented with the Gospel of St. Matthew                         278\n\n\n                      THE DOCTORS OF THE CHURCH.\n\n  THE FOUR LATIN FATHERS. Their Particular Attributes. Their proper\n  place in Ecclesiastical Decoration. Subjects in which they are\n  introduced together                                                280\n\n  ST. JEROME. History and Character. Influence over the Roman Women.\n  Origin of his Attributes. Legend of the Wounded Lion. Devotional\n  Figures of St. Jerome: as Patron Saint; as Translator of the\n  Scriptures; as Penitent. Subjects from the Life of St. Jerome. The\n  Communion of St. Jerome                                            285\n\n  ST. AMBROSE. Story and Character of St. Ambrose. The Emperor\n  Theodosius. The Discovery of the Martyrs St. Protasius and St.\n  Gervasius. Legends relating to St. Ambrose. The Prefect Macedonius.\n  The Nobleman of Tuscany. Devotional Figures of St. Ambrose. His\n  peculiar Attributes. His Church at Milan; his Life as represented on\n  the Altar. Statue of St. Ambrose                                   300\n\n  ST. AUGUSTINE. Character of St. Augustine. His Shrine at Pavia, and\n  Bassorelievos representing his Life. Devotional Figures of St.\n  Augustine. Represented with his Mother, Monica. Various Subjects from\n  his Life. The Vision of St. Augustine                              308\n\n  ST. GREGORY. His Story and Character. His Popularity. Legends\n  connected with his Life. Origin of his Attribute, the Dove. The Supper\n  of St. Gregory. The Mass of St. Gregory. The Miracle of the Brandeum.\n  St. Gregory releases the Soul of the Emperor Trajan. The Legend as\n  represented in Pictures. The Legend of the Monk. St. Gregory\u2019s\n  Doctrine of Purgatory. How represented                             315\n\n  THE FOUR GREEK FATHERS. How represented in the Greek Pictures, and by\n  the Latin Artists                                                  324\n\n  ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. Singular Legends with regard to him. The Penance\n  of St. Chrysostom. As represented in the German Prints. By Lucas\n  Cranach. By Beham. By Albert D\u00fcrer                                 325\n\n  ST. BASIL THE GREAT. His Character. How represented. Story of the\n  Emperor Valens. Legends which refer to St. Basil                   335\n\n  ST. ATHANASIUS. How represented. Unpopular as a Subject of Art     339\n\n  ST. GREGORY NAZIANZEN. His History and Character. His celebrity as a\n  Poet. Beautiful Miniatures relative to his Life                    340\n\n  ST. CYRIL. How represented                                         342\n\n\n  ST. MARY MAGDALENE, ST. MARTHA, ST. LAZARUS, ST. MAXIMIN,\n      ST. MARCELLA, ST. MARY OF EGYPT, AND THE BEATIFIED\n      PENITENTS.\n\n  Character of Mary Magdalene. Disputes concerning her Identity. The\n  Popular and Scriptural Legend. The old Proven\u00e7al Legend. The\n  Devotional Representations: as Patron Saint; as Penitent. Sacred\n  Subjects in which she is introduced. Legendary Subjects. La Danse de\n  la Madeleine. The Assumption of the Magdalene. The Legend of the\n  Mother and Child. Her Life in a Series of Subjects. Legends of Mary\n  Magdalene and St. John the Evangelist                              343\n\n  ST. MARTHA. Her Character. Legends of St. Martha. How represented.\n  Where introduced                                                   381\n\n  ST. LAZARUS                                                        383\n\n  ST. MARY OF EGYPT. The Legend. Distinction between St. Mary of Egypt\n  and Mary Magdalene. Proper Attributes of Mary of Egypt. Stories and\n  Pictures from her Life                                             385\n\n  MARY THE PENITENT, not to be confounded with Mary of Egypt. Her Story.\n  Landscapes of Philippe de Champagne                                390\n\n  ST. THAIS. ST. PELAGIA                                             393\n\n\n\n\n                         LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n                                  IN\n\n                           THE FIRST VOLUME.\n\n\n                               Woodcuts.\n\n  1. Laus Deo. _Liberale di Verona._\n  2. Angel. _Gaudenzio Ferrari._\n  3. Angels singing \u2018Gloria in Excelsis Deo.\u2019 _Perugino._\n  4. Seraph. _Greek Emblem, 9th Century._\n  5. Cherubim. _Italian, 14th Century._\n  6. Cherubim. _Pinturicchio._\n  7. Cherubim. _Liberale di Verona._\n  8. Part of a Glory of Angels. _Ambrogio Borgognone._\n  9. Winged Genius. _Egyptian._\n  10. Winged Figure. _Nineveh Marbles._\n  11. Seraph. _Ancient Greek Mosaic._\n  12. Angels. _Orcagna._\n  13. Fiery Cherub. _Raphael._\n  14. Angel, hymning the Virgin. _Francia._\n  15. Piping Angel. _Gian Bellini._\n  16. Greek Angel bearing the Moon.\n  17. Angels on Horseback. _Cathedral of Auxerre._\n  18. Angels expelling Adam and Eve. _N. Pisano._\n  19. Angels who visit Abraham. _Raphael._\n  20. Plan of the Riccardi Chapel. _Florence._\n  21. Lamenting Angel. _Campo Santo._\n  22. The Angel wrestles with Jacob. _Greek Miniature._\n  23. Greek Angel. _Miniature._\n  24. Greek Angels. _Mosaic._\n  25. Angels. _F. Granacci._\n  26. Angel in a Crucifixion. _Albert D\u00fcrer._\n  27. Angels of the 17th Century.\n  28. Angel. _Poussin._\n  29. Angels rejoicing. _W. Blake._\n  30. Two Archangels. _Cimabue._\n  31. The Archangels Michael and Raphael. _Campo Santo._\n  32. Angels bearing the Instruments of the Passion. _Campo Santo._\n  33. The Three Archangels bear the Infant Christ.\n  34. St. Michael as Patron Saint. _Angelico da Fiesole._\n  35. Early Symbol of St. Michael and the Dragon. _Bas-relief._\n  36. St. Michael overcomes the Demon. _Martin Schoen._\n  37. The same subject. _Raphael._\n  38. St. Michael as Patron Saint. _Mabuse._\n  39. St. Michael as Angel of Judgment and Lord of Souls. _Justus of\n      Ghent._\n  40. St. Michael as Lord of Souls. _Luca Signorelli._\n  41. Egyptian Symbol.\n  42. St. Gabriel. _Lorenzo of Monaco._\n  43. St. Gabriel. _Wilhelm of Cologne._\n  44. Angel announcing the Death of the Virgin. _Filippo Lippi._\n  45. St. Gabriel. _Van Eyck._\n  46. St. Raphael. _Murillo._\n  47. St. Raphael. _Rembrandt._\n  48. The Symbol of St. Matthew. _Mosaic._\n  49. The Tetramorph. _Greek._\n  50. Symbol of St. Luke. _Mosaic._\n  51. Symbol of St. Luke. _Mosaic._\n  52. Symbol of St. John. _Mosaic._\n  53. Symbol of St. Mark. _Mosaic._\n  54. Symbol of St. John. _Miniature._\n  55. Symbol of St. Mark. _Sculpture._\n  56. Mystical Figures of the Four Evangelists. _Angelico da Fiesole._\n  57. Figure from Nineveh. _British Museum._\n  58. Winged St. Mark. _Hans Beham._\n  59. St. Matthew. _Raphael._\n  60. St. John. _Hans Hemling._\n  61. St. John with the Eagle. _Raphael._\n  62. St. John as Prophet. _Raphael._\n  63. St. John in the Island of Patmos. _Lucas van Leyden._\n  64. The Twelve Apostles, as Sheep. _Mosaic._\n  65. St. Philip. _Orcagna._\n  66. St. Peter and St. Paul. _Carlo Crivelli._\n  67. St. Peter. _Greek Type._\n  68. St. Peter with one Key. _Taddeo Gaddi._\n  69. St. Paul. _Greek Type._\n  70. St. Peter as Pope. _Cola dell\u2019 Amatrice._\n  71. Repentance of Peter. _Bas-relief, 3rd Century._\n  72. Crucifixion of Peter. _Giotto._\n  73. St. Peter, as Keeper of the Gates of Paradise. _Simone Memmi._\n  74. St. Andrew. _Peter Vischer._\n  75. St. James Major. _Giovanni Santi._\n  76. Santiago slaying the Moors. _Carre\u00f1o de Miranda._\n  77. St. James Major as Patron. _Andrea del Sarto._\n  78. The Miracle of the Fowls. _Lo Spagna._\n  79. St. Philip. _Albert D\u00fcrer._\n  80. St. Bartholomew. _Giotto._\n  81. St. Thomas. _Raphael._\n  82. St. James Minor. _L. van Leyden._\n  83. St. Matthias. _Raphael._\n  84. Angel swinging the Censer. _Albert D\u00fcrer._\n  85. St. Jerome doing Penance. _Titian._\n  86. St. Jerome. _Raphael._\n  87. St. Jerome healing the Lion. _Coll\u2019 Antonio da Fiore._\n  88. Venetian St. Jerome.\n  89. The Vision of St. Augustine. _Murillo._\n  90. \u2018La P\u00e9nitence de St. Jean Chrysostome.\u2019 _Albert D\u00fcrer._\n  91. St. Mary Magdalene. Statue. _Donatello._\n  92. St. Mary Magdalene. _L. van Leyden._\n  93. St. Mary Magdalene. _Timoteo della Vite._\n  94. St. Mary Magdalene. _Murillo._\n  95. St. Mary Magdalene. _Annibale Caracci._\n  96. The Assumption of the Magdalene. _Albert D\u00fcrer._\n  97. St. Mary of Egypt dying. _Pietro da Cortona._\n  98. Angel. _Raphael._\n\n\n\n\n                               Etchings.\n\n                                                                    PAGE\n\n  I. The Assumption of the Magdalene. _After Giulio Romano._ The\n  Original Fresco, which is in our National Gallery, was cut from the\n  wall of the Church of the Trinit\u00e0 de\u2019 Monti, at Rome            _Title_\n\n  II. A Venetian Votive Picture in commemoration of a Pestilence\n  (probably the pestilence of 1512, in which Giorgione perished).\n  St. Mark, enthroned as the Patron Saint of Venice, holds his Gospel;\n  on the right St. Sebastian and St. Roch, Protectors against the Plague;\n  on the left, St. Cosmo and St. Damian, Patron Saints of the Healing\n  Art. _Sketch after Titian._ The Original Picture, remarkable for\n  beauty of expression, and splendour and harmony of colour, in the\n  Church of S. Maria della  Salute, at Venice                         22\n\n  III. Angels of the Planets. _Raphael. From the fine set of Engravings\n  by L. Gruner, after the Frescoes in the Cappella Chigiana at Rome_  80\n\n  IV. 1. St. Luke painting the Virgin. _After the Picture in the Academy\n  of St. Luke attributed to Raphael._ 2. St. Mark attended by St.\n  Gregory. _After Correggio_                                         156\n\n  V. The Madonna della Cintola. The Virgin, as she ascends to heaven,\n  presents her girdle to St. Thomas; who kneels by the tomb, which is\n  full of roses. On the other side, the Archangel Michael, in reference\n  to the Legend. _From a Picture by Francesco Granacci in the Florence\n  Gallery_                                                           248\n\n  VI. The Last Supper. 1. _After Giotto._ 2. _After Leonardo da Vinci._\n  3. _After Raphael._ (For this etching I am indebted to Mr. George\n  Scharf.)                                                           261\n\n  VII. The Four Latin Fathers. _From a Picture by Antonio Vivarini, in\n  the Academy at Venice_                                             280\n\n  VIII. The Five Greek Fathers. _Drawing from an Ancient Greek Picture\n  in the Vatican_                                                    324\n\n  IX. Martha conducts her Sister Mary Magdalene to the Presence of our\n  Lord. _From the Engraving by Marc\u2019 Antonio, after Raphael_         381\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: 1  Laus Deo!]\n\n\n\n\n                             Introduction.\n\nI. OF THE ORIGIN AND GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE LEGENDS REPRESENTED IN\n                                 ART.\n\n\nWe cannot look round a picture gallery\u2014we cannot turn over a portfolio\nof prints after the old masters, nor even the modern engravings which\npour upon us daily, from Paris, Munich, or Berlin\u2014without perceiving\nhow many of the most celebrated productions of Art, more particularly\nthose which have descended to us from the early Italian and German\nschools, represent incidents and characters taken from the once popular\nlegends of the Catholic Church. This form of \u2018_Hero-Worship_\u2019 has\nbecome, since the Reformation, strange to us\u2014as far removed from our\nsympathies and associations as if it were antecedent to the fall of\nBabylon and related to the religion of Zoroaster, instead of being\nleft but two or three centuries behind us and closely connected with\nthe faith of our forefathers and the history of civilisation and\nChristianity. Of late years, with a growing passion for the works\nof Art of the Middle Ages, there has arisen among us a desire to\ncomprehend the state of feeling which produced them, and the legends\nand traditions on which they are founded;\u2014a desire to understand, and\nto bring to some surer critical test, representations which have become\nfamiliar without being intelligible. To enable us to do this, we must\npause for a moment at the outset; and, before we plunge into the midst\nof things, ascend to higher ground, and command a far wider range of\nillustration than has yet been attempted, in order to take cognizance\nof principles and results which, if not new, must be contemplated in a\nnew relation to each other.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe Legendary Art of the Middle Ages sprang out of the legendary\nliterature of the preceding ages. For three centuries at least, this\nliterature, the only literature which existed at the time, formed\nthe sole mental and moral nourishment of the _people_ of Europe. The\nromances of Chivalry, which long afterwards succeeded, were confined to\nparticular classes, and left no impress on Art, beyond the miniature\nilluminations of a few manuscripts. This legendary literature, on\nthe contrary, which had worked itself into the life of the people,\nbecame, like the antique mythology, as a living soul diffused through\nthe loveliest forms of Art, still vivid and vivifying, even when the\nold faith in its mystical significance was lost or forgotten. And it\nis a mistake to suppose that these legends had their sole origin in\nthe brains of dreaming monks. The wildest of them had some basis of\ntruth to rest on, and the forms which they gradually assumed were but\nthe necessary result of the age which produced them. They became the\nintense expression of that inner life, which revolted against the\ndesolation and emptiness of the outward existence; of those crushed and\noutraged sympathies which cried aloud for rest, and refuge, and solace,\nand could nowhere find them. It will be said, \u2018In the purer doctrine of\nthe GOSPEL.\u2019 But where was that to be found? The Gospel was not then\nthe heritage of the poor: Christ, as a comforter, walked not among men.\nHis own blessed teaching was inaccessible except to the learned: it was\nshut up in rare manuscripts; it was perverted and sophisticated by the\npassions and the blindness of those few to whom it _was_ accessible.\nThe bitter disputes in the early Church relative to the nature of the\nGodhead, the subtle distinctions and incomprehensible arguments of\nthe theologians, the dread entertained by the predominant church of\nany heterodox opinions concerning the divinity of the Redeemer, had\nall conspired to remove _Him_, in his personal character of Teacher\nand Saviour, far away from the hearts of the benighted and miserable\npeople\u2014far, far away into regions speculative, mysterious, spiritual,\nwhither they could not, dared not follow Him. In this state of things,\nas it has been remarked by a distinguished writer, \u2018Christ became the\nobject of a remoter, a more awful adoration. The mind began, therefore,\nto seek out, or eagerly to seize, some other more material beings in\ncloser alliance with human sympathies.\u2019 And the same author, after\ntracing in vivid and beautiful language the dangerous but natural\nconsequences of this feeling, thus sums up the result: \u2018During the\nperilous and gloomy days of persecution, the reverence for those who\nendured martyrdom for the religion of Christ had grown up out of the\nbest feelings of man\u2019s improved nature. Reverence gradually grew into\nveneration, worship, adoration: and although the more rigid theology\nmaintained a marked distinction between the honour shown to the\nmartyrs, and that addressed to the Redeemer and the Supreme Being,\nthe line was too fine and invisible not to be transgressed by excited\npopular feeling.\u2019[1]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\u2018We live,\u2019 says the poet, \u2018through admiration, hope, and love.\u2019 Out\nof these vital aspirations\u2014not indeed always \u2018well or wisely placed,\u2019\nbut never, as in the heathen mythology, degraded to vicious and\ncontemptible objects\u2014arose and spread the universal passion for the\ntraditional histories of the saints and martyrs,\u2014personages endeared\nand sanctified in all hearts, partly as examples of the loftiest\nvirtue, partly as benign intercessors between suffering humanity and\nthat Deity who, in every other light than as a God of Vengeance, had\nbeen veiled from their eyes by the perversities of schoolmen and\nfanatics, till He had receded beyond their reach, almost beyond their\ncomprehension. Of the prevalence and of the incalculable influence\nof this legendary literature from the seventh to the tenth century,\nthat is, just about the period when Modern Art was struggling into\nexistence, we have a most striking picture in Guizot\u2019s \u2018Histoire de la\nCivilisation.\u2019 \u2018As after the siege of Troy (says this philosophical\nand eloquent writer) there were found, in every city of Greece, men who\ncollected the traditions and adventures of heroes, and sung them for\nthe recreation of the people, till these recitals became a national\npassion, a national poetry, so, at the time of which we speak, the\ntraditions of what may be called the heroic ages of Christianity had\nthe same interest for the nations of Europe. There were men who made it\ntheir business to collect them, to transcribe them, to read or recite\nthem aloud, for the edification and delight of the people. And this was\nthe only literature, properly so called, of that time.\u2018\n\nNow, if we go back to the _authentic_ histories of the sufferings and\nheroism of the early martyrs, we shall find enough there, both of the\nwonderful and the affecting, to justify the credulity and enthusiasm of\nthe unlettered people, who saw no reason why they should not believe\nin one miracle as well as in another. In these universally diffused\nlegends, we may recognise the means, at least one of the means, by\nwhich a merciful Providence, working through its own immutable laws,\nhad provided against the utter depravation, almost extinction, of\nsociety. Of the \u2018Dark Ages,\u2019 emphatically so called, the period to\nwhich I allude was perhaps the darkest; it was \u2018of Night\u2019s black arch\nthe key-stone.\u2019 At a time when men were given over to the direst evils\nthat can afflict humanity,\u2014ignorance, idleness, wickedness, misery;\nat a time when the every-day incidents of life were a violation of\nall the moral instincts of mankind; at a time when all things seemed\nabandoned to a blind chance, or the brutal law of force; when there was\nno repose, no refuge, no safety anywhere; when the powerful inflicted,\nand the weak endured, whatever we can conceive of most revolting and\nintolerable; when slavery was recognised by law throughout Europe;\nwhen men fled to cloisters, to shut themselves from oppression, and\nwomen to shield themselves from outrage; when the manners were harsh,\nthe language gross; when all the softer social sentiments, as pity,\nreverence, tenderness, found no resting-place in the actual relations\nof life; when for the higher ranks there was only the fierce excitement\nof war, and on the humbler classes lay the weary, dreary monotony of\na stagnant existence, poor in pleasures of every kind, without aim,\nwithout hope; _then_\u2014wondrous reaction of the ineffaceable instincts\nof good implanted within us!\u2014arose a literature which reversed the\noutward order of things, which asserted and kept alive in the hearts\nof men those pure principles of Christianity which were outraged in\ntheir daily actions; a literature in which peace was represented as\nbetter than war, and sufferance more dignified than resistance; which\nexhibited poverty and toil as honourable, and charity as the first\nof virtues; which held up to imitation and emulation, self-sacrifice\nin the cause of good and contempt of death for conscience\u2019 sake: a\nliterature, in which the tenderness, the chastity, the heroism of\nwoman, played a conspicuous part; which distinctly protested against\nslavery, against violence, against impurity in word and deed; which\nrefreshed the fevered and darkened spirit with images of moral beauty\nand truth; revealed bright glimpses of a better land, where \u2018the wicked\ncease from troubling,\u2019 and brought down the angels of God with shining\nwings and bearing crowns of glory, to do battle with the demons of\ndarkness, to catch the fleeting soul of the triumphant martyr, and\ncarry it at once into a paradise of eternal blessedness and peace!\n\nNow the Legendary Art of the three centuries which comprise the revival\nof learning, was, as I have said, the reflection of this literature, of\nthis teaching. Considered in this point of view, can we easily overrate\nits interest and importance?\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWhen, after the long period of darkness which followed upon the decline\nof the Roman Empire, the Fine Arts began to revive, the first, and for\nseveral ages the only, impress they received was that of the religious\nspirit of the time. Painting, Sculpture, Music, and Architecture, as\nthey emerged one after another from the \u2018formless void,\u2019 were pressed\ninto the service of the Church. But it is a mistake to suppose that\nin adroitly adapting the reviving Arts to her purposes, in that\nmagnificent spirit of calculation which at all times characterised her,\nthe Church from the beginning selected the subjects, or dictated the\nuse that was to be made of them. We find, on the contrary, edicts and\ncouncils _repressing_ the popular extravagances in this respect, and\ndenouncing those apocryphal versions of sacred events and traditions\nwhich had become the delight of the people. But vain were councils and\nedicts; the tide was too strong to be so checked. The Church found\nherself obliged to accept and mould to her own objects the exotic\nelements she could not eradicate. She _absorbed_, so to speak, the\nevils and errors she could not expel. There seems to have been at this\ntime a sort of compromise between the popular legends, with all their\nwild mixture of northern and classical superstitions, and the Church\nlegends properly so called. The first great object to which reviving\nArt was destined, was to render the Christian places of worship a\ntheatre of instruction and improvement for the people, to attract and\nto interest them by representations of scenes, events, and personages,\nalready so familiar as to require no explanation, appealing; at once\nto their intelligence and their sympathies; embodying in beautiful\nshapes (beautiful at least in their eyes) associations and feelings and\nmemories deep-rooted in their very hearts, and which had influenced,\nin no slight degree, the progress of civilisation, the development of\nmind. Upon these creations of ancient Art we cannot look as _those_ did\nfor whom they were created; we cannot annihilate the centuries which\nlie between us and them; we cannot, in simplicity of heart, forget the\nartist in the image he has placed before us, nor supply what may be\ndeficient in his work, through a reverentially excited fancy. We are\ncritical, not credulous. We no longer accept this polytheistic form of\nChristianity; and there is little danger, I suppose, of our falling\nagain into the strange excesses of superstition to which it led. But\nif we have not much sympathy with modern imitations of Medi\u00e6val Art,\nstill less should we sympathise with that narrow puritanical jealousy\nwhich holds the monuments of a real and earnest faith in contempt. All\nthat God has permitted once to exist in the past should be considered\nas the possession of the present; sacred for example or warning, and\nheld as the foundation on which to build up what is better and purer.\nIt should seem an established fact, that all revolutions in religion,\nin government, and in art, which begin in the spirit of scorn, and\nin a sweeping destruction of the antecedent condition, only tend\nto a reaction. Our puritanical ancestors chopped off the heads of\nMadonnas and Saints, and paid vagabonds to smash the storied windows\nof our cathedrals;\u2014_now_, are these rejected and outraged shapes of\nbeauty coming back to us, or are we not rather going back to them? As\na Protestant, I might fear lest in doing so we confound the eternal\nspirit of Christianity with the mutable forms in which it has deigned\nto speak to the hearts of men, forms which must of necessity vary\nwith the degree of social civilisation, and bear the impress of the\nfeelings and fashions of the age which produced them; but I must also\nfeel that we ought to comprehend, and to hold in due reverence, that\nwhich has once been consecrated to holiest aims, which has shown us\nwhat a magnificent use has been made of Art, and how it may still be\nadapted to good and glorious purposes, if, while we respect these\ntime-consecrated images and types, we do not allow them to fetter us,\nbut trust in the progressive spirit of Christianity to furnish us with\nnew impersonations of the good\u2014new combinations of the beautiful. I\nhate the destructive as I revere the progressive spirit. We must laugh\nif any one were to try and persuade us that the sun was guided along\nhis blazing path by a \u2018fair-haired god who touched a golden lyre;\u2019 but\nshall we therefore cease to adore in the Apollo Belvedere the majestic\nsymbol of light, the most divine impersonation of intellectual power\nand beauty? So of the corresponding Christian symbols:\u2014may that time\nnever come, when we shall look up to the effigy of the winged and\nradiant angel trampling down the brute-fiend, without a glow of faith\nin the perpetual supremacy and final triumph of good over evil!\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIt is about a hundred years since the passion, or the fashion, for\ncollecting works of Art, began to be generally diffused among the\nrich and the noble of this land; and it is amusing to look back\nand to consider the perversions and affectations of the would-be\nconnoisseurship during this period;\u2014the very small stock of ideas\non which people set up a pretension to taste\u2014the false notions, the\nmixture of pedantry and ignorance, which everywhere prevailed. The\npublication of Richardson\u2019s book, and Sir Joshua Reynolds\u2019s Discourses,\nhad this advantage,\u2014that they, to a certain degree, diffused a more\nelevated idea of Art as _Art_, and that they placed connoisseurship\non a better and truer basis. In those days we had Inquiries into the\nPrinciples of Taste, Treatises on the Sublime and Beautiful, Anecdotes\nof Painting; and we abounded in Antiquarian Essays on disputed Pictures\nand mutilated Statues: but then, and up to a late period, any inquiry\ninto the true spirit and significance of works of Art, as connected\nwith the history of Religion and Civilisation, would have appeared\nridiculous\u2014or perhaps dangerous:\u2014we should have had another cry of\n\u2018No Popery,\u2019 and acts of parliament forbidding the importation of\nSaints and Madonnas. It was fortunate, perhaps, that connoisseurs\nmeddled not with such high matters. They talked volubly and harmlessly\nof \u2018hands,\u2019 and \u2018masters,\u2019 and \u2018schools,\u2019\u2014of \u2018draperies,\u2019 of \u2018tints,\u2019\nof \u2018handling,\u2019\u2014of \u2018fine heads,\u2019 \u2018fine compositions;\u2019 of \u2018the grace of\nRaphael,\u2019 and of the \u2018Correggiosity of Correggio.\u2019 The very manner in\nwhich the names of the painters were pedantically used instead of the\nname of the subject, is indicative of this factitious feeling; the only\nquestion at issue was, whether such a picture was a genuine \u2018Raphael?\u2019\nsuch another a genuine \u2018Titian?\u2019 The spirit of the work\u2014whether _that_\nwas genuine; how far it was influenced by the faith and the condition\nof the age which produced it; whether the conception was properly\ncharacteristic, and of _what_ it was characteristic\u2014of the subject? or\nof the school? or of the time?\u2014whether the treatment corresponded to\nthe idea within our own souls, or was modified by the individuality\nof the artist, or by received conventionalisms of all kinds?\u2014these\nwere questions which had not then occurred to any one; and I am not\nsure that we are much wiser even now: yet, setting aside all higher\nconsiderations, how can we do common justice to the artist, unless\nwe can bring his work to the test of truth? and how can we do this,\nunless we know what to look for, what was _intended_ as to incident,\nexpression, character? One result of our ignorance has been the\nadmiration wasted on the flimsy mannerists of the later ages of Art;\nmen who apparently had no definite _intention_ in anything they did,\nexcept a dashing outline, or a delicate finish, or a striking and\nattractive management of colour.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIt is curious, this general ignorance with regard to the subjects of\nMedi\u00e6val Art, more particularly now that it has become a reigning\nfashion among us. We find no such ignorance with regard to the subjects\nof Classical Art, because the associations connected with them form a\npart of every liberal education. Do we hear any one say, in looking at\nAnnibal Caracci\u2019s picture in the National Gallery, \u2018Which is Silenus,\nand which is Apollo?\u2019 Who ever confounds a Venus with a Minerva, or\na Vestal with an Amazon; or would endure an undraped Juno, or a\nbeardless Jupiter? Even the gardener in Zeluco knew Neptune by his\n\u2018fork,\u2019 and Vulcan by his \u2018lame leg.\u2019 We are indeed so accustomed, in\nvisiting the churches and the galleries abroad, and the collections at\nhome, to the predominance of sacred subjects, that it has become a mere\nmatter of course, and excites no particular interest and attention.\nWe have heard it all accounted for by the fact that the Church and\nchurchmen were the first, and for a long time the only, patrons of Art.\nIn every sacred edifice, and in every public or private collection\nenriched from the plunder of sacred edifices, we look for the usual\nproportion of melancholy martyrdoms and fictitious miracles,\u2014for\nthe predominance of Madonnas and Magdalenes, St. Catherines and St.\nJeromes: but why these should predominate, why certain events and\ncharacters from the Old and the New Testament should be continually\nrepeated, and others comparatively neglected; whence the predilection\nfor certain legendary personages, who seemed to be multiplied to\ninfinity, and the rarity of others; of this we know nothing.\n\nWe have learned, perhaps, after running through half the galleries\nand churches in Europe, to distinguish a few of the attributes and\ncharacteristic figures which meet us at every turn, yet without any\nclear idea of their meaning, derivation, or relative propriety. The\npalm of victory, we know, designates the martyr triumphant in death.\nWe so far emulate the critical sagacity of the gardener in Zeluco\nthat we have learned to distinguish St. Laurence by his gridiron,\nand St. Catherine by her wheel. We are not at a loss to recognise\nthe Magdalene\u2019s \u2018loose hair and lifted eye,\u2019 even when without her\nskull and her vase of ointment. We learn to know St. Francis by his\nbrown habit and shaven crown and wasted ardent features; but do we\ndistinguish him from St. Anthony, or St. Dominick? As for St. George\nand the dragon\u2014from the St. George of the Louvre,\u2014Raphael\u2019s,\u2014who sits\nhis horse with the elegant tranquillity of one assured of celestial\naid, down to him \u2018who swings on a sign post at mine hostess\u2019s door,\u2019\u2014he\nis our familiar acquaintance. But who is that lovely being in the first\nblush of youth, who, bearing aloft the symbolic cross, stands with one\nfoot on the vanquished dragon? \u2018That is a copy after Raphael.\u2019 And who\nis that majestic creature holding her palm branch, while the unicorn\ncrouches at her feet? \u2018That is the famous Moretto at Vienna.\u2019 Are we\nsatisfied?\u2014not in the least! but we try to look wiser, and pass on.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIn the old times the painters of these legendary scenes and subjects\ncould always reckon securely on certain associations and certain\nsympathies in the minds of the spectators. We have outgrown these\nassociations, we repudiate these sympathies. We have taken these\nworks from their consecrated localities, in which they once held each\ntheir dedicated place, and we have hung them in our drawing-rooms\nand our dressing-rooms, over our pianos and our side-boards\u2014and now\nwhat do they say to us? That Magdalene, weeping amid her hair, who\nonce spoke comfort to the soul of the fallen sinner\u2014that Sebastian,\narrow-pierced, whose upward ardent glance spoke of courage and hope\nto the tyrant-ridden serf,\u2014that poor tortured slave, to whose aid St.\nMark comes sweeping down from above,\u2014can they speak to _us_ of nothing\nsave flowing lines and correct drawing and gorgeous colour? must we be\ntold that one is a Titian, the other a Guido, the third a Tintoret,\nbefore we dare to melt in compassion or admiration?\u2014or the moment we\nrefer to their ancient religious signification and influence, must\nit be with disdain or with pity? This, as it appears to me, is to\ntake not a rational, but rather a most irrational as well as a most\nirreverent, view of the question; it is to confine the pleasure and\nimprovement to be derived from works of Art within very narrow bounds;\nit is to seal up a fountain of the richest poetry, and to shut out a\nthousand ennobling and inspiring thoughts. Happily there is a growing\nappreciation of these larger principles of criticism as applied to\nthe study of Art. People look at the pictures which hang round their\nwalls, and have an awakening suspicion that there is more in them than\nmeets the eye\u2014more than mere connoisseurship can interpret; and that\nthey have another, a deeper, significance than has been dreamed of by\npicture dealers and picture collectors, or even picture critics.\n\n\n   II. OF THE DISTINCTION TO BE DRAWN BETWEEN THE DEVOTIONAL AND THE\n                         HISTORICAL SUBJECTS.\n\nAt first, when entering on a subject so boundless and so diversified,\nwe are at a loss for some leading classification which shall be\ndistinct and intelligible, without being mechanical. It appears to me,\nthat all sacred representations, in as far as they appeal to sentiment\nand imagination, resolve themselves into two great classes, which I\nshall call the DEVOTIONAL and the HISTORICAL.\n\nDevotional pictures are those which portray the objects of our\nveneration with reference only to their sacred character, whether\nstanding singly or in company with others. They place before us\nno action or event, real or supposed. They are neither portrait\nnor history. A group of sacred personages where no action is\nrepresented, is called in Italian a \u2018_sacra conversazione_:\u2019 the word\n_conversazione_, which signifies a society in which there is communion,\nbeing here, as it appears to me, used with peculiar propriety. All\nsubjects, then, which exhibit to us sacred personages, alone or in\ngroups, simply in the character of superior beings, must be considered\nas _devotionally_ treated.\n\nBut a sacred subject, without losing wholly its religious import,\nbecomes historical the moment it represents any story, incident, or\naction, real or imagined. All pictures which exhibit the events of\nScripture story, all those which express the actions, miracles, and\nmartyrdoms of saints, come under this class; and to this distinction I\nmust call the attention of the reader, requesting that it may be borne\nin mind throughout this work.\n\nWe must also recollect that a story, action, or fact may be so\nrepresented as to become a symbol expressive of an abstract idea:\nand some scriptural and some legendary subjects may be devotional,\nor historical, according to the sentiment conveyed: for example, the\nCrucifixion and the Last Supper may be so represented as either to\nexhibit an event, or to express a symbol of our Redemption. The raising\nof Lazarus exhibits, in the catacombs, a mystical emblem of the general\nresurrection; in the grand picture by Sebastian del Piombo, in our\nNational Gallery, it is a scene from the life of our Saviour. Among\nthe legendary subjects, the penance of the Magdalene, and St. Martin\ndividing his cloak, may be merely incidents, or they may be symbolical,\nthe first of penitence, the latter of charity, in the general sense.\nAnd, again, there are some subjects which, though expressing a scene or\nan action, are _wholly_ mystical and devotional in their import; as the\nvision of St. Augustine, and the marriage of St. Catherine.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAmong the grandest of the devotional subjects, we may reckon those\ncompositions which represent the whole celestial hierarchy; the divine\npersonages of the Trinity, the angels and archangels, and the beatified\nspirits of the just. Such is the subject called the \u2018Paradiso,\u2019 so\noften met with in pictures and ecclesiastical decoration, where Christ\nis enthroned in glory: such is also the Coronation of the Virgin, that\nancient and popular symbol of the triumph of Religion or the Church;\nthe Adoration of the Lamb; and the Last Judgment, from the Apocalypse.\nThe order of precedence in these sacred assemblages was early settled\nby ecclesiastical authority, and was almost as absolute as that of\na modern code of honour. First after the Trinity, the Virgin Mary,\nas _Regina Angelorum_, and St. John the Baptist: then, in order, the\nEvangelists; the Patriarchs; the Prophets; the Apostles; the Fathers;\nthe Bishops; the Martyrs; the Hermits; the Virgins; the Monks, Nuns,\nand Confessors.\n\nAs examples, I may cite the Paradiso of Angelico, in the Florence\nAcademy; the Coronation of the Virgin by Hans Memling, in the\nWallerstein collection, which contains not less than fifty-two figures,\nall individualised with their proper attributes; and which, if it\nwere possible, should be considered in contrast with the Coronation\nby Angelico. The Flemish painter seems to have carried his intense\nimpression of earthly and individual life into the regions of heaven;\nthe Italian, through a purer inspiration, seems to have brought all\nParadise down before us upon earth. In the Adoration of the Lamb by\nVan Eyck, there are not fewer than two hundred figures. For the Last\nJudgment, the grand compositions of Orcagna in the Campo Santo,\u2014of Luca\nSignorelli and Angelico at Orvieto,\u2014and the fresco of Michael Angelo in\nthe Sistine Chapel, may be consulted.\n\nWhere the usual order is varied, there is generally some reason for\nit; for instance, in the exaltation of a favourite saint, as we\nsometimes find St. Dominick and St. Francis by the side of St. Peter\nand St. Paul: and among the miniatures of that extraordinary MS., the\nHortus Deliciarum, now at Strasbourg, painted for a virgin abbess,\nthere is a \u2018Paradiso\u2019 in which the painter, either by her command or in\ncompliment to her, has placed the virgins immediately after the angels.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe representation of the Virgin and Child with saints grouped around\nthem, is a devotional subject familiar to us from its constant\nrecurrence. It also frequently happens that the tutelary saint of the\nlocality, or the patron saint of the votary, is represented as seated\non a raised throne in the centre; and other saints, though under every\nother circumstance taking a superior rank, become here accessories,\nand are placed on each side or lower down in the picture: for example,\nwhere St. Augustine is enthroned, and St. Peter and St. Paul stand on\neach side, as in a picture by B. Vivarini,[2] or where St. Barbara is\nenthroned, and Mary Magdalene and St. Catherine stand on each side, as\nin a picture by Matteo di Siena.[3]\n\nIn such pictures, the votary or donor is often introduced kneeling at\nthe feet of his patron, either alone or accompanied by his wife and\nother members of his family: and to express the excess of his humility,\nhe is sometimes so diminutive in proportion to the colossal object\nof his veneration, as to be almost lost to sight; we have frequent\nexamples of this _na\u00efvet\u00e9_ of sentiment in the old mosaics and votive\naltar-pieces; for instance, in a beautiful old fresco at Assisi,\nwhere the Magdalene, a majestic figure about six feet high, holds out\nher hand in benediction to a little Franciscan friar about a foot in\nheight: but it was abandoned as barbarous in the later schools of Art,\nand the votary, when retained, appears of the natural size; as in the\n_Madonna del Donatore_ of Raphael[4], where Sigismond Conti is almost\nthe finest and most striking part of that inestimable picture: and in\nthe _Madonna_ of the Meyer family by Holbein.[5]\n\nWhen a bishop is introduced into a group of saints kneeling, while all\nthe others are standing, he may be supposed to be the _Donatore_ or\n_Divoto_, the person who presents the picture. When he is standing, he\nis one of the bishop-patrons or bishop-martyrs, of whom there are some\nhundreds, and who are more difficult to discriminate than any other\npictured saints.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAnd this leads me to the subject of the so-called _anachronisms_ in\ndevotional subjects, where personages who lived at different and\ndistant periods of time are found grouped together. It is curious\nto find the critics of the last century treating with pity and\nridicule, as the result of ignorance or a barbarous unformed taste,\nthe noblest and most spiritual conceptions of poetic art. Even Sir\nJoshua Reynolds had so little idea of the true object and feeling of\nsuch representations, that he thinks it necessary to apologise for the\nerror of the painter, or the mistaken piety of his employer. We must\nremember that the personages here brought together in their sacred\ncharacter belong no more to our earth, but to heaven and eternity: for\nthem there is no longer time or place; they are here assembled together\nin the perpetual \u2018communion of saints,\u2019\u2014immortal contemporaries in that\nkingdom where the Angel of the Apocalypse proclaimed \u2018that there should\nbe time no longer.\u2019\n\nSuch groups are sometimes arranged with an artless solemnity, all the\npersonages standing and looking straight out of the picture at the\nworshipper. Sometimes there is a touch of dramatic sentiment, which,\nwithout interfering with the solemn devotional feeling, lights up the\nwhole with the charm of a purpose: as in the Correggio at Parma, where\nSt. Jerome presents his translation of the Scriptures to the infant\nChrist, while an angel turns the leaves, and Mary Magdalene, symbol of\nredemption and reconciliation, bends to kiss the feet of the Saviour.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOur ancestors of the middle ages were not particular in drawing\nthat strong line of demarcation between the classical, Jewish and\nChristian periods of history, that we do. They saw only Christendom\nevery where; they regarded the past only in relation to Christianity.\nHence we find in the early ecclesiastical monuments and edifices such\na strange assemblage of pagan, scriptural, and Christian worthies;\nas, Hector of Troy, Alexander the Great, King David, Judas Maccabeus,\nKing Arthur, St. George, Godfrey of Boulogne, Lucretia, Virginia,\nJudith, St. Elizabeth, St. Bridget (as in the Cross of Nuremburg).\nIn the curious Manual of Greek Art, published by Didron, we find the\nGreek philosophers and poets entering into a scheme of ecclesiastical\ndecoration, as in the carved stalls in the Cathedral of Ulm, where\nSolon, Apollonius, Plutarch, Plato, Sophocles, are represented, holding\neach a scroll, on which is inscribed a passage from their works,\ninterpreted into an allusion to the coming of Christ: and I have seen\na picture of the Nativity in which the sibyls are dancing hand-in-hand\naround the cradle of the new-born Saviour. This may appear profane to\nsome, but the comprehension of the whole universe within the pale of\nChristianity strikes me as being in the most catholic, as well as in\nthe most poetical, spirit.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIt is in devotional subjects that we commonly find those\nanthropomorphic representations of the Divinity which shock devout\npeople; and which no excuse or argument can render endurable to those\nwho see in them only ignorant irreverence, or intentional profaneness.\nIt might be pleaded that the profaneness is not intentional; that\nemblems and forms are, in the imitative arts, what figures of speech\nare in language; that only through a figure of speech can any attempt\nbe made to place the idea of Almighty Power before us. Familiar\nexpressions, consecrated by Scripture usage, represent the Deity as\nreposing, waking, stretching forth his hand, sitting on a throne;\nas pleased, angry, vengeful, repentant; and the ancient painters,\nspeaking the language proper to their art, appear to have turned these\nemblematical words into emblematical pictures. I forbear to say more on\nthis point, because I have taken throughout the poetical and not the\nreligious view of Art, and this is an objection which must be left,\nas a matter of feeling, to the amount of candour and knowledge in the\ncritical reader.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIn the sacred subjects, properly called HISTORICAL, we must be careful\nto distinguish between those which are _Scriptural_, representing\nscenes from the Old or New Testament; and those which are _Legendary_.\n\nOf the first, for the present; I do not speak, as they will be fully\ntreated hereafter.\n\nThe historical subjects from the lives of the saints consist\nprincipally of _Miracles_ and _Martyrdoms_.\n\nIn the first, it is worth remarking that we have no pictured miracle\nwhich is not imitated from the Old or the New Testament (unless it be\nan obvious emblem, as where the saint carries his own head). There is\nno act of supernatural power related of any saint which is not recorded\nof some great scriptural personage. The object was to represent the\nfavourite patron as a copy of the great universal type of beneficence,\nCHRIST OUR REDEEMER. And they were not satisfied that the resemblance\nshould lie in character only; but should emulate the power of Christ\nin his visible actions. We must remember that the common people of\nthe middle ages did not, and could not, distinguish between miracles\naccredited by the testimony of Scripture, and those which were\nfabrications, or at least exaggerations. All miracles related as divine\ninterposition were to them equally possible, equally credible. If a\nmore extended knowledge of the natural laws renders us in these days\nless credulous, it also shows us that many things were possible, under\nparticular conditions, which were long deemed supernatural.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWe find in the legendary pictures, that the birth of several saints\nis announced by an angel, or in a dream, as in the stories of St.\nCatherine, St. Roch, &c. They exhibit precocious piety and wisdom, as\nin the story of St. Nicholas, who also calms a tempest, and guides\nthe storm-tossed vessel safe to land. They walk on the water, as in\nthe stories of St. Raymond and St. Hyacinth; or a river divides,\nto let them pass, as in the story of St. Alban. Saints are fed and\ncomforted miraculously, or delivered from prison by angels; or resist\nfire, like the \u2018Three Children.\u2019 The multiplication of bread, and the\ntransformation of water into wine, are standing miracles. But those\nwhich most frequently occur in pictures, are the healing of the sick,\nthe lame, the blind; the casting out of demons, the restoration of the\ndead, or some other manifestation of compassionate and beneficent power.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nSome of the pictured legends are partly scriptural, partly historical,\nas the story of St. Peter; others are clearly religious apologues\nfounded on fact or tradition, as those of St. Mary of Egypt and St.\nChristopher; others are obviously and purely allegorical, as the\nGreek story of St. Sophia (i. e. Heavenly Wisdom, \u03a3\u039f\u03a6\u0399\u0391) and her\ncelestial progeny, St. Faith, St. Hope, and St. Charity, all martyred\nby the blind and cruel Pagans. The names sound as if borrowed from the\n\u2018Pilgrim\u2019s Progress;\u2019 and it is curious to find Bunyan\u2019s allegorical\nlegend, the favourite picture-book of the people, appearing just at\nthe time when the legends and pictures of the saints became objects\nof puritanical horror, and supplying their place in the popular\nimagination.\n\nMartyrdoms are only too common: they present to us Christianity under\nits most mystical aspect\u2014the deification of suffering; but to render\nthese representations effective, they should be pathetic without being\nterrible, they should speak to us\n\n    Of melancholy fear subdued by faith,\n    Of blessed consolations in distress;\n\nbut not of the horrid cruelty of man towards man. It has been well\nremarked by my friend M. Rio, (to whose charming and eloquent\nexposition of Christian Art I refer with ever-new delight,) that the\nearly painters of Western Christendom avoided these subjects, and that\ntheir prevalence in ecclesiastical decoration marked the decline of\nreligious feeling, and the degeneracy of Art. But this remark does\nnot apply to Byzantine Art; for we find from the exact description of\na picture of the martyrdom of St. Euphemia (both the picture and the\ndescription dating from the third century), that such representations\nwere then common, and were appealed to in the same manner as now, to\nexcite the feelings of the people.\n\nThe martyrdoms generally met with are those of St. Peter and St.\nPaul, St. Stephen Protomartyr, St. Laurence, St. Catherine, and St.\nSebastian. These we find everywhere, in all countries and localities.\nWhere the patron of the church or chapel is a martyr, his martyrdom\nholds a conspicuous place, often over the high altar, and accompanied\nby all the moving circumstances which can excite the pity, or horror,\nor enthusiasm of the pious votaries; but in the best examples we find\nthe saint preparing for his death, not suffering the torments actually\ninflicted; so that the mind is elevated by the sentiment of his\ncourage, not disturbed and disgusted by the spectacle of his agonies.\n\n\n                    III. OF CERTAIN PATRON SAINTS,\n\n  WHO ARE COMMONLY GROUPED TOGETHER IN WORKS OF ART, OR WHO BELONG TO\n             PARTICULAR COUNTRIES, CITIES, OR LOCALITIES.\n\nWhile such assemblages of holy persons as are found grouped together\nin devotional pictures are to be considered as quite independent\nof chronology, we shall find that the selection has been neither\ncapricious nor arbitrary, and, with a little consideration, we shall\ndiscover the leading idea in the mind of the artist that, at least,\nwhich was intended to be conveyed to the mind of the spectator, and\nwhich was much more intelligible in former times than it is now.\n\nSometimes we find certain saints placed in companionship, because they\nare the joint patrons and protectors of the city or locality for which\nthe picture was painted. Thus in the Bologna pictures we constantly\nfind the bishop St. Petronius, St. Eloy, St. Dominick, and the warrior\nSt. Proculus; while in the Venetian pictures we have perpetual St.\nMarks, St. Georges, and St. Catherines.\n\nOr, secondly, they are connected by kindred powers and attributes. Thus\nwe find St. Sebastian, the patron against pestilence, in company with\nSt. Roch, who ministered to the sick of the plague. Thus St. Catherine\nand St. Jerome, the two patrons of school theology, are often found in\ncompanionship. Where St. Catherine and St. Barbara are found together,\nthe first figures as patroness of the ecclesiastical, and the second of\nthe military, power\u2014or they represent respectively the contemplative\nand the active life.\n\nOr, thirdly, they are combined in the fancy by some inevitable\nassociation; as St. Augustine and St. Stephen are often in the same\npicture, because St. Augustine dedicated some of his most eloquent\nworks to the glory of the martyr.\n\nOr they were friends on earth, for which reason St. Cyprian and St.\nCornelius are placed together.\n\nOr their relics repose in the same spot; whence St. Stephen and St.\nLaurence have become almost inseparable. When St. Vincent and St.\nLaurence are placed together, (as in a lovely composition of Parmigiana\nwhere they sit reading out of the same book,) it is because of the\nsimilarity of their fate, and that the popular tradition supposed them\nto be brothers.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nA point of more general importance, and capable of more definite\nexplanation, is the predominance of certain sacred personages in\nparticular schools of Art. St. Cosmo and St. Damian, for instance,\nare perpetually recurring in the Florentine pictures as the patron\nsaints of the Medici family. In the Lombard pictures St. Ambrose is\noften found without his compeers\u2014not as doctor of the Church, but as\nbishop of Milan. In the Siena pictures, we may look for the nun St.\nCatherine of Siena, and St. Ansano, the apostle of the Sienese, holding\nhis banner and palm. And in the Augustine chapels and churches, St.\nAugustine figures, not as doctor of the Church, but as patriarch of the\nOrder.\n\nA bishop-martyr, holding his palm, and not otherwise designated either\nby name or attribute, would be\u2014in one if Perugino\u2019s pictures, St.\nErcolano or St. Costanzo; in a Florentine picture, St. Donato or St.\nRomulo; if the picture were painted in the March of Ancona, it would\nprobably be St. Apollinaris of Ravenna; at Naples it would be St.\nJanuarius; at Paris, or in a picture painted for a French church, of\nwhich there are many in Italy, it would be St. Denis; and in German\nprints, St. Boniface or St. Lambert. I need not further multiply\nexamples.\n\nIf the locality from which the picture came will sometimes determine\nthe names of the personages, so the personages represented will often\nexplain the purpose and intended situation of the picture. There is\nin Lord Ashburton\u2019s gallery a noble group representing together St.\nPeter, St. Leonard, St. Martha, and Mary Magdalene. Such a combination\npoints it out at once as intended for a charitable institution, and, on\nenquiry, we find that it was painted for the chapel of a brotherhood\nassociated to redeem prisoners, to ransom slaves, to work for the\npoor, and to convert the sinner to repentance. Many such interesting\nand instructive analogies will be pointed out in the course of the\nfollowing pages, and the observer of works of Art will discover others\nfor himself.\n\nI add here, in alphabetical order, those countries and localities of\nwhich the patron saints are distinguished in works of Art.[6]\n\n ANCONA: St. Cyriacus, _Bishop_; and his mother Anna, _Martyr_.\n\n AREZZO: St. Donato, _Bishop_.\n\n ASTI, NOVARA, and all through the cities of PIEDMONT and the north\n of Italy, we find the _Warrior_, St. Maurice, and his companions St.\n Secundus, St. Alexander, and the other Martyrs of the Theban Legion.\n\n AUGSBURG: St. Ulrich, _Bishop_; St. Afra, _Martyr_.\n\n AUSTRIA: St. Leopold, St. Stephen, St. Maximilian, St. Coloman.\n\n BAMBERG: St. Henry and St. Cunegunda, _Emperor_ and _Empress_.\n\n BARCELONA: St. Eulalia, _Martyr_. (In Spanish pictures only.)\n\n BAVARIA: St. George, _Martyr_.\n\n BERGAMO: St. Alexander, _Warrior_; St. Grata, _Widow_.\n\n BOHEMIA: St. John Nepomuck, _Priest_; St. Wenceslaus, _King_; St.\n Ludmilla, _Queen_; St. Vitus, _young Martyr_; St. Procopius, _Hermit_.\n\n BOLOGNA: St. Petronius, _Bishop_; St. Dominick, _Friar_; St. Proculus,\n _Warrior Martyr_; St. Eloy (Eligio), _Bishop_ and _Smith_.\n\n BRESCIA: St. Faustinus and Jovita; St. Julia, St. Afra, _Martyrs_.\n\n BRUGES: St. John the Baptist.\n\n BURGUNDY: St. Andrew, _Apostle_.\n\n COLOGNE: The Three Kings; St. Ursula, _Virgin Martyr_; St. Gereon,\n _Warrior Martyr_.\n\n COMO: St. Abbondio, _Bishop_.\n\n CORTONA: St. Margaret, _Nun_ and _Penitent_.\n\n CREMONA: St. Omobuono, _Secular Habit_.\n\n FERRARA: St. Geminiano, _Bishop_; St. George, _Martyr_; St. Barbara,\n _Martyr_.\n\n FIESOLE: St. Romolo, _Bishop_.\n\n FLORENCE: St. John the Baptist; St. Zenobio, St. Antonino, _Bishops_;\n St. Reparata, _Virgin Martyr_; St. Cosmo and Damian (the Apothecary\n Saints, especial patrons of the Medici family); St. Verdiana, _Nun_;\n St. Miniato, _Warrior_.\n\n FRANCE: St. Michael, _Angel_; St. Dionysius (Denis), _Bishop_; St.\n Genevi\u00e8ve, _Virgin_; St. Martin, _Bishop_.\n\n GENOA: St. George, St. Laurence, _Martyrs_.\n\n GHENT: St. Bavon, _Prince_ and _Hermit_.\n\n\n GRENOBLE: St. Hugh the Carthusian.\n\n IRELAND: St. Patrick, _Bishop_; St. Bridget, _Abbess_.\n\n LUCCA: St. Martin, _Bishop_; St. Frediano, _Priest_; St. Zita,\n _Virgin_.\n\n LIEGE: St. Hubert, _Bishop_ and _Huntsman_; St. Lambert, _Bishop_.\n\n MADRID: St. Isidore, _Labourer_; St. Dominick, _Friar_; (Patron of the\n Escurial, St. Laurence).\n\n MANTUA: St. Andrew; St. Barbara; St. George and St. Longinus, _Warrior\n Saints_.\n\n MARSEILLES and all PROVENCE: St. Lazarus; St. Mary Magdalen; St.\n Martha; St. Marcella.\n\n MESSINA: St. Agatha, _Martyr_.\n\n MILAN: St. Ambrose, _Bishop_ and _Doctor_; St. Gervasius and St.\n Protasius, _Martyrs_; St. Maurice, St. Victor, _Warriors_.\n\n MODENA: St. Geminiano, _Bishop_. (In Pictures of the Correggio School.)\n\n NAPLES: St. Januarius, _Martyr_.\n\n NOVARA: St. Gaudenzio, _Bishop_.\n\n NUREMBURG: St. Laurence, _Martyr_; St. Sebald, _Pilgrim_ and _Hermit_.\n (The latter an important person in pictures and prints of the Albert\n D\u00fcrer school.)\n\n PADUA: St. Anthony of Padua, _Friar_.\n\n PARIS: St. Genevi\u00e8ve, _Virgin_; St. Germain, _Bishop_; St. Hippolitus,\n _Martyr_.\n\n PARMA: St. John, B.; St. Thomas the Apostle; St. Bernard, _Monk_; St.\n Hilary (Ilario), _Bishop_.\n\n PERUGIA: St. Ercolano and St. Costanzo, _Bishops_.\n\n PIACENZA: St. Justina, _Martyr_; St. Antoninus, _Warrior_ (Theban\n Legion).\n\n PIEDMONT and SAVOY: St. John, B.; St. Maurice and St. George,\n _Warriors_; St. Amadeus, _King_.\n\n PISA: St. Ranieri, _Hermit_; St. Torp\u00e9, _Warrior_; St. Ephesus and St.\n Potita, _Warriors_. (These only in the ancient Pisan school.)\n\n RAVENNA: St. Appolinaris, _Bishop_.\n\n RIMINI: St. Juliana, _Martyr_. (A young saint, popular all through the\n north and down the east coast of Italy.)\n\n SEVILLE: St. Leander, _Bishop_; St. Justina, St. Rufina, _Sisters_ and\n _Martyrs_. (These are only found in Spanish pictures.)\n\n SICILY: St. Vitus, _Martyr_; St. Rosalia, _Recluse_ (Palermo); St.\n Agatha (Messina), St. Lucia (Syracuse), _Martyrs_.\n\n SIENA: St. Ansano, _Martyr_; St. Catherine of Siena, _Nun_; St.\n Bernardino, _Friar_.\n\n THURINGIA and all that part of SAXONY: St. Elizabeth of Hungary; St.\n Boniface, _Bishop_.\n\n TOLEDO: St. Ildefonso, _Bishop_; and St. Leocadia, _Martyr_. (Only in\n Spanish pictures.)\n\n TREVISO: St. Liberale, _Warrior_.\n\n TURIN: St. John the Baptist; St. Maurice, _Warrior_.\n\n UMBRIA: All through this region and the eastern coast of Italy, very\n important in respect to Art, the favourite saints are\u2014St. Nicholas,\n _Bishop_; St. Francis of Assisi, _Friar_; St. Clara, _Nun_; St.\n Julian, _Martyr_; and St. Catherine, _Virgin Martyr_.\n\n VALENCIA: St. Vincent, _Martyr_.\n\n VENICE: St. Mark, _Apostle_; St. George, St. Theodore, _Warriors_; St.\n Nicholas, _Bishop_; St. Catherine, St. Christina, _Virgin Martyrs_.\n\n VERCELLI: St. Eusebius, _Bishop_; St. Thronestus, _Warrior_ (Theban\n Legion).\n\n VERONA: St. Zeno, _Bishop_; St. Fermo, _Martyr_; St. Euphemia,\n _Martyr_.\n\nVOTIVE PICTURES are those which have been dedicated in certain\nreligious edifices, in fulfilment of vows; either as the expression of\nthanksgiving for blessings which have been vouchsafed, or propitiative\nagainst calamities to be averted. The far greater number of these\npictures commemorate an escape from danger, sickness, death; and more\nespecially, some visitation of the plague, that terrible and frequent\nscourge of the middle ages. The significance of such pictures is\ngenerally indicated by the presence of St. Sebastian or St. Roch, the\npatrons against the plague; or St. Cosmo and St. Damian, the healing\nand medical saints; accompanied by the patron saints of the country\nor locality, if it be a public act of devotion; or, if dedicated by\nprivate or individual piety, the donor kneels, presented by his own\npatron saint. In general, though not always, this expressive group is\narranged in attendance on the enthroned Madonna and her divine Son, as\nthe universal protectors from all evil. Such pictures are among the\nmost interesting and remarkable of the works of sacred Art which remain\nto us, and have often a pathetic and poetical beauty, and an historical\nsignificance, which it is a chief purpose of these volumes to interpret\nand illustrate.\n\n[Illustration:\n  _S^t. Damian._      _S^t. Mark._      _S^t. Roch._       _A. J. fecit_\n  _S^t. Cosmo._                           _S^t. Sebastian._\n\n          _A Venetian votive picture against the plague._]\n\n\n                IV. OF CERTAIN EMBLEMS AND ATTRIBUTES.\n\nTo know something of the attributes and emblems of general application,\nas well as those proper to each saint, is absolutely necessary; but it\nwill also greatly assist the fancy and the memory to _understand_ their\norigin and significance. For this reason I will add a few words of\nexplanation.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe GLORY, NIMBUS, or AUREOLE\u2014the Christian attribute of sanctity, and\nused generally to distinguish all holy personages\u2014is of pagan origin.\nIt expressed the luminous nebula (Homer, _Il._ xxiii. 205), supposed to\nemanate from, and surround, the Divine Essence, which stood, \u2018a shade\nin midst of its own brightness.\u2019 Images of the gods were decorated\nwith a crown of rays, or with stars; and when the Roman emperors\nassumed the honours due to divinity, they appeared in public crowned\nwith golden radii. The colossal statue of Nero wore a circle of rays,\nimitating the glory of the sun. This ornament became customary; and\nnot only the first C\u00e6sars, but the Christian emperors, adopted the\nsame divine insignia; and it became at length so common that we find\nit on some medals, round the heads of the consuls of the later empire.\nConsidered in the East as _the attribute of power only_, whether good\nor evil, we find, wherever early Art has been developed under Byzantine\ninfluences, the nimbus thus applied. Satan, in many Greek, Saxon, and\nFrench miniatures, from the ninth to the thirteenth century, wears a\nglory. In a psalter of the twelfth century, the Beast of the Apocalypse\nwith seven heads has six heads surrounded by the nimbus; the seventh,\nwounded and drooping, is without the sign of power.\n\nBut in Western Art the associations with this attribute were not\nmerely those of dignity, but of something divine and consecrated. It\nwas for a long time avoided in the Christian representations as being\nappropriated by false gods or heathen pride; and when first adopted\ndoes not seem clear.[7] The earliest example cited is a gem of St.\nMartin of the early part of the sixth century, in which the glory\nround his head seems to represent his apotheosis: and in all instances\nit is evidently intended to represent divine glory and beatitude.\n\nThe glory round the head is properly the nimbus or aureole. The oblong\nglory surrounding the whole person, called in Latin the _vesica\npiscis_, and in Italian the _mandorla_ (almond), from its form, is\nconfined to figures of Christ and the Virgin, or saints who are in\nthe act of ascending into heaven. When used to distinguish one of\nthe three divine persons of the Trinity the glory is often cruciform\nor triangular. The square nimbus designates a person living at the\ntime the work was executed. In the frescoes of Giotto at Assisi, the\nallegorical personages are in some instances distinguished by the\nhexagonal nimbus. In other instances it is circular. From the fifth to\nthe twelfth century the nimbus had the form of a disc or plate over\nthe head.[8] From the twelfth to the fifteenth century, it was a broad\ngolden band, round, or rather behind, the head, composed of circle\nwithin circle, often adorned with precious stones, and sometimes having\nthe name of the saint inscribed within it. From the fifteenth century\nit was a bright fillet over the head, and in the seventeenth century\nit disappeared altogether. In pictures the glory is always golden, the\ncolour of light; in miniatures and stained glass I have seen glories of\nvarious colours, red, blue, or green.[9]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe FISH was the earliest, the most universal, of the Christian\nemblems, partly as the symbol of water and the rite of baptism, and\nalso because the five Greek letters which express the word Fish form\nthe anagram of the name of Jesus Christ. In this sense we find the\nfish as a general symbol of the Christian faith upon the sarcophagi of\nthe early Christians; on the tombs of the martyrs in the catacombs; on\nrings, coins, lamps, and other utensils; and as an ornament in early\nChristian architecture. It is usually a dolphin, which among the Pagans\nhad also a sacred significance.\n\nThe passage in the Gospel, \u2018Follow me, and I will make ye fishers of\nmen,\u2019 is supposed to have originated the use of this symbol; and I\nmay observe here, that the fish placed in the hands of St. Peter has\nprobably a double or treble signification, alluding to his former\noccupation as a fisherman, his conversion to Christianity, and his\nvocation as a Christian apostle, i. e. a fisher of men, in the sense\nused by Christ; and in the same sense we find it given as an attribute\nto bishops who were famous for converting and baptising, as St. Zeno of\nVerona, and Gregory of Tours.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe CROSS.\u2014About the tenth century the Fish disappeared, and the\nCross\u2014symbol of our redemption, from the apostolic times\u2014became the\nsole and universal emblem of the Christian faith. The cross placed in\nthe hand of a saint is usually the Latin cross (1), the form ascribed\nto the cross on which our Saviour suffered. Other crosses are used as\nemblems or ornaments, but still having the same signification; as the\nGreek cross (2), in which the arms are all of the same length; the\ntransverse cross, on which St. Andrew is supposed to have suffered,\nin this form (3); the Egyptian cross, sometimes placed in the hands\nof St. Philip the apostle, and it was also the form of the crutch of\nSt. Anthony, and embroidered on his cope or robe\u2014hence it is called\nSt. Anthony\u2019s cross (4). There is also the Maltese cross, and various\nornamental crosses. The double cross on the top of a staff, instead of\nthe crosier, is borne by the Pope only; the staff with a single cross,\nby the Greek bishops.\n\n[Illustration:\n  (1)      (2)      (3)      (4)]\n\nAt first the cross was a sign only. When formed of gold or silver, the\nfive wounds of Christ were signified by a ruby or carbuncle at each\nextremity, and one in the centre. It was not till the sixth century\nthat the cross became a CRUCIFIX, no longer an emblem but an _image_.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe LAMB, in Christian Art, is the peculiar symbol of the Redeemer\nas the sacrifice without blemish: in this sense it is given as an\nattribute to John the Baptist. The lamb is also the general emblem of\ninnocence, meekness, modesty; in this sense it is given to St. Agnes,\nof whom Massillon said so beautifully, \u2018peu de pudeur, o\u00f9 il n\u2019y a pas\nde religion; peu de religion, o\u00f9 il n\u2019y a pas de pudeur.\u2019\n\nThe PELICAN, tearing open her breast to feed her young with her own\nblood, was an early symbol of our redemption through Christ.\n\nOne or both of these emblems are frequently found in ancient crosses\nand crucifixes; the lamb at the foot, the pelican at the top, of the\ncross.\n\nThe DRAGON is the emblem of sin in general, and of the sin of idolatry\nin particular; and the dragon slain or vanquished by the power of the\ncross, is the perpetually recurring myth, which, varied in a thousand\nways, we find running through all the old Christian legends: not\nsubject to misapprehension in the earliest times; but, as the cloud of\nignorance darkened and deepened, the symbol was translated into a fact.\nIt has been suggested that the dragon, which is to us a phantasm and an\nallegory, which in the middle ages was the visible shape of the demon\nadversary of all truth and goodness, might have been, as regards form,\noriginally _a fact_: for wherever we have dragon legends, whether the\nscene be laid in Asia, Africa, or Europe, the imputed circumstances and\nthe form are little varied. The dragons introduced into early painting\nand sculpture so invariably represent a gigantic winged crocodile, that\nit is presumed there must have been some common origin for the type\nchosen as if by common consent; and that this common type may have\nbeen some fossil remains of the Saurian species, or even some far-off\ndim tradition of one of these tremendous reptiles surviving in Heaven\nknows what vast desolate morass or inland lake, and spreading horror\nand devastation along its shores. At Aix, a huge fossilised head of\none of the Sauri was for a long time preserved as the head of the\nidentical dragon subdued by St. Martha; and St. Jerome relates that\nhe had himself beheld at Tyre the bones of the sea monster to which\nAndromeda had been exposed\u2014probably some fossil remains which in the\npopular imagination were thus accounted for. Professor Owen told me\nthat the head of a dragon in one of the legendary pictures he had seen\nin Italy closely resembled in form that of the Deinotherium Giganteum.\nThese observations have reference only to the type adopted when the old\nScripture allegory took form and shape. The dragon of Holy Writ is the\nsame as the serpent, i. e., personified sin, the spiritual enemy of\nmankind.\n\nThe scriptural phrase of the \u2018jaws of hell\u2019 is literally rendered\nin the ancient works of Art by the huge jaws of a dragon, wide open\nand emitting flames, into which the souls of sinners are tumbled\nheadlong. In pictures, sin is also typified by a serpent or snake; in\nthis form it is placed under the feet of the Madonna, sometimes with\nan apple in its mouth; sometimes, but only in late pictures of the\nseventeenth century, winding its green scaly length round and round a\nglobe, significant of the subjugation of the whole earth to the power\nof sin till delivered by the Redeemer. On this subject I shall have\nmuch more to say when treating of the pictures of the Fall of Man, and\nthe subjects taken from the Apocalypse: for the present we need only\nbear in mind the various significations of the popular Dragon myth,\nwhich may shadow forth the conquest over sin, as in the legends of St.\nMichael and St. Margaret; or over paganism, as in the legends of St.\nSylvester and St. George; or sometimes a destroying flood, as in the\nlegend of St. Martha, where the inundation of the Rhone is figured\nby a dragon emerging from the waters and spreading around death and\npestilence,\u2014like the Python of the Grecian myth.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe LION, as an ancient Christian symbol, is of frequent recurrence,\nmore particularly in architectural decoration. Antiquaries are not\nagreed as to the exact meaning attached to the mystical lions placed in\nthe porches of so many old Lombard churches; sometimes with an animal,\nsometimes with a man, in their paws. But we find that the lion was an\nancient symbol of the Redeemer, \u2018the Lion of the tribe of Judah:\u2019\nalso of the resurrection of the Redeemer; because, according to an\noriental fable, the lion\u2019s cub was born dead, and in three days its\nsire licked it into life. In this sense it occurs in the windows of the\ncathedral at Bourges. In either sense it may probably have been adopted\nas a frequent ornament in the church utensils, and in ecclesiastical\ndecoration, supporting the pillars in front, or the carved thrones, &c.\n\nThe lion also typifies solitude\u2014the wilderness; and, in this sense, is\nplaced near St. Jerome and other saints who did penance, or lived as\nhermits in the desert; as in the legends of St. Paul the hermit, St.\nMary of Egypt, St. Onofrio. Further, the lion as an attribute denoted\ndeath in the amphitheatre, and with this signification is placed near\ncertain martyrs, as St. Ignatius and St. Euphemia. The lion, as the\ntype of fortitude and resolution, was placed at the feet of those\nmartyrs who had suffered with singular courage, as St. Adrian and St.\nNatalia.[10]\n\nWhen other wild beasts, as wolves and bears, are placed at the feet\nof a saint attired as abbot or bishop, it signifies that he cleared\nwaste land, out down forests, and substituted Christian culture and\ncivilisation for paganism and the lawless hunter\u2019s life: such is the\nsignificance in pictures of St. Magnus, St. Florentius and St. Germain\nof Auxerre.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe HART or HIND was also an emblem of double signification. It was a\ntype of solitude and of purity of life, and was also a type of piety\nand religious aspiration, adopted from the forty-second Psalm, \u2018Like as\nthe hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul for thee, O\nGod!\u2019\n\nWhen the original meaning of the lion, the hart, and other emblems,\nwas no longer present to the popular mind, legends were invented to\naccount for them; and that which had been a symbol, became an incident,\nor an historical attribute,\u2014as in the stories of the lion healed by St.\nJerome, or digging the grave of St. Paul; the miraculous stag which\nappeared to St. Eustace and St. Hubert; the wounded doe in the legend\nof St. Giles; and the hind which spoke to St. Julian.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe PEACOCK, the bird of Juno, was an ancient pagan symbol, signifying\nthe apotheosis of an empress, as we find from many of the old\nRoman coins and medals. The early Christians, accustomed to this\ninterpretation, adopted it as a general emblem of the mortal exchanged\nfor the immortal existence; and, with this signification, we find the\npeacock with outspread train on the walls and ceilings of catacombs,\nthe tombs of the martyrs, and many of the sarcophagi, down to the\nfourth and fifth centuries. It is only in modern times that the peacock\nhas become the emblem of worldly pride.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe CROWN, as introduced in Christian Art, is either an emblem or an\nattribute. It has been the emblem from all antiquity of victory, and\nof recompense due to superior power or virtue. In this sense the word\nand the image are used in Scripture in many passages: for example,\n\u2018Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of glory.\u2019 And in this\nsense, as the recompense of those who had fought the good fight to the\nend, and conquered, the crown became the especial symbol of the glory\nof martyrdom. In very ancient pictures, a hand is seen coming out of\nheaven holding a wreath or circlet; afterwards it is an angel who\ndescends with a crown, which is sometimes a coronet of gold and jewels,\nsometimes a wreath of palm or myrtle. In general only the female\nmartyrs wear the symbolical crown of glory; martyrs of the other sex\nhold the crown in their hands, or it is borne by an angel. Hence we may\npresume that the crown, which among the Jews was the especial ornament\nof a bride, signified the bride or spouse of Christ\u2014one dedicated to\nvirginity for his sake; and in this sense, down to the present time,\nthe crown is placed on the head of a nun at the moment of consecration.\nTherefore in the old pictures of female martyrs we may interpret the\ncrown in this double sense, as signifying at once the bride and the\nmartyr.\n\nBut it is necessary also to distinguish between the _symbol_ and the\n_attribute_: thus, where St. Cecilia and St. Barbara wear the crown, it\nis the symbol of their glorious martyrdom; when St. Catherine and St.\nUrsula wear the crown, it is at once as the symbol of martyrdom and the\nattribute of their royal rank as princesses.\n\nThe crown is also the symbol of sovereignty. When it is placed on the\nhead of the Virgin, it is as Queen of Heaven, and also as the \u2018Spouse\u2019\nof Scripture allegory.\n\nBut the crown is also an attribute, and frequently, when worn by\na saint or placed at his feet, signifies that he was royal or of\nprincely birth: as in the pictures of Louis of France, St. William, St.\nElizabeth, St. Helena, and many others.\n\n[Illustration: Four Crowns]\n\nThe crowns in the Italian pictures are generally a wreath, or a simple\ncircle of gold and jewels, or a coronet radiated with a few points.\nBut in the old German pictures the crown is often of most magnificent\nworkmanship, blazing with jewels.\n\nI have seen a real silver crown placed on the figures of certain\npopular saints, but as a votive tribute, not an emblem.\n\n\nThe SWORD is also either a symbol or an attribute. As a symbol it\nsignifies generally martyrdom by any violent death, and, in this sense,\nis given to many saints who did not die by the sword. As an attribute\nit signifies the particular death suffered, and that the martyr in\nwhose hand or at whose feet it is placed was beheaded: in this sense it\nis given to St. Paul, St. Catherine, and many others. It is given also\nto the warrior-martyrs, as the attribute of their military profession.\nOther symbols of martyrdom are the AXE, the LANCE, and the CLUB.\n\n\nARROWS, which are attributes, St. Ursula, St. Christina, and St.\nSebastian.\n\n\nThe PONIARD, given to St. Lucia.\n\n\nThe CAULDRON, given to St. John the Evangelist and St. Cecilia.\n\n\nThe PINCERS and SHEARS, St. Apollonia and St. Agatha.\n\n\nThe WHEELS, St. Catherine.\n\n\nFIRE and FLAMES are sometimes an emblem of martyrdom and punishment,\nand sometimes of religious fervour.\n\n\nA BELL was supposed to have power to exorcise demons, and for this\nreason is given to the haunted St. Anthony.\n\n\nThe SHELL signifies pilgrimage.\n\n\nThe SKULL, penance.\n\n\nThe ANVIL, as an attribute of martyrdom, belongs to St. Adrian only.\n\n\nThe PALM, the ancient classical symbol of victory and triumph, was\nearly assumed by the Christians as the universal symbol of martyrdom,\nand for this adaptation of a pagan ornament they found warrant in\nScripture: Rev. vii. 9, \u2018And after this I beheld, and, lo, a great\nmultitude stood before the throne clothed with white robes and with\npalms in their hands.\u2018... \u2018And he said to me, These are they which\ncame out of great tribulation.\u2019 Hence in pictures of martyrdoms an\nangel descends with the palm; hence it is figured on the tombs of early\nmartyrs, and placed in the hands of those who suffered in the cause of\ntruth, as expressing their final victory over the powers of sin and\ndeath.\n\n    The sensual think with reverence of the palm\n    Which the chaste votary wields.\n\n[Illustration: Four palm fronds]\n\nThe palm varies in form from a small leaf to the size of a palm branch,\nalmost a tree. It is very small in the early Italian pictures, very\nlarge in the Spanish pictures. In the Siena pictures it has a bunch of\ndates depending from it. It is only in late pictures that the palm,\nwith a total disregard to the sacredness of its original signification,\nis placed on the ground, or under the feet of the saint.\n\n\nThe STANDARD, or banner, is also the symbol of victory, the spiritual\nvictory over sin, death, and idolatry. It is borne by our Saviour\nafter his resurrection, and is placed in the hands of St. George, St.\nMaurice, and other military saints; in the hands of some victorious\nmartyrs, as St. Julian, St. Ansano, and of those who preached the\nGospel among infidels; also in the hands of St. Ursula and St.\nReparata, the only female saints, I believe, who bear this attribute.\n\n\nThe OLIVE, as the well-known emblem of peace and reconciliation, is\nfigured on the tombs of the early martyrs; sometimes with, sometimes\nwithout, the dove. The olive is borne as the attribute of peace by the\nangel Gabriel, by St. Agnes, and by St. Pantaleon; sometimes also by\nthe angels in a Nativity, who announce \u2018peace on earth.\u2019\n\n\nThe DOVE in Christian Art is the emblem of the Holy Ghost; and, besides\nits introduction into various subjects from the New Testament, as the\nAnnunciation, the Baptism, the Pentecost, it is placed near certain\nsaints who are supposed to have been particularly inspired, as St.\nGregory, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Hilarius, and others.\n\nThe dove is also a symbol of simplicity and purity of heart, and as\nsuch it is introduced into pictures of female saints, and especially of\nthe Madonna and Child.\n\nIt is also the emblem of the soul; in this sense it is seen issuing\nfrom the lips of dying martyrs, and is found in pictures of St. Eulalia\nof Merida, and St. Scholastica the sister of St. Benedict.\n\n\nThe LILY is another symbol of purity, of very general application.\nWe find it in pictures of the Virgin, and particularly in pictures\nof the Annunciation. It is placed significantly in the hand of St.\nJoseph, the husband of the Virgin Mary, his staff, according to the\nlegend, having put forth lilies; it is given, as an emblem merely, to\nSt. Francis, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Dominick, and St. Catherine of\nSiena, to express the particular purity of their lives.\n\n\nThe UNICORN is another ancient symbol of purity, in allusion to the\nfable that it could never be captured except by a virgin stainless in\nmind and life; it has become in consequence the emblem peculiarly of\n_female_ chastity, but in Christian Art is appropriate only to the\nVirgin Mary and St. Justina.\n\n\nThe FLAMING HEART expresses fervent piety and love: in early pictures\nit is given to St. Augustine, merely in allusion to a famous passage\nin his \u2018Confessions;\u2019 but in the later schools of Art it has become a\ngeneral and rather vulgar emblem of spiritual love: in this sense it is\ngiven to St. Theresa; St. Maria Maddalena de\u2019 Pazzi, a Florentine nun;\nand some of the Jesuit saints.\n\n\nThe BOOK in the hands of the Evangelists and the Apostles is an\nattribute, and represents the Gospel. In the hand of St. Stephen it is\nthe Old Testament; in the hand of any other saint it may be the Gospel,\nbut it may also be an emblem only, signifying that the saint was famous\nfor his learning or his writings; it has this sense in pictures of\nSt. Catherine, the Doctors of the Church, St. Thomas Aquinas, and St.\nBonaventura.\n\n\nA CHURCH placed in the hands of a saint signifies that he was the\nfounder of some particular church: in this sense St. Henry bears the\ncathedral of Bamberg; or, that he was the protector and first bishop\nof the church, as St. Petronius bears the cathedral of Bologna. I must\nexcept the single instance of St. Jerome; the church in his hands\nsignifies no particular edifice, but, in a general sense, the Catholic\nChurch, of which he was the great support and one of the primitive\nfathers; to render the symbol more expressive, rays of light are seen\nproceeding from the portal.\n\n\nThe SCOURGE in the hand of a saint, or at his feet, signifies the\npenances he inflicted upon himself; but in the hand of St. Ambrose, it\nsignifies the penance he inflicted upon others.\n\n\nThe CHALICE, or Sacramental Cup, with the Host, signifies Faith; it is\ngiven to St. Barbara. The Cup, with the Serpent, is the attribute of\nSt. John.\n\n\nThe SHIP.\u2014The Ark of Noah, floating safe amid the Deluge, in which all\nthings else were overwhelmed, was an obvious symbol of the Church of\nChrist. Subsequently the _Ark_ became a ship. St. Ambrose likens the\nChurch of God to a ship, and the Cross to the mast set in the midst\nof it. \u2018_Arbor qu\u00e6dam in nari est crux in ecclesia._\u2019 The Bark of St.\nPeter tossed in the storm, and by the Redeemer guided safe to land,\nwas also considered as symbolical. These mingled associations combined\nto give to the emblem of the ship a sacred significance. Every one who\nhas been at Rome will remember the famous mosaic of the ship tossed by\nthe storms, and assailed by demons, called THE NAVICELLA, which was\nexecuted by Giotto for the old Basilica of St. Peter\u2019s, and is now\nunder the Portico, opposite to the principal door. I believe that in\nthe pictures of St. Nicholas and St. Ursula the ship had originally\na sacred and symbolical significance, and that the legends were\nafterwards invented or modified to explain the emblem, as in so many\nother instances.\n\n\nThe ANCHOR is the Christian symbol of immovable firmness, hope,\nand patience; and in this sense we find it very frequently in the\ncatacombs, and on the ancient Christian gems. It was given to several\nof the early saints as a symbol. Subsequently a legend was invented to\naccount for the symbol, turning it into an attribute, as was the case\nwith the lion and the stag. For example: to St. Clement the anchor\nwas first given as the symbol of his constancy in Christian hope, and\nthence we find, subsequently invented, the story of his being thrown\ninto the sea with the anchor round his neck. On the vane of the Church\nof St. Clement in the Strand, the anchor, the parish device, was\nanciently placed; and as in the English fancy no anchor can be well\nseparated from a ship, they have lately placed a ship on the other\nside,\u2014the original signification of the anchor, as applied to St.\nClement the martyr, being unknown or forgotten.\n\n\nThe LAMP, LANTERN, or TAPER, is the old emblem of piety: \u2018Let your\nlight so shine before men:\u2019\u2014and it also signifies wisdom. In the first\nsense we find this attribute in the hand of St. Gudula, St. Genevi\u00e8ve\nof Paris, and St. Bridget; while the lamp in the hand of St. Lucia\nsignifies celestial light or wisdom.\n\n\nFLOWERS and FRUITS, often so beautifully introduced into ecclesiastical\nworks of Art, may be merely ornamental; Crivelli, and some of the\nVenetian and Lombard painters, were fond of rich festoons of fruit, and\nbackgrounds of foliage and roses. But in some instances they have a\ndefinite significance. Roses are symbolical in pictures of the Madonna,\nwho is the \u2018_Rose of Sharon_.\u2019[11] The wreath of roses on the brow of\nSt. Cecilia, the roses and fruits borne by St. Dorothea, are explained\nby the legends.\n\nThe apple was the received emblem of the Fall of Man and original sin.\nPlaced in pictures of the Madonna and Child, either in the hand of the\nInfant Christ, or presented by an angel, it signified Redemption from\nthe consequences of the Fall. The pomegranate, bursting open, and the\nseeds visible, was an emblem of the future\u2014of hope in immortality.\nWhen an apple, a pear, or a pomegranate is placed in the hand of St.\nCatherine as the mystical _Sposa_ of Christ, which continually occurs,\nparticularly in the German pictures, the allusion is to be taken in the\nscriptural sense: \u2018The _fruit_ of the Spirit is love, joy, peace.\u2019\n\n\n                  V. OF THE SIGNIFICANCE OF COLOURS.\n\nIn very early Art we find colours used in a symbolical or mystic\nsense, and, until the ancient principles and traditions were wholly\nworn out of memory or set aside by the later painters, certain colours\nwere appropriate to certain subjects and personages, and could not\narbitrarily be applied or misapplied. In the old specimens of stained\nglass we find these significations scrupulously attended to. Thus:\u2014\n\n\nWHITE, represented by the diamond or silver, was the emblem of light,\nreligious purity, innocence, virginity, faith, joy, and life. Our\nSaviour wears white after his resurrection. In the judge it indicated\nintegrity; in the rich man humility; in the woman chastity. It was\nthe colour consecrated to the Virgin, who, however, never wears white\nexcept in pictures of the Assumption.\n\n\nRED, the ruby, signified fire, divine love, the Holy Spirit, heat, or\nthe creative power, and royalty. White and red roses expressed love and\ninnocence, or love and wisdom, as in the garland with which the angel\ncrowns St. Cecilia. In a bad sense, red signified blood, war, hatred,\nand punishment. Red and black combined were the colours of purgatory\nand the Devil.\n\n\nBLUE, or the sapphire, expressed heaven, the firmament, truth,\nconstancy, fidelity. Christ and the Virgin wear the red tunic and\nthe blue mantle, as signifying heavenly love and heavenly truth.[12]\nThe same colours were given to St. John the evangelist, with this\ndifference,\u2014that he wore the blue tunic and the red mantle; in later\npictures the colours are sometimes red and green.\n\n\nYELLOW, or gold, was the symbol of the sun; of the goodness of God;\ninitiation, or marriage; faith, or fruitfulness. St. Joseph, the\nhusband of the Virgin, wears yellow. In pictures of the apostles, St.\nPeter wears a yellow mantle over a blue tunic. In a bad sense, yellow\nsignifies inconstancy, jealousy, deceit; in this sense it is given to\nthe traitor Judas, who is generally habited in dirty yellow.\n\n\nGREEN, the emerald, is the colour of spring; of hope, particularly\nhope in immortality; and of victory, as the colour of the palm and the\nlaurel.\n\n\nVIOLET, the amethyst, signified love and truth: or, passion and\nsuffering. Hence it is the colour often worn by the martyrs. In some\ninstances our Saviour, after his resurrection, is habited in a violet\ninstead of a blue mantle. The Virgin also wears violet after the\ncrucifixion. Mary Magdalene, who as patron saint wears the red robe, as\npenitent wears violet and blue, the colours of sorrow and of constancy.\nIn the devotional representation of her by Timoteo della Vite,[13] she\nwears red and green, the colours of love and hope.\n\n\nGREY, the colour of ashes, signified mourning, humility, and innocence\naccused; hence adopted as the dress of the Franciscans (the Grey\nFriars); but it has since been changed for a dark rusty brown.\n\n\nBLACK expressed the earth, darkness, mourning, wickedness, negation,\ndeath; and was appropriate to the Prince of Darkness. In some old\nilluminated MSS., Jesus, in the Temptation, wears a black robe.\nWhite and black together signified purity of life, and mourning or\nhumiliation; hence adopted by the Dominicans and the Carmelites.\n\nThe mystical application of attributes and colours was more\nparticularly attended to in that class of subjects I have distinguished\nas _devotional_. In the sacred historical pictures we find that the\nattributes are usually omitted as superfluous, and characteristic\npropriety of colour often sacrificed to the general effect.\n\n\nThese introductory observations and explanations will be found\nillustrated in a variety of forms as we proceed; and readers will be\nled to make comparisons and discover analogies and exceptions for\nthemselves. I must stop here;\u2014yet one word more.\n\nAll the productions of Art, from the time it has been directed and\ndeveloped by Christian influences, may be regarded under three\ndifferent aspects. 1. The purely religious aspect, which belongs to\none mode of faith; 2. The poetical aspect, which belongs to all; 3.\nThe artistic, which is the individual point of view, and has reference\nonly to the action of the intellect on the means and material employed.\nThere is pleasure, intense pleasure, merely in the consideration of\nArt as _Art_; in the faculties of comparison and nice discrimination,\nbrought to bear on objects of beauty; in the exercise of a cultivated\nand refined taste on the productions of mind in any form whatever. But\na three-fold, or rather a thousand-fold, pleasure is theirs who to a\nsense of the poetical unite a sympathy with the spiritual in Art, and\nwho combine with delicacy of perception, and technical knowledge, more\nelevated sources of pleasure, more variety of association, habits of\nmore excursive thought. Let none imagine, however, that, in placing\nbefore the uninitiated these unpretending volumes, I assume any such\nsuperiority as is here implied. Like a child that has sprung on a\nlittle way before its playmates, and caught a glimpse through an\nopening portal of some varied Eden within, all gay with flowers, and\nmusical with birds, and haunted by divine shapes which beckon onward;\nand, after one rapturous survey, runs back and catches its companions\nby the hand and hurries them forwards to share the new-found pleasure,\nthe yet unexplored region of delight; even so it is with me:\u2014I am on\nthe outside, not the inside, of the door I open.\n\n[Illustration: 2 After Gaudenzio Ferrari, at Saronno]\n\n\n\n\n                                PART I.\n\n    Ye too must fly before a chasing hand,\n    Angels and saints in every hamlet mourned!\n    Ah! if the old idolatry be spurn\u2019d,\n    Let not your radiant shapes desert the land!\n    Her adoration was not your demand,\u2014\n    The fond heart proffer\u2019d it,\u2014the servile heart,\n    And therefore are ye summon\u2019d to depart;\n    Michael, and thou St. George, whose flaming brand\n    The Dragon quell\u2019d; and valiant Margaret,\n    Whose rival sword a like opponent slew;\n    And rapt Cecilia, seraph-haunted queen\n    Of harmony; and weeping Magdalene,\n    Who in the penitential desert met\n    Gales sweet as those that over Eden blew! WORDSWORTH.\n\n \u2018I can just remember,\u2019 says a theologian of the last century, \u2018when\n the women first taught me to say my prayers, I used to have an idea\n of a venerable old man, of a composed, benign countenance, with his\n own hair, clad in a morning gown of a grave-coloured flowered damask,\n sitting in an elbow-chair.\u2019 And he proceeds to say that, in looking\n back to these beginnings, he is in no way disturbed at the grossness\n of his infant theology. The image thus shaped by the imagination of\n the child was, in truth, merely one example of the various forms\n and conceptions fitted to divers states and seasons, and orders\n and degrees, of the religious mind, whether infant or adult, which\n represent the several approximations such minds at such seasons can\n respectively make to the completeness of faith. These imperfect ideas\n should be held to be reconciled and comprehended in that completeness,\n not rejected by it; and the nearest approximation which the greatest\n of human minds can accomplish is surely to be regarded as much nearer\n to the imperfection of an infantine notion than to the fulness of\n truth. The gown of flowered damask and the elbow-chair may disappear;\n the anthropomorphism of childhood may give place to the divine\n incarnation of the Second Person in after-years; and we may come\n to conceive of the Deity as Milton did when his epithets were most\n abstract:\u2014\n\n                    \u2018So spake the SOVRAN PRESENCE.\u2019\n\n But after all, these are but different grades of imperfection in the\n forms of doctrinal faith; and if there be a devouter love on the part\n of the child for what is pictured in his imagination as a venerable\n old man, than in the philosophic poet for the \u2018Sovran Presence,\u2019\n the child\u2019s faith has more of the efficacy of religious truth in it\n than the poet\u2019s and philosopher\u2019s. (_Vide_ \u2018Notes on Life,\u2019 by HENRY\n TAYLOR, p. 136.)\n\n\n[Illustration: 3 Gloria in excelsis Deo!]\n\n\n\n\n                       Of Angels and Archangels.\n\n\n                            I. THE ANGELS.\n\nThere is something so very attractive and poetical, as well as soothing\nto our helpless finite nature, in all the superstitions connected with\nthe popular notion of Angels, that we cannot wonder at their prevalence\nin the early ages of the world. Those nations who acknowledged one\nAlmighty Creator, and repudiated with horror the idea of a plurality\nof Gods, were the most willing to accept, the most enthusiastic in\naccepting, these objects of an intermediate homage; and gladly placed\nbetween their humanity and the awful supremacy of an unseen God, the\nministering spirits who were the agents of his will, the witnesses of\nhis glory, the partakers of his bliss, and who in their preternatural\nattributes of love and knowledge filled up that vast space in the\ncreated universe which intervened between mortal man and the infinite,\nomnipotent LORD OF ALL.\n\nThe belief in these superior beings, dating from immemorial antiquity,\ninterwoven as it should seem with our very nature, and authorised by a\nvariety of passages in Scripture, has descended to our time. Although\nthe bodily forms assigned to them are allowed to be impossible, and\nmerely allegorical, although their supposed functions as rulers of\nthe stars and elements have long been set aside by a knowledge of the\nnatural laws, still the coexistence of many orders of beings superior\nin nature to ourselves, benignly interested in our welfare, and\ncontending for us against the powers of evil, remains an article of\nfaith. Perhaps the belief itself, and the feeling it excites in the\ntender and contemplative mind, were never more beautifully expressed\nthan by our own Spenser:\u2014\n\n    And is there care in heaven? And is there love\n    In heavenly spirits to these creatures base,\n    That may compassion of their evils move?\n    There is!\u2014else much more wretched were the case\n    Of men than beasts! But O th\u2019 exceeding grace\n    Of highest God that loves his creatures so,\n    And all his works with mercy doth embrace,\n    That blessed angels he sends to and fro\n    To serve to wicked man, to serve his wicked foe\n\n    How oft do they their silver bowers leave,\n    And come to succour us that succour want?\n    How oft do they with golden pinions cleave\n    The flitting skies, like flying pursuivant,\n    Against foul fiends, to aid us militant?\n    They for its fight, they watch, and duly ward,\n    And their bright squadrons round about us plant,\n    And all for love, and nothing for reward!\n    Oh why should heavenly God to men have such regard!\n\nIt is this feeling, expressed or unexpressed, lurking at the very core\nof all hearts, which renders the usual representations of angels, spite\nof all incongruities of form, so pleasing to the fancy: we overlook\nthe anatomical solecisms, and become mindful only of that emblematical\nsignificance which through its humanity connects it with us, and\nthrough its supernatural appendages connects _us_ with heaven.\n\nBut it is necessary to give a brief summary of the scriptural and\ntheological authorities, relative to the nature and functions of\nangels, before we can judge of the manner in which these ideas have\nbeen attended to and carried out in the artistic similitudes. Thus\nangels are represented in the Old Testament\u2014\n\n1. As beings of a higher nature than men, and gifted with superior\nintelligence and righteousness.[14]\n\n2. As a host of attendants surrounding the throne of God, and as a kind\nof celestial court or council.[15]\n\n3. As messengers of his will conveyed from heaven to earth: or as sent\nto guide, to correct, to instruct, to reprove, to console.\n\n4. As protecting the pious.\n\n5. As punishing by command of the Most High the wicked and\ndisobedient.[16]\n\n6. As having the form of men; as eating and drinking.\n\n7. As wielding a sword.\n\n8. As having power to slay.[17]\n\nI do not recollect any instance in which angels are represented in\nScripture as instigated by human passions; they are merely the agents\nof the mercy or the wrath of the Almighty.\n\nAfter the period of the Captivity, the Jewish ideas concerning angels\nwere considerably extended and modified by an admixture of the\nChaldaic belief, and of the doctrines taught by Zoroaster.[18] It\nis then that we first hear of good and bad angels, and of a fallen\nangel or impersonation of evil, busy in working mischief on earth and\ncounteracting good; also of archangels, who are alluded to by name;\nand of guardian angels assigned to nations and individuals; and these\nforeign ideas concerning the spiritual world, accepted and promulgated\nby the Jewish doctors, pervade the whole of the New Testament, in which\nangels are far more familiar to us as agents, more frequently alluded\nto, and more distinctly brought before us, than in the Old Testament.\nFor example: they are represented\u2014\n\n1. As countless.\n\n2. As superior to all human wants and weaknesses.\n\n3. As the deputed messengers of God.\n\n4. They rejoice over the repentant sinner. They take deep interest in\nthe mission of Christ.\n\n5. They are present with those who pray; they bear the souls of the\njust to heaven.\n\n6. They minister to Christ on earth, and will be present at his second\ncoming.[19]\n\nIn the Gospel of St. John, which is usually regarded as the fullest and\nmost correct exposition of the doctrines of Christ, angels are only\nthree times mentioned, and in none of these instances does the word\nangel fall from the lips of Christ. On the other hand, the writings of\nSt. Paul, who was deeply versed in all the learning and philosophy of\nthe Jews, abound in allusions to angels, and, according to the usual\ninterpretation of certain passages, he shows them divided into several\nclasses.[20] St. Luke, who was the friend and disciple of St. Paul,\nsome say his convert, is more direct and explicit on the subject of\nangels than any of the other Evangelists, and his allusions to them\nmuch more frequent.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe worship of angels, which the Jews brought from Chaldea, was early\nintroduced into the Christian Church. In the fourth century the council\nof Laodicea published a decree against places of worship dedicated to\nangels under names which the Church did not recognise. But neither\nwarning nor council seems to have had power to modify the popular\ncreed, countenanced as it was by high authority. All the Fathers are\nunanimous as to the existence of angels good and evil. They hold that\nit is evermore the allotted task of good angels to defend us against\nevil angels, and to carry on a daily and hourly combat against our\nspiritual foes: they teach that the good angels are worthy of all\nreverence as the ministers of God and as the protectors of the human\nrace; that their intercession is to be invoked, and their perpetual,\ninvisible presence to be regarded as an incitement to good and a\npreventive to evil.\n\nThis, however, was not enough. Taking for their foundation a few\nScripture texts, and in particular the classification of St. Paul,\nthe imaginative theologians of the middle ages ran into all kinds\nof extravagant subtleties regarding the being, the nature, and the\nfunctions of the different orders of angels. Except as far as they have\nbeen taken as authorities in Art, I shall set aside these fanciful\ndisquisitions, of which a mere abstract would fill volumes. For our\npresent purpose it is sufficient to bear in mind that the great\ntheologians divide the angelic host into three hierarchies, and these\nagain into nine choirs, three in each hierarchy: according to Dionysius\nthe Areopagite, in the following order: 1. Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones.\n2. Dominations, Virtues, Powers. 3. Princedoms, Archangels, Angels.\nThe order of these denominations is not the same in all authorities:\naccording to the Greek formula, St. Bernard, and the Legenda Aurea,\nthe Cherubim precede the Seraphim, and in the hymn of St. Ambrose they\nhave also the precedence\u2014_To Thee, Cherubim and Seraphim continually do\ncry_, &c.; but the authority of St. Dionysius seems to be admitted as\nparamount, for according to the legend he was the convert and intimate\nfriend of St. Paul, and St. Paul, who had been transported to the\nseventh heaven, had made him acquainted with all he had there beheld.\n\n                               Desire\n    In Dionysius so intensely wrought\n    That he, as I have done, ranged them, and named\n    Their orders, marshall\u2019d in his thought;\n                      ... For he had learn\u2019d\n    Both this and much beside of these our orbs\n    From an eye-witness to Heaven\u2019s mysteries. DANTE, _Par._ 28.\n\nThe first three choirs receive their glory immediately from God, and\ntransmit it to the second; the second illuminate the third; the third\nare placed in relation to the created universe and man. The first\nHierarchy are as councillors; the second as governors; the third as\nministers. The Seraphim are absorbed in perpetual love and adoration\nimmediately round the throne of God. The Cherubim know and worship.\nThe Thrones sustain the seat of the Most High. The Dominations,\nVirtues, Powers, are the Regents of stars and elements. The three last\norders, Princedoms, Archangels, and Angels, are the protectors of\nthe great Monarchies on earth, and the executors of the will of God\nthroughout the universe.\n\nThe term angels is properly applied to all these celestial beings; but\nit belongs especially to the two last orders, who are brought into\nimmediate communication with the human race. The word angel, Greek in\nits origin, signifies a messenger, or more literally _a bringer of\ntidings_.\n\nIn this sense the Greeks entitle Christ \u2018The great Angel of the will of\nGod;\u2019 and I have seen Greek representations of Christ with wings to his\nshoulders. John the Baptist is also an angel in this sense; likewise\nthe Evangelists; all of whom, as I shall show hereafter, bear, as\ncelestial messengers, the angel-wings.\n\n[Illustration: 4 Greek Seraph; wings of gold\n               and crimson (Ninth century)]\n\nIn ancient pictures and illuminations which exhibit the glorification\nof the Trinity, Christ, or the Virgin, the hierarchies of angels are\nrepresented in circles around them, orb within orb. This is called a\nglory of angels. In pictures it is seldom complete: instead of nine\ncircles, the painters content themselves with one or two circles only.\nThe innermost circles, the Seraphim and the Cherubim, are in general\nrepresented as _heads_ merely, with two or four or six wings, and of\na bright-red or blue colour; sometimes with variegated wings, green,\nyellow, violet, &c. This emblem\u2014intended to shadow forth to human\ncomprehension a pure spirit glowing with love and intelligence, in\nwhich all that is bodily is put away, and only the head, the seat of\nsoul, and wings, the attribute of spirit and swiftness, retained\u2014is of\nGreek origin. When first adopted I do not know, but I have met with\nit in Greek MSS. of the ninth century. Down to the eleventh century\nthe faces were human, but not childish; the infant head was afterwards\nadopted to express innocence in addition to love and intelligence.\n\n[Illustration: 5      Cherubim, Italian (Fourteenth century)]\n\nSuch was the expressive and poetical symbol which degenerated in the\nlater periods of Art into those little fat baby heads, with curly hair\nand small wings under the chin, which the more they resemble nature in\ncolour, feature, and detail, the more absurd they become, the original\nmeaning being wholly lost or perverted.\n\n[Illustration: 6       Cherub Heads]\n\nIn painting, where a glory of angels is placed round the Divine Being\nor the glorified Virgin, those forming the innermost circles are or\nought to be of a glowing red, the colour of fire, that is, of love; the\nnext circle is painted blue, the colour of the firmament, or light,\nthat is, of knowledge. Now as the word seraph is derived from a Hebrew\nroot signifying love, and the word cherub from a Hebrew root signifying\nto know, should not this distinction fix the proper place and name of\nthe first two orders? It is admitted that the spirits which _love_ are\nnearer to God than those which _know_, since we cannot know that which\nwe do not first love: that Love and Knowledge, \u2018the two halves of a\ndivided world,\u2019 constitute in their union the perfection of the angelic\nnature; but the Seraphim, according to the derivation of their name,\nshould _love_ most; their whole being is fused, as it were, in a glow\nof adoration; therefore they should take the precedence, and their\nproper colour is red. The Cherubim, \u2018the lords of those that know,\u2019\ncome next, and are to be painted blue.\n\nThus it should seem that, in considering the religious pictures of the\nearly ages of Art, we have to get rid of certain associations as to\ncolour and form, derived from the phraseology of later poets and the\nrepresentations of later painters. \u2018Blue-eyed Seraphim,\u2019 and the \u2018blue\ndepth of Seraph\u2019s eyes,\u2019 are not to be thought of any more than smiling\nCherubim.\u2019 The Seraphim, where distinguished by colour, are red; the\nCherubim blue: the proper character, where character is attended to,\nis, in the Seraph, adoration; in the Cherub, contemplation. So Milton\u2014\n\n               With thee bring\n    Him who soars on golden wing,\n    The Cherub, Contemplation.\n\nI remember a little Triptyca, a genuine work of Fiesole, in which one\nof the lateral compartments represents his favourite subject, the\nsouls of the blessed received into Paradise. They are moving from the\nlower part of the picture towards the top, along an ascent paved with\nflowers, all in white garments and crowned with roses. At one side,\nlow down, stands a blue Cherub robed in drapery spangled with golden\nstars, who seems to encourage the blessed group. Above are the gates of\nheaven. Christ welcomes to his kingdom the beatified spirits, and on\neach side stands a Seraph, all of a glowing red, in spangled drapery.\nThe figures are not here merely heads and wings, but full length,\nhaving all that soft peculiar grace which belongs to the painter.[21]\n\nIn a Coronation of the Virgin,[22] a glory of Seraphim over-arches the\nprincipal group. Here the angelic beings are wholly of a bright red\ncolour: they are human to the waist, with hands clasped in devotion:\nthe bodies and arms covered with plumage, but the forms terminating\nin wings; all uniformly red. In the same collection is a small Greek\npicture of Christ receiving the soul of the Virgin; over his head\nhovers a large, fiery-red, six-winged Seraph; and on each side a Seraph\nwith hair and face and limbs of glowing red, and with white draperies.\nVasari mentions an Adoration of the Magi by Liberale of Verona, in\nwhich a group of angels, all of a red colour, stand as a celestial\nguard round the Virgin and her divine Infant.[23]\n\nThe distinction of hue in the red and blue angels we find wholly\nomitted towards the end of the fifteenth century. Cherubim with blue,\nred, green, and variegated wings we find in the pictures of Perugino\nand other masters in the beginning of the sixteenth century, also\nin early pictures of Raphael. Liberale di Verona has given us, in a\nMadonna picture, Cherub heads without wings, and of a blue colour,\nemerging from golden clouds. And in Raphael\u2019s Madonna di San Sisto\nthe whole background is formed of Cherubim and Seraphim of a uniform\ndelicate bluish tinge, as if composed of air, and melting away into an\nabyss of golden glory, the principal figures standing relieved against\nthis flood of living love and light\u2014beautiful! So are the Cherubim\nwith many-coloured wings which float in the firmament in Perugino\u2019s\nCoronation of the Virgin; but none of these can be regarded as so\ntheologically correct as the fiery-red and bright-blue Seraphim and\nCherubim, of which are formed the hierarchies and glories which figure\nin the early pictures, the stained glass, the painted sculpture, and\nthe illuminated MSS. from the tenth to the sixteenth century.\n\n[Illustration: 7 Cherubim (Liberale di Verona)]\n\nThe next five choirs of angels, the Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms,\nVirtues, Powers, though classed and described with great exactitude by\nthe theologians, have not been very accurately discriminated in Art.\nIn some examples the Thrones have green wings, a fiery aureole, and\nbear a throne in their hands. The Dominations, Virtues, and Powers\nsometimes bear a globe and a long sceptre surmounted by a cross. The\nPrincipalities, according to the Greek formula, should bear a branch\nof lily. The Archangels are figured as warriors, and carry a sword\nwith the point upwards. The angels are robed as deacons, and carry a\nwand. In one of the ancient frescoes in the Cathedral at Orvieto, there\nis a complete hierarchy of angels, so arranged as to symbolise the\nTrinity, each of the nine choirs being composed of three angels, but\nthe Seraphim only are distinguished by their red colour and priority\nof place. In the south porch of the Cathedral of Chartres, each of\nthe nine orders is represented by two angels: in other instances, one\nangel only represents the order to which he belongs, and nine angels\nrepresent the whole hierarchy.[24] Where, however, we meet with groups\nor rows of angels, as in the Greek mosaics and the earliest frescoes\nall alike, all with the tiara, the long sceptre-like wands, and the orb\nof sovereignty, I believe these to represent the Powers and Princedoms\nof Heaven. The Archangels alone, as we shall see presently, have\ndistinct individual names and attributes assigned to them.\n\n[Illustration: 8 Part of a Glory of Angels surrounding the figure of\nChrist in a picture by Ambrogio Borgognone]\n\nThe angels, generally, have the human form; are winged; and are endowed\nwith immutable happiness and perpetual youth, because they are ever\nin the presence of Him with whom there is no change and no time. They\nare direct emanations of the beauty of the Eternal mind, therefore\nbeautiful; created, therefore not eternal, but created perfect, and\nimmortal in their perfection: they are always supposed to be masculine;\nperhaps for the reason so beautifully assigned by Madame de Sta\u00ebl,\n\u2018because the union of power with purity (_la force avec la puret\u00e9_)\nconstitutes all that we mortals can imagine of perfection.\u2019 There\nis no such thing as an old angel, and therefore there ought to be\nno such thing as an infant angel. The introduction of infant angels\nseems to have arisen from the custom of representing the regenerate\nsouls of men as new-born infants, and perhaps also from the words of\nour Saviour, when speaking of children: \u2018I say unto you, their angels\ndo always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.\u2019 Such\nrepresentations, when religiously and poetically treated as spirits of\nlove, intelligence, and innocence, are of exquisite beauty, and have a\nsignificance which charms and elevates the fancy; but from this, the\ntrue and religious conception, the Italian _putti_ and _puttini_, and\nthe rosy chubby babies of the Flemish school, are equally remote.\n\n[Illustration: 9 Egyptian winged genius (Louvre)]\n\nIn early Art, the angels in the bloom of adolescence are always amply\ndraped: at first, in the classical tunic and pallium; afterwards in\nlong linen vestments with the alba and stole, as levites or deacons; or\nas princes, with embroidered robes and sandals, and jewelled crowns or\nfillets. Such figures are common in the Byzantine mosaics and pictures.\nThe expression, in these early representations, is usually calm and\nimpassive. Angels partially draped in loose, fluttering, meretricious\nattire, poised in attitudes upon clouds, or with features animated by\nhuman passion, or limbs strained by human effort, are the innovations\nof more modern Art. White is, or ought to be, the prevailing colour\nin angelic draperies, but red and blue of various shades are more\nfrequent: green often occurs; and in the Venetian pictures, yellow, or\nrather saffron-coloured, robes are not unfrequent. In the best examples\nof Italian Art the tints, though varied, are tender and delicate: all\ndark heavy colours and violent contrasts of colour are avoided. On\nthe contrary, in the early German school, the angels have rich heavy\nvoluminous draperies of the most intense and vivid colours, often\njewelled and embroidered with gold. Flight, in such garments, seems as\ndifficult as it would be to swim in coronation robes.\n\n[Illustration: 10 Winged figure from Nineveh]\n\nBut, whatever be the treatment as to character, lineaments, or dress,\nwings are almost invariably the attribute of the angelic form. As\nemblematical appendages, these are not merely significant of the\ncharacter of celestial messengers, for, from time immemorial, wings\nhave been the Oriental and Egyptian symbol of power, as well as of\nswiftness; of the spiritual and aerial, in contradistinction to the\nhuman and the earthly. Thus, with the Egyptians, the winged globe\nsignified power and eternity, that is, the Godhead; a bird, with a\nhuman head, signified the soul; and nondescript creatures, with wings,\nabound not only in the Egyptian paintings and hieroglyphics, but also\nin the Chaldaic and Babylonian remains, in the Lycian and Nineveh\nmarbles, and on the gems and other relics of the Gnostics. I have\nseen on the Gnostic gems figures with four wings, two springing from\nthe shoulders and two from the loins. This portentous figure, from the\nruins of Nineveh, is similarly constructed. (10.)\n\nIn Etruscan Art all their divinities are winged; and where Venus\nis represented with wings, as in many of the antique gems (and by\nCorreggio in imitation of them),[25] these brilliant wings are not, as\nsome have supposed, emblematical of the _transitoriness_, but of the\nmight, the majesty, and the essential divinity of beauty. In Scripture,\nthe first mention of Cherubim with wings is immediately after the\ndeparture of the Israelites from Egypt (Exod. xxxi. 2). Bezaleel, the\nfirst artist whose name is recorded in the world\u2019s history, and who\nappears to have been, like the greatest artists of modern times, at\nonce architect, sculptor, and painter, probably derived his figures\nof Cherubim with outstretched wings, guarding the mercy-seat, from\nthose Egyptian works of Art with which the Israelites must have been\nfamiliarised. Clement of Alexandria is so aware of the relative\nsimilitude, that he supposes the Egyptians to have borrowed from the\nIsraelites, which is obviously the reverse of the truth. How far the\nCherubim, which figure in the Biblical pictures of the present day,\nresemble the carved Cherubim of Bezaleel we cannot tell, but probably\nthe idea and the leading forms are the same: for the ark, we know, was\ncarried into Palestine; these original Cherubim were the pattern of\nthose which adorned the temple of Solomon, and these, again, were the\nprototype after which the imagery of the second temple was fashioned.\nAlthough in Scripture the shape under which the celestial ministers\nappeared to man is nowhere described, except in the visions of the\nprophets (Dan. x. 5), and there with a sort of dreamy incoherent\nsplendour, rendering it most perilous to clothe the image placed before\nthe fancy in definite forms, still the idea of wings, as the angelic\nappendages, is conveyed in many places distinctly, and occasionally\nwith a picturesque vividness which inspires and assists the artist.\nFor instance, in Daniel, ch. vii., \u2018they had wings like a fowl.\u2019 In\nEzekiel, ch.i., \u2018their wings were stretched upward when they flew;\nwhen they stood, they let down their wings:\u2019 \u2018I heard the noise of\ntheir wings as the noise of great waters:\u2019 and in Zechariah, ch. v., \u2018I\nlooked, and behold there came out two women, and the wind was in their\nwings, for they had wings like the wings of a stork.\u2019 And Isaiah, ch.\nvi., in the description of the Seraphim, \u2018Each one had six wings; with\ntwain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with\ntwain he did fly.\u2019 By the early artists this description was followed\nout in a manner more conscientious and reverential than poetical.\n\n[Illustration: 11 Seraph\n(Greek mosaic, Cathedral of Monreale)]\n\nThey were content with a symbol. But mark how Milton, more daring,\ncould paint from the same original:\u2014\n\n    A seraph wing\u2019d; six wings he wore to shade\n    His lineaments divine: the pair that clad\n    Each shoulder broad, came mantling o\u2019er his breast\n    With regal ornament; the middle pair\n    Girt like a starry zone his waist, and round\n    Skirted his loins and thighs with downy gold\n    And colours dipp\u2019d in heaven; the third his feet\n    Shadow\u2019d from either heel with feather\u2019d mail,\n    Sky-tinctured grain.\n\nI have sometimes thought that Milton, in his descriptions of angels,\nwas not indebted merely to the notions of the old theological writers,\ninterpreted and embellished by his own fancy: may he not, in his\nwanderings through Italy, have beheld with kindling sympathy some of\nthose glorious creations of Italian Art, which, when I saw them, made\nme break out into his own divine language as the only fit utterance to\nexpress those forms in words?\u2014But, to return\u2014Is it not a mistake to\nmake the wings, the feathered appendages of the angelic form, as like\nas possible to real wings\u2014the wings of storks, or the wings of swans,\nor herons, borrowed for the occasion? Some modern painters, anxious to\nmake wings look \u2018natural,\u2019 have done this; Delaroche, for instance,\nin his St. Cecilia. Infinitely more beautiful and consistent are the\nnondescript wings which the early painters gave their angels:\u2014large\u2014so\nlarge, that when the glorious creature is represented as at rest, they\ndroop from the shoulders to the ground; with long slender feathers,\neyed sometimes like the peacock\u2019s train, bedropped with gold like the\npheasant\u2019s breast, tinted with azure and violet and crimson, \u2018colours\ndipp\u2019d in heaven,\u2019\u2014they are really angel-wings, not bird-wings.\n\n[Illustration: 12 Angels (Orcagna)]\n\n[Illustration: 13 Fiery Cherub (Raphael)]\n\nOrcagna\u2019s angels in the Campo Santo are, in this respect, peculiarly\npoetical. Their extremities are wings instead of limbs; and in a few\nof the old Italian and German painters of the fifteenth century we\nfind angels whose extremities are formed of light waving folds of pale\nrose-coloured or azure drapery, or of a sort of vapoury cloud, or, in\nsome instances, of flames. The cherubim and seraphim which surround the\nsimilitude of Jehovah when He appears to Moses in the burning bush,[26]\nare an example of the sublime and poetical significance which may be\ngiven to this kind of treatment. They have heads and human features\nmarvellous for intelligence and beauty; their hair, their wings, their\nlimbs, end in lambent fires; they are \u2018celestial Ardours bright,\u2019 which\nseem to have being without shape.\n\nDante\u2019s angels have less of dramatic reality, less of the aggrandised\nand idealised human presence, than Milton\u2019s. They are wondrous\ncreatures. Some of them have the quaint fantastic picturesqueness\nof old Italian Art and the Albert D\u00fcrer school; for instance, those\nin the Purgatorio, with their wings of a bright green, and their\ngreen draperies, \u2018verde come fogliette,\u2019 kept in a perpetual state of\nundulation by the breeze created by the fanning of their wings, with\nfeatures too dazzling to be distinguished:\n\n    Ben discerneva in lor la testa bionda,\n    Ma nelle facce l\u2019 occhio si smarria\n    Come virt\u00f9 ch\u2019 a troppo si confonda.[27]\n\nAnd the Shape, glowing red as in a furnace, with an air from the\nfanning of its wings, \u2018fresh as the first breath of wind in a May\nmorning, and fragrant as all its flowers.\u2019 That these and other\npassages scattered through the Purgatorio and the Paradiso assisted the\nfancy of the earlier painters, in portraying their angelic Glories and\nwinged Beatitudes, I have little doubt; but, on the other hand, the\nsublime angel in the Inferno\u2014he who comes speeding over the waters with\nvast pinions like sails, sweeping the evil spirits in heaps before him,\n\u2018like frogs before a serpent,\u2019 and with a touch of his wand making the\ngates of the city of Dis fly open; then, with a countenance solemn and\nmajestic, and quite unmindful of his worshipper, as one occupied by\nhigher matters, turning and soaring away\u2014this is quite in the sentiment\nof the grand old Greek and Italian mosaics, which preceded Dante by\nsome centuries.[28]\n\nBut besides being the winged messengers of God to man, the deputed\nregents of the stars, the rulers of the elements, and the dispensers\nof the fate of nations, angels have another function in which we love\nto contemplate them. They are the choristers of heaven. Theirs is\nthe privilege to sound that hymn of praise which goes up from this\nboundless and harmonious universe of suns and stars and worlds and\nrejoicing creatures, towards the God who created them: theirs is the\nmusic of the spheres\u2014\n\n  They sing, and singing in their glory move;\n\nthey tune divine instruments, named after those of earth\u2019s harmonies\u2014\n\n            The harp, the solemn pipe\n    And dulcimer, all organs of sweet stop,\n    All sounds on fret by string or golden wire,\n                  ... And with songs\n    And choral symphonies, day without night,\n    Circle his throne rejoicing.\n\nThere is nothing more beautiful, more attractive, in Art than the\nrepresentations of angels in this character. Sometimes they form\na chorus round the glorified Saviour, when, after his sorrow and\nsacrifice on earth, he takes his throne in heaven; or, when the crown\nis placed on the head of the Maternal Virgin in glory, pour forth their\ntriumphant song, and sound their silver clarions on high: sometimes\nthey stand or kneel before the Madonna and Child, or sit upon the steps\nof her throne, singing,\u2014with such sweet earnest faces! or playing on\ntheir golden lutes, or piping celestial symphonies; or they bend in\na choir from the opening heavens above, and welcome, with triumphant\nsongs, the liberated soul of the saint or martyr; or join in St.\nCecilia\u2019s hymn of praise: but whatever the scene, in these and similar\nrepresentations, they appear in their natural place and vocation, and\nharmonise enchantingly with all our feelings and fancies relative to\nthese angelic beings, made up of love and music.\n\n[Illustration: 14 Angel (Francia)]\n\n[Illustration: 15 Piping Angel (Gian Bellini)]\n\nMost beautiful examples of this treatment occur both in early painting\nand sculpture; and no one who has wandered through churches and\ngalleries, with feeling and observation awake, can fail to remember\nsuch. It struck me as characteristic of the Venetian school, that the\nlove of music seemed to combine with the sense of harmony in colour;\nnowhere have I seen musical angels so frequently and so beautifully\nintroduced: and whereas the angelic choirs of Fiesole, Ghirlandajo,\nand Raphael, seem to be playing as an act of homage for the delight of\nthe Divine Personages, those of Vivarini and Bellini and Palma appear\nas if enchanted by their own music; and both together are united in\nthe grand and beautiful angels of Melozzo da Forli, particularly in\none who is bending over a lute, and another who with a triumphant and\necstatic expression strikes the cymbals.[29] Compare the cherubic\nhost who are pouring forth their hymns of triumph, blowing their\nuplifted trumpets, and touching immortal harps and viols in Angelico\u2019s\n\u2018Coronation,\u2019[30] or in Signorelli\u2019s \u2018Paradiso,\u2019[31] with those lovely\nVenetian choristers, the piping boys, myrtle-crowned, who are hymning\nBellini\u2019s Madonna,[32] or those who are touching the lute to the praise\nand glory of St. Ambrose in Vivarini\u2019s most beautiful picture; you will\nfeel immediately the distinction in point of sentiment.\n\nThe procession of chanting angels which once surmounted the organ in\nthe Duomo of Florence is a perfect example of musical angels applied to\nthe purpose of decoration. Perhaps it was well to remove this exquisite\nwork of art to a place of safety, where it can be admired and studied\nas a work of art; but the removal has taken from it the appropriate\nexpression. How they sing!\u2014when the tones of the organ burst forth, we\nmight have fancied we heard their divine voices through the stream of\nsound! The exquisite little bronze choristers round the high altar of\nSt. Antonio in Padua are another example; Florentine in elegance of\nform, Venetian in sentiment, intent upon their own sweet song!\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThere is a third function ascribed to these angelic natures, which\nbrings them even nearer to our sympathies; they are the deputed\nguardians of the just and innocent. St. Raphael, whose story I shall\npresently relate, is the prince of the guardian angels. The Jews held\nthat the angels deputed to Lot were his guardian angels.[33] The\nfathers of the Christian Church taught that every human being, from\nthe hour of his birth to that of his death, is accompanied by an\nangel appointed to watch over him. The Mahometans give to each of us\na good and an evil angel; but the early Christians supposed us to be\nattended each by a good angel only, who undertakes that office, not\nmerely from duty to God, and out of obedience and great humility, but\nas inspired by exceeding charity and love towards his human charge. It\nwould require the tongues of angels themselves to recite all that we\nowe to these benign and vigilant guardians. They watch by the cradle of\nthe new-born babe, and spread their celestial wings round the tottering\nsteps of infancy. If the path of life be difficult and thorny, and evil\nspirits work its shame and woe, they sustain us; they bear the voice of\nour complaining, of our supplication, of our repentance, up to the foot\nof God\u2019s throne, and bring us back in return a pitying benediction, to\nstrengthen and to cheer. When passion and temptation strive for the\nmastery, they encourage us to resist; when we conquer, they crown us;\nwhen we falter and fail, they compassionate and grieve over us; when\nwe are obstinate in polluting our own souls, and perverted not only\nin act but in will, they leave us\u2014and woe to them that are so left!\nBut the good angel does not quit his charge until his protection is\ndespised, rejected, and utterly repudiated. Wonderful the fervour of\ntheir love\u2014wonderful their meekness and patience\u2014 who endure from day\nto day the spectacle of the unveiled human heart with all its miserable\nweaknesses and vanities, its inordinate desires and selfish purposes!\nConstant to us in death, they contend against the powers of darkness\nfor the emancipated spirit: they even visit the suffering sinner in\npurgatory; they keep alive in the tormented spirit faith and hope, and\nremind him that the term of expiation will end at last. So Dante[34]\nrepresents the souls in purgatory as comforted in their misery; and\n(which has always seemed to me a touch of sublime truth and tenderness)\nas rejoicing over those who were on earth conspicuous for the very\nvirtues wherein themselves were deficient. When at length the repentant\nsoul is sufficiently purified, the guardian angel bears it to the bosom\nof the Saviour.\n\nThe earlier painters and sculptors did not, apparently, make the same\nuse of guardian angels that we so often meet with in works of Modern\nArt. Poetical allegories of angels guiding the steps of childhood,\nextending a shield over innocence, watching by a sick bed, do not, I\nthink, occur before the seventeenth century; at least I have not met\nwith such. The ancient masters, who really believed in the personal\nagency of our angelic guardians, beheld them with awe and reverence,\nand reserved their presence for great and solemn occasions. The\nangel who presents the pious votary to Christ or the Virgin, who\ncrowns St. Cecilia and St. Valerian after their conquest over human\nweakness; the angel who cleaves the air with flight precipitant\u2019 to\nbreak the implements of torture, or to extend the palm to the dying\nmartyr, victorious over pain; the angels who assist and carry in their\narms the souls of the just; are, in these and all similar examples,\nrepresentations of guardian angels.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nSuch, then, are the three great functions of the angelic host: they are\nMessengers, Choristers, and Guardians. But angels, without reference to\ntheir individuality or their ministry\u2014with regard only to their species\nand their form, as the most beautiful and the most elevated of created\nessences, as intermediate between heaven and earth\u2014are introduced into\nall works of art which have a sacred purpose or character, and must\nbe considered not merely as decorative accessories, but as a kind of\npresence, as attendant witnesses; and, like the chorus in the Greek\ntragedies, looking on where they are not actors. In architectural\ndecoration, the cherubim with which Solomon adorned his temple have\nbeen the authority and example.[35] \u2018Within the oracle he made two\ncherubims, each ten cubits high, and with wings five cubits in length\u2019\n(the angels in the old Christian churches on each side of the altar\ncorrespond with these cherubim), \u2018and he overlaid the cherubims with\ngold, and carved all the walls of the house with carved figures of\ncherubims, and he made doors of olive tree, and he carved on them\nfigures of cherubims.\u2019 So, in Christian art and architecture, angels,\nwith their beautiful cinctured heads and outstretched wings and flowing\ndraperies, fill up every space. The instances are so numerous that they\nwill occur to every one who has given a thought to the subject. I may\nmention the frieze of angels in Henry the Seventh\u2019s Chapel, merely as\nan example at hand, and which can be referred to at any moment; also\nthe angels round the choir of Lincoln Cathedral, of which there are\nfine casts in the Crystal Palace at Sydenham; and in some of the old\nchurches in Saxony which clearly exhibit the influence of Byzantine\nArt\u2014for instance, at Freyberg, Merseburg, Naumburg\u2014angels with\noutspread wings fill up the spandrils of the arches along the nave.\n\nBut, in the best ages of Art, angels were not merely employed as\ndecorative accessories; they had their appropriate place and a solemn\nsignificance as a part of that theological system which the edifice, as\na whole, represented.\n\nAs a celestial host, surrounding the throne of the Trinity; or of\nChrist, as redeemer or as a judge; or of the Virgin in glory; or the\nthroned Madonna and Child; their place is immediately next to the\nDivine Personages, and before the Evangelists.\n\nIn what is called a Liturgy of Angels, they figure in procession On\neach side of the choir, so as to have the appearance of approaching the\naltar: they wear the stole and alba as deacons, and bear the implements\nof the mass. In the Cathedral of Rheims there is a range of colossal\nangels as a grand procession along the vaults of the nave, who appear\nas approaching the altar: these bear not only the gospel, the missal,\nthe sacramental cup, the ewer, the taper, the cross, &c., but also the\nattributes of sovereignty, celestial and terrestrial: one carries the\nsun, another the moon, a third the kingly sceptre, a fourth the globe,\na fifth the sword; and all these, as they approach the sanctuary, they\nseem about to place at the feet of Christ, who stands there as priest\nand king in glory. Statues of angels in an attitude of worship on each\nside of the altar, as if adoring the sacrifice\u2014or bearing in triumph\nthe instruments of Christ\u2019s passion, the cross, the nails, the spear,\nthe crown of thorns\u2014or carrying tapers\u2014are more common, and must be\nregarded not merely as decoration, but as a _presence_ in the high\nsolemnity.\n\n[Illustration: 16 Angel bearing the Moon\n                  (Greek, 12th century)]\n\nIn the Cathedral of Auxerre may be seen angels attending on the\ntriumphant coming of Christ; and, which is most singular, they, as well\nas Christ, are on horseback (17).\n\n[Illustration: 17 Two angels on horseback]\n\nWhen, in subjects from Scripture history, angels figure not merely as\nattendants and spectators, but as personages necessary to the action,\nthey are either ministers of the divine wrath, or of the divine mercy;\nagents of destruction, or agents of help and good counsel. As all\nthese instances belong to the historical scenes of the Old or the New\nTestament, they will be considered separately, and I shall confine\nmyself here to a few remarks on the introduction and treatment of\nangels in some subjects of peculiar interest.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n[Illustration: 18 Adam and Eve expelled (N. Pisano)]\n\nIn relating \u2018the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise,\u2019 it is not\nsaid that an angel was the immediate agent of the divine wrath, but it\nis so represented in works of Art. In the most ancient treatment I have\nmet with,[36] a majestic armed angel drives forth the delinquents, and\na cherub with six wings stands as guard before the gate. I found the\nsame _motif_ in the sculptures on the fa\u00e7ade of the Duomo at Orvieto,\nby Niccol\u00f2 Pisano. In another instance, an ancient Saxon miniature, the\nangel is represented not as driving them forth, but closing the door\nagainst them. But these are exceptions to the usual mode of treatment,\nwhich seldom varies; the angel is not represented in wrath, but calm,\nand stretches forth a sword which is often (literally rendering the\ntext) a waving lambent flame. I remember an instance in which the\npreternatural sword, \u2018turning every way,\u2019 as the form of a wheel of\nflames.\n\nAn angel is expressly introduced as a minister of wrath in the story\nof Balaam, in which I have seen no deviation from the obvious prosaic\ntreatment, rendering the text literally, \u2018and the ass saw the angel of\nthe Lord standing in the way and his sword drawn in his hand.\u2019\n\n\u2018The destroying angel, leaning from heaven, presents to David three\narrows, from which to choose\u2014war, pestilence, or famine.\u2019 I have found\nthis subject beautifully executed in several MSS., for instance, in the\n\u2018Heures d\u2019Anne de Bretagne;\u2019 also in pictures and in prints.\n\n\u2018The destroying angel sent to chastise the arrogance of David, is\nbeheld standing between heaven and earth with his sword stretched over\nJerusalem to destroy it.\u2019 Of this sublime vision I have never seen\nany but the meanest representations; none of the great masters have\ntreated it; perhaps Rembrandt might have given us the terrible and\nglorious angel standing like a shadow in the midst of his own intense\nirradiation. David fallen on his face, and the sons of Ornan hiding\nthemselves by their rude threshing-floor, with that wild mixture of the\nfamiliar and the unearthly in which he alone has succeeded.\n\n\u2018The Chastisement of Heliodorus\u2019 has given occasion to the sublimest\ncomposition in which human genius ever attempted to embody the\nconception of the supernatural\u2014Raphael\u2019s fresco in the Vatican. St.\nMichael, the protecting angel of the Hebrew nation, is supposed to\nhave been the minister of divine wrath on this occasion; but Raphael,\nin omitting the wings, and all exaggeration or alteration of the\nhuman figure, has shown how unnecessary it was for _him_ to have\nrecourse to the prodigious and impossible in form, in order to give\nthe supernatural in sentiment. The unearthly warrior and his unearthly\nsteed\u2014the weapon in his hand, which is not a sword to pierce, nor a\nclub to strike, but a sort of mace, of which, as it seems, a touch\nwould annihilate; the two attendant spirits, who come gliding above the\nmarble floor, with their hair streaming back with the rapidity of their\na\u00ebrial motion\u2014are in the very spirit of Dante, and, as conceptions of\nsuperhuman power, superior to anything in pictured form which Art has\nbequeathed to us.\n\nIn calling to mind the various representations of the angels of the\nApocalypse let loose for destruction, one is tempted to exclaim, \u2018O\nfor a warning voice!\u2019 When the Muse of Milton quailed, and fell ten\nthousand fathom deep into Bathos, what could be expected from human\ninvention? In general, where this subject is attempted in pictures, we\nfind the angels animated, like those of Milton in the war of heaven,\nwith \u2018fierce desire of battle,\u2019 breathing vengeance, wrath, and fury.\nSo Albert D\u00fcrer, in those wonderful scenes of his \u2018Apocalypse,\u2019 has\nexhibited them; but some of the early Italians show them merely\nimpassive, conquering almost without effort, punishing without anger.\nThe immediate instruments of the wrath of God in the day of judgment\nare not angels, but devils or demons, generally represented by the\nold painters with every possible exaggeration of hideousness, and as\ntaking a horrible and grotesque delight in their task. The demons are\nfallen angels, their deformity a consequence of their fall. Thus, in\nsome very ancient representations of the expulsion of Lucifer and his\nrebel host, the degradation of the form increases with their distance\nfrom heaven.[37] Those who are uppermost are still angels; they bear\nthe aureole, the wings, and the tunic; they have not yet lost all their\noriginal brightness: those below them begin to assume the bestial\nform: the fingers become talons, the heads become horned; and at last,\nas they touch the confines of the gulf of hell, the transformation\nis seen complete, from the luminous angel into the abominable and\nmonstrous devil, with serpent tail, claws, bristles, and tusks. This\ngradual transformation, as they descend into the gulf of sin, has a\nstriking allegorical significance which cannot escape the reader.\nIn a Greek MS. of the ninth century,[38] bearing singular traces of\nantique classical art in the conception and attributes of the figures,\nI found both angels and demons treated in a style quite peculiar and\npoetical. The angels are here gigantic, majestic, Jove-like figures,\nwith great wings. The demons are also majestic graceful winged figures,\nbut painted of a dusky grey colour (it may originally have been black).\nIn one scene, where Julian the Apostate goes to seek the heathen\ndivinities, they are thus represented, that is, as _black angels_;\nshowing that the painter had here assumed the devils or demons to be\nthe discrowned and fallen gods of the antique world.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThese are a few of the most striking instances of angels employed as\nministers of wrath. Angels, as ministers of divine grace and mercy,\n\n    Of all those arts which Deity supreme\n    Doth ease its heart of love in.\n\noccur much more frequently.\n\nThe ancient heresy that God made use of the agency of angels in the\ncreation of the world, and of mankind, I must notice here, because\nit has found its way into Art; for example, in an old miniature\nwhich represents an angel having before him a lump of clay, a kind\nof _\u00e9bauche_ of humanity, which he appears to be moulding with his\nhands, while the Almighty stands by directing the work.[39] This idea,\nabsurd as it may appear, is not perhaps more absurd than the notion of\nthose who would represent the Great First Cause as always busied in\nfashioning or altering the forms in his visible creation, like a potter\nor any other mechanic. But as we are occupied at present with the\nscriptural, not the legendary subjects, I return to the Old Testament.\nThe first time that we read of an angel sent as a messenger of mercy,\nit is for the comfort of poor Hagar; when he found her weeping by the\nspring of water in the wilderness, because her mistress had afflicted\nher: and again, when she was cast forth and her boy fainted for thirst.\nIn the representation of these subjects, I do not know a single\ninstance in which the usual angelic form has not been adhered to. In\nthe sacrifice of Isaac, \u2018the angel of the Lord calls to Abraham out of\nheaven.\u2019 This subject, as the received type of the sacrifice of the\nSon of God, was one of the earliest in Christian Art. We find it on\nthe sarcophagi of the third and fourth centuries; but in one of the\nlatest only have I seen a personage introduced as staying the hand of\nAbraham, and this personage is without wings. In painting, the angel\nis sometimes in the act of taking the sword out of Abraham\u2019s hand,\nwhich expresses the nature of his message: or he lays one hand on his\narm, and with the other points to the ram which was to replace the\nsacrifice, or brings the ram in his arms to the altar; but, whatever\nthe action, the form of the angelic messenger has never varied from the\nsixth century.\n\n[Illustration: 19 The Angels who visit Abraham (Raphael)]\n\nIn the visit of the angels to Abraham, there has been a variety\ncaused by the wording of the text. It is not said that three _angels_\nvisited Abraham, yet in most of the ancient representations the three\ncelestial guests are, winged angels. I need hardly observe that these\nthree angels are assumed to be a figure of the Trinity, and in some\nold illuminations the interpretation is not left doubtful, the angels\nbeing characterised as the three persons of the Trinity, wearing each\nthe cruciform nimbus: two of them, young and beardless, stand behind;\nthe third, representing the Father, has a beard, and, before _Him_,\nAbraham is prostrated. Beautiful for grace and simplicity is the winged\ngroup by Ghiberti, in which the three seem to step and move together\nas one. More modern artists have given us the celestial visitants\nmerely as men. Pre-eminent in this style of conception are the pictures\nof Raphael and Murillo. Raphael here, as elsewhere, a true poet,\nhas succeeded in conveying, with exquisite felicity, the sentiment\nof power, of a heavenly presence, and of a mysterious significance.\nThe three youths, who stand linked together hand in hand before the\nPatriarch, with such an air of benign and superior grace, want no wings\nto show us that they belong to the courts of heaven, and have but just\ndescended to earth\u2014\n\n                         So lively shines\n    In them divine resemblance, and such grace\n    The hand that form\u2019d them on their shape hath pour\u2019d.\n\nMurillo, on the contrary, gives us merely three young men, travellers,\nand has set aside wholly both the angelic and the mystic character of\nthe visitants.[40]\n\nThe angels who descend and ascend the ladder in Jacob\u2019s dream are\nin almost every instance represented in the usual form; sometimes\na few[41]\u2014sometimes in multitudes[42]\u2014sometimes as one only, who\nturns to bless the sleeper before he ascends;[43] and the ladder is\nsometimes a flight, or a series of flights, of steps ascending from\nearth to the empyrean. But here it is Rembrandt who has shown himself\nthe poet; the ladder is a slanting stream of light; the angels are\nmysterious bird-like luminous forms, which emerge one after another\nfrom a dazzling fount of glory, and go floating up and down,\u2014so like a\ndream made visible!\u2014In Middle-Age Art this vision of Jacob occurs very\nrarely. I shall have to return to it when treating of the subjects from\nthe Old Testament.\n\nIn the New Testament angels are much more frequently alluded to than\nin the Old; more as a reality, less as a vision; in fact, there is no\nimportant event throughout the Gospels and Acts in which angels do not\nappear, either as immediate agents, or as visible and present; and\nin scenes where they are not distinctly said to be visibly present,\nthey are assumed to be so invisibly, St. Paul having said expressly\nthat \u2018their ministry is continual.\u2019 It is therefore with undeniable\npropriety that, in works of Art representing the incidents of the\nGospels, angels should figure as a perpetual presence, made visible\nunder such forms as custom and tradition have consecrated.\n\nI pass over, for the present, the grandest, the most important mission\nof an angel, the announcement brought by Gabriel to the blessed\nVirgin. I shall have to treat it fully hereafter.[44] The angel who\nappears to Joseph in a dream, and the angel who commands him to flee\ninto Egypt, was in both cases probably the same angel who hailed Mary\nas blessed above all women; but we are not told so; and according to\nsome commentators it was the guardian angel of Joseph who appeared to\nhim. In these and other scenes of the New Testament, in which angels\nare described as direct agents, or merely as a chorus of ministering\nattendants, they have the usual form, enhanced by as much beauty, and\nbenignity, and a\u00ebrial grace as the fancy of the artist could bestow on\nthem. In the Nativity they are seen hovering on high, pouring forth\ntheir song of triumph; they hold a scroll in their hands on which their\nsong is written: in general there are three angels; the first sings,\n_Gloria in excelsis Deo!_ the second, _Et in terra pax!_ the third,\n_Hominibus bon\u00e6 voluntatis!_ but in some pictures the three angels are\nreplaced by a numerous choir, who raise the song of triumph in the\nskies, while others are seen kneeling round and adoring the Divine\nInfant.\n\nThe happiest, the most beautiful, instance I can remember of this\nparticular treatment is the little chapel in the Riccardi Palace at\nFlorence. This chapel is in the form of a Greek cross, and the frescoes\nare thus disposed:\u2014\n\n[Illustration: 20\n                                 Altar\n                               \u250c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2510\n                               \u2502 4    5 \u2502\n                               \u2502        \u2502\n                         \u250c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2518        \u2514\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2510\n                         \u2502    3          1    \u2502\n                         \u25023                  1\u2502\n                         \u2502    3          1    \u2502\n                         \u2514\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2510        \u250c\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2518\n                               \u2502        \u2502\n                               \u25022      2\u2502\n                               \u2514\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2518\n                                  Door\n]\n\nThe walls 1, 2, and 3, are painted with the journey of the Wise\nMen, who, with a long train of attendants mounted on horseback and\ngorgeously apparelled, are seen travelling over hill and dale led by\nthe guiding star. Over the altar was the Nativity (now removed); on\neach side (4, 5) is seen a choir of angels, perhaps fifty in number,\nrejoicing over the birth of the Redeemer: some kneel in adoration, with\narms folded over the bosom, others offer flowers; some come dancing\nforward with flowers in their hands or in the lap of their robe; others\nsing and make celestial music: they have glories round their heads,\nall inscribed alike, \u2018Gloria in excelsis Deo!\u2019 The na\u00efve grace, the\nbeautiful devout expression, the airy movements of these lovely beings,\nmelt the soul to harmony and joy. The chapel having been long shut up,\nand its existence scarcely remembered, these paintings are in excellent\npreservation; and I saw nothing in Italy that more impressed me with\nadmiration of the genuine feeling and piety of the old masters. The\nchoral angels of Angelico da Fiesole already described are not more\npure in sentiment, and are far less animated, than these.[45]\n\nBut how different from both is the ministry of the angels in some of\nthe pictures of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, both German\nand Italian! The Virgin Mary is washing her Divine Infant; angels dry\nthe clothes, or pour out water: Joseph is planing a board, and angels\nassist the Infant Saviour in sweeping up the chips. In a beautiful\nlittle Madonna and Child, in Prince Wallerstein\u2019s collection, an angel\nis playing with the Divine Infant, is literally his _play-fellow_; a\nvery graceful idea, of which I have seen but this one instance.\n\nIn the Flight into Egypt, an angel often leads the ass. In the Riposo,\na subject rare before the fifteenth century, angels offer fruit and\nflowers, or bend down the branches of the date tree, that Joseph may\ngather the fruit; or weave the choral dance, hand in hand, for the\ndelight of the Infant Christ, while others make celestial music\u2014as in\nVandyck\u2019s beautiful picture in Lord Ashburton\u2019s collection. After the\nTemptation, they minister to the Saviour in the wilderness, and spread\nfor him a table of refreshment\u2014\n\n                  ... celestial food divine,\n    Ambrosial fruit, fetch\u2019d from the tree of life,\n    And from the fount of life ambrosial drink.\n\nIt is not said that angels were visibly present at the baptism\nof Christ; but it appears to me that they ought not therefore to\nbe supposed absent, and that there is a propriety in making them\nattendants on this solemn occasion. They are not introduced in the\nvery earliest examples, those in the catacombs and sarcophagi; nor yet\nin the mosaics of Ravenna; because angels were then rarely figured,\nand instead of the winged angel we have the sedge-crowned river god,\nrepresenting the Jordan. In the Greek formula, they are required\nto be present \u2018in an attitude of respect:\u2019 no mention is made of\ntheir holding the garments of our Saviour; but it is certain that\nin Byzantine Art, and generally from the twelfth century, this has\nbeen the usual mode of representing them. According to the Fathers,\nour Saviour had no guardian angel; because he did not require one:\nnotwithstanding the sense usually given to the text, \u2018He shall give\nhis angels charge concerning thee, lest at any time thou dash thy foot\nagainst a stone,\u2019 the angels, they affirm, were not the guardians,\nbut the servants, of Christ; and hence, I presume, the custom of\nrepresenting them, not merely as present, but as ministering to him\nduring his baptism. The gates of San Paolo (tenth century) afford\nthe most ancient example I have met with of an angel holding the\nraiment of the Saviour: there is only one angel. Giotto introduces two\ngraceful angels kneeling on the bank of the river, and looking on with\nattention. The angel in Raphael\u2019s composition bows his head, as if\nawe-struck by the divine recognition of the majesty of the Redeemer;\nand the reverent manner in which he holds the vestment is very\nbeautiful. Other examples will here suggest themselves to the reader,\nand I shall resume the subject when treating of the life of our Saviour.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIn one account of our Saviour\u2019s agony in the garden of Gethsemane,\nit is expressly said that an angel \u2018appeared unto him out of heaven,\nstrengthening him;\u2019 therefore, where this awful and pathetic subject\nhas been attempted in Art, there is propriety in introducing a visible\nangel. Notwithstanding the latitude thus allowed to the imagination,\nor perhaps for that very reason, the greatest and the most intelligent\npainters have here fallen into strange errors, both in conception and\nin taste. For instance, is it not a manifest impropriety to take the\nScripture phrase in a literal sense, and place a cup in the hand of the\nangel? Is not the word _cup_ here, as elsewhere, used as a metaphor,\nsignifying the destiny awarded by Divine will, as Christ had said\nbefore, \u2018Ye shall drink of my cup,\u2019 and as we say, \u2018his cup overfloweth\nwith blessings\u2019? The angel, therefore, who does not bend from heaven to\nannounce to him the decree he knew full well, nor to present the cup\nof bitterness, but to strengthen and comfort him, should not bear the\ncup;\u2014still less the cross, the scourge, the crown of thorns, as in many\npictures.\n\nWhere our Saviour appears bowed to the earth, prostrate, half swooning\nwith the anguish of that dread moment, and an angel is seen sustaining\nhim, there is a true feeling of the real meaning of Scripture; but even\nin such examples the effect is often spoiled by an attempt to render\nthe scene at once more mystical and more palpable. Thus a painter\nequally remarkable for the purity of his taste and deep religious\nfeeling, Niccol\u00f2 Poussin, has represented Christ, in his agony,\nsupported in the arms of an angel, while a crowd of child-angels,\nvery much like Cupids, appear before him with the instruments of the\nPassion; ten or twelve bear a huge cross; others hold the scourge,\nthe crown of thorns, the nails, the sponge, the spear, and exhibit\nthem before him, as if these were the images, these the terrors, which\ncould overwhelm with fear and anguish even the _human_ nature of such a\nBeing![46] It seems to me also a mistake, when the angel is introduced,\nto make him merely an accessory (as Raphael has done in one of his\nearly pictures), a little figure in the air to help the meaning: since\nthe occasion was worthy of angelic intervention, in a visible shape,\nbringing divine solace, divine sympathy, it should be represented under\na form the most mighty and the most benign that Art could compass;\u2014but\nhas it been so? I can recollect no instance in which the failure has\nnot been complete. If it be said that to render the angelic comforter\nso superior to the sorrowing and prostrate Redeemer would be to detract\nfrom _His_ dignity as the principal personage of the scene, and thus\nviolate one of the first rules of Art, I think differently\u2014I think it\ncould do so only in unskilful hands. Represented as it ought to be, and\nmight be, it would infinitely enhance the idea of that unimaginable\nanguish which, as we are told, was compounded of the iniquities and\nsorrows of all humanity laid upon _Him_. It was not the pang of the\nMortal, but the Immortal, which required the presence of a ministering\nspirit sent down from heaven to sustain him.\n\n[Illustration: 21 Lamenting Angel in a Crucifixion (Campo Santo)]\n\nIn the Crucifixion, angels are seen lamenting, wringing their hands,\naverting or hiding their faces. In the old Greek crucifixions, one\nangel bears the sun, another the moon, on each side of the cross:\u2014\n\n        ... dim sadness did not spare,\n    That time, celestial visages.\n\nMichael Angelo gives us two unwinged colossal-looking angel heads,\nwhich peer out of heaven in the background of his Crucifixion in a\nmanner truly supernatural, as if they sympathised in the consummation,\nbut in awe rather than in grief.\n\nAngels also receive in golden cups the blood which flows from the\nwounds of our Saviour. This is a representation which has the authority\nof some of the most distinguished and most spiritual among the old\npainters, but it is to my taste particularly unpleasing and unpoetical.\nRaphael, in an early picture, the only crucifixion he ever painted,\nthus introduces the angels; and this form of the angelic ministry is\na mystical version of the sacrifice of the Redeemer not uncommon in\nItalian and German pictures of the sixteenth century.\n\nAs the scriptural and legendary scenes in which angels form the\npoetical machinery will be discussed hereafter in detail as separate\nsubjects, I shall conclude these general and preliminary remarks\nwith a few words on the characteristic style in which the principal\npainters have set forth the angelic forms and attributes.\n\nIt appears that, previous to the end of the fourth century, there were\nreligious scruples which forbade the representation of angels, arising\nperhaps from the scandal caused in the early Church by the worship\npaid to these supernatural beings, and so strongly opposed by the\nprimitive teachers. We do not find on any of the Christian relics of\nthe first three centuries, neither in the catacombs, nor on the vases\nor the sarcophagi, any figure which could be supposed to represent\nwhat we call an angel. On one of the latest sarcophagi we find little\nwinged figures, but evidently the classical winged genii, used in the\nclassical manner as ornament only.[47] In the second council of Nice,\nJohn of Thessalonica maintained that angels have the human form, and\nmay be so represented; and the Jewish doctors had previously decided\nthat God consulted his angels when He said, \u2018Let us make man after\n_our_ image,\u2019 and that consequently we may suppose the angels to be\nlike men, or, in the words of the prophet, \u2018like unto the similitude of\nthe sons of men.\u2019[48] (Dan. x. 16.)\n\nBut it is evident that, in the first attempt at angelic effigy, it\nwas deemed necessary, in giving the human shape, to render it as\nsuperhuman, as imposing, as possible: colossal proportions, mighty\novershadowing wings, kingly attributes, these we find in the earliest\nfigures of angels which I believe exist\u2014the mosaics in the church of\nSanta Agata at Ravenna (A.D. 400). Christ is seated on a throne (as in\nthe early sarcophagi): he holds the Gospel in one hand, and with the\nleft gives the benediction. An angel stands on each side: they have\nlarge wings, and bear a silver wand, the long sceptre of the Grecian\nkings; they are robed in classical drapery, but wear the short pallium\n(the \u2018garb succinct for flight\u2019); their feet are sandaled, as prepared\nfor a journey, and their hair bound by a fillet. Except in the wings\nand short pallium, they resemble the figures of Grecian kings and\npriests in the ancient bas-reliefs.\n\nThis was the truly majestic idea of an angelic presence (in\ncontradistinction to the angelic _emblem_), which, well or ill\nexecuted, prevailed during the first ten centuries. In the MS.[49]\nalready referred to as containing such magnificent examples of this\nGod-like form and bearing, I selected one group less ruined than\nmost of the others; Jacob wrestling with the angel. The drawing\nis wonderful for the period, that of Charlemagne; and see how the\nmighty Being grasps the puny mortal, who was permitted for a while to\nresist him!\u2014\u2018He touched the hollow of Jacob\u2019s thigh, and it was out\nof joint\u2019\u2014the action is as significant as possible. In the original,\nthe drapery of the angel is white; the fillet binding the hair, the\nsandals, and the wings, of purple and gold.\n\n[Illustration: 22 Angel (Greek MSS., ninth century)]\n\n[Illustration: 23 A.D. 1000.]\n\nThis lank, formal angel is from the Greco-Italian school of the\neleventh century. From the eleventh to the thirteenth century the forms\nof the angels became, like all things in the then degraded state of\nByzantine Art, merely conventional. They are attired either in the\nimperial or the sacerdotal vestments, as already described, and are\nrichly ornamented, tasteless and stiff, large without grandeur, and in\ngeneral ill drawn: as in these figures from Monreale (24).\n\n[Illustration: 24 Greek Angels (Cathedral of Monreale. Eleventh\ncentury)]\n\nOn the revival of Art, we find the Byzantine idea of angels everywhere\nprevailing. The angels in Cimabue\u2019s famous \u2018Virgin and Child enthroned\u2019\nare grand creatures, rather stern; but this arose, I think, from his\ninability to express beauty. The colossal angels at Assisi (A.D.\n1270), solemn sceptred kingly forms, all alike in action and attitude,\nappeared to me magnificent (30).\n\nIn the angels of Giotto (A.D. 1310) we see the commencement of a softer\ngrace and a purer taste, further developed by some of his scholars.\nBenozzo Gozzoli and Orcagna have left in the Campo Santo examples of\nthe most graceful and fanciful treatment. Of Benozzo\u2019s angels in the\nRiccardi palace I have spoken at length. His master Angelico (worthy\nthe name!) never reached the same power of expressing the rapturous\nrejoicing of celestial beings, but his conception of the angelic nature\nremains unapproached, unapproachable (A.D. 1430); it is only his, for\nit was the gentle, passionless, refined nature of the recluse which\nstamped itself there. Angelico\u2019s angels are unearthly, not so much in\nform as in sentiment; and superhuman, not in power but in purity. In\nother hands, any imitation of his soft ethereal grace would become\nfeeble and insipid. With their long robes falling round their feet, and\ndrooping many-coloured wings, they seem not to fly or to walk, but to\nfloat along, \u2018smooth sliding without step.\u2019 Blessed, blessed creatures!\nlove us, only love us\u2014for we dare not task your soft serene Beatitude\nby asking you to _help_ us!\n\nThere is more sympathy with humanity in Francia\u2019s angels: they look as\nif they could weep, as well as love and sing.\n\n[Illustration: 25 Angels (F. Granacci)]\n\nMost beautiful are the groups of adoring angels by Francesco\nGranacci,[50] so serenely tender, yet with a touch of grave earnestness\nwhich gives them a character apart: they have the air of guardian\nangels, who have discharged their trust, and to whom the Supreme\nutterance has voiced forth, \u2018Servant of God, well done!\u2019\n\nThe angels of Botticelli are often stiff, and those of Ghirlandajo\nsometimes fantastic; but in both I have met with angelic countenances\nand forms which, for intense and happy expression, can never be\nforgotten. One has the feeling, however, that they used human\nmodels\u2014the _portrait_ face looks through the _angel_ face. This is\nstill more apparent in Mantegna and Filippo Lippi. As we might have\nexpected from the character of Fra Filippo, his angels want refinement:\nthey have a boyish look, with their crisp curled hair, and their bold\nbeauty; yet some of them are magnificent for that sort of angel-beings\nsupposed to have a volition of their own. Andrea del Sarto\u2019s angels\nhave the same fault in a less degree: they have, if not a bold, yet a\nself-willed boyish expression.\n\nPerugino\u2019s angels convey the idea of an unalterable sweetness: those\nof his earlier time have much natural grace, those of his later time\nare mannered. In early Venetian Art the angels are charming: they are\nhappy affectionate beings, with a touch of that voluptuous sentiment,\nafterwards the characteristic of the Venetian school.\n\nIn the contemporary German school, angels are treated in a very\nextraordinary and original style (26). one cannot say that they are\nearthly, or commonplace, still less are they beautiful or divine; but\nthey have great simplicity, earnestness, and energy of action. They\nappear to me conceived in the Old Testament spirit, with their grand\nstiff massive draperies, their jewelled and golden glories, their\nwings \u2018eyed like the peacock, speckled like the pard,\u2019 their intense\nexpression, and the sort of personal and passionate interest they throw\ninto their ministry. This is the character of Albert D\u00fcrer\u2019s angels\nespecially; those of Martin Schoen and Lucus v. Leyden are of a gentler\nspirit.\n\nLeonardo da Vinci\u2019s angels do not quite please me, elegant, refined,\nand lovely as they are:\u2014\u2018methinks they smile too much.\u2019 By his scholar\nLuini there are some angels in the gallery of the Brera, swinging\ncensers and playing on musical instruments, which, with the peculiar\ncharacter of the Milanese school, combine all the grace of a purer,\nloftier nature.\n\nCorreggio\u2019s angels are grand and lovely, but they are like children\nenlarged and sublimated, not like spirits taking the form of children:\nwhere they smile it is truly, as Annibal Caracci expresses it, \u2018_con\nuna naturalezza e semplicit\u00e0 che innamora e sforza a ridere con\nloro_;\u2019 but the smile in many of Correggio\u2019s angel heads has something\nsublime and spiritual, as well as _simple_ and _natural_.\n\n[Illustration: 26 Angel. German School. (Albert D\u00fcrer)]\n\nAnd Titian\u2019s angels impress me in a similar manner\u2014I mean those in the\nglorious Assumption at Venice\u2014with their childish forms and features,\nbut with an expression caught from beholding the face of \u2018our Father\nthat is in heaven:\u2019 it is glorified infancy. I remember standing before\nthis picture, contemplating those lovely spirits one after another,\nuntil a thrill came over me like that which I felt when Mendelssohn\nplayed the organ, and I became music while I listened. The face of one\nof those angels is to the face of a child just what that of the Virgin\nin the same picture is compared with the fairest of the daughters of\nearth: it is not here superiority of beauty, but mind and music and\nlove, _kneaded_, as it were, into form and colour.\n\nI have thought it singular and somewhat unaccountable, that among the\nearliest examples of undraped boy-angels are those of Fra Bartolomeo\u2014he\nwho on one occasion, at the command of Savonarola, made a bonfire of\nall the undressed figures he could lay his hands on.\n\nBut Raphael, excelling in all things, is here excellent above all:\nhis angels combine, in a higher degree than any other, the various\nfaculties and attributes in which the fancy loves to clothe these\npure, immortal, beatified creatures. The angels of Giotto, of\nBenozzo, of Fiesole, are, if not female, feminine; those of Lippi,\nand of A. Mantegna, masculine; but you cannot say of those of Raphael\nthat they are masculine or feminine. The idea of sex is wholly lost\nin the blending of power, intelligence, and grace. In his earlier\npictures grace is the predominant characteristic, as in the dancing\nand singing angels in his Coronation of the Virgin.[51] In his later\npictures the sentiment in his ministering angels is more spiritual,\nmore dignified. As a perfect example of grand and poetical feeling,\nI may cite the angels as \u2018Regents of the Planets,\u2019 in the Capella\nChigiana.[52] The cupola represents in a circle the creation of the\nsolar system, according to the theological and astronomical (or rather\n_astrological_) notions which then prevailed\u2014a hundred years before\n\u2018the starry Galileo and his woes.\u2019 In the centre is the Creator;\naround, in eight compartments, we have, first, the angel of the\ncelestial sphere, who seems to be listening to the divine mandate,\n\u2018Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven;\u2019 then follow, in\ntheir order, the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and\nSaturn. The name of each planet is expressed by its mythological\nrepresentative; the Sun by Apollo, the Moon by Diana: and over each\npresides a grand colossal winged spirit seated or reclining on a\nportion of the zodiac as on a throne. I have selected two angels to\ngive an idea of this peculiar and poetical treatment. The union of the\ntheological and the mythological attributes is in the classical taste\nof the time, and quite Miltonic.[53] In Raphael\u2019s child-angels, the\nexpression of power and intelligence, as well as innocence, is quite\nwonderful; for instance, look at the two angel-boys in the Dresden\nMadonna di San Sisto, and the angels, or celestial genii, who bear\nalong the Almighty when He appears to Noah.[54] No one has expressed\nlike Raphael the action of flight, except perhaps Rembrandt. The angel\nwho descends to crown Santa Felicit\u00e0 cleaves the air with the action\nof a swallow;[55] and the angel in Rembrandt\u2019s Tobit soars like a lark\nwith upward motion, spurning the earth.\n\n[Illustration: _Angels of the Planets from the Capella Chigi._]\n\nMichael Angelo rarely gave wings to his angels; I scarcely recollect\nan instance, except the angel in the Annunciation: and his exaggerated\nhuman forms, his colossal creatures, in which the idea of power is\nconveyed through attitude and muscular action, are, to my taste,\nworse than unpleasing. My admiration for this wonderful man is so\nprofound that I can afford to say this. His angels are superhuman,\nbut hardly angelic: and while in Raphael\u2019s angels we do not feel the\nwant of wings, we feel while looking at those of Michael Angelo that\nnot even the \u2018sail-broad vans\u2019 with which Satan laboured through the\nsurging abyss of chaos could suffice to lift those Titanic forms from\nearth, and sustain them in mid-air. The group of angels over the Last\nJudgment, flinging their mighty limbs about, and those that surround\nthe descending figure of Christ in the Conversion of St. Paul, may be\nreferred to here as characteristic examples. The angels, blowing their\ntrumpets, puff and strain like so many troopers. Surely this is not\nangelic: there may be _power_, great imaginative and artistic power,\nexhibited in the conception of form, but in the beings themselves there\nis more of effort than of power: serenity, tranquillity, beatitude,\nethereal purity, spiritual grace, are out of the question.\n\nThe later followers of his school, in their angelic as in their human\nforms, caricatured their great master, and became, to an offensive\ndegree, forced, extravagant, and sensual.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWhen we come to the revival of a better taste under the influence of\nthe Caracci, we find the angels of that school as far removed from the\nearly Christian types as were their apostles and martyrs. They have\noften great beauty, consummate elegance, but bear the same relation\nto the religious and ethereal types of the early painters that the\nangels of Tasso bear to those of Dante. Turn, for instance, to the\ncommencement of the _Gerusalemme Liberata_, where the angel is deputed\nto carry to Godfrey the behest of the Supreme Being. The picture of\nthe angel is distinctly and poetically brought before us; he takes to\nhimself a form between boyhood and youth; his waving curls are crowned\nwith beams of light; he puts on a pair of wings of silver tipped with\ngold, with which he cleaves the air, the clouds, the skies; he alights\non Mount Lebanon, and poises himself on his balanced wings\u2014\n\n  E si libr\u00f2 su l\u2019 adeguate penne.\n\nThis is exactly the angel which figures in the best pictures of the\nCaracci and Guido: he is supremely elegant, and nothing more.\n\nI must not here venture on minute criticism, as regards distinctive\ncharacter in the crowds of painters which sprung out of the eclectic\nschool. It would carry us too far; but one or two general remarks\nwill lead the reader\u2019s fancy along the path I would wish him to\npursue. I would say, therefore, that the angels of Ludovico have\nmore of sentiment, those of Annibal more of power, those of Guido\nmore of grace: and of Guido it may be said that he excels them all\nin the expression of adoration and humility; see, for instance, the\nadoring seraphs in Lord Ellesmere\u2019s \u2018Immaculate Conception.\u2019 The\nangels of Domenichino, Guercino, and Albano, are to me less pleasing.\nDomenichino\u2019s angels are merely human. I never saw an angel in one of\nGuercino\u2019s pictures that had not, with the merely human character, a\ntouch of vulgarity. As for Albano, how are we to discriminate between\nhis angels and his nymphs, Apollos, and Cupids? But for the occasion\nand the appellation, it would be quite impossible to distinguish the\nLoves that sport round Venus and Adonis, from the Cherubim, so called,\nthat hover above a Nativity or a Riposo; and the little angels, in his\nCrucifixion, cry so like naughty little boys, that one longs to put\nthem in a corner. This merely heathen grace and merely human sentiment\nis the general tendency of the whole school; and no beauty of form\nor colour can, to the feeling and religious mind, redeem such gross\nviolations of propriety. As for Poussin, of whom I think with due\nreverence, his angels are often exquisitely beautiful and refined: they\nhave a chastity and a moral grace which pleases at first view; but here\nagain the scriptural type is neglected and heathenised in obedience to\nthe fashion of the time. If we compare the Cupids in his Rinaldo and\nArmida, with the angels which minister to the Virgin and Child; or the\nCherubim weeping in a Deposition, with the Amorini who are lamenting\nover Adonis; in what respect do they differ? They are evidently painted\nfrom the same models, the beautiful children of Titian and Fiamingo.\n\n[Illustration: 27 Angels in a Nativity (Seventeenth century)]\n\n[Illustration: 28 Angel: in a picture of Christ healing the Sick (N.\nPoussin)]\n\nRubens gives us strong well-built youths, with redundant yellow hair;\nand chubby naked babies, as like flesh and blood, and as natural, as\nthe life: and those of Vandyck are more elegant, without being more\nangelic. Murillo\u2019s child-angels are divine, through absolute beauty;\nthe expression of innocence and beatitude was never more perfectly\ngiven; but in grandeur and power they are inferior to Correggio, and\nin all that should characterise a divine nature, immeasurably below\nRaphael.\n\nStrange to say, the most poetical painter of angels in the seventeenth\ncentury is that inspired Dutchman, Rembrandt; not that his angels\nare scriptural; still less classical; and beautiful they are not,\ncertainly\u2014often the reverse; but if they have not the Miltonic dignity\nand grace, they are at least as unearthly and as poetical as any\nof the angelic phantasms in Dante,\u2014unhuman, unembodied creatures,\ncompounded of light and darkness, \u2018the somewhat between a _thought_ and\na _thing_,\u2019 haunting the memory like apparitions. For instance, look at\nhis Jacob\u2019s Dream, at Dulwich; or his etching of the Angels appearing\nto the Shepherds,\u2014breaking through the night, scattering the gloom,\nmaking our eyes ache with excess of glory,\u2014the _Gloria in excelsis_\nringing through the fancy while we gaze!\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nI have before observed that angels are supposed to be masculine, with\nthe feminine attributes of beauty and purity; but in the seventeenth\ncentury the Florentine painter, Giovanni di S. Giovanni, scandalised\nhis contemporaries by introducing into a glory round the Virgin, female\nangels (_angelesse_). Rubens has more than once committed the same\nfault against ecclesiastical canons and decorum; for instance, in his\nMadonna \u2018aux Anges\u2019 in the Louvre. Such aberrations of fancy are mere\ncaprices of the painter, improprieties inadmissible in high art.\n\nOf the sprawling, fluttering, half-naked angels of the Pietro\nda Cortona and Bernini school, and the feeble mannerists of the\nseventeenth and eighteenth centuries, what shall be said? that they\nare worthy to illustrate Moore\u2019s Loves of the Angels? \u2018_non ragioniam\ndi lor_;\u2019 no, nor even _look_ at them! I have seen angels of the later\nItalian and Spanish painters more like opera dancers, with artificial\nwings and gauze draperies, dressed to figure in a ballet, than anything\nelse I could compare them to.\n\nThe most original, and, in truth, the only new and original version of\nthe Scripture idea of angels which I have met with, is that of William\nBlake, a poet painter, somewhat mad as we are told, if indeed his\nmadness were not rather \u2018the telescope of truth,\u2019 a sort of poetical\n_clairvoyance_, bringing the unearthly nearer to him than to others.\nHis adoring angels float rather than fly, and, with their half-liquid\ndraperies, seem about to dissolve into light and love: and his\nrejoicing angels\u2014behold them\u2014sending up their voices with the morning\nstars, that \u2018singing, in their glory move!\u2019\n\n[Illustration: 29 \u2018All the sons of God shouted for joy!\u2019]\n\nAs regards the treatment of angels in the more recent productions of\nart, the painters and sculptors have generally adhered to received and\nknown types in form and in sentiment. The angels of the old Italians,\nGiotto and Frate Angelico, have been very well imitated by Steinle\nand others of the German school: the Raffaelesque feeling has been in\ngeneral aimed at by the French and English painters. Tenerani had the\nold mosaics in his mind when he conceived that magnificent colossal\nAngel of the Resurrection seated on a tomb, and waiting for the signal\nto sound his trumpet, which I saw in his atelier, prepared I believe\nfor the monument of the Duchess Lanti.[56]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nI pause here, for I have dwelt upon these celestial Hierarchies,\nwinged Splendours, Princedoms, Virtues, Powers, till my fancy is\nbecoming somewhat mazed and dazzled by the contemplation. I must leave\nthe reader to go into a picture-gallery, or look over a portfolio of\nengravings, and so pursue the theme, whithersoever it may lead him, and\nit _may_ lead him, in Hamlet\u2019s words, \u2018to thoughts beyond the reaches\nof his soul!\u2019[57]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: 30 Archangels (Cimabue. In San Francesco d\u2019Assisi)]\n\n\n\n\n                          II. The Archangels.\n\n                         The Seven\n    Who in God\u2019s presence, nearest to his throne,\n    Stand ready at command.\u2014MILTON.\n\n\nHaving treated of the celestial Hierarchy in general, we have now to\nconsider those angels who in artistic representations have assumed an\nindividual form and character. These belong to the order of Archangels,\nplaced by Dionysius in the third Hierarchy: they take rank between the\nPrincedoms and the Angels, and partake of the nature of both, being,\nlike the Princedoms, Powers; and, like the Angels, Ministers and\nMessengers.\n\nFrequent allusion is made in Scripture to the seven Angels who stand\nin the presence of God. (Rev. viii. 2, xv. 1, xvi. 1, &c.; Tobit xxii.\n15.) This was in accordance with the popular creed of the Jews, who\nnot only acknowledged the supremacy of the Seven Spirits, but assigned\nto them distinct vocations and distinct appellations, each terminating\nwith the syllable _El_, which signifies God. Thus we have\u2014\n\nI. MICHAEL (i.e. who is like unto God), captain-general of the host of\nheaven, and protector of the Hebrew nation.\n\nII. GABRIEL (i.e. God is my strength), guardian of the celestial\ntreasury, and preceptor of the patriarch Joseph.\n\nIII. RAPHAEL (i.e. the Medicine of God), the conductor of Tobit; thence\nthe chief guardian angel.\n\nIV. URIEL (i.e. the Light of God), who taught Esdras. He was also\nregent of the sun.\n\nV. CHAMUEL (i.e. one who sees God?), who wrestled with Jacob, and who\nappeared to Christ at Gethsemane. (But, according to other authorities,\nthis was the angel Gabriel.)\n\nVI. JOPHIEL (i.e. the Beauty of God), who was the preceptor of the sons\nof Noah, and is the protector of all those who, with an humble heart,\nseek after truth, and the enemy of those who pursue vain knowledge.\nThus Jophiel was naturally considered as the guardian of the tree of\nknowledge and the same who drove Adam and Eve from Paradise.\n\nVII. ZADKIEL (i.e. the Righteousness of God), who stayed the hand of\nAbraham when about to sacrifice his son. (But, according to other\nauthorities, this was the archangel Michael.)\n\nThe Christian Church does not acknowledge these Seven Angels by name;\nneither in the East, where the worship of angels took deep root,\nnor yet in the West, where it has been tacitly accepted. Nor have I\nmet with them as a series, _by name_, in any ecclesiastical work of\nart, though I have seen a set of old anonymous prints in which they\nappear with distinct names and attributes: Michael bears the sword\nand scales; Gabriel, the lily; Raphael, the pilgrim\u2019s staff and gourd\nfull of water, as a traveller. Uriel has a roll and a book: he is the\ninterpreter of judgments and prophecies, and for this purpose was sent\nto Esdras:\u2014\u2018The angel that was sent unto me, whose name was Uriel,\ngave me an answer.\u2019 (Esdras, ii. 4.) And in Milton\u2014\n\n    Uriel, for thou of those Seven Spirits that stand\n    In sight of God\u2019s high throne, gloriously bright,\n    The first art wont his great authentic will\n    Interpreter through highest heaven to bring.\n\n[Illustration: 31 The Archangels Michael and Raphael (Campo Santo)]\n\nAccording to an early Christian tradition, it was this angel, and not\nChrist in person, who accompanied the two disciples to Emmaus. Chamuel\nis represented with a cup and a staff; Jophiel with a flaming sword.\nZadkiel bears the sacrificial knife which he took from the hand of\nAbraham.\n\nBut the Seven Angels, without being distinguished by name, are\noccasionally introduced into works of art. For example, over the arch\nof the choir in San Michele, at Ravenna (A.D. 545), on each side of\nthe throned Saviour are the Seven Angels blowing trumpets like cow\u2019s\nhorns:\u2014\u2018And I saw the Seven Angels which stand before God, and to them\nwere given seven trumpets.\u2019 (Rev. viii. 2, 6.) In representations of\nthe Crucifixion and in the Piet\u00e0, the Seven Angels are often seen in\nattendance, bearing the instruments of the Passion. Michael bears the\ncross, for he is \u2018the Bannerer of heaven;\u2019 but I do not feel certain of\nthe particular avocations of the others.\n\nIn the Last Judgment of Orcagna, in the Campo Santo at Pisa (31),\nthe Seven Angels are active and important personages. The angel who\nstands in the centre of the picture, below the throne of Christ,\nextends a scroll in each hand; on that in the right hand is inscribed\n\u2018Come, ye blessed of my Father,\u2019 and on that in the left hand, \u2018Depart\nfrom me, ye accursed:\u2019 him I suppose to be Michael, the angel of\njudgment. At his feet crouches an angel who seems to shrink from\nthe tremendous spectacle, and hides his face: him I suppose to be\nRaphael, the guardian angel of humanity. The attitude has always\nbeen admired\u2014cowering with horror, yet sublime. Beneath are other\nfive angels, who are engaged in separating the just from the wicked,\nencouraging and sustaining the former, and driving the latter towards\nthe demons who are ready to snatch them into flames. These Seven Angels\nhave the garb of princes and warriors, with breastplates of gold,\njewelled sword-belts and tiaras, rich mantles; while the other angels\nwho figure in the same scene are plumed, and bird-like, and hover above\nbearing the instruments of the Passion (32).\n\nAgain we may see the Seven Angels in quite another character, attending\non St. Thomas Aquinas, in a picture by Taddeo Gaddi.[58] Here, instead\nof the instruments of the Passion, they bear the allegorical attributes\nof those virtues for which that famous saint and doctor is to be\nreverenced: one bears an olive-branch, i.e. Peace; the second, a book,\ni.e. Knowledge; the third, a crown and sceptre, i.e. Power; the fourth,\na church, i.e. Religion; the fifth, a cross and shield, i.e. Faith;\nthe sixth, flames of fire in each hand, i.e. Piety and Charity; the\nseventh, a lily, i.e. Purity.\n\n[Illustration: 32]\n\nIn general it may be presumed when seven angels figure together, or\nare distinguished from among a host of angels by dress, stature, or\nother attributes, that these represent the \u2018Seven Holy Angels who\nstand in the presence of God.\u2019 Four only of these Seven Angels are\nindividualised by name, Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel. According\nto the Jewish tradition, these four sustain the throne of the Almighty:\nthey have the Greek epithet _arch_, or chief, assigned to them, from\nthe two texts of Scripture in which that title is used (1 Thess. iv.\n16; Jude ix.); but only the three first, who in Scripture have a\ndistinct personality, are reverenced in the Catholic Church as saints;\nand their gracious beauty, and their divine prowess, and their high\nbehests to mortal man, have furnished some of the most important and\nmost poetical subjects which appear in Christian Art.\n\nThe earliest instance I have met of the Archangels introduced by name\ninto a work of art is in the old church of San Michele at Ravenna (A.D.\n545). The mosaic in the apse exhibits Christ in the centre, bearing in\none hand the cross as a trophy or sceptre, and in the other an open\nbook on which are the words \u2018_Qui videt me videt et Patrem meum_.\u2019 On\neach side stand Michael and Gabriel, with vast wings and long sceptres;\ntheir names are inscribed above, but without the _Sanctus_ and without\nthe Glory. It appears, therefore, that at this time, the middle of the\nsixth century, the title of _Saint_, though in use, had not been given\nto the Archangels.\n\nWhen, in the ancient churches, the figure of Christ or of the Lamb\nappears in a circle of glory in the centre of the roof; and around, or\nat the four corners, four angels who sustain the circle with outspread\narms, or stand as watchers, with sceptres or lances in their hands,\nthese I presume to be the four Archangels who sustain the throne of\nGod. Examples may be seen in San Vitale at Ravenna; in the chapel of\nSan Zeno, in Santa Prassede at Rome; and on the roof of the choir of\nSan Francesco d\u2019Assisi.\n\nSo the four Archangels, stately colossal figures, winged and armed\nand sceptred, stand over the arch of the choir in the Cathedral of\nMonreale, at Palermo.[59]\n\nSo the four angels stand at the four corners of the earth and hold the\nwinds, heads with puffed cheeks and dishevelled hair.[60] (Rev. vii. 1.)\n\nBut I have never seen Uriel represented by name, or alone, in any\nsacred edifice. In the picture of Uriel painted by Allston,[61] he\nis the \u2018Regent of the Sun,\u2019 as described by Milton; not a sacred or\nscriptural personage. On a shrine of carved ivory[62] I have seen the\nfour Archangels as keeping guard, two at each end; the three first are\nnamed, as usual, St. Michael, St. Gabriel, St. Raphael; the fourth is\nstyled _St. Ch\u00e9rubin_; and I have seen the same name inscribed over\nthe head of the angel who expels Adam and Eve from Paradise. There is\nno authority for such an appellation applied individually; but I find,\nin a famous legend of the middle ages, \u2018La P\u00e9nitence d\u2019Adam;\u2019 that the\nangel who guards the gates of Paradise is thus designated:\u2014\u2018Lorsque\nl\u2019Ange Ch\u00e9rubin vit arriver Seth aux portes de Paradis,\u2019 &c. The four\nArchangels, however, seldom occur together, except in architectural\ndecoration. On the other hand, devotional pictures of the three\nArchangels named in the canonical Scriptures are of frequent\noccurrence. They are often grouped together as patron saints or\nprotecting spirits; or they stand round the throne of Christ, or below\nthe glorified [Illustration: 33 The Three Archangels (from an ancient\nGreek picture)]\n\nVirgin and Child, in an attitude of adoration. According to the Greek\nformula, the three in combination represent the triple power, military,\ncivil, and religious, of the celestial hierarchy: St. Michael being\nhabited as a warrior, Gabriel as a prince, and Raphael as a priest.\nIn a Greek picture, of which I give an outline, the three Archangels\nsustain in a kind of throne the figure of the youthful Christ, here\nwinged, as being Himself _the_ supreme Angel (\u1f02\u03b3\u03b3\u03b5\u03bb\u03bf\u03c2), and with both\nhands blessing the universe. The Archangel Raphael has here the place\nof dignity as representing the Priesthood; but in Western Art Michael\ntakes precedence of the two others, and is usually placed in the centre\nas Prince or Chief: with him, then, as considered individually, we\nbegin.\n\n\n                             ST. MICHAEL.\n\n   _Lat._ Sanctus Michael Angelus. _Ital._ San Michele, Sammichele.\n              _Fr._ Monseigneur Saint Michel. (Sept. 29.)\n\n   \u2018Michael, the Great Prince that standeth for the children of thy\n                        people.\u2019\u2014_Dan._ xii. 1.\n\n It is difficult to clothe in adequate language the divine attributes\n with which painting and poetry have invested this illustrious\n archangel. Jews and Christians are agreed in giving him the\n pre-eminence over all created spirits. All the might, the majesty,\n the radiance, of Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms, Virtues, Powers,\n are centred in him. In him God put forth his strength when He exalted\n him chief over the celestial host, when angels warred with angels\n in heaven; and in him God showed forth his glory when He made him\n conqueror over the power of sin, and \u2018over the great dragon that\n deceived the world.\u2019\n\nTo the origin of the worship paid to this great archangel I dare not do\nmore than allude, lest I stray wide from my subject, and lose myself,\nand my readers too, in labyrinths of Orientalism. But, in considering\nthe artistic representations, it is interesting to call to mind that\nthe glorification of St. Michael may be traced back to that primitive\nEastern dogma, the perpetual antagonism between the Spirit of Good and\nthe Spirit of Evil, mixed up with the Chaldaic belief in angels and\ntheir influence over the destinies of man. It was subsequent to the\nCaptivity that the active Spirit of Good, under the name of Michael,\ncame to be regarded as the especial protector of the Hebrew nation: the\nveneration paid to him by the Jews was adopted, or rather retained,\nby the Oriental Christians, and, though suppressed for a time, was\nrevived and spread over the West, where we find it popular and almost\nuniversal from the eighth century.\n\nThe legends which have grown out of a few mystical texts of Scripture,\namplified by the fanciful disquisitions of the theological writers,\nplace St. Michael before us in three great characters:\u20141. As captain of\nthe heavenly host, and conqueror of the powers of hell. 2. As lord of\nsouls, conductor and guardian of the spirits of the dead. 3. As patron\nsaint and prince of the Church Militant.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWhen Lucifer, possessed by the spirit of pride and ingratitude, refused\nto fall down and worship the Son of man, Michael was deputed to punish\nhis insolence, and to cast him out from heaven. Then Michael chained\nthe revolted angels in middle air, where they are to remain till the\nday of judgment, being in the mean time perpetually tortured by hate,\nenvy, and despair: for they behold man, whom they had disdained,\nexalted as their superior; above them they see the heaven they have\nforfeited; and beneath them the redeemed souls continually rising from\nearth, and ascending to the presence of God, whence they are shut out\nfor ever.\n\n\u2018Now,\u2019 says the old Legend,[63] \u2018if it be asked wherefore the books of\nMoses, in revealing the disobedience and the fall of man, are silent\nas to the revolt and the fall of the angels, the reason is plain; and\nin this God acted according to his wisdom. For, let us suppose that a\ncertain powerful lord hath two vassals, both guilty of the crime of\ntreason, and one of these is a nobleman of pure and lofty lineage,\nand the other a base-born churl:\u2014what doth this lord? He hangs up the\nchurl in the market-place as a warning and example to others;\u2014but, for\nthe nobleman, fearing the scandal that may arise among the people, and\nperhaps also some insult to the officers of the law, the judge causes\nhim to be tried secretly, and shuts him up in a dungeon; and when\njudgment is pronounced against him, he sends to his prison, and puts\nhim privily to death; and when one asketh after him, the answer is only\n\u201cHe is dead:\u201d\u2014and nothing more. Thus did God in respect to the rebel\nangels of old; and their fate was not revealed until the redemption of\nman was accomplished.\u2019\n\nThis passage from the old Italian legend is so curiously characteristic\nof the feudal spirit of Christianity in the middle ages, that I have\nventured to insert it verbatim. If religion did, in some degree, modify\nthe institutions of chivalry, in a much greater degree did the ruling\nprejudices of a barbarian age modify the popular ideas of religion.\nHere, notwithstanding the primary doctrine of Christ\u2014the equality of\nall men before God, we have the distinction between noble and churl\ncarried into the very councils of Heaven.\n\nBut, to return to St. Michael: on whom, as the leader of his triumphant\nhosts, God bestowed many and great privileges. To him it was given\n\n  to bid sound th\u2019 archangel trumpet,\n\nand exalt the banner of the Cross in the day of judgment; and to him\nlikewise was assigned the reception of the immortal spirits when\nreleased by death. It was his task to weigh them in a balance (Dan. v.\n27; Ps. lxii. 9): those whose good works exceeded their demerits, he\npresented before the throne of God; but those who were found wanting\nhe gave up to be tortured in purgatory, until their souls, from being\n\u2018as crimson, should become as white as snow.\u2019 Therefore, in the hour\nof death, he is to be invoked by the faithful, saying, \u2018_O Michael,\nmiliti\u00e6 c\u0153lestis signifer, in adjutorium nostrum veni, princeps et\npropugnator!_\u2019\n\nLastly, when it pleased the Almighty to select from among the nations\nof the earth one people to become peculiarly his own, He appointed St.\nMichael to be president and leader over that chosen people.[64] \u2018At\nthat time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for\nthe children of thy people\u2019 (Dan. x. 13, xii. 1): and when the power of\nthe Synagogue was supposed to cease, and to be replaced by the power\nof the Church, so that the Christians became the people of God, then\nMichael, who had been the great prince of the Hebrew people, became\nthe prince and leader of the Church militant in Christendom, and the\nguardian of redeemed souls, against his old adversary the Prince of\nHell. (Rev. xii. 6, 7.)\n\nThe worship paid to St. Michael, and which originated in the far\nEast, is supposed to have been adopted by the Oriental Christians\nin consequence of a famous apparition of the Archangel at Coloss\u00e6,\nin Phrygia, which caused him to be held in especial honour by the\npeople of that city, and perhaps occasioned the particular warning\nof St. Paul addressed to the Colossians. But although the worship of\nangels was considered among the heresies of the early Church, we find\nConstantine no sooner master of the empire, and a baptized Christian,\nthan he dedicates a church to the Archangel Michael (by his Greek\nname Micha\u00eblion), and this church, one of the most magnificent in\nConstantinople, became renowned for its miracles, and the parent and\nmodel of hundreds more throughout the East.\n\nIn the West, the honours paid to St. Michael are of later date: that\na church dedicated to him must have existed in Rome long before the\nyear 500 seems clear, because at that time it is mentioned as having\nfallen into ruin. But the West had its angelic apparitions as well as\nthe East, and St. Michael owes his wide-spread popularity in the middle\nages to three famous visions which are thus recorded.\n\nIn the fifth century, in the city of Siponte, in Apulia (now\nManfredonia), dwelt a man named Galgano or Garganus, very rich in\ncattle, sheep, and beasts; and as they pastured on the sides of the\nmountain, it happened that a bull strayed and came not home: then the\nrich man took a multitude of servants and sought the bull, and found\nhim at the entrance of a cave on the very summit of the mountain,\nand, being wroth with the bull, the master ordered him to be slain;\nbut when the arrow was sent from the bow it returned to the bosom of\nhim who sent it, and he fell dead on the ground: then the master and\nhis servants were troubled, and they sent to inquire of the bishop\nwhat should be done. The bishop, having fasted and prayed three days,\nbeheld in a vision the glorious Archangel Michael, who descended on\nthe mountain, and told him that the servant had been slain because he\nhad violated a spot peculiarly sacred to him, and he commanded that a\nchurch should be erected and sanctified there to his honour. And when\nthey entered the cavern they found there three altars already erected,\none of them covered with a rich embroidered altar-cloth of crimson\nand gold, and a stream of limpid water springing from the rock, which\nhealed all diseases. So the church was built, and the fame of the\nvision of Monte Galgano, though for some time confined to the south of\nItaly, spread throughout Europe, and many pilgrimages were made to the\nspot on which the angelic footsteps had alighted.\n\nThe second vision is much more imposing. When Rome was nearly\ndepopulated by a pestilence in the sixth century, St. Gregory,\nafterwards pope, advised that a procession should be made through\nthe streets of the city, singing the service since called the Great\nLitanies. He placed himself at the head of the faithful, and during\nthree days they perambulated the city; and on the third day, when\nthey had arrived opposite to the mole of Hadrian, Gregory beheld the\nArchangel Michael alight on the summit of that monument, and sheathe\nhis sword bedropped with blood. Then Gregory knew that the plague\nwas stayed, and a church was there dedicated to the honour of the\nArchangel: and the Tomb of Hadrian has since been called the Castle of\nSant\u2019 Angelo to this day.\n\nThis, of all the recorded apparitions of St. Michael, is the only one\nwhich can be called poetical; it is evidently borrowed from the vision\nof the destroying angel in Scripture. As early as the ninth century, a\nchurch or chapel dedicated to St. Michael was erected on the summit of\nthe huge monument, which at that time must have preserved much of its\nantique magnificence. The church was entitled _Ecclesia Sancti Angeli\nusque ad C\u0153los_. The bronze statue, which in memory of this miracle now\nsurmounts the Castle of St. Angelo, was placed there in recent times\nby Benedict XIV., and is the work of a Flemish sculptor, Verschaffelt.\nI suppose no one ever looked at this statue critically\u2014at least, for\nmyself, I never could: nor can I remember now, whether, as a work of\nart, it is above or below criticism; perhaps both. With its vast wings,\npoised in air, as seen against the deep blue skies of Rome, or lighted\nup by the golden sunset, to me it was ever like what it was intended to\nrepresent\u2014like a vision.\n\nA third apparition was that accorded to Aubert, bishop of Avranches\n(A.D. 706). This holy man seems to have been desirous to attract to his\nown diocese a portion of that sanctity (and perhaps other advantages)\nwhich Monte Galgano derived from the worship of St. Michael. In\nthe Gulf of Avranches, in Normandy, stands a lofty isolated rock\ninaccessible from the land at high water, and for ages past celebrated\nas one of the strongest fortresses and state prisons in France. In\nthe reign of Childebert II., St. Aubert, bishop of Avranches, had a\nvision, in which the Archangel Michael commanded him to repair to\nthis rock, then the terror of mariners, and erect a church to his\nhonour on the highest point, where a bull would be found concealed,\nand it was to cover as much space as the bull had trampled with his\nhoofs: he also discovered to the bishop a well-spring of pure water,\nwhich had before been unknown. As the bishop treated this command as\na dream, the Archangel appeared to him a second and a third time; and\nat length, to impress it on his waking memory, he touched his head\nwith his thumb, and made a mark or hole in his skull, which he carried\nto the grave. This time the bishop obeyed, and a small church was\nbuilt on the spot indicated; afterwards replaced by the magnificent\nAbbey Church, which was begun by Richard duke of Normandy, in 966, and\nfinished by William the Conqueror. The poverty of invention shown in\nthis legend, which is little more than a repetition of that of Monte\nGalgano, is very disappointing to the fancy, considering the celebrity\nof Mont-Saint-Michel as a place of pilgrimage, and as one of the most\npicturesque objects in European scenery, with its massive towers, which\nhave braved the tempests of a thousand years, rising from the summit\nof the peak, and the sea weltering round its base. It failed not,\nhowever, in the effect anticipated. The worship of St. Michael became\npopular in France from the ninth century; the Archangel was selected\nas patron saint of France, and of the military order instituted in his\nhonour by Louis XI. in 1469. The worship paid to St. Michael as patron\nsaint of Normandy naturally extended itself to England after the Norman\nconquest, and churches dedicated to this archangel abound in all the\ntowns and cities along the southern and eastern shores of our island;\nwe also have a Mount St. Michael on the coast of Cornwall, in situation\nand in name resembling that on the coast of France. At this day there\nare few cities in Christendom which do not contain a church or churches\ndedicated to St. Michael, some of them of great antiquity.\n\nI must not omit that St. Michael is considered as the angel of good\ncounsel:\u2014that \u2018Le vrai office de Monseigneur Saint Michel est de faire\ngrandes revelations aux hommes en bas, en leur donnant moult saints\nconseils,\u2019 and in particular, \u2018sur le bon nourissement que le p\u00e8re\net la m\u00e8re donnent \u00e0 leurs enfans.\u2019[65] It is to be regretted that\n\u2018Monseigneur Saint Michel\u2019 should be found rather remiss in this part\nof his angelic functions.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWe shall now see how far these various traditions and popular notions\nconcerning St. Michael have been carried out in Art.\n\nIn all representations of St. Michael, the leading idea, well or ill\nexpressed, is the same. He is young and beautiful, but \u2018severe in\nyouthful beauty,\u2019 as one who carries on a perpetual contest with the\npowers of evil. In the earlier works of art he is robed in white, with\nample many-coloured wings, and bears merely the sceptre or the lance\nsurmounted by a cross, as one who conquered by spiritual might alone.\nBut in the later representations, those coloured by the spirit of\nchivalry, he is the angelic Paladin, armed in a dazzling coat of mail,\nwith sword, and spear, and shield. He has a lofty open brow, long fair\nhair floating on his shoulders, sometimes bound by a jewelled tiara;\nsometimes, but not often, shaded by a helmet. From his shoulders spring\ntwo resplendent wings. Thus we see him standing by the throne of the\nMadonna, or worshipping at the feet of the Divine Infant; an exquisite\nallegory of spiritual and intellectual power protecting purity and\nadoring innocence.\n\nThere is a most beautiful little figure by Angelico, of St. Michael\nstanding in his character of archangel and patron of the Church\nMilitant, \u2018as the winged saint;\u2019 no demon, no attribute except the\nlance and shield. The attitude, so tranquilly elegant, may be seen in\nthis sketch (34). In the original the armour is of a dark crimson and\ngold, the wings are of rainbow tints, vivid and delicate; a flame of\nlambent fire rests on the brow.\n\nBut the single devotional figures of St. Michael usually represent\nhim as combining the two great characters of captain of the heavenly\nhost, and conqueror of the powers of hell. He stands armed, setting\nhis foot on Lucifer, either in the half-human or the dragon form, and\nis about to transfix him with his lance, or to chain him down in the\ninfernal abyss. Such, however varied in the attitude, expression, and\naccessories, is the most frequent and popular representation of St.\nMichael, when placed before us, as the universally received emblem of\nthe final victory of good over evil.\n\n[Illustration: 34 St. Michael. (Angelico, Fl. Acad.)]\n\nIn those churches of Christendom which have not been defaced by a\nblind destructive zeal, this image meets us at every turn: it salutes\nus in the porch as we enter, or it shines upon us in gorgeous colours\nfrom the window, or it is wreathed into the capitals of columns, or it\nstands in its holy heroic beauty over the altar. It is so common and\nso in harmony with our inmost being, that we rather feel its presence\nthan observe it. It is the visible, palpable reflection of that great\ntruth stamped into our very souls, and shadowed forth in every form\nof ancient belief,\u2014the final triumph of the spiritual over the animal\nand earthly part of our nature. This is the secret of its perpetual\nrepetition, and this the secret of the untired complacency with which\nwe regard it; for even in the most inefficient attempts at expression,\nwe have always the leading _motif_ distinct and true, the winged virtue\nis always victorious above, and the bestial vice is always prostrate\nbelow: and if to this primal moral significance be added all the charm\nof poetry, grace, animated movement, which human genius has lavished\non this ever blessed, ever welcome symbol, then, as we look up at\nit, we are \u2018not only touched, but wakened and inspired,\u2019 and the\nwhole delighted imagination glows with faith and hope, and grateful\ntriumphant sympathy,\u2014so at least I have felt, and I must believe that\nothers have felt it too.\n\nIn the earliest representations of this subject, we see the simplest\nform of the allegory, literally rendering the words of Scripture,\n\u2018The dragon shalt thou trample under foot\u2019 (Ps. xci. 13). Here there\nis no risk of a divided interest or a misdirected sympathy. The\ndemon, grovelling under the feet of the victorious spirit, is not the\nstar-bright apostate who drew after him the third part of heaven; it\nis the bestial malignant reptile:\u2014not the emblem of resistance, but\nthe emblem of sin; not of the sin that aspires, which, in fact, is a\ncontradiction in terms;\u2014no sin aspires;\u2014but of the sin which degrades\nand brutifies, as all sin does. In the later representations, where the\ndemon takes the half-human shape, however hideous and deformed, the\nallegory may so be brought nearer to us, and rendered more terrible\neven by a horrid sympathy with that human face, grinning in despite and\nagony; but much of the beauty of the scriptural metaphor is lost.[66]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe representations of St. Michael and the dragon are so multifarious\nthat I can only select a few among them as examples of the different\nstyles of treatment.\n\nThe symbol, as such, is supposed to have originated with the Gnostics\nand Arians, and the earliest examples are to be found in the ancient\nchurches on the western coast of Italy, and the old Lombard churches.\nI have never seen it in the old mosaics of the sixth century, but in\nthe contemporary sculpture frequently. It would be difficult to point\nto the most ancient example, such is the confusion of dates as regards\ndedications, restorations, alterations; but I remember a carving in\nwhite marble on the porch of the Cathedral of Cortona (about the\nseventh century), which may be regarded as an example of this primitive\nstyle of treatment: the illustration, from a slight sketch made on the\nspot, will be better than any description (35).\n\nAnother instance will be remembered by the traveller in Italy, the\nstrange antique bas-relief on the fa\u00e7ade of that extraordinary old\nchurch the San Michele at Pavia; not the figure in the porch, which\nis modern, but that which is above. In the Menologium Grecum is a St.\nMichael standing with a long sceptre, a majestic colossal figure, while\nkneeling angels adore him, and the demons crouch under his feet.[67]\n\n[Illustration: 35]\n\nBy Martin Schoen: St. Michael, attired in a long loose robe and\nfloating mantle, tramples on the demon; he has thrown down the shield,\nand with his lance in both hands, but without effort, and even with a\ncalm angelic dignity, prepares to transfix his adversary. The figure is\nsingularly elegant. The demon has not here the usual form of a dragon,\nbut is a horrible nondescript reptile, with multitudinous flexile\nclaws, like those of a crab, stretched out to seize and entangle the\nunwary;\u2014for an emblematical figure, very significant (36). In an old\nfresco by Guariente di Padova[68] the angel is draped as in Martin\nSchoen\u2019s figure, but the attitude is far less elegant.\n\nSometimes the dragon has a small head at the end of his tail, instead\nof the forked sting. I recollect an instance of St. Michael transfixing\nthe large head, while a smaller angel, also armed, transfixes the other\nhead.[69] This is an attempt to render literally the description in the\nApocalypse: \u2018For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails:\nfor their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them\nthey do hurt.\u2019 (Rev. ix. 19.) In a most elegant figure of St. Michael,\nfrom the choir of the San Giovanni, at Malta, I found the demon thus\ncharacterised, with a tail ending in the serpent head.\n\nIn an old Siena picture[70] St. Michael is seated on a throne: in one\nhand a sword, in the other the orb of sovereignty; under his feet lies\nthe dragon mangled and bleeding: a bad picture, but curious for the\nsingular treatment.\n\n[Illustration: 36 St. Michael (Martin Schoen)]\n\nIn the sixteenth century these figures of St. Michael become less\nideal and angelic, and more and more chivalrous and picturesque. In\na beautiful altar-piece by Andrea del Sarto, now in the Florence\nAcademy, there is a fine martial figure of the Archangel, which,\nbut for the wings, might be mistaken for a St. George; and in the\npredella underneath, on a small scale, he is conqueror of the demon.\nThe peculiarity here is, that the demon, though vanquished, makes a\nvain struggle, and has seized hold of the belt of the angel, who, with\nuplifted sword, and an action of infinite grace and dignity, looks\nsuperior down, as one assured of victory.\n\nRaphael has given us three figures of St. Michael, all different, and\none of them taking rank with his masterpieces.\n\nThe first is an early production, painted when he was a youth of\nnineteen or twenty, and now in the Louvre. St. Michael, armed with a\nshield on which is a red cross, his sword raised to strike, stands with\none foot on a monster; other horrible little monsters, like figures in\na dream, are around him: in the background are seen the hypocrites and\nthieves as described by Dante; the first, in melancholy procession,\nweighed down with leaden cowls; the others, tormented by snakes: and,\nin the distance, the flaming dolorous city. St. Michael is here the\nvanquisher of the Vices. It is a curious and fantastic, rather than\npoetical, little picture.\n\nThe second picture, also in the Louvre, was painted by Raphael, in the\nmaturity of his talent, for Francis I.: the king had left to him the\nchoice of the subject, and he selected St. Michael, the military patron\nof France, and of that knightly Order of which the king was grand\nmaster.\n\nSt. Michael\u2014not standing, but hovering on his poised wings, and\ngrasping his lance in both hands\u2014sets one foot lightly on the shoulder\nof the demon, who, prostrate, writhes up, as it were, and tries to lift\nhis head and turn it on his conqueror with one last gaze of malignant\nrage and despair. The archangel looks down upon him with a brow calm\nand serious; in his beautiful face is neither vengeance nor disdain\u2014in\nhis attitude no effort; his form, a model of youthful grace and\nmajesty, is clothed in a brilliant panoply of gold and silver; an azure\nscarf floats on his shoulders; his wide-spread wings are of purple,\nblue, and gold; his light hair is raised, and floats outward on each\nside of his head, as if from the swiftness of his downward motion. The\nearth emits flames, and seems opening to swallow up the adversary. The\nform of the demon is human, but vulgar in its proportions, and of a\nswarthy red, as if fire-scathed; he has the horns and the serpent-tail;\nbut, from the attitude into which he is thrown, the monstrous form is\nso fore-shortened that it does not disgust, and the majestic figure of\nthe archangel fills up nearly the whole space\u2014fills the eye\u2014fills the\nsoul\u2014with its victorious beauty.\n\n[Illustration: 37 The St. Michael painted by Raphael for Francis I.]\n\nThat Milton had seen this picture, and that when his sight was quenched\nthe \u2018winged saint\u2019 revisited him in his darkness, who can doubt?\u2014\n\n               Over his lucid arms\n    A military vest of purple flowed\n    Livelier than Melib\u0153an, or the grain\n    Of Sarra worn by kings and heroes old\n    In time of truce.\n                        By his side,\n    As in a glittering zodiac, hung the sword,\n    Satan\u2019s dire dread, and in his hand the spear.\n\nA third St. Michael, designed by Raphael, exists only as an\nengraving.[71] The angel here wears a helmet, and is classically\ndraped; he stands in an attitude of repose, his foot on the neck of the\ndemon; one hand rests on the pummel of his sword, the other holds the\nlance.\n\nIt seems agreed that, as a work of art, there is only the St. Michael\nof Guido (in the Capuccini at Rome) which can be compared with that of\nRaphael; the moment chosen is the same; the treatment nearly the same;\nthe sentiment quite different.\n\nHere the angel, standing, yet scarcely touching the ground, poised on\nhis outspread wings, sets his left foot on the head of his adversary;\nin one hand he brandishes a sword, in the other he holds the end\nof a chain, with which he is about to bind down the demon in the\nbottomless pit. The attitude has been criticised, and justly; the\ngrace is somewhat mannered, verging on the theatrical; but Forsyth is\ntoo severe when he talks of the \u2018air of a dancing-master:\u2019 one thing,\nhowever, is certain, we do not think about attitude when we look at\nRaphael\u2019s St. Michael; in Guido\u2019s, it is the first thing that strikes\nus; but when we look farther, the head redeems all; it is singularly\nbeautiful, and in the blending of the masculine and feminine graces, in\nthe serene purity of the brow, and the flow of the golden hair, there\nis something divine: a slight, very slight expression of scorn is in\nthe air of the head. The fiend is the worst part of the picture; it\nis not a fiend, but a degraded prosaic human ruffian; we laugh with\nincredulous contempt at the idea of an angel called down from heaven\nto overcome such a wretch. In Raphael the fiend is human, but the head\nhas the god-like ugliness and malignity of a satyr; Guido\u2019s fiend is\nonly stupid and base. It appears to me that there is just the same\ndifference\u2014the same _kind_ of difference\u2014between the angel of Raphael\nand the angel of Guido, as between the description in Tasso and the\ndescription in Milton; let any one compare them. In Tasso we are struck\nby the picturesque elegance of the description as a piece of art, the\nmelody of the verse, the admirable choice of the expressions, as in\nGuido by the finished but somewhat artificial and studied grace. In\nRaphael and Milton we see only the vision of a \u2018shape divine.\u2019\n\nOne of the most beautiful figures of St. Michael I ever saw, occurs in\na coronation of the Virgin by Moretto, and is touched by his peculiar\nsentiment of serious tenderness.[72]\n\nIn devotional pictures such figures of St. Michael are sometimes\ngrouped poetically with other personages, as in a most beautiful\npicture by Innocenza da Imola,[73] where the archangel tramples on the\ndemon; St. Paul standing on one side, and St. Benedict on the other,\nboth of whom had striven with the fiend and had overcome him: the\nMadonna and Child are seen in a glory above.\n\nAnd again in a picture by Mabuse,[74] where St. Michael, as patron,\nsets his foot on the black grinning fiend, and looks down on a kneeling\nvotary, while the votary, with his head turned away, appears to be\nworshipping, not the protecting angel, but the Madonna, to whom St.\nMichael presents him (38). Such votive pictures are not uncommon, and\nhave a peculiar grace and significance. Here the archangel bears the\nvictorious banner of the cross;\u2014he has conquered. In some instances he\nholds in his hand the head of the Dragon, and in _all_ instances it is,\nor ought to be, the head of the Dragon which is transfixed:\u2014\u2018Thou shalt\nbruise his head.\u2019\n\n[Illustration: 38 St. Michael (Mabuse, 1510)]\n\nThose representations in which St. Michael is not conqueror, but\ncombatant, in which the moment is one of transition, are less frequent;\nit is then an _action_, not an _emblem_, and the composition is\nhistorical rather than symbolical. It is the strife with Lucifer;\n\u2018when Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon\nfought and his angels, and the great dragon was cast out.\u2019 (Rev. xii.\n7.) In churches and chapels dedicated to St. Michael, or to \u2018the Holy\nAngels,\u2019 this appropriate subject often occurs; as in a famous fresco\nby Spinello d\u2019Arezzo, at Arezzo.[75] In the middle of the composition,\nMichael, armed with sword and shield, is seen combating the dragon\nwith seven heads, as described in the Apocalypse. Above and around are\nmany angels also armed. At the top of the picture is seen an empty\nthrone, the throne which Lucifer had \u2018set in the north;\u2019 below is seen\nLucifer, falling with his angels over the parapet of heaven. (Isaiah\nxiv. 13.) The painter tasked his skill to render the transformation\nof the spirits of light into spirits of darkness as fearful and as\nhideous as possible; and, being a man of a nervous temperament, the\ncontinual dwelling on these horrors began at length to trouble his\nbrain. He fancied that Lucifer appeared to him in a dream, demanding by\nwhat authority he had portrayed him under an aspect so revolting?\u2014the\npainter awoke in horror, was seized with delirious fever, and so died.\n\nIn his combat with the dragon, Michael is sometimes represented alone,\nand sometimes as assisted by the two other archangels, Gabriel and\nRaphael: as in the fresco by Signorelli, at Orvieto, where one of the\nangels, whom we may suppose to be Raphael, looks down on the falling\ndemons with an air of melancholy, almost of pity.\n\nIn a picture by Marco Oggione,[76] Michael has precipitated the demon\ninto the gulf, and hovers above, while Raphael and Gabriel stand below\non each side, looking on; all are clothed in voluminous loose white\ndraperies, more like priests than warriors; but it is a fine picture.\n\nIn the large Rubens-room at Munich, there are two pictures of Michael\nsubduing the revolted angels. The large one, in which Michael is the\nprincipal figure, is not agreeable. Rubens could not lift himself\nsufficiently above the earth to conceive and embody the spiritual, and\nheroic, and beautiful in one divine form; his St. Michael is vulgar.\nThe smaller composition, where the fallen, or rather falling, angels\nfill the whole space, is a most wonderful effort of artistic invention.\nAt the summit of the picture stands St. Michael, the shield in one\nhand, in the other the forked lightnings of divine wrath; and from\nabove the rebel host tumble headlong \u2018in hideous ruin and combustion\nhurled,\u2019 and with such affright and amazement in every face, such a\ndownward movement in every limb, that we recoil in dizzy horror while\nwe look upon it. It is curious that Rubens should have introduced\nfemale reprobate spirits: if he intended his picture as an allegory,\nmerely the conquest of the spiritual over the sensual, he is excusable;\nbut if he meant to figure the vision in the Apocalypse, it is a\ndeviation from the proper scriptural treatment, which is inexcusable.\nThis picture remains, however, as a whole, a perfect miracle of art:\nthe fault is, that we feel inclined to applaud as we do at some\nastonishing _tour de force_; such at least was my own feeling, and\nthis is not the feeling appropriate to the subject. Though this famous\npicture is entitled the Fall of the Angels, I have some doubts as to\nwhether this was the intention of the painter; whether he did not mean\nto express the fall of sinners, flung by the Angel of judgment into the\nabyss of wrath and perdition?\n\n[Illustration: 39 St. Michael as Angel of Judgment and Lord of Souls\n(Justus of Ghent)]\n\nIn those devotional pictures which exhibit St. Michael as Lord of\nsouls, he is winged and unarmed, and holds the balance. In each scale\nsits a little naked figure, representing a human soul; one of these\nis usually represented with hands joined as in thankfulness\u2014he is the\n_beato_, the elected; the other is in an attitude of horror\u2014he is the\nrejected, the reprobate; and often, but not necessarily, the idea\nis completed by the introduction of a demon, who is grasping at the\ndescending scale, either with his talons, or with the long two-pronged\nhook, such as is given to Pluto in the antique sculpture.\n\nSometimes St. Michael is thus represented singly; sometimes very\nbeautifully in Madonna pictures, as in a picture by Leonardo da Vinci\n(A.D. 1498), where St. Michael, a graceful angelic figure, with light\nflowing hair, kneels before the Madonna, and presents the balance to\nthe Infant, who seems to welcome the pious little soul who sits in the\nuppermost scale.\n\n[Illustration: 40 St. Michael (Signorelli, 1500. In the San Gregorio,\nRome)]\n\nI have seen this idea varied. St. Michael stands majestic with the\nbalance poised in his hands: instead of a human figure in either\nscale, there are weights; on one side is seen a company of five or six\nlittle naked shivering souls, as if waiting for their doom; on the\nother several demons, one of whom with his hook is pulling down the\nascending scale.[77] With or without the balance, St. Michael figures\nas Lord of souls when introduced into pictures of the Assumption or\nthe Glorification of the Virgin. To understand the whole beauty and\npropriety of such representations, we must remember, that according to\none of the legends of the death of the Virgin her spirit was consigned\nto the care of St. Michael until it was permitted to reanimate the\nspotless form, and with it ascend to heaven.\n\nIn one or two instances only, I have seen St. Michael without wings.\nIn general, an armed figure, unwinged and standing on a dragon, we may\npresume to be a St. George; but where the balance is introduced, it\nleaves no doubt of the personality\u2014it is a St. Michael. Occasionally\nthe two characters\u2014the protecting Angel of light and the Angel of\njudgment\u2014are united, and we see St. Michael, with the dragon under his\nfeet and the balance in his hand. This was a favourite and appropriate\nsubject on tombs and chapels dedicated to the dead; such is the\nbeautiful bas-relief on the tomb of Henry VII. in Westminster Abbey.\n\nIn some representations of the last judgment, St. Michael, instead\nof the banner and cross, bears the scales; as in the very curious\nbas-relief on the fa\u00e7ade of the church of St. Trophime at Arles. St.\nMichael here has a balance so large that it is almost as high as\nhimself; it is not a mere emblem, but a fact; a soul sits in each\nscale, and a third is rising up; the angel holds out one hand to\nassist him. In another part of the same bas-relief St. Michael is\nseen carrying a human soul (represented as a little naked figure) and\nbringing it to St. Peter and St. Paul. In a celebrated Last Judgment,\nattributed by some authors to John Van Eyck, by others to Justus of\nGhent, St. Michael is grandly introduced.[78] High up, in the centre,\nsits the Saviour, with the severe expression of the judge. Above him\nhover four angels with the instruments of the Passion, and below him\nthree others sounding trumpets (_v._ p. 54),\u2014I suppose the seven\npre-eminent angels: the Virgin and St. John the Baptist on each side,\nand then the Apostles ranged in the usual manner. \u2018In the lower half of\nthe picture stands St. Michael, clad in golden armour, so bright as to\nreflect in the most complete manner all the surrounding objects. His\nfigure is slender and elegant, but colossal as compared to the rest. He\nseems to be bending earnestly forward, a splendid purple mantle falls\nfrom his shoulders to the ground, and his large wings are composed of\nglittering peacock\u2019s feathers. He holds the balance; the scale with the\ngood rests on earth, but that with the souls which are found wanting\nmounts into air. A demon stands ready to receive them, and towards\nthis scale St. Michael points with the end of a black staff which he\nholds in his right hand.\u2019 This picture, which is a chef-d\u2019\u0153uvre of the\nearly German school, is now in the church of St. Mary at Dantzig.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe historical subjects in which St. Michael is introduced exhibit\nhim as prince of the Hebrew nation, and belong properly to the Old\nTestament.[79] \u2018After the confusion of tongues, and the scattering of\nthe people, which occurred on the building of the Tower of Babel, every\nseparate nation had an angel to direct it. To Michael was given in\ncharge the people of the Lord. The Hebrews being carried away captive\ninto the land of Assyria, Daniel prayed that they might be permitted\nto return when the seventy years of captivity were over: but the Angel\nof Persia opposed himself on this occasion to the angels Michael and\nGabriel. He wished to retain the Jews in captivity, because he was\nglad to have, within the bounds of his jurisdiction, a people who\nserved the true God, and because he hoped that in time the captive Jews\nwould convert to the truth the Assyrians and Persians committed to his\ncare.\u2019 This curious passage from one of the early Christian fathers,\nrepresenting the good angels as opposed to each other, and one of them\nas disputing the commands of God, is an instance of the confused ideas\non the subject of angels which prevailed in the ancient Church, and\nwhich prevail, I imagine, in the minds of many even at this day.\n\nIn the story of Hagar in the wilderness, it is Michael who descends to\nher aid. In the sacrifice of Isaac, it is Michael who stays the arm\nof Abraham. It is Michael who brings the plagues on Egypt, and he it\nis who leads the Israelites through the wilderness. It was the belief\nof the Jews, and of some of the early Christian fathers, that through\nhis angel (not in person) God spoke to Moses from the burning bush,\nand delivered to him the law on Mount Sinai; and that the angel so\ndelegated was Michael.\n\nIt is Michael who combats with Lucifer for the body of Moses. (Jude\nv. 9.) According to one interpretation of this curious passage of\nScripture, the demon wished to enter and to possess the form of Moses,\nin order to deceive the Jews by personating their leader; but others\nsay, that Michael contended for the body, that he might bury it in an\nunknown place, lest the Jews should fall into the sin of paying divine\nhonours to their legislator. This is a fine picturesque subject; the\nrocky desert, the body of Moses dead on the earth, the contest of the\ngood and evil angel confronting each other,\u2014these are grand materials!\nIt must have been rarely treated, for I remember but one instance\u2014the\nfresco by L. Signorelli, in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican.\n\nIt is Michael who intercepts Balaam[80] when on his way to curse the\npeople of Israel, and puts blessings into his mouth instead of curses:\na subject often treated, but as a fact rather than a vision.\n\nIt is Michael who stands before Joshua in the plain by Jericho:\u2014\u2018And\nJoshua said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he\nsaid, Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And\nJoshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto\nhim, What saith my Lord unto his servant? And the captain of the Lord\u2019s\nhost said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place\nwhereon thou standest is holy.\u2019 (Joshua v. 13-15.) This subject is very\nuncommon. In the Greek MS. already alluded to, I met with a magnificent\nexample\u2014magnificent in point of sentiment, though half ruined and\neffaced; the God-like bearing of the armed angel, looking down on the\nprostrate Joshua, is here as fine as possible.\n\nIt is Michael who appears to Gideon.[81] It is Michael who chastises\nDavid.[82] It is Michael who exterminates the army of Sennacherib; a\nsubject magnificently painted by Rubens. (Some suppose that on this\noccasion God made use of the ministry of an evil angel.[83])\n\nIt is Michael who descends to deliver the Three Children from the\nburning fiery furnace. The Three Children in the furnace is a subject\nwhich appears very early in the catacombs and on the sarcophagi\nas a symbol of the Redemption;\u2014so early, that it is described by\nTertullian;[84] but in almost all the examples given there are\nthree figures only: where there is a fourth, it is, of course, the\nprotecting angel, but he is without wings.[85]\n\nMichael seizes the prophet Habakkuk by the hair of the head, and\ncarries him to Babylon, to the den of lions, that he may feed\nDaniel.[86] This apocryphal subject occurs on several sarcophagi.[87] I\nhave seen it also in illuminated MSS., but cannot at this moment refer\nto it. It occurs in a series of late Flemish prints after Hemskirk,\u2014of\nwhich there are good impressions in the British Museum.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe Archangel Michael is not named in the Gospels; but in the legends\nof the Madonna, as we shall see hereafter, he plays a very important\npart, being deputed by Christ to announce to his mother her approaching\nend, and to receive her soul. For the present I will only remark,\nthat when, in accordance with this very ancient legend, an angel is\nrepresented kneeling before the Madonna, and holding in his hand a palm\nsurmounted by stars, or a lighted taper, this angel is not Gabriel,\nannouncing the conception of Christ, as is usually supposed, but\nMichael, as the angel of death.[88]\n\nThe legend of Monte Galgano I saw in a large fresco, in the Santa Croce\nat Florence, by a painter of the Giotto school; but in so bad a state,\nthat I could only make out a bull on the top of a mountain, and a man\nshooting with a bow and arrow. On the opposite wall is the combat of\nMichael with the dragon\u2014very spirited, and in much better preservation.\nTo distinguish the apparition of St. Michael on Monte Galgano from\nthe apparition on Mont St. Michel, in both of which a bull and a\nbishop are principal figures, it is necessary to observe, that, in the\nlast-named subject, the sea is always introduced at the base of the\npicture, and that the former is most common in Italian, and the latter\nin French, works of art. In the French stained glass of the thirteenth\nand fourteenth centuries, St. Michael is a very popular subject, either\nwith the dragon, or the scales, or both.\n\nLately, in removing the whitewash from the east wall of the nave of\nPreston Church, near Brighton, was discovered the outline of a group of\nfigures representing St. Michael, fully draped, and with large wings,\nbearing the balance; in each scale a human soul. The scale containing\nthe _beato_ is assisted by a figure fully draped, but so ruined that\nit is not possible to say whether it represents the Virgin, or the\nguardian saint of the person who caused the fresco to be painted. I\nam told that in the old churches of Cornwall, and of the towns on the\nsouth coast, which had frequent intercourse with France, effigies of\nSt. Michael occur frequently, both in painting and sculpture. On the\nold English coin, thence called an _angel_, we have the figure of St.\nMichael, who was one of the patron saints of our Norman kings.\n\nI must now trust to the reader to contemplate the figures of St.\nMichael, so frequent and so varied in Art, with reference to these\nsuggestions; and leaving for the present this radiant Spirit, this\nbright similitude of a primal and universal faith, we turn to his\nangelic companions.\n\n[Illustration: 41 Egyptian hieroglyphic of the Genius of Good\novercoming Evil (_v._ p. 108)]\n\nST. GABRIEL.\n\n _Lat._ Sanctus Gabriel. _Ital._ San Gabriello, San Gabriele, L\u2019Angelo\n Annunziatore. _Fr._ St. Gabriel.\n\n \u2018I am GABRIEL, that stand in the presence of God.\u2019\u2014_Luke_ i. 19.\n\nIn those passages of Scripture where the Angel Gabriel is mentioned by\nname, he is brought before us in the character of a Messenger only,\nand always on important occasions. In the Old Testament he is sent\nto Daniel to announce the return of the Jews from captivity, and to\nexplain the vision which prefigures the destinies of mighty empires.\nHis contest with the Angel of the kingdom of Persia, when St. Michael\ncomes to his assistance, would be a splendid subject in fit hands;\nI do not know that it has ever been painted. In the New Testament\nthe mission of Gabriel is yet more sublime: he first appears to the\nhigh priest Zacharias, and foretells the birth of John the Baptist,\u2014a\nsubject which belongs especially to the life of that saint. Six months\nlater, Gabriel is sent to announce the appearance of the Redeemer of\nmankind.[89]\n\nIn the Jewish tradition, Gabriel is the guardian of the celestial\ntreasury. Hence, I presume, Milton has made him chief guardian of\nParadise:\u2014\n\n    Betwixt these rocky pillars Gabriel sat,\n    Chief of the angelic guards, awaiting night.\n\nAs the Angel who announced the birth of Christ, he has been venerated\nas the Angel who presides over childbirth. He foretells the birth of\nSamson, and, in the apocryphal legends, he foretells to Joachim the\nbirth of the Virgin. In the East, he is of great importance. Mahomet\nselected him as his immediate teacher and inspirer, and he became\nthe great protecting angel of Islamism: hence between Michael, the\nprotector of the Jews and Christians, and Gabriel, the protector of\nthe Moslem, there is supposed to exist no friendly feeling\u2014rather the\nreverse.\n\nIn the New Testament, Gabriel is a much more important personage than\nMichael; yet I have never met with any picture in which he figures\nsingly as an object of worship. In devotional pictures he figures as\nthe second of the three Archangels\u2014\u2018Secondo fra i primi,\u2019 as Tasso\nstyles him; or in his peculiar character as the divine messenger of\ngrace, \u2018_l\u2019Angelo annunziatore_.\u2019 He then usually bears in one hand a\nlily or a sceptre; in the other a scroll on which is inscribed, \u2018AVE\nMARIA, GRATIA PLENA!\u2019[90]\n\nThe subject called the ANNUNCIATION is one of the most frequent and\nmost important, as it is one of the most beautiful, in the whole range\nof Christian Art. It belongs, however, to the history of the Virgin,\nwhere I shall have occasion to treat it at length; yet as the Angel\nGabriel here assumes, by direct scriptural testimony, a distinct name\nand personality, and as the dignity and significance proper to a\nsubject so often unworthily and perversely treated depend very much on\nthe character and deportment given to the celestial messenger, I shall\nmake a few observations in this place with respect to the treatment of\nthe angel, only reserving the theme in its general bearing for future\nconsideration.\n\nIn the early representations of the Annunciation it is treated as\na religious mystery, and with a solemn simplicity and purity of\nfeeling, which is very striking and graceful in itself, as well as\nin harmony with the peculiar manner of the divine revelation. The\nscene is generally a porch or portico of a temple-like building; the\nVirgin stands (she is very seldom seated, and then on a kind of raised\nthrone); the angel stands before her, at some distance: very often,\nshe is within the portico; he is without. Gabriel is a majestic being,\ngenerally robed in white, wearing the tunic and pallium _\u00e0 l\u2019antique_,\nhis flowing hair bound by a jewelled tiara, with large many-coloured\nwings, and bearing the sceptre of sovereignty in the left hand, while\nthe right is extended in the act of benediction as well as salutation:\n\u2018Hail! thou that art highly favoured! Blessed art thou among women!\u2019 He\nis the principal figure: the attitude of the Virgin, with her drapery\ndrawn over her head, her eyes drooping, and her hands folded on her\nbosom, is always expressive of the utmost submission and humility. So\nDante introduces the image of the lowly Virgin receiving the angel as\nan illustration of the virtue of Humility:\u2014\n\n  Ed avea in atto impressa esta favella\n    \u2018Ecce ancilla Dei!\u2019\u2014\n\nand Flaxman has admirably embodied this idea, both in the lofty angel\nwith outspread arms, and the kneeling Virgin. Sometimes the angel\nfloats in, with his arms crossed over his bosom, but still with the air\nof a superior being, as in this beautiful figure after Lorenzo Monaco,\nfrom a picture in the Florence Gallery.\n\n[Illustration: 42]\n\nThe two figures are not always in the same picture; it was a very\ngeneral custom to place the Virgin and the Angel, the \u2018Annunziata\u2019\nand the \u2018Angelo annunziatore,\u2019 one on each side of the altar, the\nplace of the Virgin being usually to the right of the spectator;\nsometimes the figures are half-length: sometimes, when placed in the\nsame picture, they are in two separate compartments, a pillar, or some\nother ornament, running up the picture between them; as in many old\naltar-pieces, where the two figures are placed above or on each side of\nthe Nativity, or the Baptism, or the Marriage at Cana, or some other\nscene from the life and miracles of our Saviour. This subject does not\nappear on the sarcophagi; the earliest instance I have met with is in\nthe mosaic series over the arch in front of the choir in the church\nof Santa Maria Maggiore, at Rome, executed in the fifth century. Here\nwe have two successive moments represented together. In the first the\nangel is sent on his mission, and appears flying down from heaven;\nthe earliest instance I have seen of an angel in the act of flight.\nIn the second group the Virgin appears seated on a throne; two angels\nstand behind her, supposed to represent her guardian angels, and the\nangel Gabriel stands in front with one hand extended. The dresses are\nclassical, and there is not a trace of the medi\u00e6val feeling, or style,\nin the whole composition.\n\nIn the Greek pictures, the Angel and the Virgin both stand; and in the\nAnnunciation of Cimabue the Greek formula is strictly adhered to. I\nhave seen pictures of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, in which\nGabriel enters as a princely ambassador, with three little angels\nbearing up his mantle behind: in a picture in the collection of Prince\nWallerstein, one meek and beautiful angel bears up the rich robes of\nthe majestic archangel, like a page in the train of a sovereign prince.\nBut from the beginning of the fourteenth century we perceive a change\nof feeling, as well as a change of style: the veneration paid to the\nVirgin demanded another treatment. She becomes not merely the principal\nperson, but the superior being; she is the \u2018Regina angelorum,\u2019 and the\nangel bows to her, or kneels before her as to a queen.[91] Thus in the\nfamous altar-piece at Cologne, the angel kneels; he bears a sceptre,\nand also a sealed roll, as if he were a celestial ambassador delivering\nhis credentials: about the same period we sometimes see the angel\nmerely with his hands folded over his breast, and his head inclined,\ndelivering his message as if to a superior being.\n\n[Illustration: 43 The Angel Gabriel (Wilhelm of Cologne. 1440)]\n\nI cannot decide at what period the lily first replaced the sceptre in\nthe hand of the angel, not merely as the emblem of purity, but as the\nsymbol of the Virgin from the verse in the Canticles usually applied\nto her: \u2018I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valley.\u2019 A lily\nis often placed in a vase near the Virgin, or in the foreground of the\npicture: of all the attributes placed in the hand of the angel, the\nlily is the most usual and the most expressive.\n\nThe painters of Siena, who often displayed a new and original sentiment\nin the treatment of a subject, have represented the angel Gabriel as\nthe announcer of \u2018peace on earth;\u2019 he kneels before the Virgin, crowned\nwith olive, and bearing a branch of olive in his hand, as in a picture\nby Taddeo Bartoli. There is also a beautiful St. Gabriel by Martin\nSchoen, standing, and crowned with olive. So Dante\u2014\n\n    L\u2019 angel che venne in terra col decreto\n    Della molt\u2019 anni lagrimata pace.\n\nAnother passage in Dante which the painters seem to have had before\nthem shows us the Madonna as queen, and the angel as adoring:\u2014\n\n    \u2018Qual \u00e8 quel angel che con tanto giuoco\n    Guarda negli occhi la nostra regina\n    Innamorato s\u00ec che par di fuoco?\u2019\n    Ed egli a me,\u2014\u2018Baldezza e leggiadria\n    Quanta esser puote in angelo ed in alma\n    Tutta \u00e8 in lui, e si volem che sia!\u2019\n\nIt is in seeking this _baldezza e leggiadria_ in a mistaken sense that\nthe later painters have forgotten all the spiritual dignity of the\nAngel Messenger.\n\nWhere the angel bears a lighted taper, which the Virgin extends her\nhand to take from him; or, kneeling, bears in his hand a palm-branch,\nsurmounted by seven or twelve stars (44), the subject represented is\nnot the announcement of the birth of the Saviour, but the death of\nthe Virgin, a part of her legendary history which is rarely treated\nand easily mistaken; then the announcing angel is not Gabriel, but\nMichael.[92]\n\n[Illustration: 44 Angel announcing the death of the Virgin (F. Filippo\nLippi)]\n\nIn old German Art, the angel in the Annunciation is habited in priestly\ngarments richly embroidered (42). The scene is often the bedroom of\nthe Virgin; and while the announcing angel enters and kneels at the\nthreshold of the door, the Holy Ghost enters at the window. I have\nseen examples in which Gabriel, entering at a door behind the Virgin,\nunfolds his official \u2018Ave Maria.\u2019 He has no lily, or sceptre, and she\nis apparently conscious of his presence without seeing him.[93]\n\nBut in the representations of the sixteenth century we find neither\nthe solemnity of the early Italian nor the na\u00efvet\u00e9 of the early German\nschool; and this divine subject becomes more and more materialised\nand familiarised, until, losing its spiritual character, it strikes\nus as shockingly prosaic. One cannot say that the angel is invariably\ndeficient in dignity, or the Virgin in grace. In the Venetian\nschool and the Bologna school we find occasionally very beautiful\nAnnunciations; but in general the half-draped fluttering angels and the\ngirlish-looking Virgins are nothing less than offensive; and in the\nattempt to vary the sentiment, the _naturalisti_ have here run the\nrisk of being much _too_ natural.\n\n[Illustration: 45 The Archangel Gabriel (Van Eyck)]\n\nIn the Cathedral at Orvieto, the Annunciation is represented in front\nof the choir by two colossal statues by Francesco Mochi: to the right\nis the angel Gabriel, poised on a marble cloud, in an attitude so\nfantastic that he looks as if he were going to dance; on the other side\nstands the Virgin, conceived in a spirit how different!\u2014yet not less\nmistaken; she has started from her throne; with one hand she grasps\nit, with the other she seems to guard her person against the intruder:\nmajesty at once, and fear, a look of insulted dignity, are in the\nair and attitude,\u2014\u2018_par che minacci e tema nel tempo istesso_\u2019\u2014but I\nthought of Mrs. Siddons while I looked, not of the Virgin Mary.\n\nThis fault of sentiment I saw reversed, but equally in the extreme, in\nanother example\u2014a beautiful miniature.[94] The Virgin, seated on the\nside of her bed, sinks back alarmed, almost fainting; the angel in a\nrobe of crimson, with a white tunic, stands before her, half turning\naway and grasping his sceptre in his hand, with a proud commanding air,\nlike a magnificent surly god\u2014a Jupiter who had received a repulse.\n\nI pass over other instances conceived in a taste even more\nblamable\u2014Gabriels like smirking, winged lord chamberlains; and Virgins,\nhalf prim, half voluptuous\u2014the sanctity and high solemnity of the event\nutterly lost. Let this suffice for the present: I may now leave the\nreader to his own feeling and discrimination.\n\n\n                             ST. RAPHAEL.\n\n  _Lat._ Sanctus Raphael. _Ital._ San Raffaello. _Fr._ Saint Raphael.\n                      _Ger._ Der Heilige Rafael.\n\n \u2018I am RAPHAEL, one of the Seven Holy Angels which present the prayers\n  of the Saints, and which go in and out before the glory of the HOLY\n                        ONE.\u2019\u2014_Tobit_ xii. 15.\n\nI have already alluded to the established belief, that every individual\nman, nay, every created being, hath a guardian angel deputed to watch\nover him:\u2014\u2018Woe unto us, if, by our negligence or our self-will, we\noffend him on whose vigilance we depend for help and salvation! But\nthe prince of guardian spirits, the guardian angel of all humanity, is\nRaphael; and in this character, according to the early Christians, he\nappeared to the shepherds by night \u2018with good tidings of great joy,\nwhich shall be for all people.\u2019 It is, however, from the beautiful\nHebrew romance of Tobit that his attributes are gathered: he is the\nprotector of the young and innocent, and he watches over the pilgrim\nand the wayfarer. The character imputed to him in the Jewish traditions\nhas been retained and amplified by Milton: Raphael is the angel sent by\nGod to warn Adam:\u2014\n\n     . . . . . The affable archangel\n    Raphael; the sociable spirit that deign\u2019d\n    To travel with Tobias, and secured\n    His marriage with the seven times wedded maid.\n\nAnd the character of the angel is preserved throughout: his sympathy\nwith the human race, his benignity, his eloquence, his mild and social\nconverse. So when Adam blesses him:\u2014\n\n              . . . . Since to part,\n    Go, heavenly guest, ethereal messenger,\n    Sent from whose sovereign goodness I adore!\n    Gentle to me and affable hath been\n    Thy condescension, and shall be honour\u2019d ever\n    With grateful memory. Thou to mankind\n    Be good and friendly still, and oft return!\n\nThis character of benignity is stamped on all the best representations\nof Raphael, which, however, are not common: they occur principally in\nthe chapels dedicated to the holy guardian angels; but there are also\nchurches and chapels dedicated to him singly.\n\nThe devotional figures of Raphael exhibit him in the dress of a pilgrim\nor traveller, \u2018his habit fit for speed succinct,\u2019 sandals on his feet,\nhis hair bound with a fillet or diadem, the staff in his hand, and\nsometimes a bottle of water or a wallet (_paneti\u00e8re_) slung to his\nbelt. In this figure by Murillo (46), from one of the most beautiful\npictures in the Leuchtenberg Gallery, Raphael is the guardian and guide\nof the votary who appears below\u2014a bishop who probably bore the same\nname.[95]\n\nSometimes, as guardian spirit, he has a sword: the most beautiful\nexample I could cite of this treatment is the figure in the Breviary of\nAnne of Bretagne (A.D. 1500); he wears a pale-green tunic bordered with\ngold, and wings of a deep rose-colour; he has a casket or wallet slung\nover his shoulder by a golden belt; in one hand he holds a sword, and\nthe other is raised with a warning gesture; his countenance, beautiful\nand benign as possible, yet says, \u2018Take heed.\u2019 More commonly, however,\nhe carries a small casket, box, or vase, supposed to contain the \u2018fishy\ncharm\u2019 against the evil spirits. (Tobit vi. 6, 7.)\n\nRaphael, in his character of guardian angel, is generally represented\nas leading the youthful Tobias. When, in order to mark the difference\nbetween the celestial and the mortal being, Tobit is figured so small\nas to look like a child, and when the angel wears his spirit-wings,\nand is not disguised, the whole subject becomes idealised: it is no\nlonger an historical action, but a devotional allegory; and Tobias with\nhis fish represents the Christian, the believer, guarded and guided\nthrough his life-pilgrimage by the angelic monitor and minister of\ndivine mercy.\n\n[Illustration: 46 St. Raphael (Murillo. Leuchtenberg Gallery)]\n\nThere is a small side chapel in the church of Saint Euphemia, at\nVerona, dedicated to St. Raphael. The walls are painted with frescoes\nfrom the story of Tobit; and over the altar is that masterpiece\nof Carotto, representing the three archangels as three graceful\nspirit-like figures without wings. The altar being dedicated to\nRaphael, he is here the principal figure; he alone has the glory\nencircling his head, and takes precedence of the others; he stands\nin the centre leading Tobias, and looking down on him with an air of\nsuch saintly and benign protection, that one feels inclined to say\nor sing, in the words of the litany, \u2018Sancte Rapha\u00ebl, adolescentium\npudiciti\u00e6 defensor, ora pro nobis!\u2019 Even more divine is the St. Michael\nwho stands on the right, with one hand gathering up the folds of his\ncrimson robe, the other leaning on his great two-handed sword; but such\na head, such a countenance looking out upon us\u2014so earnest, powerful,\nand serious!\u2014we recognise the Lord of Souls, the Angel of Judgment. To\nthe left of Raphael stands Gabriel, the Angel of Redemption; he holds\nthe lily, and looks up to heaven adoring: this is the least expressive\nof the three heads, but still beautiful; and, on the whole, the picture\nleft a stronger impression on my mind than any I had seen at Venice,\nthe glorious Assumption excepted. The colouring in its glowing depth\nis like that of Giorgione. Vasari tells us, that this picture, painted\nwhen Carotto was young (about A.D. 1495), was criticised because the\nlimbs of the angels were too slender; to which Carotto, famous for\nhis repartees, replied, \u2018Then they will fly the better!\u2019 The drawing,\nhowever, it must be conceded, is not the best part of the picture.\n\nThe earliest picture of Titian which remains to us is a St. Raphael\nleading Tobias;[96] beautiful, but not equal, certainly, to that of\nCarotto. Raphael, as we might naturally suppose, painted his guardian\nangel and patron saint _con amore_:[97] we have by him two St.\nRaphaels; the first, a little figure executed when he was a boy in the\nstudio of his master Perugino, is now on one side of an altar-piece in\nthe Certosa at Pavia. Later in life, and in one of his finest works,\nhe has introduced his patron saint with infinite beauty of feeling:\nin the Madonna della Pesce,[98] the Virgin sits upon her throne, with\nthe Infant Christ in her arms; the angel Raphael presents Tobias, who\nis not here a youth but a child; while the Infant Christ turns away\nfrom the wise bearded old doctor, who is intently studying his great\nbook, to welcome the angel and his charge. The head of the angel,\nlooking up in the face of the Madonna, is in truth sublime: it would be\nimpossible to determine whether it belongs to a masculine or a feminine\nbeing; but none could doubt that it is a _divine_ being, filled with\nfervent, enthusiastic, adoring love. The fish in the hand of Tobias has\ngiven its name to the picture; and I may as well observe that in the\ndevotional pictures, where the fish is merely an attribute, expressing\nChristian baptism, it is usually very small: in the story it is a sort\nof monster, which sprang out of the river and would have devoured him.\n\nAll the subjects in which the Archangel Raphael is an actor belong\nto the history of Tobit. The scenes of this beautiful scriptural\n_legend_\u2014I must call it so\u2014have been popular subjects of Art,\nparticularly in the later schools, and have been admirably treated by\nsome of the best Dutch and Flemish painters: the combination of the\npicturesque and poetical with the homely and domestic recommended it\nparticularly to Rembrandt and his school. Tobias dragging the fish\nashore, while the angel stands by, is a fine picturesque landscape\nsubject which has been often repeated. The spirited little sketch by\nSalvator,[99] in which the figure of the guardian angel is admirable\nfor power and animated grace; the twilight effect by Rembrandt;[100]\nanother by Domenichino; three by Claude; may be cited as examples.\n\n[Illustration: 47 Archangel (Rembrandt)]\n\nIn such pictures, as it has been rightly observed, the angel ought not\nto have wings: he is disguised as the friendly traveller. The dog,\nwhich ought to be omitted in the devotional pictures, is here a part of\nthe story, and figures with great propriety.\n\nRembrandt painted the parting of Tobias and his parents four times;\nTobias led by the angel, four times; Tobias healing his father, once;\nthe departure of the angel, twice. Of this last subject, the picture in\nthe Louvre may be pronounced one of his finest;\u2014miraculous for true and\nspirited expression, and for the action of the soaring angel, who parts\nthe clouds and strikes through the air like a strong swimmer through\nthe waves of the sea (47).\n\nThe story of Tobit, as a series of subjects, has been very frequently\nrepresented, always in the _genre_ and picturesque style of the later\nschools. I shall have to return to it hereafter; here I have merely\nalluded to the devotional treatment, in order to direct attention to\nthe proper character of the Archangel Raphael.\n\nAnd thus we have shown\n\n              ... how Holy Church\n    Doth represent with human countenance\n    Gabriel and Micha\u00ebl, and him who made\n    Tobias whole.\u2014DANTE, _Par._ c. iv.\n\n\n                      ADDITIONAL NOTES ON ANGELS.\n\n 1. In a picture by Gentile da Fabriano (_Berlin Gallery_, 1130), the\n Virgin and Child are enthroned, and on each side of the throne is a\n tree, on the branches of which are little red Seraphim winged and\n perched like birds, singing and making music. I remember also a little\n Dutch print of a Riposo (_v._ \u2018Legends of the Madonna,\u2019 p. 256), in\n which five little angels are perched on the trees above, singing and\n playing for the solace of the divine Infant. Thus we have Dante\u2019s idea\n of the _Uccelli di Dio_, reproduced in a more familiar form.\n\n 2. In the Convent of Sant-Angelo at Bologna, Camillo Procaccino\n painted the \u2018Acts of the Holy Angels\u2019 in the following order:\u20141. The\n Fall of the Dragon. 2. The Angels drive Adam and Eve from Paradise. 3.\n The three Angels visit Abraham. 4. The Angel stays the arm of Abraham.\n 5. The Angel wrestles with Jacob. 6. The Angels visit Jacob in a\n Dream. 7. The Angel delivers the three Children in the burning fiery\n Furnace. 8. The Angel slays the Host of Sennacherib. 9. The Angel\n protects Tobit. 10. The Punishment of Heliodorus. 11. The Annunciation\n to Mary. It will be remarked that all these subjects are strictly\n scriptural.\n\n\n\n\n                     The Four Evangelists.\n\n \u2018Matthew wrote for the Hebrews; Mark, for the Italians; Luke, for the\n     Greeks; for ALL, the great herald John.\u2019\u2014_Gregory Nazianzen._\n\n\nSince on the Four Evangelists, as the witnesses and interpreters of a\nrevealed religion, the whole Christian Church may be said to rest as\nupon four majestic pillars, we cannot be surprised that representations\nof them should abound, and that their effigies should have been\nintroduced into Christian places of worship, from very early times.\nGenerally, we find them represented together, grouped, or in a series;\nsometimes in their collective character, as the _Four Witnesses_;\nsometimes in their individual character, each as an inspired teacher,\nor beneficent patron. As no authentic resemblances of these sacred\npersonages have ever been known or even supposed to exist, such\nrepresentations have always been either _symbolical_ or _ideal_. In\nthe symbol, the aim was to embody, under some emblematical image, the\nspiritual mission; in the ideal portrait, the artist, left to his own\nconception, borrowed from Scripture some leading trait (when Scripture\nafforded any authority for such), and adding, with what success his\nskill could attain, all that his imagination could conceive, as\nexpressive of dignity and persuasive eloquence\u2014the look \u2018commercing\nwith the skies,\u2019 the commanding form, the reverend face, the ample\ndraperies\u2014he put the book or the pen into his hand, and thus the writer\nand the teacher of the truth was placed before us.\n\nThe earliest type under which the Four Evangelists are figured is\nan emblem of the simplest kind: four scrolls placed in the four\nangles of a Greek cross, or four books (the Gospels), represented\nallegorically those who wrote or promulgated them. The second type\nchosen was more poetical\u2014the four rivers which had their source in\nParadise: representations of this kind, in which the Saviour, figured\nas a lamb holding the cross, or in his human form, with a lamb near\nhim, stands on an eminence, from which gush four rivers or fountains,\nare to be met with in the catacombs, on ancient sarcophagi preserved\namong the Christian relics in the Vatican, and in several old churches\nconstructed between the second and the fifth century.\n\nAt what period the four mysterious creatures in the vision of Ezekiel\n(ch. i. 5) were first adopted as significant symbols of the Four\nEvangelists, does not seem clear. The Jewish doctors interpreted them\nas figuring the four Archangels,\u2014Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, Uriel; and\nafterwards applied them as emblems of the Four Great Prophets,\u2014Isaiah,\nJeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. By the early Oriental Christians, who\ntypified the whole of the Old Testament, the transfer of the emblem to\nthe Four Evangelists seems obvious and easy; we find it alluded to as\nearly as the second century. The four \u2018Beasts\u2019 of corresponding form in\nthe Revelation (chap. iv. 7), which stood round the throne of the Lamb,\nwere likewise thus interpreted; but it was not till the fifth century\nthat we find these symbols assuming a visible form, and introduced into\nworks of art. In the seventh century they had become almost universal,\nas distinctive attributes.\n\n[Illustration: 48 St. Matthew (Mosaic, fifth century)]\n\nThe general application of the Four Creatures to the Four Evangelists\nis of much earlier date than the separate and individual application of\neach symbol, which has varied at different times; that propounded by\nSt. Jerome, in his commentary on Ezekiel, has since his time prevailed\nuniversally. Thus, then, 1. To St. Matthew was given the CHERUB, or\nhuman semblance, because he begins his gospel with the human generation\nof Christ; or, according to others, because in his gospel the human\nnature of the Saviour is more insisted on than the divine. In the most\nancient mosaics, the type is human, not angelic, for the head is that\nof a man with a beard. 2. St. Mark has the LION, because he has set\nforth the royal dignity of Christ; or, according to others, because he\nbegins with the mission of the Baptist\u2014\u2018_the voice of one crying in\nthe wilderness_\u2019\u2014which is figured by the lion: or, according to a third\ninterpretation, the lion was allotted to St. Mark, because there was,\nin the middle ages, a popular belief that the young of the lion was\nborn dead, and after three days was awakened to vitality by the breath\nof its sire; some authors, however, represent the lion as vivifying\nhis young not by his breath, but by his roar. In either case the\napplication is the same; the revival of the young lion was considered\nas symbolical of the resurrection, and Mark was commonly called the\n\u2018Historian of the Resurrection.\u2019 Another commentator observes that\nMark begins his gospel with \u2018roaring\u2019\u2014\u2018the voice of one crying in the\nwilderness;\u2019 and ends it fearfully with a curse\u2014\u2018He that believeth not\nshall be damned;\u2019 and that, therefore, his appropriate attribute is the\nmost terrible of beasts, the lion.[101] 3. Luke has the OX, because he\nhas dwelt on the priesthood of Christ, the _ox_ being the emblem of\nsacrifice. 4. John has the EAGLE, which is the symbol of the highest\ninspiration, because he soared upwards to the contemplation of the\ndivine nature of the Saviour.\n\nBut the order in which, in theological Art, these symbols are placed,\nis not the same as the order of the Gospels according to the canon.\nRupertus considers the Four Beasts as typical of the Incarnation, the\nPassion, the Resurrection, and the Ascension; an idea previously dwelt\nupon by Durandus, who adds, that the man and the lion are placed on\nthe right, because the incarnation and the resurrection are the joy\nof the whole earth; whilst the ox is on the left, because Christ\u2019s\nsacrifice was a trouble to the apostles; and the eagle is above the ox,\nas suggestive of our Lord\u2019s upward flight into heaven: according to\nothers, the proper order in the ascending scale is thus\u2014at the lowest\npoint on the left, the ox; to the right, the lion; above the ox, the\neagle; and above all, the angel. So in Raphael\u2019s Vision of Ezekiel, the\nangel gazes into the face of the Holy One, the others form his throne.\n\nI have dwelt on these fanciful interpretations and disquisitions,\nbecause the symbols of the Evangelists meet us at every turn; in the\nmosaics of the old Italian churches, in the decorative sculpture\nof our old cathedrals, in the Gothic stained glass, in the ancient\npictures and miniatures, on the carved and chased covers of old\nbooks; everywhere, in short, where enters the idea of their divine\nmission\u2014and where is it not? The profound thought, as well as the\nvivid imagination, exercised in some of these early works of art, is\nbeginning to be appreciated; and we should lose the half of what is\npoetical, and significant, and venerable in these apparently arbitrary\nand fanciful symbols, if we merely seized the general intention, and\nnot the relative and appropriate meaning of each.\n\nI will only add (for I have restricted myself to the consideration\nof the mysteries of faith only so far as they are carried into the\nforms of Art) that these symbols of the Four Evangelists were in their\ncombination held to be symbolical of the Redeemer, in the fourfold\ncharacter then universally assigned to him, as man, as king, as\nhigh-priest, and as God; according to this Latin verse:\n\n    Quatuor h\u00e6c Dominum signant animalia Christum:\n    Est _Homo_ nascendo, _vitulus_ que sacer moriendo,\n    Et _Leo_ surgendo, c\u0153los _aquila_ que petendo;\n    Nec minus hos scribas animalia et ipsa figurant.\n\nThis would again alter the received order of the symbols, and place the\nangelic or human semblance lower than the rest: but I have never seen\nthem so placed, at least I can recollect no instance.\n\nA Greek mosaic, existing in the Convent of Vatopedi, on Mount Athos,\nexhibits an attempt to reduce to form the wild and sublime imagery\nof the prophet Ezekiel: the Evangelists, or rather the Gospels, are\nrepresented as the tetramorph, or four-faced creature, with wings full\nof eyes, and borne on wheels of living flame (49).\n\nThe Tetramorph, i.e. the union of the four attributes of the\nEvangelists, in one figure, is in Greek Art always angelic or winged\u2014a\nmysterious thing. The Tetramorph in Western Art has in some instances\nbecome monstrous, instead of mystic and poetical. In a miniature of the\n_Hortus Deliciarum_, we find the new Law, or Christianity, represented\nas a woman crowned and seated on an animal which, with the body of a\nhorse, has the four heads of the mystic creatures; and of the four\nfeet, one is human; one hoofed, for the ox; one clawed like an eagle\u2019s;\nand one like a lion\u2019s: underneath is inscribed _Animal Ecclesi\u00e6_.\nIn some other examples, the Church, or the new Law, is seated in a\ntriumphal car drawn by the eagle, the lion, and the ox, while the angel\nholds the reins and drives as charioteer.\n\n[Illustration: 49 Tetramorph]\n\nThe early images of the Evangelical symbol are uniformly represented\nwith wings, for the same reason that wings were given to the\nangels,\u2014they were angels, i.e. bringers of good tidings: for instance,\nin the earliest example to which I can refer, a rude fragment of a\nbas-relief in terracotta, found in the catacombs, which represents\na lamb with a glory holding a cross; on the right, an angel in a\nsacerdotal garment (St. Matthew), on the left the winged ox (St. Luke),\neach holding a book.\n\n[Illustration: 50 St. Luke (Mosaic, A.D. 750)]\n\n[Illustration: 51 St. Luke (Mosaic, fifth century)]\n\nIn the most ancient Christian churches we find these symbols\nperpetually recurring, generally in or over the recess at the east end\n(the apsis, or tribune), where stands the altar. And as the image of\nChrist, as the Redeemer, either under the semblance of the lamb, or in\nhis human likeness, as a grand, calm, solemn figure enthroned, and in\nthe act of benediction, forms invariably the principal object; almost\nas invariably the Evangelists are either at the four corners, or\nranged in a line above or below, or they are over the arch in front of\nthe tribune. Sometimes they are the heads only of the mystic creatures,\non an azure ground, studded with stars, floating as in a firmament,\nthus (50): or the half figure ends in a leafy scroll, like the genii\nin an arabesque, as thus (51): or the creature is given at full length\nand entire, with four wings, holding the book, and looking much like a\nfigure in heraldry (52, 53).\n\n[Illustration: 52 St. John (Mosaic, eleventh century)]\n\n[Illustration: 53 St. Mark (Mosaic)]\n\nThe next step was the combination of the emblem with the human form,\ni.e. the head of the lion, ox, or eagle, set upon the figure of a\nman. Here is a figure of St. John standing with the head of an eagle,\nholding the gospel (54). There is another rudely engraved in M\u00fcnter\u2019s\nwork, with the eagle\u2019s head, wings upon the shoulders, and a scroll. I\nremember another of St. John seated, writing, with the head and clawed\nfeet of an eagle, and the body and hands of a man. Such figures as a\nseries I have seen in ornaments, and frequently in illuminated MSS.,\nbut seldom in churches, and never of a large size. A very striking\nand comparatively modern example of this peculiar treatment occurs\nin a bas-relief on the door of the College of St. Stephen and St.\nLawrence, at Castiglione, in which the Four Evangelists are represented\nas half-length human figures, amply draped and holding the gospels,\neach with the emblematic head and large outspread wings (55). The\nbronze bas-reliefs of the Evangelists on each side of the choir of\nSt. Antonio, at Padua, are similar in form, and very fine, both in\nconception and workmanship.\n\n[Illustration: 54 St. John]\n\nThis series of full-length figures is from the first compartment of\nthe Life of Christ by Angelico da Fiesole.[102] In the original the\nfigures stand round a mystic circle, alternately with the prophets\n(56). We must remember, that however monstrous and grotesque such\nfigures may appear to the eye, they are not more unnatural than the\nangelic representations with which we are so familiar that we see in\nthem beauty only\u2014not considering that men with the wings of birds are\nas merely emblematical and impossible as men with animal heads. It is\ninteresting, and leads the mind to many speculations, to remark that\nthe Babylonish captivity must have familiarised the Israelites with\nthe combination of the human and animal attributes in the same figure.\nThe gigantic bas-reliefs from Nineveh show us winged bulls with human\nheads, and the human form with the eagle\u2019s head and wings. This figure,\nfor example, (57) is not unlike some early figures of St. John, if we\nsubstitute the book and the pen for the basket and the pine-cone.\n\n[Illustration: 55 St. Mark]\n\n[Illustration: 56]\n\n[Illustration: 57 From Nineveh]\n\nIn a few later examples the only symbolical attribute retained is\na pair of wings. The next figure (58) is from a curious set of\nEvangelists, of a minute size, and exquisitely engraved by Hans Beham:\nthey are habited in the old German fashion; each has his book, his\nemblem, and in addition the expressive wings.\n\n[Illustration: 58]\n\nThese animal symbols, whether alone or in combination with the human\nforms, were perfectly intelligible to the people, sanctified in their\neyes by tradition, by custom, and by the most solemn associations.\nAll direct imitation of nature was, by the best painters, carefully\navoided. In this respect how fine is Raphael\u2019s Vision of Ezekiel! how\nsublime and how true in feeling and conception! where the Messiah comes\nfloating along, upborne by the Four Creatures\u2014mysterious, spiritual,\nwonderful beings, animals in form, but in all else unearthly, and\nthe winged ox not less divine than the winged angel![103] Whereas in\nthe later times, when the artist piqued himself upon the imitation\nof nature, the mystic and venerable significance was wholly lost. As\na striking instance of this mistaken style of treatment, we may turn\nto the famous group of the Four Evangelists by Rubens,[104] grand,\ncolossal, standing or rather moving figures, each with his emblem,\nif emblems they can be called which are almost as full of reality as\nnature itself:\u2014the ox so like life, we expect him to bellow at us; the\nmagnificent lion flourishing his tail, and looking at St. Mark as if\nabout to roar at him!\u2014and herein lies the mistake of the great painter,\nthat, for the religious and mysterious emblem, he has substituted the\ncreatures themselves: this being one of the instances, not unfrequent\nin Art, in which the literal truth becomes a manifest falsehood.\n\nIn ecclesiastical decoration the Four Evangelists are sometimes grouped\nsignificantly with the Four Greater Prophets; thus representing the\nconnexion between the new and the old Law. I met with a curious\ninstance in the Cathedral of Chartres. The five great windows over\nthe south door may be said to contain a succinct system of theology,\naccording to the belief of the thirteenth century: here the Virgin,\ni.e. the Church or Religion, occupies the central window; on one side\nis Jeremiah, carrying on his shoulders St. Luke, and Isaiah carrying\nSt. Matthew; on the other side, Ezekiel bears St. John, and Daniel St.\nMark; thus representing the New Testament resting on the Old.\n\nIn ecclesiastical decoration, and particularly in the stained glass,\nthey are often found in combination with the Four Doctors, the\nEvangelists being considered as witnesses, the Doctors as interpreters,\nof the truth: or as a series with the Four Greater Prophets, the Four\nSibyls, and the Four Doctors of the Church, the Evangelists taking the\nthird place.\n\nIf, as late as the sixteenth century, we find the Evangelists still\nexpressed by the mystic emblems (as in the fine bronzes in the choir\nof Sant\u2019 Antonio at Padua), as early as the sixth we have in the Greek\nMSS. and mosaics the Evangelists as venerable men, and promulgators\nof a revelation; as in San Vitale at Ravenna (A.D. 547): on each side\nof the choir, nearest the altar, we find the prophets Isaiah and\nJeremiah; then follow the Evangelists, two on each side, all alike,\nall classically draped in white tunics, each holding an open book, on\nwhich is inscribed \u2018Secundum Marcum,\u2019 \u2018Secundum Johannem,\u2019 &c.; and\nabove each the animal symbol or attribute, large, full length, and\ngrandly designed. In modern ecclesiastical decoration, the usual and\nappropriate situation of the Four Evangelists is immediately under the\ndome, nearest to the Saviour after the angels, or after the prophets,\nwhere either are introduced. I will mention here a few examples\ncelebrated in the history of Art; premising that among the works of\nLeonardo, of Michael Angelo, and Raphael, we find no representations of\nthe Four Evangelists; which is singular, considering that such figures\nentered necessarily into every scheme of theological decorative art.\n\nBy Cimabue (A.D. 1270), larger than life, on the vault of the choir in\nSan Francesco d\u2019Assisi.\n\nBy Giotto (A.D. 1320), in the choir of Sant\u2019 Apollinare, at Ravenna;\nseated, and each accompanied by one of the doctors of the Church.\n\nBy Angelico (A.D. 1390), round the dome of the chapel of San Niccol\u00f2,\nin the Vatican; all seated, each with his emblem.\n\nBy Masaccio (A.D. 1420), round the dome of the chapel of the Passion in\nSan Clemente, at Rome; admirable for simple grandeur.\n\nBy Perugino (A.D. 1490), on the dome of the chapel del Cambio, at\nPerugia; the heads admirable.\n\nBy Correggio (A.D. 1520), immediately under the cupola of San Giovanni,\nin four lunettes, magnificent figures: and again in the Cathedral of\nParma, each seated in glory, with one of the doctors of the Church.\n\nBy Domenichino, two sets (A.D. 1620). Those in the church of St. Andrea\ndella Valle, at Rome, are considered his finest works, and celebrated\nin the history of Art: they are grand figures. The emblematical animals\nare here combined with the personages in a manner the most studied and\npicturesque; and the angels which sport around them, playing with the\nmane of St. Mark\u2019s lion, or the pallet and pencils of St. Luke, are\nlike beautiful \u2018Amoretti,\u2019\u2014but we hardly think of angels. The series at\nGrotta-Ferrata is inferior.\n\nThe Four Evangelists by Valentin (A.D. 1632), in the Louvre, had once\ngreat celebrity, and have been often engraved; they appear to me signal\nexamples of all that should be avoided in character and sentiment. St.\nMatthew, for example, is an old beggar; the model for the attendant\nangel is a little French _gamin_, \u2018\u00e0 qui Valentin a command\u00e9 de sortir\nun bras de la manche de sa chemise, que de l\u2019autre main il soutient\ngauchement.\u2019\n\nLe Sueur (A.D. 1655) has represented the Four Evangelists seated at a\ntable writing; the Holy Ghost descends upon them in the form of a dove.\n\nTowards the end of the seventeenth century, we find sets of the\nEvangelists in which the emblems are altogether omitted, and the\npersonages distinguished by their situation, or by their names\ninscribed under or over them: but we miss those antique scriptural\nattributes which placed them before us as beings foreshadowed in the\nprophecies uttered of old; they have become mere men.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThis must suffice for the Evangelists considered as a series and in\ntheir collective character; but it will be interesting to pause for a\nmoment, and take a rapid retrospective view of the progress, from first\nto last, in the expression of an idea through form.\n\nFirst, we have the mere _fact_; the four scrolls, or the four books.\n\nNext, the _idea_; the four rivers of salvation flowing from on high, to\nfertilise the whole earth.\n\nThirdly, the _prophetic_ Symbol; the winged cherub of fourfold aspect.\n\nNext, the _Christian_ Symbol; the four \u2018beasts\u2019 in the Apocalypse, with\nor without the angel-wings.\n\nThen the combination of the _emblematical animal_ with the _human_ form.\n\nThen the _human_ personages, each of venerable or inspired aspect, as\nbecomes the teacher and witness; and each attended by the scriptural\nemblem\u2014no longer an emblem, but an attribute\u2014marking his individual\nvocation and character.\n\nAnd, lastly, the emblem and attribute both discarded, we have the human\nbeing only, holding his gospel, i.e. _his_ version of the doctrine of\nChrist.\n\n\n                             ST. MATTHEW.\n\n _Lat._ S. Mattheus. _Ital._ San Matteo. _Fr._ Saint Matthieu. _Ger._\n                       St. Matth\u00e4us. (Sept. 21.)\n\nSt. Matthew among the Apostles takes the seventh or eighth place, but\nas an Evangelist he always stands first, because his gospel was the\nearliest written. Very little is certainly known concerning him, his\nname occurring but once in his own gospel, and in the other gospels\nonly incidentally with reference to two events.\n\nHe was a Hebrew by birth; by profession a publican, or tax-gatherer, in\nthe service of the Romans\u2014an office very lucrative, but particularly\nodious in the sight of his countrymen. His original name was Levi. It\nis recorded in few words, that as he sat at the receipt of custom by\nthe lake of Gennesareth, Jesus in passing by saw him, and said unto\nhim, \u2018Follow me,\u2019 and he left all and followed him; and farther, that\nhe made a feast in his house, at which many publicans and sinners sat\ndown with the Lord and his disciples, to the great astonishment and\nscandal of the Jews. So far the sacred record: the traditional and\nlegendary history of St. Matthew is equally scanty. It is related in\nthe _Perfetto Legendario_ that after the dispersion of the apostles\nhe travelled into Egypt and Ethiopia, preaching the Gospel; and\nhaving arrived in the capital of Ethiopia, he lodged in the house of\nthe eunuch who had been baptized by Philip, and who entertained him\nwith great honour. There were two terrible magicians at that time in\nEthiopia, who by their diabolical spells and incantations kept all the\npeople in subjection, afflicting them at the same time with strange and\nterrible diseases; but St. Matthew overcame them, and having baptized\nthe people, they were delivered for ever from the malignant influence\nof these enchanters. And further, it is related that St. Matthew raised\nthe son of the King of Egypt from the dead, and healed his daughter of\nthe leprosy. The princess, whose name was Iphigenia, he placed at the\nhead of a community of virgins dedicated to the service of God; and a\ncertain wicked heathen king, having threatened to tear her from her\nasylum, was struck by leprosy, and his palace destroyed by fire. St.\nMatthew remained twenty-three years in Egypt and Ethiopia, and it is\nsaid that he perished in the ninetieth year of our era, under Domitian:\nbut the manner of his death is uncertain; according to the Greek\nlegend, he died in peace, but according to the tradition of the Western\nChurch, he suffered martyrdom either by the sword or the spear.\n\n[Illustration: 59 St. Matthew]\n\nFew churches are dedicated to St. Matthew. I am not aware that he is\nthe patron saint of any country, trade, or profession, unless it be\nthat of tax-gatherer or exciseman; and this is perhaps the reason\nthat, except where he figures as one of the series of evangelists or\napostles, he is so seldom represented alone, or in devotional pictures.\nIn a large altar-piece, the \u2018San Matteo\u2019 of Annibal Caracci,[105] he\nis standing before the throne of the Madonna, as a pendant to John\nthe Baptist, and gives his name to the picture: but such examples are\nuncommon. When he is portrayed as an evangelist, he holds a book or a\npen; and the angel, his proper attribute and attendant, stands by,\npointing up to heaven, or dictating; or he holds the inkhorn, or he\nsupports the book. In his character of apostle, St. Matthew frequently\nholds a purse or money-bag, as significant of his former vocation (56).\n\nNeither are pictures from his life of frequent occurrence. The\nprincipal incident, entitled the \u2018Calling of Matthew,\u2019 has been\noccasionally, but not often, treated in painting. The _motif_ is simple\nand not easily mistaken. St. Matthew is seated at a kind of desk with\nmoney before him; various personages bring tribute; on one side is\nseen Christ, with one or two of his disciples, generally Peter and\nAndrew; St. Matthew is either looking towards him with an expression of\nawe-struck attention, or he is rising from his seat, as in the act to\nfollow: the mere accessories and number of the personages vary with the\nperiod of the composition and the taste of the painter.\n\n1. The earliest instance I can cite, probably the oldest which has come\ndown to us, is in a Greek MS. of the ninth century.[106] St. Matthew\nsits with both hands on a heap of gold, lying on a table before him: he\nlooks round at Christ, who is a little behind.\n\n2. St. Matthew is about to rise to follow the Saviour; by Matte di Ser\nCambio of Perugia, who has represented his patron saint in a small\ncomposition.[107]\n\n3. In the Queen\u2019s Gallery at Buckingham Palace, there is a very curious\nand interesting picture of this subject, by Mabuse, which once belonged\nto King Charles I., and is quaintly described in the old catalogue of\nhis pictures \u2018as a very old, defaced, curious altar-piece, upon a thick\nboard, where Christ is calling St. Matthew out of the custom-house;\nwhich picture was got in Queen Elizabeth\u2019s days, in the taking of Calus\nMalus (Cadiz), in Spain. Painted upon a board in a gilded arched frame,\nlike an altar-piece; containing ten big figures, less than half so big\nas the life, and some twenty-two afar off less figures. Given to the\nKing.\u2019 In the foreground there is a rich architectural porch, from\nwhich St. Matthew is issuing in haste, leaving his money-bags behind;\nand in the background is seen the lake of Gennesareth and shipping.\nThis picture was among the booty taken in Essex\u2019s expedition against\nCadiz in 1596, and probably stolen from some church.\n\n4. In the Vienna Gallery I found three pictures of the same subject,\nall by Hemessen, very quaint and curious.\n\n5. At Dresden the same subject in the Venetian style by Pordenone.\n\n6. By Ludovico Caracci, a grand scenic picture, painted for the\nMendicanti in Bologna.\n\n7. In a chapel of the church of San Luigi de\u2019 Francesi, at Rome,\nthere are three pictures by Caravaggio from the life of St. Matthew.\nOver the altar is the saint writing his gospel; he looks up at the\nattendant angel, who is behind with outspread wings, and in the act\nof dictating. On the left is the calling of St. Matthew; the saint,\nwho has been counting money, rises with one hand on his breast, and\nturns to follow the Saviour: an old man, with spectacles on his nose,\nexamines with curiosity the personage whose summons has had such a\nmiraculous effect: a boy is slyly appropriating the money which the\napostle has thrown down. The third picture is the martyrdom of the\nsaint, who, in the sacerdotal habit, lies extended on a block, while a\nhalf-naked executioner raises the sword, and several spectators shrink\nback with horror. There is nothing dignified or poetical in these\nrepresentations; and though painted with all that power of effect which\ncharacterised Caravaggio, then at the height of his reputation, they\nhave also his coarseness of feeling and execution: the priests were\n(not without reason) dissatisfied; and it required all the influence\nof his patron, Cardinal Giustiniani, to induce them to retain the\npictures in the church where we now see them;\u2014here we sympathise with\nthe priests, rather than with the artist and his patron.\n\nThe Feast which St. Matthew made for our Saviour and his disciples is\nthe subject of one of Paul Veronese\u2019s gorgeous banquet scenes; that\nwhich he painted for the refectory of the Convent of St. John and St.\nPaul at Venice. It is now in the Academy, filling up the end wall of\none of the great rooms from side to side, and seeming to let in light\nand air through the lofty marble porticoes, which give us such a\nmagnificent idea of the splendour which surrounded Levi before he left\nall to follow Jesus.\n\nIn all the representations of the death of St. Matthew, except those of\nthe Greek or Byzantine school, he dies by the sword. The Greek artists\nuniformly exhibit him as dying in peace, while an angel swings the\ncenser beside his bed: as on the ancient doors of San Paolo at Rome.\n\nPictures from the legendary life of St. Matthew are very rare. The\nmost remarkable are the frescoes in the chapel of San Matteo at\nRavenna, attributed to Giotto. They are so much ruined, that, of the\neight subjects represented, only three\u2014his vocation, his preaching and\nhealing the sick in Ethiopia, and the baptism of the king and queen\u2014can\nbe made out. In the Bedford missal at Paris I found a miniature,\nrepresenting St. Matthew \u2018healing the son and daughter of King Egyptus\nof the leprosy;\u2019 but, as a subject of art, he is not popular.\n\n\n                               ST. MARK.\n\n   _Lat._ S. Marcus. _Ital._ San Marco Evangelista. _Fr._ St. Marc.\n            _Ger._ Der Heilige Marcus. (April 25. A.D. 68.)\n\nSt. Mark the Evangelist was not one of the twelve Apostles: his\nconversion apparently took place after the ascension. He was the\ncompanion and assistant of Paul and Barnabas, with whom he preached the\nGospel among the Gentiles. According to the traditions received in the\nRoman Church, he was converted by St. Peter, and became his favourite\ndisciple; attended him first to Aquileia, where they converted and\nbaptized the people on the shores of the Adriatic, and thence to Rome.\nWhile there he wrote his gospel for the use of the Roman converts,\u2014some\nsay from the dictation of the apostle. He afterwards, by command of St.\nPeter, went to preach the Gospel in Egypt; and after preaching in Lybia\nand Thebais for twelve years, he founded the church of Alexandria,\nsubsequently one of the most celebrated of all the early Christian\nchurches. The ire of the heathen being stirred up against him because\nof his miracles, they reviled him as a magician, and, during the feast\nof their god Serapis, seized him while in the act of worship, bound\nhim, and dragged him along the streets and highways, and over stony and\nrocky places, till he perished miserably; at the same time a dreadful\ntempest of hail and lightning fell upon his murderers, by which they\nwere dispersed and destroyed. The Christians of Alexandria buried his\nmangled remains, and his sepulchre was regarded with great reverence\nfor several centuries. About 815 A.D., some Venetian merchants trading\nto Alexandria carried off the relics (literally stole them,\u2014\u2018_convey_\nthe wise it call!\u2019), and they were deposited in the city of Venice,\nwhere the stately church of St. Mark was built over them. Since that\ntime, St. Mark has been honoured as the patron saint of Venice, and\nhis legendary history has supplied the Venetian painters with many\nbeautiful and picturesque subjects.\n\nWhen St. Mark is represented as one of the four Evangelists, either\nsingly or grouped with the others, he is almost invariably accompanied\nby the lion, winged or unwinged, but generally winged,\u2014which\ndistinguishes him from St. Jerome, who is also accompanied by the lion,\nbut unwinged, as we shall see hereafter.\n\nIn devotional representations, St. Mark often wears the habit of\nbishop, as first bishop of Alexandria. He is thus represented in the\ncolossal mosaic over the principal door of St. Mark\u2019s at Venice[108] in\nthe pontificals of a Greek bishop, no mitre, short grey hair and beard;\none hand raised in benediction, the other holding the gospel.\n\nOf the innumerable pictures in which St. Mark figures as patron of\nVenice, I can afford to give a few examples only.\n\n1. A. Busati. He is seated on a throne; an open book in one hand,\nbearing inscribed the Venetian motto (\u2018_la Leggenda de\u2019 Veneti_\u2018) PAX\nTIBI, MARCE, EVANGELISTA MEUS; the other hand blessing: behind him a\nfig-tree, with leaves and no fruit; probably in allusion to the text,\nch. xi. 13, which is peculiar to St. Mark. On his right stands St.\nAndrew bearing a cross; on the left St. Bernardino of Siena; behind him\nthe apple-tree which \u2018brought death into the world and all our woe.\u2019\nThis votive picture, from its mystical accessories and the introduction\nof St. Bernardino, was probably painted for the Franciscans (_i Frari_)\nof Venice: it is now in the Academy there.\n\n2. St. Mark on a lofty throne holds his gospel in his hand; at his feet\nthe four saints who are protectors against sickness and pestilence, St.\nSebastian, St. Roch, St. Cosmo, and St. Damian: a splendid picture,\nin Titian\u2019s early manner.[109] 3. St. Mark plants the standard of\nVenice, by Bonifazio. And 4. \u2018San Marco che assista all\u2019 coscrizione\nmaritima;\u2019 (i.e. the enlisting of the mariners for the service of the\nState) by G. del Moro, both curious instances of the manner in which\nthe Venetians mixed up their patron saint with all their political and\nmilitary transactions. 5. St. Mark presents the Doge Leonardo Dona to\nthe Virgin; the most remarkable of a numerous class of votive pictures\ncommon in the Venetian school, in which St. Mark introduces either the\nDoge or some general or magnifico to the Virgin.[110]\n\nAmong the devotional pictures of St. Mark, one of the most famous is\nthat of Fra Bartolomeo, in the Palazzo Pitti. He is represented as a\nman in the prime of life, with bushy hair and a short reddish beard,\nthroned in a niche, and holding in one hand the gospel, in the other a\npen; the lion is omitted. The Frate painted this picture for his own\nconvent of San Marco at Florence. It is much lauded and celebrated,\nbut the attitude appeared to me rather forced, and the features rather\ncommonplace.\n\nThe legend which describes St. Mark as the disciple and amanuensis\nof St. Peter, has given occasion for those votive pictures in which\nthey are represented together. 1. In the treasury of St. Mark\u2019s is\npreserved a golden reliquary of a square form, containing, it is said,\na fragment of the original gospel in the handwriting of St. Mark; the\nchased cover represents St. Peter on a throne, and before him kneels\nthe evangelist, writing from his dictation.[111] 2. And again, in an\nancient Greek Evangelarium, St. Mark is seated, writing; St. Peter\nstands before him with his hand raised as dictating. 3. In a beautiful\npicture by Angelico da Fiesole,[112] St. Peter is in a pulpit preaching\nto the Romans; and Mark, seated, is taking down his words in a book.\n4. St. Peter and St. Mark standing together, the former holding a\nbook, the latter a pen, with an inkhorn suspended from his girdle, by\nBellini;[113] and, 5, a similar one by Bonvicino\u2014very beautiful.[114]\nSuch pictures are extremely interesting, showing the opinion generally\nentertained of the origin of St. Mark\u2019s Gospel.\n\nHistorical pictures from the legendary life of St. Mark abound in the\nVenetian school, but are not often found out of Venice.\n\nSt. Mark preaching the Gospel at Alexandria, by Gentil Bellini,[115]\na very large composition with numerous figures, is on many accounts\nextremely curious. The painter, who had been at Constantinople,\ntransferred to Alexandria the Oriental scenery and costume with which\nhe had become acquainted. The church of St. Euphemia at Alexandria, in\nthe background, has the air of a Turkish mosque; a crowd of persons,\nmen and women, in the costume of the Turks, surround the saint, who is\nstanding on a kind of pedestal or platform, ascended by a flight of\nsteps, from which he addresses his audience with great fervour. Gentil\nBellini painted this picture for the Scuola di San Marco, at Venice.\n\nIt is related that one day St. Mark, in his progress through the city\nof Alexandria, saw a poor cobbler, who had wounded his hand severely\nwith his awl, so as to be incapacitated from gaining his bread: St.\nMark healed the wound; and the cobbler, whose name was Anianus, being\nconverted and properly instructed, became a zealous Christian, and\nsucceeded St. Mark as bishop of Alexandria. This miraculous cure of St.\nAnianus, and his subsequent baptism, are represented in two pictures\nby Mansueti.[116] In the Berlin Gallery is the cure of St. Anianus, by\nCima da Conegliano; a large composition with many figures. The cure\nand baptism of St. Anianus, represented as a very aged man, form the\nsubjects of two fine bas-reliefs on the fa\u00e7ade of the School of St.\nMark, by Tullio Lombardo, A.D. 1502.\n\nIn the Martyrdom of St. Mark, he is dragged through the streets by the\nenraged populace, who haul him along by a rope; a storm from above\noverwhelms the idolaters. The subject is thus represented by Angelico\nda Fiesole.[117]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nA famous legend of St. Mark, which has been the subject of several\npictures, can only be worthily given in the language of the old\nVenetian chronicle: there is something perfectly charming in the\npicturesque na\u00efvet\u00e9 and matter-of-fact detail with which this wild and\nwonderful story is related; and if you, reader, have ever stood on the\nsteps of the Piazzetta and looked over to San Giorgio, or San Niccol\u00f2,\nwhen the waves of the Lagune were foaming and driving up to your feet,\nand storm-clouds stooping and lowering seemed to touch the very domes\nand campanile around, then you will have the whole scene as a reality\nbefore you.\n\n\u2018On the 25th of February, 1340, there fell out a wonderful thing in\nthis land; for during three days the waters rose continually, and in\nthe night there was fearful rain and tempest, such as had never been\nheard of. So great was the storm that the waters rose three cubits\nhigher than had ever been known in Venice; and an old fisherman being\nin his little boat in the canal of St. Mark, reached with difficulty\nthe Riva di San Marco, and there he fastened his boat, and waited the\nceasing of the storm. And it is related that, at the time this storm\nwas at the highest, there came an unknown man, and besought him that he\nwould row him over to San Giorgio Maggiore, promising to pay him well;\nand the fisherman replied, \u201cHow is it possible to go to San Giorgio?\nwe shall sink by the way!\u201d But the man only besought him the more that\nhe should set forth. So, seeing that it was the will of God, he arose\nand rowed over to San Giorgio Maggiore; and the man landed there, and\ndesired the boatman to wait. In a short while he returned with a young\nman; and they said, \u201cNow row towards San Niccol\u00f2 di Lido.\u201d And the\nfisherman said, \u201cHow can one possibly go so far with one oar?\u201d And they\nsaid, \u201cRow boldly, for it shall be possible to thee, and thou shalt\nbe well paid.\u201d And he went; and it appeared to him as if the waters\nwere smooth. Being arrived at San Niccol\u00f2 di Lido, the two men landed,\nand returned with a third, and, having entered into the boat, they\ncommanded the fisherman that he should row beyond the two castles. And\nthe tempest raged continually. Being come to the open sea, they beheld\napproaching, with such terrific speed that it appeared to fly over the\nwaters, an enormous galley full of demons (as it is written in the\nChronicles, and Marco Sabellino also makes mention of this miracle):\nthe said bark approached the castles to overwhelm Venice, and to\ndestroy it utterly; anon the sea, which had hitherto been tumultuous,\nbecame calm; and these three men, having made the sign of the cross,\nexorcised the demons, and commanded them to depart, and immediately\nthe galley or the ship vanished. Then these three men commanded the\nfisherman to land them, the one at San Niccol\u00f2 di Lido, the other at\nSan Giorgio Maggiore, and the third at San Marco. And when he had\nlanded the third, the fisherman, notwithstanding the miracle he had\nwitnessed, desired that he would pay him; and he replied, \u201cThou art\nright; go now to the Doge, and to the Procuratore of St. Mark, and tell\nthem what thou hast seen, for Venice would have been overwhelmed had it\nnot been for us three. I am St. Mark the evangelist, the protector of\nthis city; the other is the brave knight St. George; and he whom thou\ndidst take up at the Lido is the holy bishop St. Nicholas. Say to the\nDoge and to the Procuratori[118] that they are to pay you; and tell\nthem likewise that this tempest arose because of a certain schoolmaster\ndwelling at San Felice, who did sell his soul to the devil, and\nafterwards hanged himself.\u201d And the fisherman replied, \u201cIf I should\ntell them this, they will not believe me.\u201d Then St. Mark took off a\nring which was on his finger, which ring was worth five ducats; and he\nsaid, \u201cShow them this, and tell them when they look in the sanctuary\nthey will not find it:\u201d and thereupon he disappeared. The next morning,\nthe said fisherman presented himself before the Doge and related all he\nhad seen the night before, and showed him the ring for a sign. And the\nProcuratori having sent for the ring, and sought in the usual place,\nfound it not; by reason of which miracle the fisherman was paid, and a\nsolemn procession was ordained, giving thanks to God, and to the relics\nof the three holy saints, who rest in our land, and who delivered us\nfrom this great danger. The ring was given to Signor Marco Loredano\nand to Signor Andrea Dandolo the Procuratori, who placed it in the\nsanctuary; and, moreover, a perpetual provision was made for the aged\nfisherman above mentioned.\u2019[119]\n\nThis legend is the subject of two celebrated pictures:\u2014The first,\nattributed to Giorgione,[120] represents the storm. A ship, manned by\ndemons, is seen towering over the waves: the demons appear to be seized\nwith consternation; some fling themselves headlong over the side of\ntheir vessel, others are clinging to the rigging, others sit on the\nmasts which flame with fire, and the glare is seen over the murky sky\nand sea. More in front are two barks, one rowed by four satyr-like\ndemons, splendid figures admirably painted, literally glowing as if\nthey were red-hot, and full of fierce animation. In the other bark\nare seen the three saints, St. Mark, St. Nicholas, and St. George,\nrowed by the fisherman; sea-monsters are sporting amid the waves,\ndemons bestride them; the city of Venice is just visible in the far-off\ndistance. The whole picture is full of vigour and poetic feeling; the\nfiery glow of colour and the romantic style of Giorgione suited the\nsubject; and it has been admirably restored.\n\nThe second picture is by Paris Bordone,[121] and represents the\nfisherman presenting the miraculous ring of St. Mark to the Doge\nGradenigo. It is like a grand piece of scenic decoration: we have\nbefore us a magnificent marble hall, with columns and buildings in\nperspective; to the right, on the summit of a flight of steps, sits\nthe Doge in council; the poor fisherman, ascending the steps, holds\nforth the ring. The numerous figures, the vivid colour, the luxuriant\narchitecture, remind us of Paul Veronese, with, however, more delicacy,\nboth in colour and execution.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nA Christian slave, in the service of a certain nobleman of Provence,\ndisobeyed the commands of his lord, and persisted in paying his\ndevotions at the shrine of St. Mark, which was at some distance. On his\nreturn home, he was condemned to the torture. As it was about to be\ninflicted, the saint himself descended from heaven to aid his votary;\nthe instruments of torture were broken or blunted, the oppressor and\nhis executioners confounded. This legend is the subject of a celebrated\npicture by Tintoretto,[122] of which Mr. Rogers had the original\nsketch. The slave lies on the ground amid a crowd of spectators, who\nlook on, animated by all the various emotions of sympathy, rage,\nterror; a woman in front, with a child in her arms, has always been\nadmired for the life-like vivacity of her attitude and expression.\nThe executioner holds up the broken implements; St. Mark, with a\nheadlong movement, seems to rush down from heaven in haste to save his\nworshipper; the dramatic grouping in this picture is wonderful; the\ncolouring, in its gorgeous depth and harmony, is in Mr. Rogers\u2019s sketch\nfiner than in the picture.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIn St. Mark\u2019s, at Venice, we find the whole history of St. Mark on the\nvault of the Cappella Zen (opening from the Baptistery), in a series\nof very curious mosaics of the twelfth century. The translation of the\nbody of St. Mark; the carrying off the relics from Alexandria; their\narrival in Venice; the grand religious ceremonies which took place on\ntheir arrival; are also represented in the mosaics over the portico\nof St. Mark\u2019s, executed chiefly between 1650 and 1680. We have the\nsame legend in two compositions of Tintoretto:[123] in the first, the\nremains of St. Mark are taken forcibly from the tomb by the Venetian\nmariners; in the other, they are borne away to sea in a night-storm,\nwhile in the air is seen hovering a bright transparent form,\u2014the soul\nof the saint flitting with his body to Venice.\n\n\n                               ST. LUKE.\n\n  _Lat._ Sanctus Luca. _Ital._ San Luca. _Fr._ Saint Luc. (Oct. 18.)\n\nOf the real history of St. Luke we know very little. He was not an\napostle; and, like St. Mark, appears to have been converted after the\nascension. He was a beloved disciple of St. Paul, whom he accompanied\nto Rome, and remained with his master and teacher till the last. It\nis related, that, after the martyrdom of St. Peter and St. Paul, he\npreached the Gospel in Greece and Egypt; but whether he died a natural\ndeath, or suffered martyrdom, does not seem clear. The Greek traditions\nrepresent him as dying in peace, and his death was thus figured on the\nancient doors of San Paolo at Rome. Others affirm that he was crucified\nat Patras with St. Andrew.\n\nThere is some ground for the supposition that Luke was a physician.\n(Col. iv. 14.) But the pretty legend which makes him a painter,\nand represents him as painting the portrait of the Virgin Mary, is\nunsupported by any of the earlier traditions. It is of Greek origin,\nstill universally received by the Greek Church, which considers\npainting a religious art, and numbers in its calendar of saints a long\nlist of painters, as well as poets, musicians, and physicians. \u2018Les\nGrecs,\u2019 says Didron, \u2018semblent avoir canonis\u00e9 des chr\u00e9tiens uniquement\nparce qu\u2019ils s\u2019occupaient de soulager le corps ou de charmer l\u2019esprit.\u2019\nIn the west of Europe, the legend which represents St. Luke as a\npainter can be traced no higher than the tenth century; the Greek\npainters introduced it; and a rude drawing of the Virgin discovered\nin the catacombs, with an inscription purporting that it was \u2018one of\nseven painted by Luca,\u2019 confirmed the popular belief that St. Luke\nthe evangelist was meant. Thus originated the fame of innumerable\nVirgins of peculiar sanctity, all attributed to his hand, and regarded\nwith extreme veneration. Such ancient pictures are generally of Greek\nworkmanship, and of a black complexion.[124] In the legend of St. Luke\nwe are assured that he carried with him everywhere two portraits,\npainted by himself; one of our Saviour, and one of the Virgin; and\nthat by means of these he converted many of the heathen, for not only\ndid they perform great miracles, but all who looked on these bright\nand benign faces, which bore a striking resemblance to each other,\nwere moved to admiration and devotion. It is also said, that St. Luke\npainted many portraits of the Virgin, delighting himself by repeating\nthis gracious image; and in the church of Santa Maria in Via Lata, at\nRome, they still show a little chapel in which, \u2018as it hath been handed\ndown from the first ages, St. Luke the Evangelist wrote, and painted\nthe effigy of the Virgin-Mother of God.\u2019\n\nOn the strength of this tradition, St. Luke has been chosen as the\npatron saint of painters. Academies of art are placed under his\nparticular protection; their chapels are dedicated to him, and over the\naltar we see him in his charming and pious avocation, that of painting\nportraits of the Blessed Virgin for the consolation of the faithful.\n\nThe devotional figures of St. Luke, in his character of evangelist,\nrepresent him in general with his gospel and his attendant ox, winged\nor unwinged, as already described; but in Greek Art, and in those\nschools of Art which have been particularly under the Byzantine\ninfluence (as the early Venetian), we see St. Luke as evangelist young\nand beardless, holding the portrait of the Virgin as his attribute\nin one hand, and his gospel in the other. A beautiful figure of St.\nLuke as evangelist and painter is in the famous \u2018Heures d\u2019Anne de\nBretagne.\u2019[125]\n\nIn an engraving by Lucas v. Leyden, executed as it should seem in\nhonour of his patron saint, St. Luke is seated on the back of his ox,\nwriting the gospel; he wears a hood like an old professor, rests his\nbook against the horns of the animal, and his inkstand is suspended on\nthe bough of a tree. But separate devotional figures of him as patron\nare as rare as those of St. Matthew.\n\nSt. Luke painting the Virgin has been a frequent and favourite subject.\nThe most famous of all is a picture in the Academy of St. Luke, at\nRome, ascribed to Raphael. Here St. Luke, kneeling on a footstool\nbefore an easel, is busied painting the Virgin with the Child in her\narms, who appears to him out of heaven sustained by clouds: behind St.\nLuke stands Raphael himself, looking on. Another of the same subject, a\nvery small and beautiful picture, also ascribed to Raphael, is in the\nGrosvenor Gallery. In neither of these pictures is the treatment quite\nworthy of that great painter, wanting his delicacy both of sentiment\nand execution. There is a most curious and quaint example in the Munich\nGallery, attributed to Van Eyck: here the Virgin, seated under a rich\nGothic canopy, holds on her lap the Infant Christ, in a most stiff\nattitude; St. Luke, kneeling on one knee, is taking her likeness. There\nis another, similar in style, by Aldegraef, in the Vienna Gallery.\nCarlo Maratti represents St. Luke as presenting to the Virgin the\npicture he has painted of her. St. Luke painting the Madonna and Child,\nwhile an angel is grinding his colours, I remember in the Aguado\nGallery; a late Spanish picture.[126]\n\n[Illustration: _St. Mark attended by St. Gregory._]\n\n[Illustration: _St. Luke painting the Virgin._]\n\n\n                               ST. JOHN.\n\n   _Lat._ Sanctus Johannes. _Gr._ St. John Theologos, or the Divine.\n   _Ital._ San Giovanni Evangelista. _Fr._ Saint Jean; Messire Saint\n         Jehan. _Ger._ Der Heilige Johann. (Dec. 27, A.D. 99.)\n\nOf St. Matthew, St. Mark, and St. Luke, so little is certainly known,\nthat we have no data on which to found an individual portrait;\ntherefore any representation of them as venerable and inspired teachers\nsuffices to the fancy: but it is quite otherwise with St. John, the\nmost distinguished of the evangelists, and the most beloved of the\ndisciples of our Lord. Of him sufficient is known to convey a distinct\nimpression of his personal character, and an idea of what his personal\nappearance may have been, supposing this outward semblance to have\nharmonised with the inward being.\n\nHe was the son of the fisherman Zebedee, and, with his brother James,\namong the first followers of the Saviour. He is emphatically called\n\u2018the disciple whom Jesus loved;\u2019 a preference which he merited, not\nonly from the extreme purity of his life and character, but from\nhis devoted and affectionate nature. He appears to have been at all\ntimes the constant companion of his divine Lord; and his life, while\nthe Saviour was on earth, inseparable from His. In all the memorable\ncircumstances recorded in the Gospel he was a party, or at least\npresent. He witnessed the glory of the transfiguration; he leaned\non the bosom of Jesus at the last supper; he stood by the cross in\nthe hour of agony; he laid the body of his crucified Master in the\nsepulchre. After the death of the Virgin Mother, who had been confided\nto his care, he went about Jud\u00e6a, preaching the Gospel with St. Peter.\nHe then travelled into Asia Minor, where he founded the Seven Churches,\nand resided principally at Ephesus. During the persecution of the\nChristians under Domitian, St. John was sent in fetters to Rome; and,\naccording to a tradition generally received in the Roman Church, he was\ncast into a cauldron of boiling oil, but was miraculously preserved,\nand \u2018came out of it as out of a refreshing bath.\u2019 He was then accused\nof magic, and exiled to the island of Patmos, in the \u00c6gean Sea,\nwhere he is said to have written his Revelation. After the death of\nthe Emperor Domitian he was released, and returned to his church at\nEphesus; and for the use of the Christians there he is said to have\nwritten his gospel, at the age of ninety. A few years afterwards he\ndied in that city, being nearly a century old. All the incidents here\ntouched upon occur frequently as subjects of art, but most of them\nbelong properly to the life of Christ.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe personal character of St. John, at once attractive and picturesque,\nhas rendered him popular as a patron saint, and devotional pictures of\nhim are far more numerous than of any of the other evangelists.\n\nHe is represented in one of his three characters: 1, as evangelist; 2,\nas apostle; 3, as prophet; or the three are combined in one figure.\n\n1. Of the early eagle symbol, I have spoken at length.\n\nIn Greek Art, whether as apostle or evangelist, St. John is always\nan aged man with white hair, and a venerable beard descending to\nhis breast; and by the earlier Latin painters, where he figures as\nevangelist only, not as apostle, this type has been adhered to; but\nthe later painters set it aside, and St. John the Evangelist, nearly\na century old, has all the attributes of the youthful apostle. He\nis beardless, with light curling hair, and eyes gazing upwards in a\nrapture of inspiration: he is sometimes seated with his pen and his\nbook, sometimes standing; the attendant eagle always near him, and\nfrequently holding the pen or inkhorn in his beak.\n\nIn some of the old prints and pictures, which represent St. John\nas writing the gospel, his eyes are turned on the Virgin with the\nInfant Christ in her arms, who appear as a vision in the skies above;\nunderneath, or on his book, is inscribed,\u2014\u2018The Word was made flesh,\u2019 or\nsome other text of the same import. The eagle at his side has sometimes\nthe nimbus or a crown of stars,[127] and is then perhaps intended to\nfigure the Holy Ghost.\n\nI remember an instance in which the devil, intent on intercepting\nthe message of reconcilement and \u2018goodwill towards men,\u2019 which was\ndestined to destroy his empire on earth, appears behind St. John, and\nis oversetting the ink upon the pages; another, in which he is stealing\naway the inkhorn.\n\n2. As one of the series of apostles, St. John is always, in Western\nArt, young, or in the prime of life; with little or no beard; flowing\nor curling hair, generally of a pale brown or golden hue, to express\nthe delicacy of his nature; and in his countenance an expression of\nbenignity and candour. His drapery is, or ought to be, red, with a blue\nor green tunic. He bears in his hand the sacramental cup, from which a\nserpent is seen to issue. St. Isidore relates that, at Rome, an attempt\nwas made to poison St. John in the cup of the sacrament: he drank\nof the same and administered it to the communicants without injury,\nthe poison having by a miracle issued from the cup in the form of a\nserpent, while the hired assassin fell down dead at his feet. According\nto another version of this story, the poisoned cup was administered\nby order of the Emperor Domitian. According to a third version,\nAristodemus, the high-priest of Diana, at Ephesus, defied him to drink\nof the poisoned chalice, as a test of the truth of his mission; St.\nJohn drank unharmed,\u2014the priest fell dead. Others say, and this seems\nthe more probable interpretation, that the cup in the hand of St. John\nalludes to the reply given by our Saviour, when the mother of James and\nJohn requested for her sons the place of honour in heaven,\u2014\u2018Ye shall\ndrink indeed of my cup.\u2019 As in other instances, the legend was invented\nto explain the symbol. When the cup has the consecrated wafer instead\nof the serpent, it signifies the institution of the Eucharist.\n\n[Illustration: 60 St. John (Hans Hemling)]\n\nSome of the old German representations of St. John are of singular\nbeauty: for example, one by _Hans Hemling_, one by _Isaac von\nMelem_,[128] standing figures; simple, graceful, majestic; in the\nprime of youth, with a charming expression of devotion in the heads:\nboth hold the sacramental cup with the serpent; no eagle; therefore\nSt. John is here to be considered as the apostle only: when, with the\ncup, the eagle is placed by his side, he is represented in the double\ncharacter of apostle and evangelist (61).\n\n[Illustration: 61 St. John (Raphael)]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIn the early Siena school, and in some old illuminations, I have seen\nSt. John carrying in his hand a radiant circle, inscribed \u2018_In primo\nest verbum_,\u2019 and within the circle an eagle with outspread wings: but\nthis is uncommon.\n\n\n3. St. John as the prophet, the writer of the Revelation, is usually\nan aged man, with a white flowing beard, seated in a rocky desert; the\nsea in the distance, or flowing round him, to represent the island of\nPatmos; the eagle at his side. In the old frescoes, and the illuminated\nMSS. of the Apocalypse, this is the usual representation.\n\n\nSome examples of the ideal and devotional figures of St. John, as\nevangelist and prophet, will give an idea of the variety of treatment\nin this favourite subject:\u2014\n\n\n1. Ancient Greek. St. John, with the head of an eagle and large wings,\nthe figure fully draped, is soaring upwards. In such representations\nthe inscription is usually \u2018_Quasi aquila ascendet et avolabit_\u2019\n(\u2018Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle.\u2019 Jer. xlix. 22).\n\n2. Perugino. St. John as an aged man, with long grey beard and\nflowing hair, attended by a black eagle, looking up at the Madonna in\nglory.[129]\n\n3. Raphael (?). St. John, young and beautiful, mounted on the back\nof an eagle, and soaring heavenwards: in one hand he holds a tablet,\nin the other a pen: sea and land below. This treatment, which recalls\nthe antique Jupiter bestriding his eagle, appears to me at once too\ntheatrical and too commonplace for Raphael.[130]\n\n[Illustration: 62 St. John]\n\n4. Correggio. St. John seated writing his gospel; the eagle at his feet\nis pluming his wing: inscribed \u2018_Altius c\u00e6teris Dei patefecit arcana_.\u2019\nOne of the series of Evangelists in the Duomo of Parma\u2014wonderfully\nbeautiful.\n\n5. Domenichino. St. John, full length, life size; young and beautiful,\nin an ecstasy of inspiration, and sustained by two angels; the eagle\nat his feet: formerly in the Giustiniani Gallery;[131]\u2014finer, I think,\nthan the St. John in Sant\u2019 Andrea. Another, half length, a scroll in\nhis hand, looking upwards as one to whom the glory of the heavens had\nbeen opened;\u2014you see it reflected in his eyes,\u2014while love, wonder,\ndevotion, beam from his beautiful face and parted lips: behind him\nhovers the attendant eagle, holding the pen in his beak; near him\nis the chalice, with the serpent; so that here he is in his double\ncharacter of apostle and evangelist.[132] Domenichino excelled in St.\nJohns, as Guido in Magdalenes; perhaps the most beautiful of all is\nthat in the Brera, at Milan, where St. John bends on one knee at the\nfoot of the throne of the Madonna and Child, his pen in one hand, the\nother pressed to his bosom, and looking up to them with an air of\necstatic inspiration. Two little angels, or rather _amoretti_, are in\nattendance: one has his arms round the neck of the eagle, sporting\nwith it; the other holds up the cup and the serpent. Every detail\nis composed and painted to admiration; but this is the artistic and\npicturesque, not the religious, version of the subject.\n\nSt. John is frequently represented with St. Peter, because, after the\nascension, they taught and acted in concert. In such pictures, the\ncontrast between the fiery resolve and sturdy, rugged grandeur which is\ngiven to St. Peter, and the refinement, mildness, and personal grace of\nSt. John, produces a fine effect: as in Albert D\u00fcrer\u2019s picture,[133]\nwhere John is holding open the Gospel, and Peter apparently reading it;\ntwo grand and simple figures, filling the mind as we gaze upon them.\nAs this picture was painted _after_ Albert D\u00fcrer became a Protestant,\nI have thought it possible that he might have had some particular\nmeaning in thus making Peter study the Gospel of John. At all events,\nAlbert D\u00fcrer was quite capable of such an intention; and, whether\nintended or not, the picture may be, and has been, thus interpreted.\nThe prophets and the poets often say more than they intended, for\ntheir light was for others more than for themselves: so also the great\npainters\u2014the Raphaels and Albert D\u00fcrers\u2014prophets and poets in their\nway. When I have heard certain critics ridiculed because they found\nmore in the productions of a Shakspeare or a Raphael than the poet\nor painter himself ever perceived or \u2018intended,\u2019 such ridicule has\nappeared to me in the highest degree presumptuous and absurd. The true\nartist \u2018feels that he is greater than he knows.\u2019 In giving form or\nutterance to the soul within him, does he account to himself for all\nthe world of thoughts his work will excite in the minds of others? Is\nits significance to be circumscribed either by the intention and the\nknowledge of the poet, or the comprehension of the age in which he\nlived? That is the characteristic of the second-rate, self-conscious\npoets or painters, whom we read or study because they reflect to us\na particular meaning\u2014a particular period,\u2014but not of the Homers and\nShakspeares, the Raphaels and Albert D\u00fcrers; _they_ speak to all times,\nto _all_ men, with a suggestive significance, widening, deepening with\nevery successive generation; and to measure their depth of meaning by\ntheir own _intention_, or by the comprehension of their own or any\none generation, what is it but to measure the star of heaven by its\napparent magnitude?\u2014an inch rule will do that!\n\nBut to return from this digression. In devotional pictures we often\nsee St. John the Evangelist and St. John the Baptist standing together;\nor on each side of Christ, or of the Madonna and Child. There is a\npeculiar propriety and significance in this companionship: both are,\nthen, to be considered as prophets; they were, besides, kinsmen, and\nbore the same name; and St. John the Evangelist was the disciple of\nJohn the Baptist before he was called by Christ. Here, again, the\ncontrast between the dark, emaciated, hairy prophet of the wilderness,\nand the graceful dignity of the youthful apostle, has a striking\neffect. An example at hand is the bronze bas-relief on the tomb of\nHenry VII.[134] Madonna pictures, in which the two St. Johns stand\nbefore her throne, occur frequently. I remember, also, a marble group\nof the Virgin and Child, in which the two St. Johns, as infants, are\nplaying at her feet, one with his eagle, the other with his reed\ncross.[135]\n\nAs one who bore the most direct testimony to the Incarnation, St.\nJohn is often introduced into Madonna pictures, and pictures of the\nNativity; but in the later schools only. In these instances he points\nsignificantly to the Child, and the sacramental cup and wafer is either\nin his hand or at his feet, or borne by an angel.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe historical and dramatic subjects in which St. John figures as a\nprincipal personage are very numerous. As the scriptural scenes belong\nproperly to the life of Christ, I shall confine myself here to some\nobservations on the manner in which St. John is introduced and treated\nin such pictures. In general he is to be distinguished from the other\napostles by his youth and beauty, and flowing hair; and by being placed\nnearest to Christ as the most beloved of his disciples.\n\n\u2018The mother of James and John imploring from our Saviour the highest\nplace in heaven for her two sons.\u2019 (Matt. xx. 21): a picture by\nBonifazio, in the Borghese Gallery, beautiful both in sentiment and\ncolour. There is another example by Paul Veronese; and another, by\nTintoretto, was in the Coesvelt Gallery. I must observe that, except\nin Venetian pictures, I have not met with this incident as a separate\nsubject.\n\nIn the last supper, Peter is generally on the right of Christ, and St.\nJohn on the left: he leans his head down on the bosom of Christ (this\nis always the attitude in the oldest pictures); or he leans towards\nChrist, who places his hand upon his shoulder, drawing him towards him\nwith an expression of tenderness: this is the action in the fresco by\nRaphael lately discovered at Florence. But I must reserve the full\nconsideration of this subject for another place.\n\nWhere, instead of the last supper, our Saviour is represented as\nadministering the Eucharist, St. John is seen on his right hand,\nbearing the cup.\n\nIn the crucifixion, when treated as a religious rather than an\nhistorical subject, St. John stands on the left of the Cross, and the\nVirgin on the right; both in attitudes of the profoundest grief and\nadoration mingled. In general the _motif_ of this sacred subject does\nnot vary; but I remember examples, in which St. John is seen trampling\na Jew under his feet; on the other side the Virgin tramples on a\nveiled woman, signifying the old law, the synagogue, as opposed to the\nChristian Church, of which the Virgin was the received symbol.\n\nWhen the crucifixion is a _scene_ or action, not a _mystery_, then\nSt. John is beheld afar off, with the women who followed their divine\nMaster to Calvary.\n\nSt. John and the Virgin Mary returning from the crucifixion: he appears\nto be sustaining her slow and fainting steps. I have only once met with\nthis beautiful subject, in a picture by Zurbaran, in the Munich Gallery.\n\nIn the descent from the Cross, St. John is a chief actor; he generally\nsustains the head of the Saviour, and is distinguished by an expression\nof extreme sorrow and tenderness. In the entombment he is sometimes\none of the bearers, sometimes he follows lamenting. In a print of\nthe entombment after Andrea Mantegna, he is not only weeping and\nwringing his hands as usual, but absolutely crying aloud with the\nmost exaggerated expression of anguish. In pictures of the descent of\nthe Holy Ghost, St. John is usually a conspicuous figure, and in the\nforeground. In the assumption of the Virgin, he is also conspicuous,\ngenerally in front, as the pendant to St. Peter, and gazing upwards\nwith ecstatic faith and devotion.\n\nOf course there is great variety in these representations: the later\npainters thought less of individual character and significant propriety\nof arrangement than of artistic grouping; therefore the above remarks\nhave reference to the early painters only.\n\nIn the scenes taken from the Acts, St. John is always in companionship\nwith St. Peter, and becomes the secondary figure.\n\n[Illustration: 63 St. John (Lucas v. Leyden)]\n\nSt. John writing his Revelation in the island of Patmos is a subject\nwhich frequently occurs in MSS. of the Apocalypse, and in the chapels\ndedicated to St. John. The _motif_ is generally the same in all;\nwe have a desert island, with the sea in the distance, or flowing\nround it; St. John, seated on a rock or under a tree, is in the act\nof writing; or he is looking up to heaven, where the \u2018Woman crowned\nwith stars,\u2019 or \u2018the Woman fleeing from the dragon,\u2019 appears as in\nhis vision.[136] (Rev. xii.) Or he beholds St. Michael, armed, cast\ndown the dragon in human form; he has the eagle and book, and looks\nup at the Virgin, as in a picture by Ambrogio Figino.[137] The eagle\nis always in attendance as the symbol of inspiration in a general\nsense; when represented with a diadem, or glory, as in some very early\nexamples, it is a symbol of the Holy Ghost, which, among the Jews, was\nfigured by the eagle.\n\nThe subjects from the legendary life of St. John are exceedingly\ninteresting, but they are not easily recognised, and require particular\nattention; some are of frequent occurrence, others rarely met with.\n\n1. Israel v. Meckenen. St. John instructing his disciples at Ephesus.\n(Acts iv. 37.) The scene is the interior of a Gothic church, the\nwindows painted with heraldic emblazonments: St. John is seated\nexpounding the Scriptures, and five disciples sit opposite to him with\ncoarse ugly faces, but most intent, expressive countenances; in the\nbackground, a large chest full of money.\n\n2. Vatican, Chr. Mus. St. John drinking from the poisoned chalice;\na man falls down dead at his feet, several figures look on with awe\nand astonishment: this is a frequent subject in the elder schools of\nart, and in the illuminated MSS. of the Gospel and Apocalypse: but I\nhave never met with a representation later than the beginning of the\nfourteenth century.[138]\n\n3. It is related by Clement of Alexandria, that when St. John was at\nEphesus, and before he was exiled to Patmos, he had taken to his care\na young man of promising qualities of person and mind. During his\nabsence he left him under the spiritual guidance of a certain bishop;\nbut, after a while, the youth took to evil courses, and, proceeding\nfrom one excess to another, he at length became the leader of a band of\nrobbers and assassins who struck terror into the whole country. When\nSt. John returned to Ephesus, he went to the bishop and demanded \u2018the\nprecious deposit he had left in his hands.\u2019 At first the priest did not\nunderstand him; but when St. John explained the allusion to his adopted\nson, he cast down his eyes with sorrow and shame, and told of what\nhad befallen. Then St. John rent his garments, and wept with a loud\nvoice, and cried out, \u2018Alas! alas! to what a guardian have I trusted\nour brother!\u2019 And he called for a horse and rode towards the forest in\nwhich the robbers sojourned; and when the captain of the robbers beheld\nhis old master and instructor, he turned and would have fled from his\npresence; but St. John, by the most fervent entreaties, prevailed on\nhim to stop and listen to his words. After some conference, the robber,\nutterly subdued, burst into tears of penitence, imploring forgiveness;\nand while he spoke, he hid beneath his robe his right hand, which had\nbeen sullied with so many crimes; but St. John, falling on his knees\nbefore him, seized that blood-polluted hand, and kissed it, and bathed\nit with his tears; and he remained with his re-converted brother till\nhe had, by prayers and encouraging words and affectionate exhortations,\nreconciled him with Heaven and with himself.\n\nThis beautiful legend is the subject of some old engravings, in which\nSt. John is represented embracing the robber, who is weeping on his\nneck, having flung away his weapons. It has been, however, too rarely\ntreated; I have never met with a picture of the subject; and yet it\nabounds in picturesque capabilities: the forest background\u2014the contrast\nof youth and age\u2014bright armour, flowing drapery, and the most striking\nand affecting moral, are here all combined.\n\n4. Another very pretty apologue relating to St. John is sometimes\nincluded in a series of subjects from his life. Two young men, who had\nsold all their possessions to follow him, afterwards repented. He,\nperceiving their thoughts, sent them to gather pebbles and faggots,\nand, on their return, changed these into money and ingots of gold,\nsaying to them, \u2018Take back your riches and enjoy them on earth, as you\nregret having exchanged them for heaven!\u2019 This story is represented on\none of the windows of the Cathedral at Bourges. The two young men stand\nbefore St. John, with a heap of gold on one side, and a heap of stones\nand faggots on the other.\n\n5. When St. John had sojourned in the island of Patmos a year and a\nday, he returned to his church at Ephesus; and as he approached the\ncity, being received with great joy by the inhabitants, lo! a funeral\nprocession came forth from the gates; and of those who followed weeping\nhe inquired \u2018who was dead?\u2019 They said, \u2018Drusiana.\u2019 Now when he heard\nthat name he was sad, for Drusiana had excelled in all good works, and\nhe had formerly dwelt in her house; and he ordered them to set down the\nbier, and having prayed earnestly, God was pleased to restore Drusiana\nto life; she arose up, and the apostle went home with her and dwelt in\nher house.\n\nThis incident is the subject of a fine fresco, painted by Filippo\nLippi, on the left-hand wall of the Strozzi Chapel at Florence. It has\nthe forcible expression and dramatic spirit of the painter, with that\ncharacteristic want of elevated feeling in the countenances and in the\ngeneral treatment which is apparent in all his works: the group in one\ncorner, of a child starting from a dog, is admired for its truth; but,\nby disturbing the solemnity of the marvellous scene, it repels like a\nfalsehood.\n\n6. There is another beautiful and picturesque legend relating to St.\nJohn, of which I have never seen any representation; but it may,\npossibly, have occasioned the frequent introduction of a partridge into\nthe pictures of sacred subjects, particularly in the Venetian School.\nSt. John had a tame partridge, which he cherished much; and he amused\nhimself with feeding and tending it. \u2018A certain huntsman, passing by\nwith his bow and arrows, was astonished to see the great apostle, so\nvenerable for his age and sanctity, engaged in such an amusement. The\napostle asked him if he always kept his bow bent? He answered, that\nwould be the way to render it useless. \u201cIf,\u201d replied St. John, \u201cyou\nunbend your bow to prevent its being useless, so do I thus unbend my\nmind for the same reason.\u201d\u2019\n\n7. The subject entitled the Martyrdom of St. John represents his\nimmersion in a cauldron of boiling oil, by order of the Emperor\nDomitian. According to the received tradition, this event took place\noutside the Latin gate at Rome; and on the spot stands the chapel of\nSan Giovanni _in Olio_, commemorating his miraculous deliverance, which\nis painted in fresco on the walls. The subject forms, of course, one of\na series of the life of St. John, and is occasionally met with in old\nprints and pictures; but it is uncommon. The treatment affords little\nvariety; in Albert D\u00fcrer\u2019s famous woodcut, St. John is sitting in a pot\nof boiling oil; one executioner is blowing the fire, another is pouring\noil from a ladle on the saint\u2019s head; a judge, probably intended for\nDomitian, is seated on a throne to the left, and there are numerous\nspectators. Padovanino painted this subject for the San Pietro at\nVenice; Rubens, with horrible truth of detail, for the altar-piece of\nSt. John at Malines.\n\nIt is the martyrdom in the boiling oil which gives St. John the right\nto bear the palm, with which he is occasionally seen.\n\n8. St. John, habited in priest\u2019s garments, descends the steps of an\naltar into an open grave, in which he lays himself down, not in death,\nbut in sleep, until the coming of Christ; \u2018being reserved alive with\nEnoch and Elijah (who also knew not death), to preach against the\nAntichrist in the last days.\u2019 This fanciful legend is founded on the\nfollowing text: \u2018Peter, seeing the disciple whom Jesus loved following,\nsaith unto Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto\nhim, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Then\nwent this saying abroad among the brethren that that disciple should\nnot die.\u2019 (John xxi. 21, 22.)\n\nThe legend which supposes St. John reserved alive has not been\ngenerally received in the Church, and as a subject of painting it is\nvery uncommon. It occurs in the Menologium Gr\u00e6cum,[139] where the grave\ninto which St. John descends is, according to the legend, \u2018_fossa in\ncrucis figuram_\u2019 (in the form of a cross). In a series of the deaths\nof the Apostles,[140] St. John is ascending from the grave; for,\naccording to the Greek legend, St. John died without pain or change,\nand immediately rose again in bodily form, and ascended into heaven to\nrejoin Christ and the Virgin.\n\nIn a small and very curious picture which I saw at Rome,[141] forming\npart of a Predella, there is a tomb something like the Xanthian tombs\nin form: one end is open; St. John, with a long grey beard, is seen\nissuing from it, and, as he ascends, he is met by Christ, the Virgin,\nSt. Peter, and St. Paul, who are descending from above; while figures\nbelow look up with astonishment. On the ancient doors of San Paolo he\nis lying in an open grave or sarcophagus.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOf the miracles performed by John after his death, two are singularly\ninteresting in the history of Art; both have been treated in sculpture.\n\n9. When the Empress Galla Placidia was returning from Constantinople to\nRavenna with her two children (A.D. 425), she encountered a terrible\nstorm. In her fear and anguish she vowed a vow to St. John the\nEvangelist, and, being landed in safety, she dedicated to his honour a\nmagnificent church. When the edifice was finished, she was extremely\ndesirous of procuring some relics of the evangelist, wherewith to\nconsecrate his sanctuary; but as it was not the manner of those days\nto exhume, and buy and sell, still less to steal, the bodies of holy\nmen and martyrs, the desire of the pious empress remained unsatisfied.\nHowever, as it is related, St. John himself took pity upon her; for\none night, as she prayed earnestly, he appeared to her in a vision;\nand when she threw herself at his feet to embrace and kiss them, he\ndisappeared, leaving one of his slippers or sandals in her hand, which\nsandal was long preserved.\n\nThe antique church of Galla Placidia still exists at Ravenna, to\nkeep alive, after the lapse of fourteen centuries, the memory of\nher dream, and of the condescension of the blessed apostle. Not\nmuch of the original building is left; the superb mosaics have all\ndisappeared, except a few fragments, in which may be traced the\nstorm at sea, and Galla Placidia making her vow. Over the principal\nporch, which is of white marble, in the Lombard style, and richly\nand elegantly ornamented, the miracle of the slipper is represented\nin two bas-reliefs, one above the other. The lower compartment, or\nlunette, represents a tabernacle, and within it an altar: St. John the\nEvangelist is seen offering incense; on the other side is Barbation,\nthe confessor of the empress; she, prostrate at the feet of the\napostle, seems to take off his sandal: on each side are six hovering\nangels bearing the implements of the mass. In the upper compartment,\nGalla Placidia is seen kneeling at the feet of Christ, and offering\nto him the sacred sandal, while the evangelist stands on one side,\nand Barbation on the other. These bas-reliefs are not older than the\ntwelfth century, and are in excellent preservation: I should suppose,\nfrom the style of the grouping, that they were copied, or imitated,\nfrom the older mosaics, once in the interior of the church.\n\n10. The other miracle has the rare interest of being English in its\norigin and in its representation. \u2018King Edward the Confessor had, after\nChrist and the Virgin Mary, a special veneration for St. John the\nEvangelist. One day, returning from his church at Westminster, where\nhe had been hearing mass in honour of the evangelist, he was accosted\nby a pilgrim, who asked of him an alms for the love of God and St.\nJohn. The king, who was ever merciful to the poor, immediately drew\nfrom his finger a ring, and, unknown to any one, delivered it to the\nbeggar. When the king had reigned twenty-four years, it came to pass\nthat two Englishmen, pilgrims, returning from the Holy Land to their\nown country, were met by one in the habit of a pilgrim, who asked of\nthem concerning their country; and being told they were of England,\nhe said to them, \u201cWhen ye shall have arrived in your own country, go\nto King Edward, and salute him in my name: say to him, that I thank\nhim for the alms which he bestowed on me in a certain street in\nWestminster; for there, on a certain day, as I begged of him an alms,\nhe bestowed on me this ring, which till now I have preserved, and ye\nshall carry it back to him, saying that in six months from this time\nhe shall quit the world, and come and remain with me for ever.\u201d And\nthe pilgrims, being astounded, said, \u201cWho art thou, and where is thy\ndwelling-place?\u201d And he answered, saying, \u201cI am John the Evangelist.\nEdward, your king, is my friend, and for the sanctity of his life I\nhold him dear. Go now, therefore, deliver to him this message and this\nring, and I will pray to God that ye may arrive safely in your own\ncountry.\u201d When St. John had spoken thus, he delivered to them the ring,\nand vanished out of their sight. The pilgrims, praising and thanking\nthe Lord for this glorious vision, went on their journey; and being\narrived in England, they repaired to King Edward, and saluted him, and\ndelivered the ring and the message, relating all truly. And the king\nreceived the news joyfully, and feasted the messengers royally. Then he\nset himself to prepare for his departure from this world. On the eve of\nthe Nativity, in the year of our Lord 1066, he fell sick, and on the\neve of the Epiphany following he died. The ring he gave to the Abbot of\nWestminster, to be for ever preserved among the relics there.\u2019[142]\n\nAccording to one account,[143] the pilgrims met the king near his\npalace at Waltham, at a place since called _Havering_. The writer\nadds,\u2014\u2018In allusion to this story, King Edward II. offered at his\ncoronation a pound of gold made in the figure of a king holding a ring,\nand a mark of gold (8 oz.) made like to a pilgrim putting forth his\nhand to receive the ring.\u2019 These must have been two little statuettes\nof gold.\n\nThe legend of King Edward and St. John the Evangelist is represented,\nwith other legends of the same monarch, along the top of the screen of\nEdward the Confessor\u2019s chapel. It is in three compartments. The first\nrepresents King Edward bestowing the ring on St. John in the disguise\nof a pilgrim; Westminster Abbey is seen behind. The second shows us\nthe meeting of the pilgrims and St. John in Palestine; he holds what\nseems a palm. In the third the pilgrims deliver the ring to King\nEdward, who is seated at table. The sculpture is very rude; the figures\ndisproportioned and ungraceful. They are supposed to be of the time of\nHenry VI.\n\nThe same legend was painted on one of the windows of Romford church, in\nEssex, but whether it still exists there I know not.[144]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nBefore I quit the subject of the Evangelists, it is worth while to\nobserve that, in Greek Art, not only the Four Evangelists, but the six\nwriters of the Acts and Epistles, are considered as a sacred series. In\nan ancient and beautiful MS. of the _Epistole Canoniche_, presented by\nthe Queen of Cyprus to Pope Innocent VIII., they are thus represented,\ntwo and two together:\u2014\n\nSt. Luke, with a very thoughtful, earnest countenance, holds a scroll,\non which is written in Greek the commencement of the Acts, \u2018The former\ntreatise have I made, O Theophilus; &c.; and St. James, with a long,\nvery earnest, and refined face, holds a single roll.\n\nSt. Peter, with a broad, coarse, powerful physiognomy, strongly\ncharacterised, holds two rolls; and St. John, with a long and very\nrefined face, grey hair and beard, holds three rolls.\n\nSt. Jude, with a long white beard and very aquiline nose, holds one\nroll. St. Paul, bald in front, with long brown hair and beard, and a\nrefined face, bears many rolls tied up together.\n\nAll the figures are on a gold ground, about six inches in height, very\nfinely conceived, though, as is usual in Byzantine Art, formal and\nmechanical in execution. They look like small copies of very grand\noriginals. The draperies are all classical; a pale violet or brown\ntunic and a white mantle, as in the old mosaics; the rolls in their\nhands corresponding with the number of their writings.\n\n\n\n\n                         The Twelve Apostles.\n\n\nNext to those who recorded the word of God, were those called by Christ\nto the task of diffusing his doctrine, and sent to preach the kingdom\nof heaven \u2018through all nations.\u2019\n\n[Illustration: 64]\n\nThe earliest representations of the Twelve Apostles appear to have\nbeen, like those of the Four Evangelists, purely emblematical: they\nwere figured as twelve sheep, with Christ in the midst, as the Good\nShepherd, bearing a lamb in his arms; or, much more frequently, Christ\nis himself the Lamb of God, raised on an eminence and crowned with a\ncruciform nimbus, and the apostles were ranged on each side as sheep.\nInstances are to be met with in the old Christian bas-reliefs. In\nthe old Roman churches[145] we find this representation but little\nvaried, and the situation is always the same. In the centre is the lamb\nstanding on an eminence, from which flow the four rivers of Paradise;\non one side six sheep issuing from the city of Jerusalem, on the other\nsix sheep issuing from the city of Bethlehem, the whole disposed in a\nline forming a sort of frieze, just below the decoration of the vault\nof the apsis. The church of S. M. Maggiore exhibits the only exception\nI have met with; there we find a group of sheep, entering, not issuing\nfrom, the gates of Jerusalem and Bethlehem: in this case, however, the\nsheep may represent believers, or disciples in general, not the Twelve\nApostles. Upon the great crucifix in the apsis of San Clemente, at\nRome, are twelve doves, which appear to signify the Twelve Apostles.\n\nThe next step was to represent the Apostles as twelve men all alike,\neach with a sheep, and Christ in the middle, also with a sheep,\nsometimes larger than the others. We find this on some of the\nsarcophagi.[146] Again, a little later, we have them represented as\ntwelve venerable men, bearing tablets or scrolls in their hands, no\nemblems to distinguish one from another, but their names inscribed over\nor beside each. They are thus represented in relief on several ancient\nsarcophagi now in the Christian Museum in the Vatican, and in several\nof the most ancient churches at Rome and Ravenna, ranged on each side\nof the Saviour in the vault of the apsis, or standing in a line beneath.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nBut while in the ancient Greek types, and the old mosaics, the\nattributes are omitted, they adhere almost invariably to a certain\ncharacteristic individual representation, which in the later ages\nof painting was wholly lost, or at least neglected. In these eldest\ntypes, St. Peter has a broad face, white hair, and short white beard:\nSt. Paul, a long face, high bold forehead, dark hair and beard: St.\nAndrew is aged, with flowing white hair and beard: St. John, St.\nThomas, St. Philip, young and beardless: St. James Major and St. James\nMinor, in the prime of life, short brown hair and beard; both should\nbear a resemblance more or less to the Saviour, but St. James Minor\nparticularly: St. Matthew, St. Jude, St. Simon, St. Matthias, aged,\nwith white hair. The tablets or scrolls which they carry in their\nhands bear, or are supposed to bear, the articles of the Creed. It is\na tradition, that, before the apostles dispersed to preach the Gospel\nin all lands, they assembled to compose the declaration of faith since\ncalled the Apostles\u2019 Creed, and that each of them furnished one of\nthe twelve propositions contained in it, in the following order:\u2014St.\nPeter: _Credo in Deum Patrem omnipotentem, creatorem c\u0153li et terr\u00e6_.\nSt. Andrew: _Et in Jesum Christum Filium ejus unicum, Dominum nostrum_.\nSt. James Major: _Qui conceptus est de Spiritu Sancto, natus ex Maria\nVirgine_. St. John: _Passus sub Pontio Pilato, crucifixus, mortuus et\nsepultus_. St. Philip: _Descendit ad inferos, tertia die resurrexit \u00e0\nmortuis_. St. James Minor: _Ascendit ad c\u0153los, sedet ad dexteram Dei\nPatris omnipotentis_. St. Thomas: _Inde venturus est judicare vivos et\nmortuos_. St. Bartholomew: _Credo in Spiritum Sanctum_. St. Matthew:\n_Sanctam Ecclesiam Catholicam; sanctorum communionem_. St. Simon:\n_Remissionem peccatorum_. St. Matthias: _Carnis resurrectionem_. St.\nThaddeus: _Et vitam \u00e6ternam_.\n\nThe statues of the apostles on the shrine of the Virgin in the San\nMichele at Florence exhibit a fine example of this arrangement. I give\nthe figure of St. Philip holding his appropriate sentence of the Creed\non a scroll (65).\n\n[Illustration: 65 Orcagna]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIn later times, the Apostles, instead of being disposed in a line, are\ngrouped round the Saviour in glory, or they form a circle of heads in\nmedallions: as statues, they ornament the screen in front of the altar,\nor they are placed in a line on each side of the nave, standing against\nthe pillars which support it. From the sixth century it became usual to\ndistinguish each of them by a particular emblem or attribute borrowed\nfrom some circumstance of his life or death. Thus, taking them in\norder, according to the canon of the mass,\u2014\n\nSt. Peter bears the keys or a fish.\n\nSt. Paul, the sword: sometimes two swords.\n\nSt. Andrew, the transverse cross.\n\nSt. James Major, the pilgrim\u2019s staff.\n\nSt. John, the chalice with the serpent; sometimes the eagle also: but\nthe eagle, as I have observed, belongs to him properly only in his\ncharacter of Evangelist.\n\nSt. Thomas, a builder\u2019s rule: also, but more seldom, a spear.\n\nSt. James Minor, a club.\n\nSt. Philip, the staff or crosier, surmounted by a cross; or a small\ncross in his hand.\n\nSt. Bartholomew, a large knife.\n\nSt. Matthew, a purse.\n\nSt. Simon, a saw.\n\nSt. Thaddeus (or Jude), a halberd or lance.\n\nSt. Matthias, a lance.\n\nThe origin and meaning of these attributes will be explained presently:\nmeantime it must be borne in mind, that although in sacred Art the\nApostles are always twelve in number, they are not always the same\npersonages. St. Jude is frequently omitted to make room for St. Paul.\nSometimes, in the most ancient churches (as in the Cathedral of\nPalermo), St. Simon and St. Matthias are omitted, and the evangelists\nSt. Mark and St. Luke figure in their places. The Byzantine manual\npublished by Didron omits James Minor, Jude, and Matthias; and inserts\nPaul, Luke, and Mark. This was the arrangement on the bronze doors of\nSan Paolo-fuori-le-Mura at Rome, executed by Byzantine artists in the\ntenth century, and now destroyed.\n\nOn an ancient pulpit, of beautiful workmanship, in the Cathedral of\nTroyes, the arrangement is according to the Greek formula.[147] Thus\u2014\n\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500   \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500    \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n  S. John B.      J. Christ.      The Virgin.\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500   \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500   \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500      An Angel.\n  S. Matthew.     S. Peter.       S. Simon.\n  S. Philip.      S. Luke.        S. Bartholomew. \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n  S. Mark.        S. Andrew.      S. James.\n  S. Paul.        S. Thomas.      S. John.\n  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500  \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500    \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\n\n\nHere, John the Baptist figures in his character of angel or messenger;\nand St. Paul, St. Mark, and St. Luke take the place of St. James Minor,\nSt. Jude, and St. Matthias.\n\nThe earliest instance of the Apostles entering into a scheme of\necclesiastical decoration, as the consecrated and delegated teachers\nof a revealed religion, occurs in the church of San Giovanni in Fonte\nat Ravenna.[148] In the centre of the dome is the Baptism of Christ,\nrepresented quite in the classical style; the figure of the Saviour\nbeing entirely undraped, and the Jordan, signified by an antique river\ngod, sedge-crowned, and bearing a linen napkin as though he were an\nattendant at a bath. Around, in a circle, in the manner of radii, are\nthe Twelve Apostles. The order is,\u2014Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip,\nBartholomew, Simon, Jude, James Minor, Matthew, Thomas, Paul; so that\nPeter and Paul stand face to face at one extremity of the circle, and\nSimon and Bartholomew back to back at the other. All wear pointed caps,\nand carry the oblation in their hands. Peter has a yellow vest and\nwhite mantle; Paul, a white vest and a yellow mantle, and so all round\nalternately. The name of each is inscribed over his head, and without\nthe title _Sanctus_, which, though admitted into the Calendar in 449,\nwas not adopted in works of art till some years later, about 472.\n\nIn the next instance, the attributes had not yet been admitted, except\nin the figures of St. Peter and St. Paul.\n\nMOSAIC (A.D. 816). Christ, in the centre, stands on an eminence; in\none hand he holds an open book, on which is inscribed _Pax vobis_. St.\nPeter, with the keys and a cross, stands on the right; and Christ, with\nhis right hand, points to the cross. St. Paul is on the left, with his\nsword; beyond, there are five Apostles on one side, and four on the\nother: in all, eleven (Judas being properly omitted). Each holds a\nbook, and all are robed in white; underneath the whole is inscribed,\nin Latin, the words of our Saviour, \u2018Go ye, and teach all nations.\u2019\nOn the arch to the right, Christ is seated on a throne, and presents\nthe keys to St. Peter, who kneels on one side, and the standard to\nConstantine, who kneels on the other (alluding, of course, to the\nfamous standard). On the arch to the left, St. Peter is throned, and\npresents the stole to Pope Leo III., and the standard to Charlemagne.\nThis singular monument, a kind of _r\u00e9sum\u00e9_ of the power of the Church,\nis a restoration of the old mosaic, executed by order of Leo III. in\nthe Triclinium of the old palace of the Lateran, and now on one side of\nthe Scala Santa, the side facing the Porta San Giovanni.\n\nMOSAIC, in the old basilica of St. Paul (A.D. 1206). In the centre\nan altar veiled, on which are the Gospels (or perhaps, rather, the\n_Book of Life_, the seven-sealed book in the Revelations), and the\ninstruments of the Passion. Behind it rises a large Greek cross,\nadorned with gold and jewels. Underneath, at the foot of the altar,\nfive small figures standing and bearing palms, representing those\nwho suffered for the cause of Christ; and on each side, kneeling,\nthe monk Aginulph, and Giovanni Gaetano Orsini, afterwards Nicholas\nIII. On each side of the altar, a majestic angel: one bears a scroll,\ninscribed GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO; the other, ET IN TERRA PAX HOMINIBUS\nBON\u00c6 VOLUNTATIS. Beyond these the Apostles, six on each side, bearing\nscrolls with the articles of the Creed. They are much alike, all in\nwhite robes, and alternately with each stands a palm-tree, the symbol\nof victory and resurrection. This composition, of a colossal size,\nformed a kind of frieze (taking the place of the emblematical lamb and\ntwelve sheep) round the apsis of the Basilica.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIn sculpture, the Apostles, as a series, entered into all decorative\necclesiastical architecture: sometimes on the exterior of the edifice,\nalways in the interior. In our English cathedrals they are seldom found\nunmutilated, except when out of the reach of the spoiler; such was the\nindiscriminate rage which confounded the venerable effigies of these\ndelegated teachers of the truth with the images which were supposed to\nbelong exclusively to the repudiated religion!\n\nWhere the scheme of decoration is purely theological, the proper place\nof the Apostles is after the Angels, Prophets, and Evangelists; but\nwhen the _motif_, or leading idea, implies a special signification,\nsuch as the Last Judgment, Paradise, the Coronation of the Madonna, or\nthe apotheosis of a saint, then the order is changed, and the Apostles\nappear immediately after the Divine Personages and before the angels,\nas forming a part of the council or court of heaven;\u2014\u2018When the Son\nof man shall come in his glory, ye also shall sit on twelve thrones,\njudging the twelve tribes of Israel.\u2019[149] Such is the arrangement in\nthe Campo Santo, in Angelico\u2019s \u2018Paradiso\u2019 in the Florence Gallery,\nin Raphael\u2019s \u2018Disputa,\u2019 and many other instances: and I may add the\narchitectural treatment on the fa\u00e7ade of Wells Cathedral, where,\nimmediately under the Saviour sitting in judgment, _stand_ the Twelve\nApostles, and beneath them the hierarchy of angels, each of the nine\nchoirs being here expressed by a single angel.[150] Therefore to\ndetermine the proper place of the Apostles, it is necessary to observe\nwell and to understand what has been the design of the artist, and the\nleading idea of the whole composition, whether strictly _theological_\nor partly _scenic_. In all monuments which have a solemn or a sacred\npurpose,\u2014altars, pulpits, tombs,\u2014the Apostles find an appropriate\nplace, either in connection with other sacred personages, or as a\ncompany apart, the band of teachers. The range of statues along the top\nof the screen in front of the choir of St. Mark\u2019s at Venice will be\nremembered by all who have seen them: in the centre stand the Virgin\nand St. Mark, and then the Apostles, six on each side, grand solemn\nfigures, standing there as if to guard the sanctuary. These are by\nJacobelli, in the simple religious style of the fifteenth century,\nbut quite Italian. In contrast with them, as the finest example of\nGerman sculptural treatment, we have the Twelve Apostles on the tomb\nof St. Sebald, in his church at Nuremberg, cast in bronze by Peter\nVischer (about 1500). These have become well known by the casts which\nhave lately been brought to England; they are about two feet high, all\nremarkable for the characteristic expression of the heads, and the\ngrand simplicity of the attitudes and draperies.\n\nThere are instances of the Apostles introduced into a scheme of\necclesiastical decoration as devotional figures, but assuming,\nfrom the style of treatment and from being placed in relation with\nother personages, a touch of the dramatic and picturesque. Such are\nCorreggio\u2019s Apostles in the cupola of the duomo at Parma (1532), which\nmay be considered as the most striking instance that could be produced\nof studied contrast to the solemnity and simplicity of the ancient\ntreatment: here the _motif_ is essentially _dramatic_. They stand round\nthe dome as spectators would stand in a gallery or balcony, all in\npicturesque attitudes, studiously varied (some, it must be confessed,\nrather extravagant), and all looking up with amazement, or hope, or\njoy, or adoration, to the figure of the glorified Virgin ascending into\nheaven.\n\nAnother series of Apostles in the San Giovanni at Parma, which\nCorreggio had painted earlier (1522), are conceived, I think, in a\nfiner spirit as to character, but, perhaps, not more appropriate to\nthe scene. Here the Twelve Apostles are seated on clouds round the\nglorified Saviour, as they are supposed to be in heaven: they are but\npartially draped. In the heads but little attention has been paid to\nthe ancient types, except in those of St. Peter and St. Paul; but they\nare sublime as well as picturesque in the conception of character and\nexpression.\n\nThe Apostles in Michael Angelo\u2019s Last Judgment (A.D. 1540) exhibit a\nstill further deviation from the antique style of treatment. They stand\non each side of the Saviour, who is not, here, Saviour and Redeemer,\nbut inexorable Judge. They are grandly and artificially grouped, all\nwithout any drapery whatever, and with forms and attitudes which recall\nan assemblage of Titans holding a council of war, rather than the\nglorified companions of Christ. In early pictures of Christ in glory,\nthe Apostles, his companions in heaven as on earth, form, with the\nPatriarchs and Prophets, the celestial court or council: they sit upon\nthrones to the right and to the left.[151] Raphael\u2019s \u2018Disputa\u2019 in the\nVatican is a grand example of this arrangement.\n\nSets of the Apostles, in devotional pictures and prints are so common,\nthat I shall particularise only a few among the most interesting and\ncelebrated. Engravings of these can easily be referred to.\n\n1. A set by Raphael, engraved by Marc Antonio: grand, graceful figures,\nand each with his appropriate attribute. Though admirably distinguished\nin form and bearing, very little attention has been paid to the ancient\ntypes, except perhaps in St. Peter and St. John. Here St. James Minor\nis omitted to make room for St. Paul.\n\n2. A set by Lucas van Leyden, smaller than Raphael\u2019s, but magnificent\nin feeling: here also the ancient types are for the most part\nneglected. These two sets should be compared as perfect examples of the\nbest Italian and the most characteristic German manner. Some of the\nGerman sets are very curious and grotesque.\n\n3. By H. S. Beham, a most curious set, in what may be called the ultra\nGerman style: they stand two and two together, like a procession of old\nbeggars; the workmanship exquisite. Another set by Beham, in which the\nfigures stand singly, and which includes the Four Evangelists, dressed\nlike old burgomasters, with the emblematical wings, has been already\nmentioned.\n\n4. A set by Parmigiano, graceful and mannered, as is usual with him.\n\n5. By Agostino Caracci. This set, famous as works of art, must, when\ncompared with those of Raphael and Lucas van Leyden, be pronounced\nabsolutely vulgar. Here St. John is drinking out of his cup, \u2014an idea\nwhich might strike some people as picturesque; but it is in vile taste.\nThaddeus has a saw as well as Simon; Peter has the papal tiara at his\nfeet; St. James Minor, instead of Thomas, carries the builder\u2019s rule;\nand St. Bartholomew has his skin thrown over his shoulders. This set\nis an example of the confusion which prevailed with respect to the old\nreligious types and attributes, after the first half of the sixteenth\ncentury.\n\n6. \u2018The Five Disciples,\u2019 by Albert D\u00fcrer, seem intended to form part\nof a complete set. We have St. Paul, St. Bartholomew, St. Thomas,\nSt. Philip, and St. Simon. The two last are the finest, and are most\ngrandly conceived.\n\nThese are examples of the simplest devotional treatment.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWhen the Apostles are grouped together in various historical\nscenes,\u2014some scriptural, some legendary\u2014they are more interesting as\nindividual personages; and the treatment should be more characteristic.\nSome of these subjects belong properly to the life of Christ: as the\nDelivery of the Keys to Peter; the Transfiguration; the Entry into\nJerusalem; the Last Supper; the Ascension. Others, as the Death and\nAssumption of the Virgin, will be considered in the legends of the\nMadonna. But there are others, again, which refer more particularly to\nthe personal history of the Apostles, as related in the Acts and in the\nLegends.\n\nThe Descent of the Holy Ghost was the first and most important event\nafter the Ascension of Christ. It is thus described: \u2018When the day of\nPentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.\nAnd suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty\nwind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there\nappeared unto them cloven tongues, like as of fire, and sat upon each\nof them, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to\nspeak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there\nwere dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under\nheaven. Now when this was noised abroad the multitude came together,\nand were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own\nlanguage.... But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel.\u2019\n(Acts ii. 1-12, 16.)\n\nAccording to the usual interpretation, the word _they_, in the first\nverse, does not signify the Apostles merely, but, with them, \u2018the\nwomen, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brethren:\u2019 hence in so\nmany representations of this subject the Virgin is not only present,\nbut a principal person: Mary Magdalene and others are also frequently\nintroduced.\n\n1. The most striking example I have yet met with is the grand mosaic\nin the principal dome of St. Mark\u2019s at Venice. In the apex of the dome\nis seen the Celestial Dove in a glory of light; rays proceed from the\ncentre on every side, and fall on the heads of the Virgin and the\nTwelve Apostles, seated in a circle. Lower down is a series of twelve\nfigures standing all round the dome: \u2018Parthians, Medes, and Elamites,\nthe dwellers in Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia,\nPamphylia, Cretes and Arabians,\u2019\u2014each nation represented by one person,\nand all in strange dresses, and looking up with amazement.\n\n2. The Twelve Apostles and the Virgin are seen above seated in an\nenclosure; tongues of fire descend from heaven; beneath is a closed\ndoor, at which several persons in strange foreign dresses, with\nturbans, &c., are listening with amazement. One of these is in the\nChinese costume,\u2014a curious circumstance, considering the age of the\npicture, and which could have occurred at that date nowhere but at\nVenice.[152]\n\n3. In the interior of a temple, sustained by slender pillars, the\nTwelve Apostles are seated in a circle, and in the midst the Virgin,\ntongues of fire on each head. Here the Virgin is the principal\nperson.[153]\n\n4. An interior, the Twelve Apostles seated in a circle; above them, the\nCelestial Dove in a glory, and from his beak proceed twelve tongues\nof flame; underneath, in a small arch, is the prophet Joel, as an old\nman crowned with a kingly crown and holding twelve rolls or scrolls,\nindicating the Gospel in so many different languages. The allusion\nis to the words of Joel, ii. 28: \u2018And I will pour out my Spirit upon\nall flesh.\u2019[154] This is the Greek formula, and it is curious that it\nshould have been closely followed by Pinturicchio;\u2014thus:\n\n5. In a rich landscape, with cypresses, palm-trees, and birds, the\nVirgin is seen kneeling; St. Peter on the right, and James Minor on the\nleft, also kneeling; five other Apostles on each side. The Celestial\nDove, with outspread wings, descends in a glory surrounded by fifteen\ncherubim: there are no tongues of fire. The prophet Joel is seen\nabove, with the inscription, \u2018_Effundam de Spiritu meo super omnem\ncarnem_.\u2019[155]\n\n6. The Virgin and the Apostles seated; flames of fire stand on their\nheads; the Holy Ghost appears above in a glory of light, from which\nrays are poured on every side. Mary Magdalene, and another Mary, are\npresent behind; astonishment is the prevailing expression in every\nface, except in the Virgin and St. Peter. The composition is attributed\nto Raphael.[156]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe next event of importance is the separation of the Twelve Apostles\nwhen they disperse to preach the Gospel in all lands. According to the\nancient traditions, the Apostles determined by lot to what countries\nthey should go: Peter went to Antioch; James the Great remained in\nJerusalem and the neighbourhood; Philip went to Phrygia; John to\nEphesus; Thomas to Parthia and Judea; Andrew to Scythia; Bartholomew to\nIndia and Judea. The Parting of the Apostles is a beautiful subject, of\nwhich I have met with but few examples; one is a woodcut after Titian.\nThe Mission of the Apostles I remember to have seen by Bissoni over an\naltar in the Santa Giustina at Padua: they are preparing to depart; one\nreads from a book; another looses his shoes from his feet, in allusion\nto the text, \u2018Take neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes;\u2019 several are\nbidding adieu to the Virgin. This picture struck me as dramatic; its\nmerits otherwise I do not remember.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWe have next \u2018The Twelve Baptisms.\u2019[157] In the upper compartment\nChrist is standing in a majestic attitude, and on each side are six\nApostles, all alike, and in white garments. The inscription above is\nin Greek: \u2018Go ye, and preach the Gospel to all nations.\u2019 Below, in\ntwelve smaller compartments, each of the Apostles is seen baptizing a\nconvert: an attendant, in white garments, stands by each font, holding\na napkin. One of the converts and his attendant are black, denoting\nclearly the chamberlain of the Queen of Ethiopia. This is a very\nuncommon subject.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAnd, lastly, we have \u2018The Twelve Martyrdoms.\u2019 This is a more frequent\nseries, in pictures and in prints, and occurs in a set of large fresco\ncompositions in the church of San Nereo e Sant\u2019 Achilleo at Rome. In\nsuch representations the usual treatment is as follows:\u20141. St. Peter is\ncrucified with his head downwards. 2. St. Andrew, bound on a transverse\ncross. 3. St. James Major, beheaded with a sword. 4. St. John, in a\ncauldron of boiling oil. 5. St. Philip, bound on a cross in the form of\na T. 6. St. Bartholomew, flayed. 7. St. Thomas, pierced with a spear.\n8. St. Matthew, killed with a sword. 9. St. James Minor, struck down\nwith a club. 10. St. Simon and St. Jude together: one is killed with a\nsword, the other with a club. 11. St. Matthias has his head cloven by a\nhalbert. 12. St. Paul is beheaded.[158]\n\nThe authority for many of these martyrdoms is wholly apocryphal,[159]\nand they sometimes vary; but this is the usual mode of representation\nin Western Art. In early Greek Art a series of the Deaths of the\nApostles often occurs, but they do not all suffer martyrdom; and the\nsubject of St. John in the cauldron of boiling oil, so famous in the\nLatin Church, is, I believe, unknown, or, at least, so rare, that I\nhave not found it in genuine Byzantine Art.\n\nThe most ancient series I have met with (in a Greek MS. of the ninth\ncentury) shows us five Apostles crucified: St. Peter and St. Philip\nwith the head downwards; St. Andrew on the transverse cross, as usual;\nSt. Simon and St. Bartholomew, in the same manner as our Saviour. St.\nThomas is pierced by a lance; and St. John is buried, and then raised\nby angels, according to the legend. The same series, similarly treated,\nornamented the doors of the old Basilica of St. Paul, executed by Greek\nartists of the tenth century.[160]\n\nWherever the Apostles appear as a series, we expect, of course, some\ndegree of discriminating propriety of character in each face and\nfigure. We seek it when they merely form a part of the general scheme\nof significant decoration in the architectural arrangement of a place\nof worship; we seek it with more reason when they stand before us\nas a series of devotional representations; and still more when, as\nactors in some particular scene, they are supposed to be animated by\nsentiments called forth by the occasion, and modified by the individual\ncharacter. By what test shall we try the truth and propriety of such\nrepresentations? We ought to know both what to require from the artist,\nand on what grounds to require it, before we can rest satisfied.\n\nIn the Gospel-histories the Apostles are consistently and beautifully\ndistinguished in temper and bearing. Their characters, whether\nexhibited at full length, or merely touched upon, are sustained with\ndramatic truth. The medi\u00e6val legends, however wild, are, as far as\ncharacter goes, in harmony with these scriptural portraits, and fill\nup the outline given. It becomes therefore a really interesting\nspeculation to observe how far this variety of characteristic\nexpression has been carried out in the early types, how far attended\nto, or neglected, by the great painters, since the revival of Art.\n\n\n                        ST. PETER AND ST. PAUL.\n\n _Lat._ SS. Petrus et Paulus. _Ital._ San Pietro or Piero, San Paolo.\n  _Fr._ S. Pierre, S. Paul. _Spa._ San Pedro, San Pablo. (June 29 and\n                                 30.)\n\nI have already observed, that, as apostles and preachers of the word,\nSt. Peter and St. Paul take the first place. Even during their lives,\na superiority was accorded to them; and this superiority, as the\nacknowledged heads and founders of the Christian Church, under Christ,\nhas been allowed down to the present time. The precedence is by common\nconsent given to St. Peter; but they are held to be equal in faith, in\nmerit, and in sanctity.\n\nThe early Christian Church was always considered under two great\ndivisions: the church of the converted Jews, and the church of the\nGentiles. The first was represented by St. Peter, the second by St.\nPaul. Standing together in this mutual relation, they represent the\nuniversal Church of Christ; hence in works of art they are seldom\nseparated, and are indispensable in all ecclesiastical decoration.\nTheir proper place is on each side of the Saviour, or of the Virgin\nthroned; or on each side of the altar; or on each side of the arch\nover the choir. In any case, where they stand together, not merely as\nApostles, but Founders, their place is next after the Evangelists and\nthe Prophets.\n\n[Illustration: 66 St. Paul St. Peter (Crivelli)]\n\nThus seen almost everywhere in companionship, it becomes necessary\nto distinguish them from each other; for St. Peter does not always\nbear his keys, nor St. Paul his sword. In the earliest examples, these\nattributes are wholly omitted; yet I scarcely know any instance in\nwhich a distinct type of head has not been more or less attended to.\n\n[Illustration: 67 St. Peter (Greek type, eleventh century)]\n\nThe ancient Greek type of the head of St. Peter, \u2018the Pilot of the\nGalilean lake,\u2019 is so strongly characterised as to have the air of\na portrait. It is either taken from the description of Nicephorus,\nso often quoted, or his description is taken from some very ancient\nrepresentation: it certainly harmonises with all our preconceived\nnotions of St. Peter\u2019s temperament and character. He is a robust\nold man, with a broad forehead, and rather coarse features, an open\nundaunted countenance, short grey hair, and short thick beard, curled,\nand of a silvery white: according to the descriptive portrait of\nNicephorus, he had red weak eyes,\u2014a peculiarity which it has not been\nthought necessary to preserve in his effigies. In some early pictures\nhe is bald on the top of the head, and the hair grows thick around in a\ncircle, somewhat like the priestly tonsure; and in some examples this\ntonsure has the form of a triple row of curls close to the head, a kind\nof tiara. A curious exception to this predominant, almost universal,\ntype is to be found in Anglo-Saxon Art,[161] where St. Peter is always\nbeardless, and wears the tonsure; so that but for the keys, suspended\nto a ring on his finger, one might take him for an elderly monk. It is\na tradition that the Gentiles shaved the head of St. Peter in order\nto make him an object of derision, and that this is the origin of the\npriestly tonsure.\n\n[Illustration: 68 St. Peter with one Key (Taddeo Gaddi)]\n\nThe dress of St. Peter in the mosaics and Greek pictures is a blue\ntunic, with white drapery thrown over it, but in general the proper\ncolours are a blue or green tunic with yellow drapery. On the early\nsarcophagi, and in the most ancient church mosaics, he bears merely\na scroll or book, and, except in the character of the head, he is\nexactly like St. Paul: a little later we find him with the cross in\none hand, and the Gospel in the other. The keys in his hand appear\nas his peculiar attribute about the eighth century. I have seen him\nwith one great key, but in general he carries two keys, one of gold\nand one of silver, to absolve and to bind; or, according to another\ninterpretation, one is of gold and one of iron, opening the gates\nof heaven and hell: occasionally, but rarely, he has a third key,\nexpressing the dominion over heaven, and earth, and hell.[162]\n\nSt. Paul presents a striking contrast to St. Peter, in features as\nin character. There must have existed effigies of him in very early\ntimes, for St. Augustine says that a certain Marcellina, living in the\nsecond century, preserved in her Lararium, among her household gods,\n\u2018the images of Homer, Pythagoras, Jesus Christ, and Paul the apostle.\u2019\nChrysostom alludes to a portrait of Paul which hung in his chamber,\nbut unfortunately he does not describe it. The earliest allusion to\nthe personal appearance of St. Paul occurs in Lucian, where he is\nstyled, in a tone of mocking disparagement, \u2018the bald-headed Galilean\nwith a hook-nose.\u2019 The description given by Nicephorus, founded, we\nmay presume, on tradition and on the existing portraits, has been the\nauthority followed in the early representations. According to the\nancient tradition, Paul was a man of small and meagre stature, with\nan aquiline nose, a high forehead, and sparkling eyes. In the Greek\ntype the face is long and oval, the nose aquiline, the forehead high\nand bald, the hair brown, the beard long, flowing and pointed, and of\na dark brown (in the Greek formula it is said that his beard should\nbe greyish\u2014I recollect no instance of St. Paul with a grey beard);\nhis dress is like St. Peter\u2019s, a blue tunic and white mantle; he has\na book or scroll in one hand, sometimes twelve rolls, which designate\nhis epistles. He bears the sword, his attribute in a double sense; it\nsignifies the manner of his martyrdom, and it is emblematical of the\ngood fight fought by the faithful Christian, armed with \u2018the sword of\nthe Spirit, which is the word of God\u2019 (Ephes. vi. 17). The life of\nSt. Paul, after his conversion, was, as we know, one long spiritual\ncombat:\u2014\u2018perplexed, but not in despair; cast down, but not destroyed.\u2019\n\n[Illustration: 69 St. Paul (Greek type, eleventh century)]\n\nThese traditional characteristic types of the features and persons\nof the two greatest apostles were long adhered to. We find them most\nstrictly followed in the old Greek mosaics, in the early Christian\nsculpture, and the early pictures; in all which the sturdy dignity\nand broad rustic features of St. Peter, and the elegant contemplative\nhead of St. Paul, who looks like a Greek philosopher, form a most\ninteresting and suggestive contrast. But, in later times, the old\ntypes, particularly in the head of St. Paul, were neglected and\ndegraded. The best painters took care not to deviate wholly from the\nsquare head and short grey beard of St. Peter; but, from the time of\nSixtus IV., we find substituted for the head of St. Paul an arbitrary\nrepresentation, which varied according to the model chosen by the\nartist\u2014which was sometimes a Roman porter or a German boor; sometimes\nthe antique Jupiter or the bust of a Greek rhetorician.\n\nI shall now give some examples, in chronological order, of the two\ngreat Apostles represented together, as Founders of the Church.\n\nOn the early sarcophagi (from A.D. 321 to 400), St. Peter and St. Paul\nstand on each side of the Saviour. The former bears a cross, and is\ngenerally on the left hand of Christ. The cross given to Peter, and\noften set with jewels, is supposed to refer to the passage in St.\nJohn, xxi. 19, \u2018Signifying by what death he should die:\u2019 but it may\nsurely bear another interpretation, i.e. the spirit of Christianity\ntransmitted to all nations by the first and greatest of the Apostles.\nSt. Paul carries a roll of writing; he has a very high bald forehead:\nin other respects the two Apostles are not particularly discriminated;\nthey wear the classical costume.[163] Similar figures of Peter and\nPaul occur on the ancient glass drinking-vessels and lamps preserved\nin the Vatican; but the workmanship is so rude, that they are merely\ncuriosities, and cannot be cited as authorities.\n\nMOSAIC (Rome, A.D. 443) in Santa Maria Maggiore, over the arch which\nseparates the sanctuary from the nave. We have in the centre a throne,\non which lies the roll, sealed with seven seals; above the throne rises\na cross set with precious stones; on each side of the throne, St.\nPeter and St. Paul; they have no attributes, are habited in classical\ndraperies, and the whole representation is strictly antique in style,\nwithout a trace of any of the characteristics of Medi\u00e6val Art. This\nis the oldest representation I have met with next to those on the\nsarcophagi.\n\nMOSAIC (Rome, 6th century) in the church of Santa Sabina on the\ninterior of the arch over the door. We find on one side St. Peter, on\nthe other St. Paul. Under St. Peter stands a graceful female figure,\nveiled, and inscribed _Ecclesia ex circumcisione;_ under St Paul, a\nfemale figure, crowned, and inscribed _Ecclesia ex gentibus_.\n\nMOSAIC (Rome, A.D. 526) in St. Cosmo and St. Damian, on the vault of\nthe apsis. Christ stands in the centre, sustained by clouds; his right\nhand is raised in the attitude of one who exhorts (not blessing, as\nis the usual manner); the left hand holds the book of life; at his\nfeet flows the river Jordan, the symbol of Baptism. On each side, but\nlower down and much smaller in size, stand St. Peter and St. Paul; they\nseem to present St. Cosmo and St. Damian to the Saviour. Beyond these\nagain, on either side, stand St. Theodore and the pope (Felix I.) who\ndedicated the church. Palm trees, and a Ph\u0153nix crowned with a starry\nglory, emblems of Victory and Immortality, close this majestic and\nsignificant composition on each side. Here St. Peter and St. Paul are\ndignified figures, in which the Greek type is strongly characterised;\nthey wear long white mantles, and have no attributes.\n\n\nMOSAIC (Milan, 9th century), in Sant\u2019 Ambrogio. Christ enthroned\npresents the Gospel to St. Paul, and the two keys to St. Peter.\n\n\nMOSAIC (A.D. 936) on the tomb of Otho II. St. Peter and St. Paul\ntogether, rather more than half length, and above life size. St. Peter\nhas three keys, suspended on a ring; St. Paul, the book and sword.\nThe original mosaic is preserved in the Vatican, and a copy is in the\nLateran. This relic is, as a document, invaluable.\n\n\nMOSAIC (A.D. 1216-1227), in the apsis of the old basilica of St. Paul.\nChrist is seated on a throne, with the cruciform glory and his name\n\u012aC\u0304. X\u0304C\u0304.: the right hand gives the benediction in the Greek form;\nhe holds in his left an open book, inscribed VENITE BENEDICTI PATRIS\nMEI PERCIPITE REGNUM. (Matt. xxv. 34.) On the left, St. Peter with\nhis right hand raised to Christ, and an open scroll in his left hand,\ninscribed TU ES CHRISTUS FILIUS DEI VIVI. On the other side of Christ,\nSt. Paul; his right hand on his breast, and in his left a scroll with\nthese words, IN NOMINE JESU OMNE GENU FLECTATUR C\u0152LESTIUM TERRESTRIUM\nET INFERNORUM. (Phil. xi. 10.) Beyond St. Peter stands his brother St.\nAndrew; and beyond St. Paul his favourite disciple Luke. At the foot of\nthe throne kneels a diminutive figure of the pope, Honorius III., by\nwhom the mosaic was dedicated. Palm-trees close the composition on each\nside; underneath runs the frieze of the Twelve Apostles, described at\np. 173.\n\n\nMOSAIC (12th century) in the Cathedral of Monreale at Palermo. St.\nPeter and St. Paul are seated on splendid thrones on each side of\nthe tribune; St. Peter holds in his left hand a book, and the right,\nwhich gives the benediction, holds also the two keys: over his head is\ninscribed, SANCTUS PETRUS PRINCEPS APOSTOLORUM CUI TRADIT\u00c6 SUNT CLAVES\nREGNI C\u0152LORUM. St. Paul holds the sword with the point upwards like a\nsceptre, and the book as usual: the intellectual Greek character of\nthe head is strongly discriminated. The inscription is, SANCTUS PAULUS\nPR\u00c6DICATOR VERITATIS ET DOCTOR GENTIUM GENTI.\n\nAmong the rich and curious bas-reliefs in front of the church of St.\nTrophime at Arles, we have St. Peter and St. Paul seated together\nreceiving the souls of the just. Each has two souls in his lap, and the\nArchangel Michael is bringing another.\n\nIn pictures, their proper place, as I have observed, is on each side of\nthe throne of the Redeemer, or on each side of the Virgin and Child:\nsometimes they are standing together, or reading in the same book.\n\n\nThis must suffice for the devotional treatment of St. Peter and St.\nPaul, when represented as joint founders and patrons of the universal\nChristian Church. Before I notice those historical subjects in which\nthey appear together, I have to say a few words of the manner in which\nthey are treated separately and distinctly. And first of St. Peter.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe various events of the life of St. Peter are recorded in the Gospels\nand the Acts so minutely, that they may be presumed to be familiar to\nall readers. From these we may deduce his character, remarkable for\nfervour and energy rather than sustained power. His traditional and\nlegendary history is full of incidents, miracles, and wonderful and\npicturesque passages. His importance and popularity, considered as\nPrince of the Apostles and Founder of the Church of Rome, have extended\nwith the influence of that powerful Church of which he is the head and\nrepresentative, and multiplied, almost to infinitude, pictures and\neffigies of him in his individual character, as well as historical\nrepresentations of his life and actions, wherever his paramount dignity\nis admitted.\n\nIt struck me, when wandering over the grand old churches of Ravenna,\nwhere the ecclesiastical mosaics are the most ancient that exist, and\nstill in wonderful preservation, that St. Peter and St. Paul do not\noften appear, at least are in no respect distinguished from the other\napostles. Ravenna, in the fifth century, did not look to Rome for her\nsaints. On the other hand, among the earliest of the Roman mosaics,\nSt. Peter is sometimes found sustaining the throne of Christ, without\nhis companion St. Paul; as in S. Maria-in-Trastevere, S. Maria Nuova,\nand others. At Rome, St. Peter is _the_ Saint, the _Santissimo_. The\nsecession of the Protestant Church dimmed his glory as Prince of the\nApostles and universal Saint; he fell into a kind of disrepute as\nidentified with the See of Rome, which exposed his effigies, in England\nand Scotland particularly, to a sweeping destruction. Those were\ndisputatious days; and Peter, the affectionate, enthusiastic, devoted,\nbut somewhat rash apostle, veiled his head to the intellectual,\nintrepid, subtle philosopher Paul.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nLet us now see how Art has placed before us the sturdy Prince of the\nApostles.\n\nI have already mentioned the characteristic type which belongs to him,\nand his prevalent attributes the key, the cross, the book. When he\nfigures among the disciples in the Gospel stories, he sometimes holds\nthe fish as the symbol of his original vocation: if the fish be given\nto him in single devotional figures, it signifies also Christianity, or\nthe rite of Baptism.\n\nThe figures of St. Peter standing, as Apostle and Patron Saint,\nwith book and keys, are of such perpetual occurrence as to defy all\nattempts to particularise them, and so familiar as to need no further\nillustration.[164]\n\nRepresentations of him in his peculiar character of Head and Founder of\nthe Roman Church, and first universal bishop, are less common. He is\nseated on a throne; one hand is raised in the act of benediction; in\nthe other he holds the keys, and sometimes a book or scroll, inscribed\nwith the text, in Latin, \u2018Thou art Peter, and on this rock have I built\nmy Church.\u2019 This subject of the throned St. Peter is very frequent\nin the older schools. The well-known picture by Giotto, painted for\nCardinal Stefaneschi, now in the sacristy of the Vatican, is very\nfine, simple and solemn. In a picture by Cima da Conegliano,[165]\nSt. Peter is not only throned, but wears the triple tiara as pope;\nthe countenance is particularly earnest, fervent, almost fiery in\nexpression: the keys lie at his feet; on one side stands St. John the\nBaptist, on the other St. Paul.\n\nAs a deviation from the usual form of this subject, I must mention an\nold bas-relief, full of character, and significantly appropriate to\nits locality the church of San Pietro-in-Vincoli, at Rome. St. Peter,\nenthroned, holds in one hand the keys and the Gospel; with the other he\npresents his chains to a kneeling angel: this unusual treatment is very\npoetical and suggestive.\n\n[Illustration: 70]\n\nThere are standing figures of St. Peter wearing the papal tiara, and\nbrandishing his keys, as in a picture by Cola dell\u2019 Amatrice (70). And\nI should think Milton had some such picture in his remembrance when he\npainted _his_ St. Peter:\u2014\n\n                Last came and last did go\n    The pilot of the Galilean Lake;\n    Two massy keys he bore of metals twain,\n    (The golden opes, the iron shuts amain,)\n    He shook his _mitred_ locks, and stern bespake.\n\nWhen, in devotional pictures, St. Peter is accompanied by another\napostle with no distinctive attributes, we may suppose it to be St.\nMark, who was his interpreter, companion, and amanuensis at Rome.\nAccording to an early tradition, the Gospel of St. Mark was written\ndown from the dictation of St. Peter.[166] In a miniature frontispiece\nto St. Mark\u2019s Gospel, the evangelist is seated writing, and St. Peter\nstands opposite, as if dictating. In a picture by Angelico,[167] Peter\nis preaching from a pulpit to a crowd of people: Mark, seated on one\nside, is diligently taking down his words. In a very fine picture by\nBonvicino[168] they stand together; St. Peter is reading from a book;\nSt. Mark holds a scroll and inkhorn; he is submitting to St. Peter the\nGospel he has just penned, and which was afterwards confirmed by the\napostle.\n\nLastly, a magnificent Venetian picture[169] represents St. Peter\nthroned as bishop, with an earnest and rather stern countenance; he\nholds a book in his hand; two angels with musical instruments are\nseated on the steps of his throne: on his right hand stand John the\nBaptist, and St. Jerome as cardinal; on his left St. Ambrose; while St.\nMark bends over a book, as if reading to this majestic auditory.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThose scenes and incidents related in the Gospels in which St. Peter is\na principal or conspicuous figure, I shall enlarge upon when treating\nof the life of Christ, and will only indicate a few of them here, as\nillustrating the manner in which St. Peter is introduced and treated in\nsuch subjects.\n\nWe have, first, the Calling of Peter and Andrew in a picture by\nBasaiti,[170] where the two brothers are kneeling at the feet of\nthe Saviour; the fishing-boats and the Lake of Gennesareth in the\nbackground: and in the beautiful fresco by Ghirlandajo in the Sistine\nChapel, where a number of contemporary personages are introduced as\nspectators. St. Andrew presenting St. Peter to our Saviour (as in a\npicture by Cavalucci, in the Vatican), is another version of the same\nsubject; or St. Andrew is seen at the feet of Christ, while St. Peter\nis sitting on the edge of the boat, or descending from it in haste.\n\n\u2018Christ walking on the Sea\u2019 is a familiar and picturesque subject, not\nto be mistaken. The most ancient and most celebrated representation\nis Giotto\u2019s mosaic (A.D. 1298), now placed in the portico of St.\nPeter\u2019s, over the arch opposite to the principal door. The sentiment\nin the composition of this subject is, generally, \u2018Lord, help me; or I\nperish:\u2019 St. Peter is sinking, and Christ is stretching out his hand to\nsave him. It is considered as a type of the Church in danger, assailed\nby enemies, and saved by the miraculous interposition of the Redeemer;\nand in this sense must the frequent representations in churches be\nunderstood.\n\nIn the \u2018Miraculous Draught of Fishes,\u2019 St. Peter is usually on his\nknees looking up with awe and gratitude:\u2014\u2018Depart from me, O Lord! for\nI am a sinful man.\u2019 The composition of Raphael (the cartoon at Hampton\nCourt) is just what we should seek for in Raphael, a masterpiece of\ndramatic expression,\u2014the significant, the poetical, the miraculous\npredominating. The composition of Rubens, at Malines, which deserves\nthe next place, should be looked at in contrast, as an instance of\nthe picturesque and vigorous treatment equally characteristic of the\npainter;\u2014all life and reality, even to the glittering fish which tumble\nin the net. \u2018St. Peter finding the tribute money\u2019 is a subject I have\nseldom met with: the _motif_ is simple, and not to be mistaken.\n\nIn all the scenes of the life of our Saviour in which the apostles are\nassembled,\u2014in the Transfiguration, in the Last Supper, in the \u2018Washing\nthe Feet of the Disciples,\u2019 in the scene of the agony and the betrayal\nof Christ,\u2014St. Peter is introduced as a more or less prominent figure,\nbut always to be distinguished from the other apostles. In the third of\nthese subjects, the washing of the feet, St. Peter generally looks up\nat Christ with an expression of humble expostulation, his hand on his\nhead: the sentiment is\u2014\u2018Not my feet only, but my hands and my head.\u2019\n\nIn the scene of the betrayal of Christ, St. Peter cutting off the ear\nof Malthus is sometimes a _too_ prominent group; and I remember an old\nGerman print in which St. Peter having cut off the ear, our Lord bends\ndown to replace it.[171]\n\n\u2018St. Peter denying the Saviour\u2019 is always one of the subjects in the\nseries of the Passion of Christ. It occurs frequently on the ancient\nsarcophagi as the symbol of repentance, and is treated with classical\nand sculptural simplicity, the cock being always introduced, as in the\nillustration (71): it is here to be understood as a general emblem of\nhuman weakness and repentance. As an action separately, or as one of\nthe series of the life and actions of Peter, it has not been often\npainted; it seems to have been avoided in general by the early Italian\npainters as derogatory to the character and dignity of the apostle.\nThe only examples I can recollect are in the later Italian and Flemish\nschools. Teniers has adopted it as a vehicle for a guard-room scene;\nsoldiers playing at cards, bright armour, &c. Rembrandt has taken it as\na vehicle for a fine artificial light; and, for the same reason, the\nCaravaggio school delighted in it. The maiden, whose name in the old\ntraditions is Balilla, is always introduced with a look and gesture of\nreproach, and the cock is often perched in the background.\n\n[Illustration: 71 Repentance of Peter (Sarcophagus, third century)]\n\n\u2018Christ turned and looked upon Peter:\u2019 of this beautiful subject,\nworthy of Raphael himself, I can remember no instance.\n\nThe \u2018Repentance of Peter\u2019 is a subject seldom treated in the\nearlier schools of Italy, but frequently by the later painters, and\nparticularly by the Bologna school; in some instances most beautifully.\nIt was a subject peculiarly suited to the genius of Guercino, who\nexcelled in the expression of profound rather than elevated feeling.\n\nThere is a manner of representing the repentance of Peter which seems\npeculiar to Spanish Art, and is more ideal than is usual with that\nschool. Christ is bound to a column and crowned with thorns; St.\nPeter kneels before him in an attitude of the deepest anguish and\nhumiliation, and appears to be supplicating forgiveness. Except in\nthe Spanish school, I have never met with this treatment. The little\npicture by Murillo[172] is an exquisite example; and in the Spanish\nGallery are two others, by Pedro de Cordova and Juan Juanes:\u2014in the\nformer, St. Peter holds a pocket-handkerchief with which he has been\nwiping his eyes, and the cock is perched on the column to which our\nSaviour is bound.\n\nAnother ideal treatment we find in a picture by Guercino; St. Peter\nis weeping bitterly, and opposite to him the Virgin is seated in\nmotionless grief.\n\nHalf-length figures of St. Peter looking up with an expression of\nrepentant sorrow, and wringing his hands, are of frequent occurrence,\nmore especially in the later followers of the Bologna and Neapolitan\nschools of the seventeenth century: Ribera, Lanfranco, Caravaggio,\nand Valentin. In most of these instances, the total absence of ideal\nor elevated sentiment is striking;\u2014any old bearded beggar out of the\nstreets, who could cast up his eyes and look pathetic, served as a\nmodel.\n\n\nI recollect no picture of the Crucifixion in which St. Peter is present.\n\n\n\u2018The delivery of the keys to Peter\u2019 and \u2018the Charge to Peter,\u2019 (Feed my\nsheep,) either in separate pictures or combined into one subject, have\nbeen of course favourite themes in a Church which founds its authority\non these particular circumstances. The bas-relief over the principal\ndoor of St. Peter\u2019s at Rome represents the two themes in one: Christ\ndelivers the keys to Peter, and the sheep are standing by. In the\npanels of the bronze doors beneath (A.D. 1431), we have the chain of\nthought and incident continued; Peter delivers the emblematical keys to\nPope Eugenius IV.\n\nIt is curious that, while the repentance of Peter is a frequent subject\non the sarcophagi of the fourth century, the delivery of the keys to\nPeter occurs but once. Christ, as a beardless youth, presents to Peter\ntwo keys laid crosswise one over the other. Peter, in whose head the\ntraditional type is most distinctly marked, has thrown his pallium\nover his outstretched hands, for, according to the antique ceremonial,\nof which the early sculpture and mosaics afford us so many examples,\nthings consecrated could only be touched with covered hands. This\nsingular example is engraved in Bottari.[173] An example of beautiful\nand solemn treatment in painting is Perugino\u2019s fresco in the Sistine\nChapel. It contains twenty-one figures; the conception is quite ideal,\nthe composition regular even to formality, yet striking and dramatic.\nIn the centre, Peter, kneeling on one knee, receives the keys from the\nhand of the Saviour; the apostles and disciples are arranged on each\nside behind Christ and St. Peter; in the background is the rebuilding\nof the Temple;\u2014a double allegory: \u2018Destroy this temple, I will build it\nup in three days:\u2019 and also, perhaps, alluding to the building of the\nchapel by Sixtus IV.\n\nIn Raphael\u2019s cartoon[174] the scene is an open plain: Christ stands\non the right; in front, St. Peter kneels, with the keys in his hand;\nChrist extends one hand to Peter, and with the other points to a\nflock of sheep in the background. The introduction of the sheep into\nthis subject has been criticised as at once too literal and too\nallegorical,\u2014a too literal transcript of the words, a too allegorical\nversion of the meaning; but I do not see how the words of our Saviour\ncould have been otherwise rendered in painting, which must speak to us\nthrough sensible objects. The other apostles standing behind Peter show\nin each countenance the different manner in which they are affected by\nthe words of the Saviour.\n\nBy Gian Bellini: a beautiful picture:[175] St. Peter kneeling,\nhalf-length, receives the keys from Jesus Christ, seated on a throne.\nBehind St. Peter stand the three Christian Graces, Faith, Hope, and\nCharity. Poussin has taken this subject in his series of the Seven\nSacraments[176], to represent the sacrament of Ordination. In this\ninstance again, the two themes are united; and we must also remember,\nthat the allegorical representation of the disciples and followers of\nChrist as sheep looking up to be fed, is consecrated by the practice of\nthe earliest schools of Christian Art. Rubens has rendered the subject\nvery simply, in a picture containing only the two figures, Christ and\nSt. Peter;[177] and again with five figures, less good.[178] Numerous\nother examples might be given; but the subject is one that, however\ntreated, cannot be easily mistaken.\n\nA very ideal version of this subject is where St. Peter kneels at the\nfeet of the Madonna, and the Infant Christ, bending from her lap,\npresents the keys to him; as in a singularly fine and large composition\nby Crivelli,[179] and in another by Andrea Salaino. Another, very\nbeautiful and curious, is in the possession of Mr. Bromley of\nWootten.[180]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAfter the ascension of our Saviour, the personal history of St. Peter\nis mingled first with that of St. John, and afterwards with that of St.\nPaul.\n\n\u2018Peter and John healing the lame man at the gate called Beautiful\u2019 is\nthe subject of one of the finest of the cartoons at Hampton Court.\nPerin del Vaga, Niccol\u00f2 Poussin, and others less renowned, have also\ntreated it; it is susceptible of much contrast and dramatic effect.\n\n\u2018The sick are brought out and placed in the shadow of Peter and John\nthat they may be healed,\u2019 by Masaccio.[181]\n\n\u2018Peter preaching to the early converts:\u2019 the two most beautiful\ncompositions I have seen, are the simple group of Masaccio; and another\nby Le Sueur, full of variety and sentiment.\n\n\u2018Peter and John communicate the Holy Ghost by laying their hands on the\ndisciples,\u2019 by Vasari.[182] I do not well remember this picture.\n\nThe Vision of Peter: three angels sustain the curtain or sheet which\ncontains the various forbidden animals, as pigs, rabbits, &c. (as in a\nprint after Guercino).\n\n\u2018Peter baptizes the Centurion\u2019 (very appropriately placed in the\nbaptistery of the Vatican). St. Peter meets the Centurion; he blesses\nthe family of the Centurion. All commonplace versions of very\ninteresting and picturesque subjects.\n\n\u2018The Death of Ananias.\u2019 Raphael\u2019s cartoon of this awful scene is a\nmasterpiece of dramatic and scenic power; never was a story more\nadmirably and completely told in painting. Those who had to deal with\nthe same subject, as if to avoid a too close comparison with his\nunapproachable excellence, have chosen the death of Sapphira as the\n_motif_: as, for example, Niccol\u00f2 Poussin.[183]\n\n\u2018Dorcas or Tabitha restored to life.\u2019 One of the finest and most\neffective of Guercino\u2019s pictures, now in the Palazzo Pitti: the simple\ndignity of the apostle, and the look of sick amazement in the face of\nthe woman restored to consciousness, show how strong Guercino could be\nwhen he had to deal with natural emotions of no elevated kind. The same\nsubject, by Costanzi, is among the great mosaics in St. Peter\u2019s. \u2018The\nDeath of Dorcas,\u2019 by Le Sueur, is a beautiful composition. She lies\nextended on a couch; St. Peter and two other apostles approach the foot\nof it: the poor widows, weeping, show to St. Peter the garments which\nDorcas had made for them (Acts ix. 39).\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe imprisonment of Peter, and his deliverance by the Angel, were\nincidents so important, and offer such obvious points of dramatic\neffect, that they have been treated in every possible variety of style\nand sentiment, from the simple formality of the early mosaics, where\nthe two figures\u2014Peter sitting on a stool, leaning his head on his hand,\nand the Angel at his side\u2014express the story like a vision,[184] down to\nthe scenic and architectural compositions of Steenwick, where, amid a\nvast perspective of gloomy vaults and pillars, a diminutive St. Peter,\nwith an Angel or a sentinel placed somewhere in the foreground, just\nserves to give the picture a name.[185]\n\nSome examples of this subject are of great celebrity.\n\nMasaccio, in the frescoes of the Brancacci Chapel, has represented\nPeter in prison, looking through his grated window, and Paul outside\ncommuning with him. (The noble figure of St. Paul in this fresco was\nimitated by Raphael in the \u2018St. Paul preaching at Athens.\u2019) In the next\ncompartment of the series, Masaccio has given us the Angel leading\nforth Peter, while the guard sleeps at the door: he sleeps as one\noppressed with an unnatural sleep. Raphael\u2019s fresco in the Vatican is\nnot one of his best, but he has seized on the obvious point of effect,\nboth as to light and grouping; and we have three separate moments of\nthe same incident, which yet combine most happily into one grand scene.\nThus in the centre, over the window, we see through a grating the\ninterior of the prison, where St. Peter is sleeping between two guards,\nwho, leaning on their weapons, are sunk in a deep charmed slumber;[186]\nan angel, whose celestial radiance fills the dungeon with a flood\nof light, is in the act of waking the apostle: on the right of the\nspectator, the angel leads the apostle out of the prison; two guards\nare sleeping on the steps: on the left, the soldiers are roused from\nsleep, and one with a lighted torch appears to be giving the alarm; the\ncrescent moon faintly illumines the background.\n\nThe deliverance of St. Peter has always been considered as figurative\nof the deliverance of the Church; and the two other frescoes of this\nroom, the Heliodorus and the Attila, bear the same interpretation. It\nis worth while to compare this dramatic composition of Raphael with\nothers wherein the story is merely a vehicle for artificial effects\nof light, as in a picture by Gerard Honthorst; or treated like a\nsupernatural vision, as by that poet, Rembrandt.\n\n\nThose historical subjects in which St. Peter and St. Paul figure\ntogether will be noticed in the life of St. Paul.\n\n\nI come now to the legendary stories connected with St. Peter; an\ninexhaustible source of popular and pictorial interest.\n\nPeter was at Jerusalem as late as A.D. 52; then at Antioch; also in\nBabylon: according to the most ancient testimonies he was at Rome\nabout A.D. 63; but the tradition, that he resided as bishop in the\ncity of Rome for twenty-five years, first related by Jerome, seems\nquestionable.[187] Among the legendary incidents which marked his\nsojourn in Rome, the first and the most important is the story of Simon\nMagus.\n\nSimon, a famous magician among the Jews, had astonished the whole city\nof Jerusalem by his wonderful feats; but his inventions and sorceries\nwere overcome by the real miracles of Peter, as the Egyptian magi had\nbeen conquered by Aaron. He offered the apostles money to buy the\nsecret of their power, which Peter rejected with indignation. St.\nAugustine tells us, as a characteristic trait of the fiery-spirited\napostle, that \u2018if he had fallen on the traitor Simon, he would\ncertainly have torn him to pieces with his teeth.\u2019 The magician,\nvanquished by a superior power, flung his books into the Dead Sea,\nbroke his wand, and fled to Rome, where he became a great favourite\nof the Emperor Claudius, and afterwards of Nero. Peter, bent on\ncounteracting the wicked sorceries of Simon, followed him to Rome.\nAbout two years after his arrival he was joined there by the Apostle\nPaul. Simon Magus having asserted that he was himself a god, and could\nraise the dead, Peter and Paul rebuked his impiety, and challenged\nhim to a trial of skill in presence of the emperor. The arts of the\nmagician failed; Peter and Paul restored the youth to life: and on many\nother occasions Simon was vanquished and put to shame by the miraculous\npower of the apostles. At length he undertook to fly up to heaven in\nsight of the emperor and the people; and, crowned with laurel, and\nsupported by demons, he flung himself from a tower, and appeared for a\nwhile to float thus in the air: but St. Peter, falling on his knees,\ncommanded the demons to let go their hold, and Simon, precipitated to\nthe ground, was dashed to pieces.\n\nThis romantic legend, so popular in the middle ages, is founded on some\nantique traditions not wholly unsupported by historical testimony.\n\nThere can be no doubt that there existed in the first century a Simon,\na Samaritan, a pretender to divine authority and supernatural powers;\nwho, for a time, had many followers; who stood in a certain relation to\nChristianity; and who may have held some opinions more or less similar\nto those entertained by the most famous heretics of the early ages,\nthe Gnostics. Iren\u00e6us calls this Simon the father of all heretics.\n\u2018All those,\u2019 he says, \u2018who in any way corrupt the truth, or mar the\npreaching of the Church, are disciples and successors of Simon, the\nSamaritan magician.\u2019 Simon gave himself forth as a god, and carried\nabout with him a beautiful woman named Helena, whom he represented as\nthe first conception of his\u2014that is, of the divine\u2014mind, the symbol\nor manifestation of that portion of spirituality which had become\nentangled in matter.[188]\n\nThe incidents of the story of Simon Magus have been often and variously\ntreated.\n\n1. By Quintin Matsys: Peter refuses the offer of Simon Magus\u2014\u2018Thy money\nperish with thee!\u2019 Here Peter wears the mitre of a bishop: the picture\nis full of coarse but natural expression.\n\n2. \u2018Peter and Paul accused before Nero:\u2019 the fresco in the Brancacci\nChapel, attributed by Kugler to Filippino Lippi, is certainly one of\nthe most perfect pieces of art, as a dramatic composition, which we\nhave before the time of Raphael. To the right the emperor is seated on\nhis throne, on each side his ministers and attendants. The countenances\nare finely varied; some of them animated by attention and curiosity,\nothers sunk in deep thought. The two apostles, and their accuser\nSimon Magus, are in front. Simon, a magnificent figure, who might\nserve for a Prospero, lays his hand on the vest of Peter, as if to\ndrag him forward; Paul stands aside with quiet dignity; Peter, with a\ncountenance full of energetic expression, points contemptuously to the\nbroken idol at his feet. For the felicity and animation with which the\nstory is told, and for propriety, grace, and grandeur, Raphael has not\noften exceeded this picture.\n\n3. Another of the series of the life of Peter in the Brancacci Chapel\nis the resuscitation of the youth, who in the legend is called the\nnephew of the emperor; a composition of numerous figures. In the centre\nstands St. Peter, and before him kneels the youth; a skull and a few\nbones are near him\u2014a na\u00efve method of expressing his return from death\nto life. The variety of expression in the countenances of the assembled\nspectators is very fine. According to the custom of the Florentine\nschool at that time, many are portraits of distinguished persons; and,\nconsidering that the fresco was painted at a period most interesting in\nthe Florentine history (A.D. 1440), we have much reason to regret that\nthese can no longer be discriminated.\n\n4. \u2018The Fall of Simon Magus\u2019 is a favourite and picturesque subject,\noften repeated. A most ancient and most curious version is that on the\nwalls of the Cathedral at Assisi, older than the time of Giotto, and\nattributed to Giunta Pisano. (A.D. 1232.) On one side is a pyramidical\ntower formed of wooden bars; Peter and Paul are kneeling in front; the\nfigure of the magician is seen floating in the air and sustained by\nhideous demons;\u2014very dreamy, poetical, and fanciful. In Mr. Ottley\u2019s\ncollection I saw a small ancient picture of the same subject, very\ncurious, attributed to Benozzo Gozzoli. Raphael\u2019s composition in the\nVatican has the simplicity of a classical bas-relief,\u2014a style which\ndoes not appear suited to this romantic legend. The picture by L.\nCaracci at Naples I have not seen. Over one of the altars of St. Peter,\nwe now see the great mosaic, after Vanni\u2019s picture of this subject; a\nclever commonplace treatment: the scene is an amphitheatre, the emperor\nabove in his balcony; Peter and Paul in front, invoking the name of\nChrist, and Simon Magus tumbling headlong, forsaken by his demons; in\nthe background sit the vestals. Battoni\u2019s great picture in the S. Maria\ndegli Angeli at Rome is considered his best production; it is full of\nwell-studied academic drawing, but scenic and mannered.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe next subject in the order of events is styled the \u2018DOMINE, QUO\nVADIS?\u2019 After the burning of Rome, Nero threw upon the Christians the\naccusation of having fired the city. This was the origin of the first\npersecution, in which many perished by terrible and hitherto unheard-of\ndeaths. The Christian converts besought Peter not to expose his life,\nwhich was dear and necessary to the well-being of all; and at length\nhe consented to depart from Rome. But as he fled along the Appian Way,\nabout two miles from the gates, he was met by a vision of our Saviour\ntravelling towards the city. Struck with amazement, he exclaimed,\n\u2018Lord! whither goest thou?\u2019 to which the Saviour, looking upon him\nwith a mild sadness, replied, \u2018I go to Rome to be crucified a second\ntime,\u2019 and vanished. Peter, taking this for a sign that he was to\nsubmit himself to the sufferings prepared for him, immediately turned\nback, and re-entered the city. Michael Angelo\u2019s famous statue, now in\nthe church of S. Maria-sopra-Minerva at Rome, is supposed to represent\nChrist as he appeared to Peter on this occasion; and a cast or copy of\nit is in the little church of \u2018Domine, quo vadis?\u2019 erected on the spot\nsanctified by this mysterious meeting.\n\nIt is surprising that this most beautiful, picturesque, and, to my\nfancy, sublime legend has been so seldom treated; and never, as it\nappears to me, in a manner worthy of its capabilities and its high\nsignificance. It is seldom that a whole story can be told by two\nfigures, and these two figures placed in such grand and dramatic\ncontrast;\u2014Christ in his serene majesty and radiant with all the glory\nof beatitude, yet with an expression of gentle reproach; the apostle\nat his feet, arrested in his flight, amazed, and yet filled with a\ntrembling joy; and for the background the wide Campagna or the towering\nwalls of imperial Rome;\u2014these are grand materials; but the pictures I\nhave met with are all ineffective in conception. The best fall short of\nthe sublime ideal; most of them are theatrical and commonplace.\n\nRaphael has interpreted it in a style rather too classical for the\nspirit of the legend; with great simplicity and dignity, but as a\n_fact_, rather than a vision conjured up by the stricken conscience and\ntenderness of the affectionate apostle. The small picture by Annibale\nCaracci in our National Gallery is a carefully finished academical\nstudy and nothing more, but may be referred to as a fair example of the\nusual mode of treatment.\n\nPeter returned to Rome, persisted in his appointed work, preaching\nand baptizing; was seized with St. Paul and thrown into the Mamertine\ndungeons under the Capitol. The two centurions who guarded them,\nProcessus and Martinian, and many of the criminals confined in the\nsame prison, were converted by the preaching of the apostle; and there\nbeing no water to baptize them, at the prayer of St. Peter a fountain\nsprang up from the stone floor; which may be seen at this day.\n\n\u2018The Baptism of St. Processus and St. Martinian in the Dungeon,\u2019 by\nTrevisani, is in the baptistery of St. Peter\u2019s at Rome; they afterwards\nsuffered for the faith, and were canonised. In the same church is\nthe scene of their martyrdom by Valentino; they are seen bound and\nstretched on a hurdle, the head of one to the feet of the other, and\nthus beaten to death. The former picture\u2014the Baptism\u2014is commonplace;\nthe latter, terrible for dark and effective expression; it is just one\nof those subjects in which the Caravaggio school delighted.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nA few days after their incarceration, St. Peter and St. Paul were\ncondemned to death. According to one tradition, St. Peter suffered\nmartyrdom in the Circus of Caligula at the foot of the Vatican, and was\ncrucified between two met\u00e6, i.e. the goals or termin\u00e6 in the Circus,\nround which the chariots turned in the race; but, according to another\ntradition, he was put to death in the court-yard of a barrack or\nmilitary station on the summit of Mons Janicula, where the church of\nSan Pietro in Montorio now stands; that is, on an eminence above the\nsite of the Circus of Caligula. At his own request, and that his death\nmight be even more painful and ignominious than that of his Divine\nMaster, he was crucified with his head downwards.\n\n[Illustration: 72 Crucifixion of St. Peter (Giotto)]\n\nIn the earliest representations I have met with,[189] St. Peter is\nraised on the cross with his head downwards, and wears a long shirt\nwhich is fastened round his ankles. In the picture of Giotto,[190] the\nlocal circumstances, according to the first tradition, are carefully\nattended to: we have the cross erected between the two met\u00e6, and about\ntwenty soldiers and attendants; among them a woman who embraces the\nfoot of the cross, as the Magdalene embraces the cross of the Saviour.\nAbove are seen angels, who bear the soul of the martyred saint in a\nglory to heaven. Masaccio\u2019s composition[191] is very simple; the scene\nis the court-yard of a military station (according to the second\ntradition). Peter is already nailed upon a cross; three executioners\nare in the act of raising it with cords and a pulley to suspend it\nagainst a great beam of wood; there are several soldiers, but no women,\npresent. In Guido\u2019s composition[192] there are only three figures, the\napostle and two executioners; it is celebrated as a work of art, but\nit appeared to me most ineffective. On the other hand, Rubens has gone\ninto the opposite extreme; there are only three persons, the principal\nfigure filling nearly the whole of the canvas: it is full of vigour,\ntruth, and nature; but the brutality of the two executioners, and the\nagony of the aged saint, too coarsely and painfully literal. These\nsimple representations of the mere act or fact should be compared with\nthe fresco of Michael Angelo,[193] in which the event is evolved into\na grand drama. Here the scene is evidently the summit of the Mons\nJaniculum: in the midst of a crowd of soldiers and spectators, St.\nPeter lies nailed to the cross, which a number of men are exerting\ntheir utmost strength to raise from the ground.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe legend which makes St. Peter the keeper of the gate of Paradise,\nwith power to grant or refuse admission, is founded on the delivery of\nthe keys to Peter. In most of the pictures which represent the entrance\nof the blessed into Paradise or the New Jerusalem, Peter stands with\nhis keys near the gate. There is a beautiful example in the great\nfresco of Simone Memmi in the chapel _de\u2019 Spagnuoli_ at Florence: St.\nPeter stands at the open portal with his great key, and two angels\ncrown with garlands the souls of the just as they enter joyously hand\nin hand.\n\n[Illustration: 73 From the fresco of Simone Memmi, Florence (S. Maria\nNovella)]\n\nThe legend of St. Petronilla, the daughter of St. Peter (in French,\nSainte Pernelle), has never been popular as a subject of Art, and I can\nremember no series of incidents from the life of St. Peter in which\nshe is introduced, except those in the Carmine at Florence. It is\napparently a Roman legend, and either unknown to the earliest artists,\nor neglected by them. It is thus related:\u2014\n\n \u2018The apostle Peter had a daughter born in lawful wedlock, who\n accompanied him in his journey from the East. Being at Rome with\n him, she fell sick of a grievous infirmity which deprived her of the\n use of her limbs. And it happened that as the disciples were at meat\n with him in his house, one said to him, \u2018Master, how is it that thou,\n who healest the infirmities of others, dost not heal thy daughter\n Petronilla?\u2019 And St. Peter answered, \u2018It is good for her to remain\n sick:\u2019 but, that they might see the power that was in the word of God,\n he commanded her to get up and serve them at table, which she did;\n and having done so, she lay down again helpless as before; but many\n years afterwards, being perfected by her long suffering, and praying\n fervently, she was healed. Petronilla was wonderfully fair; and\n Valerius Flaccus, a young and noble Roman, who was a heathen, became\n enamoured of her beauty, and sought her for his wife; and he being\n very powerful, she feared to refuse him; she therefore desired him\n to return in three days, and promised that he should then carry her\n home. But she prayed earnestly to be delivered from this peril; and\n when Flaccus returned in three days with great pomp to celebrate the\n marriage, he found her dead. The company of nobles who attended him\n carried her to the grave, in which they laid her, crowned with roses;\n and Flaccus lamented greatly.\u2019[194]\n\n The legend places her death in the year 98, that is, 34 years after\n the death of St. Peter; but it would be in vain to attempt to\n reconcile the dates and improbabilities of this story.\n\nSt. Peter raising Petronilla from her sick bed is one of the subjects\nby Masaccio in the Brancacci Chapel. The scene of her entombment is the\nsubject of a once celebrated and colossal picture by Guercino: the\ncopy in mosaic is over the altar dedicated to her in St. Peter\u2019s: in\nfront, and in the lower part of the picture, she is just seen as they\nare letting her down into the grave, crowned with roses; behind stands\nFlaccus with a handkerchief in his hand, and a crowd of spectators:\nin the upper part of the picture Petronilla is already in Paradise,\nkneeling, in a rich dress, before the feet of Christ, having exchanged\nan earthly for a heavenly bridegroom. This great picture exhibits, in a\nsurpassing degree, the merits and defects of Guercino; it is effective,\ndramatic, deeply and forcibly coloured, and arrests attention: on the\nother hand, it is coarse, crowded, vulgar in sentiment, and repugnant\nto our better taste. There is a standing figure of Petronilla in the\nDuomo at Lucca, by Daniel di Volterra, very fine.[195]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe life of St. Peter, when represented as a series, generally\ncomprises the following subjects, commencing with the first important\nincident after the Ascension of Christ.\n\n1. Peter and John heal the lame man at the Beautiful Gate. 2. Peter\nheals the paralytic Eneas. 3. Peter raises Tabitha. 4. The angel takes\noff the chains of Peter. 5. He follows the angel out of the prison. 6.\nSt. Peter and St. Paul meet at Rome. 7. Peter and Paul before Nero are\naccused by Simon Magus. 8. The fall of Simon Magus. 9. The crucifixion\nof St. Peter. This example is taken from the series of mosaics in the\nCathedral of Monreale, at Palermo.\n\nThe fine series of frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel at Florence is\ndifferently arranged; thus:\u20141. The tribute money found in the fish by\nSt. Peter. 2. Peter preaching to the converts. 3. Peter baptizes the\nconverts. In this fresco, the youth, who has thrown off his garments\nand is preparing for baptism, is famous as the first really graceful\nand well-drawn undraped figure which had been produced since the\nrevival of Art. 4. Peter and John heal the cripple at the Beautiful\nGate, and Petronilla is raised from her bed. 5. Peter in his prison is\nvisited by Paul. 6. Peter delivered by the angel. 7. The resuscitation\nof the dead youth. 8. The sick are laid in the way of Peter and John,\n\u2018that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some\nof them.\u2019 9. Peter and John distribute alms; a dead figure lies at the\nfeet of the apostles, perhaps Ananias. The situation of the fresco\nis very dark, so that it is difficult to distinguish the action and\nexpression of the figures. 10. Peter and Paul accused before Nero. 11.\nThe crucifixion of Peter.\n\nIn St. Peter\u2019s at Rome, we have of course every scene from the life of\nthe apostle which could well be expressed by Art; but none of these are\nof great merit or interest: most of them are from the schools of the\nseventeenth century.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nST. PAUL, though called to the apostleship after the ascension of the\nSaviour, takes rank next to St. Peter as one of the chief witnesses of\nthe Christian faith. Of all the apostles he is the most interesting;\nthe one of whose personal character and history we know most, and\nthrough the most direct and irrefragable testimony. The events of his\nlife, as conveyed in the Acts and the Epistles, are so well known, that\nI need not here particularise them. The legends connected with him are\nvery few.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe earliest single figure of St. Paul to which I can refer was found\npainted on the walls of the cemetery of Priscilla, near Rome.[196] He\nstands, with outstretched arms, in the act of prayer; (in the early\nages of Christianity the act of supplication was expressed in the\nclassical manner, that is, not with folded hands, but with the arms\nextended;) he has the nimbus; his dress is that of a traveller, the\ntunic and pallium being short, and his feet sandalled, perhaps to\nindicate his many and celebrated travels; perhaps, also, it represents\nPaul praying for his flock before he departed from Macedon to return\nto Jerusalem (Acts xx.): over this ancient figure, which, though ill\ndrawn, is quite classical in sentiment and costume, is inscribed\nPAULUS. PASTOR. APOSTOLOS; on his right hand stands the Good Shepherd,\nin reference to the title of PASTOR, inscribed over his effigy. Another\nfigure of St. Paul, which appears to be of later date, but anterior to\nthe fifth century, was found in the catacombs at Naples: in this effigy\nhe wears the dress of a Greek philosopher; the style in which the\ndrapery is worn recalls the time of Hadrian: he has no nimbus, nor is\nthe head bald; he has sandals on his feet: over his head is inscribed\nhis name, PAULUS; near him is a smaller figure similarly draped, who\noffers him fruit and flowers in a vase; probably the personage who was\nentombed on the spot.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAt what period the sword was given to St. Paul as his distinctive\nattribute, is with antiquaries a disputed point; certainly, much later\nthan the keys were given to Peter.[197] If we could be sure that the\nmosaic on the tomb of Otho II., and another mosaic already described,\nhad not been altered in successive restorations, these would be\nevidence that the sword was given to St. Paul as his attribute as early\nas the 6th century; but there are no monuments which can be absolutely\ntrusted as regards the introduction of the sword before the end of\nthe 11th century; since the end of the 14th century, it has been so\ngenerally adopted, that in the devotional effigies I can remember no\ninstance in which it is omitted. When St. Paul is leaning on the sword,\nit expresses his martyrdom; when he holds it aloft, it expresses also\nhis warfare in the cause of Christ: when two swords are given to him,\none is the attribute, the other the emblem; but this double allusion\ndoes not occur in any of the older representations. In Italy I never\nmet with St. Paul bearing two swords, and the only instance I can call\nto mind is the bronze statue by Peter Vischer, on the shrine of St.\nSebald, at Nuremberg.\n\nAlthough devotional representations of St. Paul separate from St. Peter\nand the other apostles occur very rarely, pictures from his life and\nactions are commonly met with; the principal events are so familiar,\nthat they are easily recognised and discriminated even by the most\nunlearned in biblical illustration: considered and treated as a series,\nthey form a most interesting and dramatic succession of scenes, often\nintroduced into the old churches; but the incidents chosen are not\nalways the same.\n\nPaul, before his conversion, was present at the stoning of Stephen, and\nhe is generally introduced holding on his knees the garments of the\nexecutioners. In some ancient pictures, he has, even while looking on\nand \u2018consenting to the death\u2019 of the victim, the glory round his head,\nas one who, while \u2018breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the\ndisciples of the Lord,\u2019 was already a chosen vessel to bear His name\nbefore the Gentiles.\u2019 But in a set of pictures which relate expressly\nto St. Paul the martyrdom of Stephen is, with proper feeling, omitted,\nand the series generally begins with the CONVERSION OF PAUL,\u2014in his\ncharacter of apostle, the first great event in his life. An incident so\nimportant, so celebrated, and in all its accessories so picturesque and\ndramatic, has of course been a frequent subject of artistic treatment,\neven as a separate composition. In some of the old mosaics, the story\nis very simply, and at the same time vividly, rendered. In the earliest\nexamples, St. Paul has the nimbus or glory while yet unconverted; he\nis prostrate on the ground, grovelling on his hands and knees; rays\nof light fall upon him out of heaven, where the figure of Christ,\nhalf-length, is seen emerging from glory; sometimes it is a hand only,\nwhich is the emblem of the Almighty Power; two or four attendants at\nmost are flying in terror. It is not said in Scripture that St. Paul\njourneyed on horseback from Jerusalem to Damascus; but the tradition\nis at least as old as the time of Pope Dalmasius (A.D. 384), as it is\nthen referred to. St. Augustine says he journeyed on foot, because\nthe Pharisees made a point of religion to go on foot, and it is so\nrepresented in the old Greek mosaics. The expression, \u2018It is hard\nfor thee to kick against the pricks,\u2019 has been oddly enough assigned\nas a reason for placing Paul on horseback;[198] at all events, as he\nbore a military command, it has been thought proper in later times\nso to represent him, and also as surrounded by a numerous cort\u00e9ge of\nattendants. This treatment admits, of course, of endless variety,\nin the disposition and number of the figures, in the attitudes and\nexpression; but the moment chosen is generally the same.\n\n1. The oldest example I can cite, next to the Greek mosaics, is an old\nItalian print mentioned by Zani. Paul, habited as a Roman warrior,\nkneels with his arms crossed on his breast, and holding a scroll, on\nwhich is inscribed in Latin, \u2018Lord, what shall I do?\u2019 Christ stands\nopposite to him, also holding a scroll, on which is written, \u2018Saul,\nSaul, why persecutest thou me?\u2019 There are no attendants. Zani does not\ngive the date of this quaint and simple version of the story.\n\n2. Raphael. Paul, habited as a Roman soldier, is lying on the ground,\nas thrown from his horse; he looks upward to Christ, who appears in the\nclouds, attended by three child-angels: his attendants on foot and on\nhorseback are represented as rushing to his assistance, unconscious of\nthe vision, but panic struck by its effect on _him_: one attendant in\nthe background seizes by the bridle the terrified horse. The original\ncartoon of this fine composition (one of the tapestries in the Vatican)\nis lost.\n\n3. Michael Angelo. Paul, a noble figure, though prostrate, appears to\nbe struck motionless and senseless: Christ seems to be _rushing_ down\nfrom heaven surrounded by a host of angels; those of the attendants\nwho are near to Paul are flying in all directions, while a long train\nof soldiers is seen ascending from the background. This grand dramatic\ncomposition forms the pendant to the Crucifixion of Peter in the\nCappella Paolina. It is so darkened by age and the smoke of tapers, and\nso ill lighted, that it is not easily made out; but there is a fine\nengraving, which may be consulted.\n\n4. Another very celebrated composition of this subject is that of\nRubens.[199] Paul, lying in the foreground, expresses in his attitude\nthe most helpless and grovelling prostration. The attendants appear\nvery literally frightened out of their senses; and the grey horse\nsnorting and rearing behind is the finest part of the picture: as is\nusual with Rubens, the effects of physical fear and amazement are given\nwith the utmost spirit and truth; but the scriptural dignity, the\nsupernatural terrors, of the subject are ill expressed, and the apostle\nhimself is degraded. To go a step lower, Cuyp has given us a Conversion\nof St. Paul apparently for the sole purpose of introducing horses in\ndifferent attitudes: the favourite dapple-grey charger is seen bounding\noff in terror; no one looks at St. Paul, still less to Christ above\u2014but\nthe _horses_ are admirable.\n\n5. In Albert D\u00fcrer\u2019s print, a shower of _stones_ is falling from heaven\non St. Paul and his company.\n\n6. There is a very curious and unusual version of this subject in\na rare print by Lucas van Leyden. It is a composition of numerous\nfigures. St. Paul is seen, blind and bewildered, led between two men;\nanother man leads his frightened charger; several warriors and horsemen\nfollow, and the whole procession seems to be proceeding slowly to the\nright. In the far distance is represented the previous moment\u2014Paul\nstruck down and blinded by the celestial vision.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\u2018Paul, after his conversion, restored to sight by Ananias,\u2019 as a\nseparate subject, seldom occurs; but it has been treated in the later\nschools by Vasari, by Cavallucci, and by P. Cortona.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\u2018The Jews flagellate Paul and Silas.\u2019 I know but one picture of this\nsubject, that of Niccol\u00f2 Poussin: the angry Jews are seen driving them\nforth with scourges; the Elders, who have condemned them, are seated in\ncouncil behind: as we might expect from the character of Poussin, the\ndignity of the apostles is maintained,\u2014but it is not one of his best\npictures.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\u2018Paul, after his conversion, escapes from Damascus;\u2019 he is let down\nin a basket (Acts ix. 25): the incident forms, of course, one of the\nscenes in his life when exhibited in a series, but I remember no\nseparate picture of this subject, and the situation is so ludicrous and\nso derogatory that we can understand how it came to be avoided.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\u2018The ecstatic vision of St. Paul, in which he was caught up to the\nthird heaven.\u2019 (2 Cor. xii. 2.) Paul, who so frequently and familiarly\nspeaks of angels, in describing this event makes no mention of them,\nbut in pictures he is represented as borne upwards by angels. I find\nno early composition of this subject. The small picture of Domenichino\nis coldly conceived. Poussin has painted the \u2018Ravissement de St. Paul\u2019\ntwice; in the first, the apostle is borne upon the arms of four angels,\nand in the second he is sustained by three angels. In rendering this\necstatic vision, the angels, always allowable as machinery, have here a\nparticular propriety; Paul is elevated only a few feet above the roof\nof his house, where lie his sword and book. Here the sword serves to\ndistinguish the personage; and the roof of the house shows us that it\nis a vision, and not an apotheosis. Both pictures are in the Louvre.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\u2018Paul preaching to the converts at Ephesus.\u2019 In a beautiful\nRaffaelesque composition by Le Sueur, the incident of the magicians\nbringing their books of sorcery and burning them at the feet of the\napostle is well introduced. It was long the custom to exhibit this\npicture solemnly in Notre Dame every year on the 1st of May. It is now\nin the Louvre.\n\n\u2018Paul before Felix,\u2019 and \u2018Paul before Agrippa.\u2019 Neither of these\nsubjects has ever been adequately treated. It is to me inconceivable\nthat the old masters so completely overlooked the opportunity for grand\ncharacteristic delineation afforded by both these scenes, the latter\nespecially. Perhaps, in estimating its capabilities, we are misled by\nthe effect produced on the imagination by the splendid eloquence of\nthe apostle; yet, were another Raphael to arise, I would suggest the\nsubject as a pendant to the St. Paul at Athens.\n\n\u2018Paul performs miracles before the Emperor Nero;\u2019 a blind man, a sick\nchild, and a possessed woman are brought to him to be healed. This,\nthough a legendary rather than a scriptural subject, has been treated\nby Le Sueur with scriptural dignity and simplicity.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\u2018The martyrdom of St. Paul\u2019 is sometimes a separate subject, but\ngenerally it is the pendant to the martyrdom of St. Peter. According\nto the received tradition, the two apostles suffered at the same time,\nbut in different places; for St. Paul, being by birth a Roman citizen,\nescaped the ignominy of the public exposure in the Circus, as well\nas the prolonged torture of the cross. He was beheaded by the sword\noutside the Ostian gate, about two miles from Rome, at a place called\nthe Aqua Salvias, now the \u2018Tre Fontane.\u2019 The legend of the death of St.\nPaul relates that a certain Roman matron named Plautilla, one of the\nconverts of St. Peter, placed herself on the road by which St. Paul\npassed to his martyrdom, in order to behold him for the last time;\nand when she saw him, she wept greatly, and besought his blessing.\nThe apostle then, seeing her faith, turned to her and begged that she\nwould give him her veil to bind his eyes when he should be beheaded,\npromising to return it to her after his death. The attendants mocked\nat such a promise, but Plautilla, with a woman\u2019s faith and charity,\ntaking off her veil, presented it to him. After his martyrdom, St. Paul\nappeared to her, and restored the veil stained with his blood. It is\nalso related, that when he was decapitated the severed head made three\nbounds upon the earth, and wherever it touched the ground a fountain\nsprang forth.\n\nIn the most ancient representations of the martyrdom of St. Paul,\nthe legend of Plautilla is seldom omitted. In the picture of Giotto\npreserved in the sacristy of St. Peter\u2019s, Plautilla is seen on an\neminence in the background, receiving the veil from the hand of\nPaul, who appears in the clouds above; the same representation, but\nlittle varied, is executed in bas-relief on the bronze doors of St.\nPeter\u2019s. The three fountains gushing up beneath the severed head are\nalso frequently represented as a literal fact, though a manifest and\nbeautiful allegory, figurative of the fountains of Christian faith\nwhich should spring forth from his martyrdom.\n\nIn all the melancholy vicinity of Rome, there is not a more melancholy\nspot than the \u2018Tre Fontane.\u2019 A splendid monastery, rich with the\nofferings of all Christendom, once existed there: the ravages of that\nmysterious scourge of the Campagna, the malaria, have rendered it a\ndesert; three ancient churches and some ruins still exist, and a few\npale monks wander about the swampy dismal confines of the hollow in\nwhich they stand. In winter you approach them through a quagmire; in\nsummer, you dare not breathe in their pestilential vicinity; and yet\nthere is a sort of dead beauty about the place, something hallowed as\nwell as sad, which seizes on the fancy. In the church properly called\n\u2018San Paolo delle Tre Fontane,\u2019 and which is so old that the date of the\nfoundation is unknown, are three chapels with altars raised over as\nmany wells or fountains; the altars are modern, and have each the head\nof St. Paul carved in relief. The water, which appeared to me exactly\nthe same in all the three fountains, has a soft insipid taste, neither\nrefreshing nor agreeable. The ancient frescoes have perished, and the\nmodern ones are perishing. It is a melancholy spot.\n\nTo return, however, to that event which has rendered it for ages\nconsecrated and memorable. Among the many representations of the\ndecollation of St. Paul which exist in sculpture and in painting, I\nhave not met with one which could take a high place as a work of art,\nor which has done justice to the tragic capabilities of the subject.\n\nAfter his martyrdom the body of St. Paul was interred on a spot between\nthe Ostian gate and the Aqua Salvias, and there arose the magnificent\nchurch known as San Paolo-_fuori-le-mura_. I saw this church a few\nmonths before it was consumed by fire in 1823; I saw it again in\n1847, when the restoration was far advanced. Its cold magnificence,\ncompared with the impressions left by the former structure, rich with\ninestimable remains of ancient art, and venerable from a thousand\nassociations, saddened and chilled me.\n\nThe mosaics in the old church, which represented the life and actions\nof St. Paul, were executed by the Greek mosaic masters of the eleventh\ncentury. They appear to have comprised the same subjects which still\nexist as a series in the church of Monreale near Palermo, and which I\nshall now describe.\n\n1. Saul is sent by the high-priest to Damascus. Two priests are seated\non a raised throne in front of the Temple; Saul stands before them.\n\n2. The Conversion of Saul, as already described (p. 214).\n\n3. Saul, being blind, is led by his attendants to the gate of Damascus.\n\n4. Saul seated. Ananias enters and addresses him.\n\n5. Paul is baptized: he is standing, or rather sitting, in a font,\nwhich is a large vase, and not much larger in proportion than a\npunch-bowl.\n\n6. St. Paul disputes with the Jews. His attitude is vehement and\nexpressive: three Jewish doctors stand before him as if confounded and\nput to silence by his eloquent reasoning.\n\n7. St. Paul escapes from Damascus; the basket, in which he is lowered\ndown from a parapet, is about the size of a hand-basket.\n\n8. St. Paul delivers a scroll to Timothy and Silas; he consigns to\ntheir direction the deacons that were ordained by the apostles and\nelders. (Acts xvi. 4.)\n\n9. St. Paul and St. Peter meet at Rome, and embrace with brotherly\naffection. I believe this subject to represent the reconciliation of\nthe two apostles after the dispute at Antioch. The inscription is, _Hic\nPaulus venit Romam et pacem fecit cum Petro_. (In the Christian Museum\nin the Vatican there is a most beautiful small Greek picture in which\nPeter and Paul are embracing; it may represent the reconciliation or\nthe parting: the heads, though minute, are extremely characteristic.)\n\n10. The decollation of St. Paul at the Aqua Salvias; one fountain only\nis introduced.\n\nThis is the earliest instance I can quote of the dramatic treatment\nof the life and actions of St. Paul in a series of subjects. The\nGreek type of the head of St. Paul is retained throughout, strongly\nindividualised, and he appears as a man of about thirty-five or forty.\nIn the later schools of art, which afford some celebrated examples\nof the life of St. Paul treated as a series, the Greek type has been\nabandoned.\n\nThe series by Raphael, executed for the tapestries of the Sistine\nChapel in the Vatican, consists of five large and seven small\ncompositions.\n\n1. The conversion of Saul, already described: the cartoon is lost. 2.\nElymas the sorcerer struck blind: wonderful for dramatic power. 3.\nSt. Paul and Barnabas at Lystra. 4. Paul preaches at Athens. Of these\nthree magnificent compositions we have the cartoons at Hampton Court.\n5. St. Paul in prison at Philippi. The earthquake through which he was\nliberated is here represented allegorically as a Titan in the lower\ncorner of the picture, with shoulders and arms heaving up the earth.\nThis, which strikes us as rather pagan in conception, has, however,\na parallel in the earliest Christian Art, where, in the baptism of\nChrist, the Jordan is sometimes represented by a classical river-god,\nsedge-crowned, and leaning on his urn.\n\nThe seven small subjects, which in the set of tapestries run underneath\nas borders to the large compositions, are thus arranged:\u2014\n\n1. \u2018As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every\nhouse, and haling men and women committed them to prison.\u2019 (Acts viii.\n3.) At one end of a long narrow composition Saul is seated in the dress\nof a Roman warrior, and attended by a lictor; they bring before him a\nChristian youth; farther on are seen soldiers \u2018haling men and women\u2019\nby the hair; others flee in terror. This was erroneously supposed to\nrepresent the massacre at Prato, in 1512, by the adherents of the\nMedici, and is so inscribed in the set of engravings by Bartoli and\nLandon.\n\n2. John and Mark taking leave of the brethren at Perga in Pamphylia.\n(Acts xiii. 3.)\n\n3. Paul, teaching in the synagogue at Antioch, confounds the Jews.\n(Acts xviii. 3.)\n\n4. Paul at Corinth engaged in tent-making with his host. This is an\nuncommon subject, but I remember another instance in a curious old\nGerman print, where, in the lower part of the composition, the apostle\nis teaching or preaching; and above there is a kind of gallery or\nbalcony, in which he is seen working at a loom: \u2018You yourselves know\nthat these hands have ministered to my necessities, labouring night and\nday, because we would not be chargeable unto you.\u2019 (Acts xviii. 6.)\n\n5. Being at Corinth, he is mocked by the Jews. (Acts viii. 12.)\n\n6. He lays his hand on the Christian converts.\n\n7. He is brought before the judgment-seat of Gallio.[200]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\u2018Paul, in the island of Melita, shaking the viper from his hand,\u2019 is\nnot a common subject, and yet it is capable of the finest picturesque\nand dramatic effects: the storm and shipwreck in the background,\nthe angry heavens above, the red firelight, the group of astonished\nmariners, and, pre-eminent among them, the calm intellectual figure\nof the apostle shaking the venomous beast from his hand,\u2014these are\nsurely beautiful and available materials for a scenic picture. Even if\ntreated as an allegory in a devotional sense, a single majestic figure,\nthrowing the evil thing innocuous from him, which I have not yet\nseen, it would be an excellent and a significant subject. The little\npicture by Elzheimer is the best example I can cite of the picturesque\ntreatment. That of Le Sueur has much dignity; those of Perino del Vaga,\nThornhill, West, are all commonplace.\n\nThornhill, as everybody knows, painted the eight principal scenes of\nthe life of the apostle in the cupola of St. Paul\u2019s.[201] Few people,\nI should think, have strained their necks to examine them; the eight\noriginal studies, small sketches _en grisaille_, are preserved in the\nvestry, and display that heartless, mindless, mannered mediocrity,\nwhich makes all criticism foolishness; I shall, however, give a list of\nthe subjects.\n\n1. Paul and Barnabas at Lystra. 2. Paul preaching at Athens. 3. Elymas\nstruck blind. 4. The converts burn their magical books. 5. Paul before\nFestus. 6. A woman seated at his feet; I presume the Conversion of\nLydia of Thyatira. 7. Paul let down in a basket. 8. He shakes the viper\nfrom his hand.\n\nAt the time that Thornhill was covering the cupola at \u2018the rate of\n2_l._ the square yard,\u2019 Hogarth, his son-in-law, would also try his\nhand. He painted \u2018St. Paul pleading before Felix\u2019 for Lincoln\u2019s.\nInn Hall; where the subject, at least, is appropriate. The picture\nitself is curiously characteristic, not of the scene or of the chief\npersonage, but of the painter. St. Paul loaded with chains, and his\naccuser Tertullus, stand in front; and Felix, with his wife Drusilla,\nare seated on a raised tribunal in the background; near Felix is the\nhigh-priest Ananias. The composition is good. The heads are full\nof vivid expression\u2014wrath, terror, doubt, fixed attention; but the\nconception of character most ignoble and commonplace. Hogarth was\nmore at home when he took the same subject as a vehicle for a witty\ncaricature of the Dutch manner of treating sacred subjects\u2014their\nludicrous anachronisms and mean incidents. St. Paul, in allusion to his\nlow stature, is mounted on a stool; an angel is sawing through one\nleg of it; Tertullus is a barrister, in wig, band, and gown; the judge\nis like an old doting justice of peace, and his attendants like old\nbeggars.\n\nIn the Florentine Gallery there is a very curious series of the lives\nof St. Peter and St. Paul in eight pictures, in the genuine old German\nstyle; fanciful, animated, full of natural and dramatic expression,\nand exquisitely finished,\u2014but dry, hard, grotesque, and abounding in\nanachronisms.[202]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAmong the few separate historical subjects in which St. Peter and St.\nPaul are represented together, the most important is the dispute at\nAntioch,\u2014a subject avoided by the earliest painters. St. Paul says,\n\u2018When Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because\nhe was to be blamed.\u2019 Guido\u2019s picture in the _Brera_ at _Milan_ is\ncelebrated: Peter is seated, looking thoughtful, with downcast eyes,\nan open book on his knees; Paul, in an attitude of rebuke, stands over\nagainst him. There is another example by Rosso: here both are standing;\nPeter is looking down; Paul, with long hair and beard floating back,\nand a keen reproving expression, \u2018rebukes him to his face.\u2019  I presume\nthe same subject to be represented by Lucas van Leyden in a rare and\nbeautiful little print, in which St. Peter and St. Paul are seated\ntogether in earnest conversation. St. Peter holds a _key_ in his right\nhand, and points with the other to a book which lies on his knees. St.\nPaul is about to turn the leaf, and his right hand appears to rebuke\nSt. Peter; his left foot is on the _sword_ which lies at his feet.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\u2018The Parting of St. Peter and St. Paul before they are led to death.\u2019\nThe scene is without the gates of Rome; and as the soldiers drag Peter\naway, he turns back to Paul with a pathetic expression. This picture,\nnow in the Louvre, is one of Lanfranco\u2019s best compositions.[203]\n\nWhen the crucifixion of St. Peter and the decollation of St. Paul\nare represented together in the same picture, such a picture must be\nconsidered as religious and devotional, not historical; it does not\nexpress the action as it really occurred, but, like many pictures\nof the crucifixion of our Saviour, it is placed before us as an\nexcitement to piety, self-sacrifice, and repentance. We have this kind\nof treatment in a picture by Niccol\u00f2 dell\u2019 Abate:[204] St. Paul kneels\nbefore a block, and the headsman stands with sword uplifted in act to\nstrike; in the background, two other executioners grasp St. Peter, who\nis kneeling on his cross and praying fervently: above, in a glory, is\nseen the Virgin; in her arms the Infant Christ, who delivers to two\nangels palm-branches for the martyred saints. The genius of Niccol\u00f2 was\nnot precisely fitted for this class of subjects. But the composition\nis full of poetical feeling. The introduction of the Madonna and Child\nstamps the character of the picture as devotional, not historical\u2014it\nwould otherwise be repulsive, and out of keeping with the subject.\n\nThere is a Martyrdom of St. Peter and St. Paul engraved after\nParmigiano,[205] which I shall notice on account of its careless and\nerroneous treatment. They are put to death together; an executioner\nprepares to decapitate St. Peter, and another drags St. Paul by the\nbeard: the incidents are historically false, and, moreover, in a\ndegraded and secular taste. These are the mistakes that make us turn\ndisgusted from the technical facility, elegance, and power of the\nsixteenth century, to the simplicity and reverential truth of the\nfourteenth.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThere are various traditions concerning the relics of St. Peter and\nSt. Paul. According to some, the bodies of the two apostles were, in\nthe reign of Heliogabalus, deposited by the Christian converts in the\ncatacombs of Rome, and were laid in the same sepulchre. After the lapse\nof about two hundred years, the Greek or Oriental Christians attempted\nto carry them off; but were opposed by the Roman Christians. The Romans\nconquered; and the two bodies were transported to the church of the\nVatican, where they reposed together in a magnificent shrine, beneath\nthe church. Among the engravings in the work of Ciampini and Bosio are\ntwo rude old pictures commemorating this event. The first represents\nthe combat of the Orientals and the Romans for the bodies of the\nSaints; in the other, the bodies are deposited in the Vatican. In these\ntwo ancient representations, which were placed in the portico of the\nold basilica of St. Peter, the traditional types may be recognised\u2014the\nbroad full features, short curled beard, and bald head of St. Peter,\nand the oval face and long beard of St. Paul.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nHere I must conclude this summary of the lives and characters of the\ntwo greatest apostles, as they have been exhibited in Christian Art;\nto do justice to the theme would have required a separate volume. One\nobservation, however, suggests itself, and cannot be passed over. The\nusual type of the head of St. Peter, though often ill rendered and\ndegraded by coarseness, can in general be recognised as characteristic;\nbut is there among the thousand representations of the apostle Paul,\n_one_ on which the imagination can rest completely satisfied? I know\nnot one. No doubt the sublimest ideal of embodied eloquence that ever\nwas expressed in Art is Raphael\u2019s St. Paul preaching at Athens. He\nstands there the delegated voice of the true God, the antagonist and\nconqueror of the whole heathen world:\u2014\u2018Whom ye ignorantly worship,\nHIM declare I unto you\u2019\u2014is not this what he says? Every feature, nay,\nevery fold in his drapery, speaks; as in the other St. Paul leaning\non his sword (in the famous St. Cecilia), every feature and every\nfold of drapery meditates. The latter is as fine in its tranquil\nmelancholy grandeur, as the former in its authoritative energy: in the\none the orator, in the other the philosopher, were never more finely\nrendered: but is it, in either, the Paul of Tarsus whom we know? It\nwere certainly both unnecessary and pedantic to adhere so closely\nto historic fact as to make St. Paul of diminutive stature, and St.\nPeter weak-eyed: but has Raphael done well in wholly rejecting the\ntraditional portrait which reflected to us the Paul of Scripture,\nthe man of many toils and many sorrows, wasted with vigils, worn\ndown with travel, whose high bald forehead, thin flowing hair, and\nlong pointed beard, spoke so plainly the fervent and indomitable,\nyet meditative and delicate, organisation,\u2014and in substituting this\nJupiter Ammon head, with the dark redundant hair, almost hiding the\nbrow, and the full bushy beard? This is one of the instances in which\nRaphael, in yielding to the fashion of his time, has erred, as it\nseems to me,\u2014though I say it with all reverence! The St. Paul rending\nhis garments at Lystra, and rejecting the sacrifice of the misguided\npeople, is more particularly false as to the character of the man,\nthough otherwise so grandly expressive, that we are obliged to admire\nwhat our better sense\u2014our _conscience_\u2014cannot wholly approve.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nI shall now consider the rest of the apostles in their proper order.\n\n\n                              ST. ANDREW.\n\n_Lat._ S. Andreas. _Ital._ Sant\u2019 Andrea. _Fr._ St. Andr\u00e9. Patron saint\n              of Scotland and of Russia. Nov. 30 A.D. 70.\n\nSt. Andrew was the brother of Simon Peter, and the first who was called\nto the apostleship. Nothing farther is recorded of him in Scripture:\nhe is afterwards merely included by name in the general account of the\napostles.\n\nIn the traditional and legendary history of St. Andrew we are told,\nthat after our Lord\u2019s ascension, when the apostles dispersed to\npreach the Gospel to all nations, St. Andrew travelled into Scythia,\nCappadocia, and Bithynia, everywhere converting multitudes to the\nfaith. The Russians believe that he was the first to preach to the\nMuscovites in Sarmatia, and thence he has been honoured as titular\nsaint of the empire of Russia. After many sufferings, he returned to\nJerusalem, and thence travelled into Greece, and came at length to\na city of Achaia, called Patras. Here he made many converts; among\nothers, Maximilla, the wife of the proconsul \u00c6geus, whom he persuaded\nto make a public profession of Christianity. The proconsul, enraged,\ncommanded him to be seized and scourged, and then crucified. The cross\non which he suffered was of a peculiar form (_crux decussata_), since\ncalled the St. Andrew\u2019s cross; and it is expressly said that he was not\nfastened to his cross with nails, but with cords,\u2014a circumstance always\nattended to in the representations of his death. It is, however, to be\nremembered, that while all authorities agree that he was crucified, and\nthat the manner of his crucifixion was peculiar, they are not agreed\nas to the form of his cross. St. Peter Chrysologos says that it was\na tree: another author affirms that it was an olive tree. The Abb\u00e9\nM\u00e9ry remarks, that it is a mistake to give the transverse cross to\nSt. Andrew; that it ought not to differ from the cross of our Lord.\nHis reasons are not absolutely conclusive:\u2014\u2018Il suffit pour montrer\nqu\u2019ils sont l\u00e0-dessus dans l\u2019erreur, de voir _la croix v\u00e9ritable_ de\nSt. Andr\u00e9, conserv\u00e9e dans l\u2019\u00c9glise de St. Victor de Marseille; on\ntrouvera qu\u2019elle est \u00e0 angles droits,\u2019 &c.[206] Seeing is believing;\nnevertheless, the form is fixed by tradition and usage, and ought not\nto be departed from, though Michael Angelo has done so in the figure of\nSt. Andrew in the Last Judgment, and there are several examples in the\nItalian masters.[207] The legend goes on to relate, that St. Andrew, on\napproaching the cross prepared for his execution, saluted and adored\nit on his knees, as being already consecrated by the sufferings of the\nRedeemer, and met his death triumphantly. Certain of his relics were\nbrought from Patras to Scotland in the fourth century, and since that\ntime St. Andrew has been honoured as the patron saint of Scotland, and\nof its chief order of knighthood. He is also the patron saint of the\nfamous Burgundian Order, the Golden Fleece; and of Russia and its chief\nOrder, the Cross of St. Andrew.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nSince the fourteenth century, St. Andrew is generally distinguished in\nworks of art by the transverse cross; the devotional pictures in which\nhe figures as one of the series of apostles, or singly as patron saint,\nrepresent him as a very old man with some kind of brotherly resemblance\nto St. Peter; his hair and beard silver white, long, loose, and\nflowing, and in general the beard is divided; he leans upon his cross,\nand holds the Gospel in his right hand.\n\n[Illustration: 74 St. Andrew (Peter Vischer)]\n\nThe historical subjects from the life of St. Andrew, treated separately\nfrom the rest of the apostles, are very few; his crucifixion is the\nonly one that I have found treated before the fifteenth century. On\nthe ancient doors of San Paolo, the instrument of his martyrdom has the\nshape of a Y, and resembles a tree split down the middle. The cross in\nsome later pictures is very lofty, and resembles the rough branches of\na tree laid transversely.\n\nI know but two other subjects relating to the life of St. Andrew which\nhave been separately treated in the later schools of art\u2014the Adoration\nof the Cross, and the Flagellation.\n\n\u2018St. Andrew adoring his cross,\u2019 by Andrea Sacchi, is remarkable for\nits simplicity and fine expression; it contains only three figures.\nSt Andrew, half undraped, and with his silver hair and beard floating\ndishevelled, kneels, gazing up to the cross with ecstatic devotion; he\nis addressing to it his famous invocation:\u2014\u2018Salve, Croce preziosa! che\nfosti consecrata dal corpo del mio Dio!\u2019\u2014an executioner stands by, and\na fierce soldier, impatient of delay, urges him on to death.[208]\n\n\u2018St. Andrew taken down from the cross\u2019 is a fine effective picture by\nRibera.[209]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWhen Guido and Domenichino painted, in emulation of each other,\nthe frescoes in the chapel of Sant\u2019 Andrea in the church of San\nGregorio, at Rome, Guido chose for his subject the Adoration of the\nCross. The scene is supposed to be outside the walls of Patras in\nAchaia; the cross is at a distance in the background; St. Andrew, as\nhe approaches, falls down in adoration before the instrument of his\nmartyrdom, consecrated by the death of his Lord; he is attended by one\nsoldier on horseback, one on foot, and three executioners; a group of\nwomen and alarmed children in the foreground are admirable for grace\nand feeling\u2014they are, in fact, the best part of the picture. On the\nopposite wall of the chapel Domenichino painted the Flagellation of\nSt. Andrew, a subject most difficult to treat effectively, and retain\nat the same time the dignity of the suffering apostle, while avoiding\nall resemblance to a similar scene in the life of Christ. Here he is\nbound down on a sort of table; one man lifts a rod, another seems\nto taunt the prostrate saint; a lictor drives back the people. The\ngroup of the mother and frightened children, which Domenichino so\noften introduces with little variation, is here very beautiful; the\njudge and lictors are seen behind, with a temple and a city in the\ndistance. When Domenichino painted the same subject in the church of\nSant\u2019 Andrea-della-Valle, he chose another moment, and administered\nthe torture after a different manner: the apostle is bound by his\nhands and feet to four short posts set firmly in the ground; one of\nthe executioners in tightening a cord breaks it and falls back; three\nmen prepare to scourge him with _thongs_: in the foreground we have\nthe usual group of the mother and her frightened children. This is\na composition full of dramatic life and movement, but unpleasing.\nDomenichino painted in the same church the crucifixion of the saint,\nand his apotheosis surmounts the whole.\n\nAll these compositions are of great celebrity in the history of Art for\ncolour and for expression. Lanzi says, that the personages, \u2018if endued\nwith speech, could not say more to the ear than they do to the eye.\u2019\nBut, in power and pathos, none of them equal the picture of Murillo,\nof which we have the original study in England.[210] St. Andrew is\nsuspended on the high cross, formed, not of planks, but of the trunks\nof trees laid transversely. He is bound with cords, undraped, except\nby a linen cloth; his silver hair and beard loosely streaming in the\nair; his aged countenance illuminated by a heavenly transport, as he\nlooks up to the opening skies, whence two angels of really celestial\nbeauty, like almost all Murillo\u2019s angels, descend with the crown and\npalm. In front, to the right, is a group of shrinking sympathising\nwomen; and a boy turns away, crying with a truly boyish grief; on the\nleft are guards and soldiers. The subject is here rendered poetical by\nmere force of feeling; there is a tragic reality in the whole scene,\nfar more effective, to my taste, than the more studied compositions\nof the Italian painters. The martyrdom of St. Andrew, and the saint\npreaching the Gospel, by Juan de Roelas, are also mentioned as splendid\nproductions of the Seville school.\n\nI think it possible that St. Andrew may owe his popularity in the\nSpanish and Flemish schools of art to his being the patron saint of\nthe far-famed Burgundian Order of the Golden Fleece. At the time\nthat Constantinople was taken, and the relics of St. Andrew dispersed\nin consequence, a lively enthusiasm for this apostle was excited\nthroughout all Christendom. He had been previously honoured chiefly as\nthe brother of St. Peter; he obtained thenceforth a kind of personal\ninterest and consideration. Philip of Burgundy (A.D. 1433), who had\nobtained at great cost a portion of the precious relics, consisting\nchiefly of some pieces of his cross, placed under the protection of the\napostle his new order of chivalry, which, according to the preamble,\nwas intended to revive the honour and the memory of the Argonauts. His\nknights wore as their badge the cross of St. Andrew.\n\n\n                         ST. JAMES THE GREAT.\n\n     _Lat._ Sanctus Jacobus Major. _Ital._ San Giacomo, or Jacopo,\n Maggiore. _Fr._ St. Jacques Majeur. _Spa._ San Jago, or Santiago. El\n           Tutelar. Patron saint of Spain. July 25. A.D. 44.\n\nSt. James the Great, or the Elder, or St. James _Major_, was nearly\nrelated to Christ, and, with his brother John (the evangelist) and\nPeter, he seems to have been admitted to particular favour, travelled\nwith the Lord, and was present at most of the events recorded in the\nGospels. He was one of the three who were permitted to witness the\nglorification of Christ on Mount Tabor, and one of those who slept\nduring the agony in the garden. After our Saviour\u2019s ascension, nothing\nis recorded concerning him, except the fact that Herod slew him with\nthe sword. In the ancient traditions he is described as being of a\nzealous and affectionate temper, easily excited to anger: of this we\nhave a particular instance in his imprecation against the inhospitable\nSamaritans, for which Christ rebuked him: \u2018Ye know not what manner of\nspirit ye are of. The Son of man is not come to destroy men\u2019s lives,\nbut to save them.\u2019 (Luke, ix. 55.)\n\nAs Scripture makes no farther mention of one so distinguished by his\nzeal and by his near relationship to the Saviour, the legends of the\nmiddle ages have supplied this deficiency; and so amply, that St.\nJames, as St. Jago or SANTIAGO, the military patron of Spain, became\none of the most renowned saints in Christendom, and one of the most\npopular subjects of Western Art. Many of these subjects are so\nsingular, that, in order to render them intelligible, I must give\nthe legend at full length as it was followed by the artists of the\nfourteenth and fifteenth centuries.\n\nAccording to the Spanish legend, the apostle James was the son of\nZebedee, an illustrious baron of Galilee, who, being the proprietor\nof ships, was accustomed to fish along the shores of a certain lake\ncalled Gennesareth, but solely for his good pleasure and recreation:\nfor who can suppose that Spain, that nation of Hidalgos and Caballeros,\nwould ever have chosen for her patron, or accepted as the leader and\ncaptain-general of her armies, a poor ignoble fisherman? It remains,\ntherefore, indisputable, that this glorious apostle, who was our Lord\u2019s\ncousin-german, was of noble lineage, and worthy of his spurs as a\nknight and a gentleman;\u2014so in Dante:\u2014\n\n                   Ecco _il Barone_\n    Per cui laggi\u00f9 si visita Galizia.\u2018\n\nBut it pleased him, in his great humility, to follow, while on earth,\nthe example of his divine Lord, and reserve his warlike prowess till\ncalled upon to slaughter, by thousands and tens of thousands, those\nwicked Moors, the perpetual enemies of Christ and his servants. Now,\nas James and his brother John were one day in their father\u2019s ship\nwith his hired servants, and were employed in mending the nets, the\nLord, who was walking on the shores of the lake, called them; and they\nleft all and followed him; and became thenceforward his most favoured\ndisciples, and the witnesses of his miracles while on earth. After\nthe ascension of Christ, James preached the Gospel in Judea; then he\ntravelled over the whole world, and came at last to Spain, where he\nmade very few converts, by reason of the ignorance and darkness of\nthe people. One day, as he stood with his disciples on the banks of\nthe Ebro, the blessed Virgin appeared to him seated on the top of a\npillar of jasper, and surrounded by a choir of angels; and the apostle\nhaving thrown himself on his face, she commanded him to build on that\nspot a chapel for her worship, assuring him that all this province of\nSaragossa, though now in the darkness of paganism, would at a future\ntime be distinguished by devotion to her. He did as the holy Virgin\nhad commanded, and this was the origin of a famous church afterwards\nknown as that of Our Lady of the Pillar (\u2019_Nuestra Se\u00f1ora del\nPillar_\u2018). Then St. James, having founded the Christian faith in Spain,\nreturned to Judea, where he preached for many years, and performed many\nwonders and miracles in the sight of the people: and it happened that a\ncertain sorcerer, whose name was Hermogenes,[211] set himself against\nthe apostle, just as Simon Magus had wickedly and vainly opposed St.\nPeter, and with the like result. Hermogenes sent his scholar Philetus\nto dispute with James, and to compete with him in wondrous works; but,\nas you will easily believe, he had no chance against the apostle, and,\nconfessing himself vanquished, he returned to his master, to whom he\nannounced his intention to follow henceforth James and his doctrine.\nThen Hermogenes, in a rage, bound Philetus by his diabolical spells,\nso that he could not move hand or foot; saying, \u2018Let us now see if\nthy new master can deliver thee:\u2019 and Philetus sent his servant to\nSt. James, praying for aid. Then the apostle took off his cloak, and\ngave it to the servant to give his master; and no sooner had Philetus\ntouched it, than he became free, and hastened to throw himself at the\nfeet of his deliverer. Hermogenes, more furious than ever, called to\nthe demons who served him, and commanded that they should bring to him\nJames and Philetus, bound in fetters; but on their way the demons met\nwith a company of angels, who seized upon them, and punished them for\ntheir wicked intentions, till they cried for mercy. Then St. James said\nto them, \u2018Go back to him who sent ye, and bring him hither bound.\u2019\nAnd they did so; and having laid the sorcerer down at the feet of St.\nJames, they besought him, saying, \u2018Now give us power to be avenged\nof our enemy and thine!\u2019 But St. James rebuked them, saying, \u2018Christ\nhath commanded us to do good for evil.\u2019 So he delivered Hermogenes\nfrom their hands; and the magician, being utterly confounded, cast his\nbooks into the sea, and desired of St. James that he would protect him\nagainst the demons, his former servants. Then St. James gave him his\nstaff, as the most effectual means of defence against the infernal\nspirits; and Hermogenes became a faithful disciple and preacher of the\nword from that day.\n\nBut the evil-minded Jews, being more and more incensed, took James and\nbound him, and brought him before the tribunal of Herod Agrippa; and\none of those who dragged him along, touched by the gentleness of his\ndemeanour, and by his miracles of mercy, was converted, and supplicated\nto die with him; and the apostle gave him the kiss of peace, saying,\n\u2018Pax vobis!\u2019 and the kiss and the words together have remained as a\nform of benediction in the Church to this day. Then they were both\nbeheaded, and so died.\n\nAnd the disciples of St. James came and took away his body; and, not\ndaring to bury it, for fear of the Jews, they carried it to Joppa, and\nplaced it on board of a ship: some say that the ship was of marble,\nbut this is not authenticated; however, it is most certain that angels\nconducted the ship miraculously to the coast of Spain, where they\narrived in seven days; and, sailing through the straits called the\nPillars of Hercules, they landed at length in Galicia, at a port called\nIria Flavia, now Padron.\n\nIn those days there reigned over the country a certain queen whose\nname was Lupa, and she and all her people were plunged in wickedness\nand idolatry. Now, having come to shore, they laid the body of the\napostle upon a great stone, which became like wax, and, receiving the\nbody, closed around it: this was a sign that the saint willed to remain\nthere; but the wicked queen Lupa was displeased, and she commanded\nthat they should harness some wild bulls to a car, and place on it the\nbody, with the self-formed tomb, hoping that they would drag it to\ndestruction. But in this she was mistaken; for the wild bulls, when\nsigned by the cross, became as docile as sheep, and they drew the body\nof the apostle straight into the court of her palace. When Queen Lupa\nbeheld this miracle, she was confounded, and she and all her people\nbecame Christians: she built a magnificent church to receive the sacred\nremains, and died in the odour of sanctity.\n\nBut then came the darkness and ruin which during the invasion of the\nBarbarians overshadowed all Spain; and the body of the apostle was\nlost, and no one knew where to find it, till, in the year 800, the\nplace of sepulture was revealed to a certain holy friar.\n\nThen they caused the body of the saint to be transported to\nCompostella; and, in consequence of the surprising miracles which\ngraced his shrine, he was honoured not merely in Galicia, but\nthroughout all Spain. He became the patron saint of the Spaniards, and\nCompostella, as a place of pilgrimage, was renowned throughout Europe.\nFrom all countries bands of pilgrims resorted there, so that sometimes\nthere were no less than a hundred thousand in one year. The military\nOrder of Saint Jago, enrolled by Don Alphonso for their protection,\nbecame one of the greatest and richest in Spain.\n\nNow, if I should proceed to recount all the wonderful deeds enacted\nby Santiago in behalf of his chosen people, they would fill a volume.\nThe Spanish historians number thirty-eight visible apparitions, in\nwhich this glorious saint descended from heaven in person, and took the\ncommand of their armies against the Moors. The first of these, and the\nmost famous of all, I shall now relate.\n\nIn the year of our Lord 939, King Ramirez, having vowed to deliver\nCastile from the shameful tribute imposed by the Moors, of one hundred\nvirgins delivered annually, collected his troops, and defied their king\nAbdelraman, to battle:\n\n    The king call\u2019d God to witness, that, came there weal or woe,\n    Thenceforth no maiden tribute from out Castile should go.\u2014\n    \u2018At least I will do battle on God our Saviour\u2019s foe,\n    And die beneath my banner before I see it so!\u2019\n\nAccordingly he charged the Moorish host on the plain of Alveida\nor Clavijo: after a furious conflict, the Christians were, by the\npermission of Heaven, defeated, and forced to retire. Night separated\nthe combatants, and King Ramirez, overpowered with fatigue, and sad at\nheart, flung himself upon his couch and slept. In his sleep he beheld\nthe apostle St. Jago, who promised to be with him next morning in\nthe field, and assured him of victory. The king, waking up from the\nglorious vision, sent for his prelates and officers, to whom he related\nit; and the next morning, at the head of his army, he recounted it to\nhis soldiers, bidding them rely on heavenly aid. He then ordered the\ntrumpets to sound to battle. The soldiers, inspired with fresh courage,\nrushed to the fight. Suddenly St. Jago was seen mounted on a milk-white\ncharger, and waving aloft a white standard; he led on the Christians,\nwho gained a decisive victory, leaving 60,000 Moors dead on the\nfield. This was the famous battle of Clavijo; and ever since that day,\n\u2018SANTIAGO!\u2019 has been the war-cry of the Spanish armies.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nBut it was not only on such great occasions that the invincible patron\nof Spain was pleased to exhibit his power: he condescended oftentimes\nto interfere for the protection of the poor and oppressed, of which I\nwill now give a notable instance, as it is related by Pope Calixtus II.\n\nThere was a certain German, who with his wife and son went on a\npilgrimage to St. James of Compostella. Having come as far as Torlosa,\nthey lodged at an inn there; and the host had a fair daughter, who,\nlooking on the son of the pilgrim, a handsome and a graceful youth,\nbecame deeply enamoured; but he, being virtuous, and, moreover, on his\nway to a holy shrine, refused to listen to her allurements. Then she\nthought how she might be avenged for this slight put upon her charms,\nand hid in his wallet her father\u2019s silver drinking-cup. The next\nmorning, no sooner were they departed, than the host, discovering his\nloss, pursued them, accused them before the judge, and the cup being\nfound in the young man\u2019s wallet, he was condemned to be hung, and all\nthey possessed was confiscated to the host.\n\nThen the afflicted parents pursued their way lamenting, and made their\nprayer and their complaint before the altar of the blessed Saint Jago;\nand thirty-six days afterwards as they returned by the spot where\ntheir son hung on the gibbet, they stood beneath it, weeping and\nlamenting bitterly. Then the son spoke and said, \u2018O my mother! O my\nfather! do not lament for me, for I have never been in better cheer;\nthe blessed apostle James is at my side, sustaining me and filling\nme with celestial comfort and joy!\u2019 The parents, being astonished,\nhastened to the judge, who at that moment was seated at table, and the\nmother called out, \u2018Our son lives!\u2019 The judge mocked at them: \u2018What\nsayest thou, good woman? thou art beside thyself! If thy son liveth,\nso do those fowls in my dish.\u2019 And lo! scarcely had he uttered the\nwords, when the fowls (being a cock and a hen) rose up full-feathered\nin the dish, and the cock began to crow, to the great admiration of\nthe judge and his attendants.[212] Then the judge rose up from table\nhastily, and called together the priests and the lawyers, and they went\nin procession to the gibbet, took down the young man, and restored\nhim to his parents; and the miraculous cock and hen were placed under\nthe protection of the Church, where they and their posterity long\nflourished in testimony of this stupendous miracle.\n\nThere are many other legends of St. James; the Spanish chroniclers in\nprose and verse abound in such; but, in general, they are not merely\nincredible, but puerile and unpoetical; and I have here confined myself\nto those which I know to have been treated in Art.\n\nPrevious to the twelfth century, St. James is only distinguished among\nthe apostles by his place, which is the fourth in the series, the\nsecond after St. Peter and St. Paul. In some instances he is portrayed\nwith a family resemblance to Christ, being his kinsman; the thin\nbeard, and the hair parted and flowing down on each side. But from the\nthirteenth century it became a fashion to characterise St. James as a\npilgrim of Compostella: he bears the peculiar long staff, to which the\nwallet or gourd of water is suspended; the cloak with a long cape, the\nscallop-shell on his shoulder or on his flapped hat. Where the cape,\nhat, and scallop-shells are omitted, the staff, borne as the first of\nthe apostles who departed to fulfil his Gospel mission, remains his\nconstant attribute, and by this he may be recognised in the Madonna\npictures, and when grouped with other saints.\n\n[Illustration: 75 St. James Major (Gio. Santi)]\n\nThe single devotional figures of St. James represent him in two\ndistinct characters:\u2014\n\n1. As tutelar saint of Spain, and conqueror of the Moors. In his\npilgrim habit, mounted on a white charger, and waving a white banner,\nwith white hair and beard streaming like a meteor, or sometimes armed\nin complete steel, spurred like a knight, his casque shadowed by white\nplumes, he tramples over the prostrate Infidels; so completely was the\nhumble, gentle-spirited apostle of Christ merged in the spirit of the\nreligious chivalry of the time. This is a subject frequent in Spanish\nschools. The figure over the high altar of Santiago is described as\nvery grand when seen in the solemn twilight.\n\n[Illustration: 76 Santiago (Carre\u00f1o de Miranda)]\n\n[Illustration: 77 St. James Major (A. del Sarto)]\n\n2. St. James as patron saint in the general sense. The most beautiful\nexample I have met with is a picture in the Florence Gallery, painted\nby Andrea del Sarto for the Compagnia or Confraternita of Sant\u2019\nJacopo, and intended to figure as a standard in their processions. The\nMadonna di San Sisto of Raphael was painted for a similar purpose: and\nsuch are still commonly used in the religious processions in Italy;\nbut they have no longer Raphaels and Andrea-del-Sartos to paint them.\nIn this instance the picture has a particular form, high and narrow,\nadapted to its especial purpose: St. James wears a green tunic, and a\nrich crimson mantle; and as one of the purposes of the Compagnia was to\neducate poor orphans, they are represented by the two boys at his feet.\nThis picture suffered from the sun and the weather, to which it had\nbeen a hundred times exposed in yearly processions; but it has been\nwell restored, and is admirable for its vivid colouring as well as the\nbenign attitude and expression.\n\n3. St. James seated; he holds a large book bound in vellum (the\nGospels) in his left hand\u2014and with his right points to heaven: by\nGuercino, in the gallery of Count Harrach, at Vienna. One of the finest\npictures by Guercino I have seen.\n\nPictures from the life of St. James singly, or as a series, are not\ncommon; but among those which remain to us there are several of great\nbeauty and interest.\n\nIn the series of frescoes painted in a side chapel of the church of St.\nAntony of Padua (A.D. 1376), once called the Capella di San Giacomo,\nand now San Felice, the old legend of St. James has been exactly\nfollowed; and though ruined in many parts, and in others coarsely\nrepainted, these works remain as compositions amongst the most curious\nmonuments of the _Trecentisti_. It appears that, towards the year\n1376, Messer Bonifacio de\u2019 Lupi da Parma, Cavaliere e Marchese di\nSerana, who boasted of his descent from the Queen Lupa of the legend,\ndedicated this chapel to St. James of Spain (San Jacopo di Galizia),\nand employed M. Jacopo Avanzi to decorate it, who no doubt bestowed his\nbest workmanship on his patron saint. The subjects are thus arranged,\nbeginning with the lunette on the left hand, which is divided into\nthree compartments:\n\n1. Hermogenes sends Philetus to dispute with St. James. 2. St. James in\nhis pulpit converts Philetus. 3. Hermogenes sends his demons to bind\nSt. James and Philetus. 4. Hermogenes brought bound to St. James. 5.\nHe burns his books of magic. 6. Hermogenes and Philetus are conversing\nin a friendly manner with St. James. 7. St. James is martyred. 8. The\narrival of his body in Spain in a marble ship steered by an angel. 9.\nThe disciples lay the body on a rock, while Queen Lupa and her sister\nand another personage look on from a window in her palace. Then follow\ntwo compartments on the side where the window is broken out, much\nruined; they represented apparently the imprisonment of the disciples.\n12. The disciples escape and are pursued, and their pursuers with their\nhorses are drowned. 13. The wild bulls draw the sarcophagus into the\ncourt of Queen Lupa\u2019s palace. 14. Baptism of Lupa. 15 and 16 (lower\ncompartments to the left): St. Jago appears to King Ramirez, and the\ndefeat of the Moors at Clavijo.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThere is a rare and curious print by Martin Schoen, in which the\napparition of St. James at Clavijo is represented not in the Spanish\nbut the German style. It is an animated composition of many figures.\nThe saint appears on horseback in the midst, wearing his pilgrim\u2019s\ndress, with the cockle-shell in his hat: the Infidels are trampled\ndown, or fly before him.\n\n[Illustration: 78 The miracle of the Fowls (Lo Spagna)]\n\nOn the road from Spoleto to Foligno, about four miles from Spoleto,\nthere is a small chapel dedicated to St. James of Galizia. The frescoes\nrepresenting the miracles of the saint were painted by Lo Spagna (A.D.\n1526), the friend and fellow pupil of Raphael. In the vault of the\napsis is the Coronation of the Virgin; she kneels, attired in white\ndrapery flowered with gold, and the whole group, though inferior in\npower, appeared to me in delicacy and taste far superior to the fresco\nof Fra Filippo Lippi at Spoleto, from which Passavant thinks it is\nborrowed.[213] Immediately under the Coronation, in the centre, is a\nfigure of St. James as patron saint, standing with his pilgrim\u2019s staff\nin one hand, and the Gospel in the other; his dress is a yellow tunic\nwith a blue mantle thrown over it. In the compartment on the left, the\nyouth is seen suspended on the gibbet, while St. James with his hands\nunder his feet sustains him; the father and mother look up at him with\nastonishment. In the compartment to the right, we see the judge seated\nat dinner, attended by his servants, one of whom is bringing in a dish:\nthe two pilgrims appear to have just told their story, and the cock and\nhen have risen up in the dish (78). These frescoes are painted with\ngreat elegance and animation, and the story is told with much na\u00efvet\u00e9.\nI found the same legend painted on one of the lower windows of the\nchurch of St. Ouen, and on a window of the right-hand aisle in St.\nVincent\u2019s at Rouen.\n\n\nOf ST. JOHN, who is the fifth in the series, I have spoken at large\nunder the head of the Evangelists.\n\n\n                              ST. PHILIP.\n\n _Ital._ San Filippo Apostolo. _Fr._ Saint Philippe. Patron of Brabant\n                        and Luxembourg. May 1.\n\nOf St. Philip there are few notices in the Gospel. He was born at\nBethsaida, and he was one of the first of those whom our Lord summoned\nto follow him. After the ascension, he travelled into Scythia, and\nremained there preaching the Gospel for twenty years; he then preached\nat Hieropolis in Phrygia, where he found the people addicted to the\nworship of a monstrous serpent or dragon, or of the god Mars under that\nform. Taking compassion on their blindness, the apostle commanded the\nserpent, in the name of the cross he held in his hand, to disappear,\nand immediately the reptile glided out from beneath the altar, at the\nsame time emitting such a hideous stench, that many people died, and\namong them the king\u2019s son fell dead in the arms of his attendants: but\nthe apostle, by Divine power, restored him to life. Then the priests of\nthe dragon were incensed against him, and they took him, and crucified\nhim, and being bound on the cross they stoned him; thus he yielded up\nhis spirit to God, praying, like his Divine Master, for his enemies and\ntormentors.\n\nAccording to the Scripture, St. Philip had four daughters, who were\nprophetesses, and made many converts to the faith of Christ (Acts, xxi.\n9). In the Greek calendar, St. Mariamne, his sister, and St. Hermione,\nhis daughter, are commemorated as martyrs.\n\n[Illustration: 79 St. Philip (A. D\u00fcrer)]\n\nWhen St. Philip is represented alone, or as one of the series of\napostles, he is generally a man in the prime of life, with little\nbeard, and with a benign countenance, being described as of a\nremarkably cheerful and affectionate nature. He bears, as his\nattribute, a cross, which varies in form; sometimes it is a small\ncross, which he carries in his hand; sometimes a high cross in the form\nof a T, or a tall staff with a small Latin cross at the top of it (79).\nThe cross of St. Philip may have a treble signification: it may allude\nto his martyrdom; or to his conquest over the idols through the power\nof the cross; or, when placed on the top of the pilgrim\u2019s staff, it may\nallude to his mission among the barbarians as preacher of the cross of\nsalvation. Single figures of St. Philip as patron are not common: there\nis a fine statue of him on the fa\u00e7ade of San Michele at Florence; and a\nnoble figure by Beccafumi, reading;[214] another, seated and reading,\nby Ulrich Mair.[215]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nSubjects from the life of St. Philip, whether as single pictures or\nin a series, are also rarely met with. As he was the first called by\nour Saviour to leave all and follow him, and his vocation therefore a\nfestival in the Church, it must, I think, have been treated apart; but\nI have not met with it. I know but of three historical subjects taken\nfrom his life:\u2014\n\n1. Bonifazio. St. Philip stands before the Saviour: the attitude of the\nlatter is extremely dignified, that of Philip supplicatory; the other\napostles are seen in the background: the colouring and expression\nof the whole like Titian. The subject of this splendid picture is\nexpressed by the inscription underneath (John, xiv. 14): \u2018Domine,\nostende nobis Patrem, et sufficit nobis.\u2019 \u2018Philippe, qui videt me,\nvidet et Patrem meum: ego et Pater unum sumus.\u2018[216]\n\n2. St. Philip exorcises the serpent. The scene is the interior of a\ntemple, an altar with the statue of the god Mars: a serpent, creeping\nfrom beneath the altar, slays the attendants with his poisonous and\nfiery breath. The ancient fresco in his chapel at Padua, described\nby Lord Lindsay, is extremely animated, but far inferior to the same\nsubject in the Santa Croce at Florence by Fra Filippo Lippi, where\nthe dignified attitude of the apostle, and the group of the king\u2019s\nson dying in the arms of the attendants, are admirably effective and\ndramatic. St. Philip, it must be observed, was the patron saint of the\npainter.\n\n3. The Crucifixion of St. Philip. According to the old Greek\ntraditions, he was crucified with his head downwards, and he is so\nrepresented on the gates of San Paolo; also in an old picture over the\ntomb of Cardinal Philippe d\u2019Alen\u00e7on, where his patron, St. Philip,\nis attached to the cross with cords, and head downwards, like St.\nPeter;[217] but in the old fresco by Giusto da Padova, in the Capella\ndi San Filippo, he is crucified in the usual manner, arrayed in a long\nred garment which descends to his feet.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIt is necessary to avoid confounding St. Philip the apostle with\nSt. Philip the deacon. It was Philip the deacon who baptized the\nchamberlain of Queen Candace, though the action has sometimes been\nattributed to Philip the apostle. The incident of the baptism of the\nEthiopian, taking place in the road, by running water, \u2018on the way that\ngoeth down from Jerusalem to Gaza,\u2019 has been introduced into several\nbeautiful landscapes with much picturesque effect. Claude has thus\ntreated it; Salvator Rosa; Jan Both, in a most beautiful picture in the\nQueen\u2019s Gallery; Rembrandt, Cuyp, and others.\n\n\n                           ST. BARTHOLOMEW.\n\n _Lat._ S. Bartholomeus. _Ital._ San Bartolomeo. _Fr._ St. Barth\u00e9lemi.\n                               Aug. 24.\n\nAs St. Bartholomew is nowhere mentioned in the canonical books, except\nby name in enumerating the apostles, there has been large scope for\nlegendary story, but in works of art he is not a popular saint.\nAccording to one tradition, he was the son of a husbandman; according\nto another, he was the son of a prince Ptolomeus. After the ascension\nof Christ he travelled into India, even to the confines of the\nhabitable world, carrying with him the Gospel of St. Matthew; returning\nthence, he preached in Armenia and Cilicia; and coming to the city of\nAlbanopolis, he was condemned to death as a Christian: he was first\nflayed and then crucified.\n\n[Illustration: 80 St. Bartholomew (Giotto)]\n\nIn single figures and devotional pictures, St. Bartholomew sometimes\ncarries in one hand a book, the Gospel of St. Matthew; but his peculiar\nattribute is a large knife, the instrument of his martyrdom. The\nlegends describe him as having a quantity of strong black hair and a\nbushy grizzled beard; and this portrait being followed very literally\nby the old German and Flemish painters, gives him, with his large\nknife, the look of a butcher. In the Italian pictures, though of a\nmilder and more dignified appearance, he has frequently black hair; and\nsometimes dark and resolute features; yet the same legend describes\nhim as of a cheerful countenance, wearing a purple robe and attended\nby angels. Sometimes St. Bartholomew has his own skin hanging over\nhis arm, as among the saints in Michael Angelo\u2019s Last Judgment, where\nhe is holding forth his skin in one hand, and grasping his knife in\nthe other: and in the statue by Marco Agrati in the Milan Cathedral,\nfamous for its anatomical precision and its boastful inscription, _Non\nme Praxiteles sed Marcus pinxit Agratis_. I found in the church of\nN\u00f4tre Dame at Paris a picture of St. Bartholomew healing the Princess\nof Armenia. With this exception, I know not any historical subject\nwhere this apostle is the principal figure, except his revolting and\ncruel martyrdom. In the early Greek representation on the gates of San\nPaolo, he is affixed to a cross, or rather to a post, with a small\ntransverse bar at top, to which his hands are fastened above his head;\nan executioner, with a knife in his hand, stoops at his feet. This is\nvery different from the representations in the modern schools. The\nbest, that is to say, the least disgusting, representation I have\nmet with, is a small picture by Agostino Caracci, in the Sutherland\nGallery, which once belonged to King Charles I.: it is easy to see\nthat the painter had the antique Marsyas in his mind. That dark\nferocious spirit, Ribera, found in it a theme congenial with his own\ntemperament;[218] he has not only painted it several times with a\nhorrible truth and power, but etched it elaborately with his own hand:\na small picture, copied from the etching, is at Hampton Court.\n\n\n                              ST. THOMAS.\n\n _Ital._ San Tomaso. _Sp._ San Tom\u00e9. Dec. 21. Patron Saint of Portugal\n                              and Parma.\n\nSt. Thomas, called _Didymus_ (the twin), takes, as apostle, the seventh\nplace. He was a Galilean and a fisherman, and we find him distinguished\namong the apostles on two occasions recorded in the Gospel. When\nJesus was going up to Bethany, being then in danger from the Jews,\nThomas said, \u2018Let us also go, that we may die with him.\u2019 (John, xi.\n16, xx. 25.) After the resurrection, he showed himself unwilling to\nbelieve in the reappearance of the crucified Saviour without ocular\ndemonstration: this incident is styled the Incredulity of Thomas. From\nthese two incidents we may form some idea of his character: courageous\nand affectionate, but not inclined to take things for granted; or, as\na French writer expresses it, \u2018brusque et r\u00e9solu, mais d\u2019un esprit\nexigeant.\u2019 After the ascension, St. Thomas travelled into the East,\npreaching the Gospel in far distant countries towards the rising sun.\nIt is a tradition received in the Church, that he penetrated as far\nas India; that there meeting with the three Wise Men of the East,\nhe baptized them; that he founded a church in India, and suffered\nmartyrdom there. It is related, that the Portuguese found at Meliapore\nan ancient inscription, purporting that St. Thomas had been pierced\nwith a lance at the foot of a cross which he had erected in that city,\nand that in 1523 his body was found there and transported to Goa.\n\nIn Correggio\u2019s fresco of St. Thomas as protector of Parma he is\nsurrounded by angels bearing exotic fruits, as expressing his ministry\nin India.\n\nThere are a number of extravagant and poetical legends relating to\nSt. Thomas. I shall here limit myself to those which were adopted in\necclesiastical decoration, and treated by the artists of the middle\nages.\n\nWhen St. Thomas figures as apostle, alone or with others, in all the\ndevotional representations which are not prior to the thirteenth\ncentury he carries as his attribute the builder\u2019s rule, of this form\u2014\n\n[Illustration]\n\nNow, as he was a fisherman, and neither a carpenter nor a mason, the\norigin of this attribute must be sought in one of the most popular\nlegends of which he is the subject.\n\n[Illustration: 81 St. Thomas the Apostle]\n\n\u2018When St. Thomas was at Cesarea, our Lord appeared to him and said,\n\u201cThe king of the Indies, Gondoforus, hath sent his provost Abanes\nto seek for workmen well versed in the science of architecture, who\nshall build for him a palace finer than that of the Emperor of Rome.\nBehold, now, I will send thee to him.\u201d And Thomas went, and Gondoforus\ncommanded him to build for him a magnificent palace, and gave him much\ngold and silver for the purpose. The king went into a distant country,\nand was absent for two years; and St. Thomas meanwhile, instead of\nbuilding a palace, distributed all the treasures entrusted to him among\nthe poor and sick; and when the king returned, he was full of wrath,\nand he commanded that St. Thomas should be seized and cast into prison,\nand he meditated for him a horrible death. Meantime the brother of the\nking died; and the king resolved to erect for him a most magnificent\ntomb; but the dead man, after that he had been dead four days, suddenly\narose and sat upright, and said to the king, \u201cThe man whom thou wouldst\ntorture is a servant of God: behold I have been in Paradise, and the\nangels showed to me a wondrous palace of gold and silver and precious\nstones,\u201d and they said, \u201cThis is the palace that Thomas the architect\nhath built for thy brother King Gondoforus.\u201d And when the king heard\nthese words, he ran to the prison, and delivered the apostle; and\nThomas said to him, \u201cKnowest thou not that those who would possess\nheavenly things, have little care for the things of this earth? There\nare in heaven rich palaces without number, which were prepared from the\nbeginning of the world for those who purchase the possession through\nfaith and charity. Thy riches, O king, may prepare the way for thee to\nsuch a palace, but they cannot follow thee thither.\u201d\u2019[219]\n\nThe builder\u2019s rule in the hand of St. Thomas characterises him as the\nspiritual architect of King Gondoforus, and for the same reason he has\nbeen chosen among the saints as patron of architects and builders.\n\nThere is in this legend or allegory, fanciful as it is, an obvious\nbeauty and significance, which I need not point out. It appears to me\nto be one of those many legends which originally were not assumed to\nbe facts, but were related as parables, religious fictions invented\nfor the instruction of the people, like our Saviour\u2019s stories of the\n\u2018Good Samaritan,\u2019 the \u2018Prodigal Son,\u2019 &c., and were rendered more\nstriking and impressive by the introduction of a celebrated and exalted\npersonage\u2014our Saviour, the Virgin, or one of the apostles\u2014as hero of\nthe tale. This beautiful legend of St. Thomas and King Gondoforus\nis painted on one of the windows of the cathedral at Bourges,\u2014an\nappropriate offering from the company of builders in that ancient\ncity. It is also the subject of one of the finest of the ancient\nFrench _mysteries_, which was acted with great applause at Paris in the\nfourteenth century.\n\nBut, in the historical subjects from the life of St. Thomas, the first\nplace must be given to the one scriptural incident in which he figures\nas a principal person. \u2018The Incredulity of St. Thomas\u2019 occurs in all\nthe early series of the life of Christ, as one of the events of his\nmission, and one of the proofs of his resurrection. On the ancient\ngates of San Paolo it is treated with great simplicity as a sacred\nmystery, St. Thomas being the principal personage in the action, as\nthe one whose conviction was to bring conviction to the universe.\nChrist stands on a pedestal surmounted by a cross; the apostles are\nranged on each side, and St. Thomas, approaching, stretches forth his\nhand. The incident, as a separate subject, is of frequent occurrence\nin the later schools of Italy, and in the Flemish schools. The general\ntreatment, when given in this dramatic style, admits of two variations:\neither St. Thomas is placing his hand, with an expression of doubt and\nfear, on the wounds of the Saviour; or, his doubts being removed, he\nis gazing upwards in adoration and wonder. Of the first, one of the\nfinest examples is a well-known picture by Rubens,[220] one of his\nmost beautiful works, and extraordinary for the truth of the expression\nin the countenance of the apostle, whose hand is on the side of Christ;\nSt. John and St. Peter are behind. In Vandyck\u2019s picture at Petersburg,\nSt. Thomas stoops to examine the Saviour\u2019s hand. In a design ascribed\nto Raphael, we have the second version: the look of astonished\nconviction in St. Thomas.[221] Niccol\u00f2 Poussin has painted it finely,\nintroducing twelve figures.[222] Guercino\u2019s picture is celebrated, but\nhe has committed the fault of representing the two principal figures\nboth in profile.[223]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe legendary subject styled \u2018La Madonna della Cintola\u2019 belongs\nproperly to the legends of the Virgin, but as St. Thomas is always a\nprincipal personage I shall mention it here. The legend relates that\nwhen the Madonna ascended into heaven, in the sight of the apostles,\nThomas was absent; but after three days he returned, and, _doubting_\nthe truth of her glorious translation, he desired that her tomb should\nbe opened; which was done, and lo! it was found empty. Then the\nVirgin, taking pity on his weakness and want of faith, threw down to\nhim her girdle, that this tangible proof remaining in his hands might\nremove all doubts for ever from his mind: hence in many pictures of\nthe Assumption and Coronation of the Virgin, St. Thomas is seen below\nholding the sacred girdle in his hand. For instance, in Raphael\u2019s\nbeautiful \u2018Coronation\u2019 in the Vatican; and in Correggio\u2019s \u2018Assumption\u2019\nat Parma, where St. Thomas holds the girdle, and another apostle kisses\nit.\n\n[Illustration: _The Madonna of the Girdle_]\n\nThe belief that the girdle is preserved in the Cathedral at Pistoia has\nrendered this legend a popular subject with the Florentine painters;\nand we find it treated, not merely as an incident in the scene of\nthe Assumption, but in a manner purely mystic and devotional. Thus,\nin a charming bas-relief by Luca della Robbia,[224] the Virgin,\nsurrounded by a choir of angels, presents her girdle to the apostle.\nIn a beautiful picture by Granacci,[225] the Virgin is seated in the\nclouds; beneath is her empty sepulchre: on one side kneels St. Thomas,\nwho receives with reverence the sacred girdle; on the other kneels the\nArchangel Michael. In simplicity of arrangement, beauty of expression,\nand tender harmony of colour, this picture has seldom been exceeded.\nGranacci has again treated this subject, and St. Thomas receives the\ngirdle in the presence of St. John the Baptist, St. James Major, St.\nLaurence, and St. Bartholomew.[226] We have the same subject by Paolino\nda Pistoia; by Sogliani; and by Mainardi, a large and very fine fresco\nin the church of Santa Croce at Florence.\n\nA poetical and truly mystical version of this subject is that wherein\nthe Infant Saviour, seated or standing on his mother\u2019s knee, looses\nher girdle and presents it to St. Thomas. Of this I have seen several\nexamples; one in the Duomo at Viterbo.[227]\n\nIn the Martyrdom of St. Thomas, several idolaters pierce him through\nwith lances and javelins. It was so represented on the doors of San\nPaolo, with four figures only. Rubens, in his large picture, has\nfollowed the legend very exactly; St. Thomas embraces the cross, at\nthe foot of which he is about to fall, transfixed by spears. A large\npicture in the gallery of Count Harrach at Vienna, called there the\nMartyrdom of St. Jude, I believe to represent the Martyrdom of St.\nThomas. Two of the idolatrous priests pierce him with lances. Albert\nD\u00fcrer, in his beautiful print of St. Thomas, represents him holding the\nlance, the instrument of his martyrdom: but this is very unusual.\n\n\nThe eighth in the order of the Apostles is the Evangelist ST. MATTHEW,\nof whom I have spoken at length.\n\n\n                           ST. JAMES MINOR.\n\n   _Lat._ S. Jacobus Frater Domini. _Gr._ Adelphotheos. _Ital._ San\n     Jacopo or Giacomo Minore. _Fr._ St. Jacques Mineur. (May 1.)\n\nThe ninth is St. James Minor, or the Less, called also the Just: he\nwas a near relative of Christ, being the son of Mary, the wife of\nCleophas, who was the sister of the Virgin Mary; hence he is styled\n\u2018the Lord\u2019s brother.\u2019 Nothing particular is related of him till after\nthe ascension. He is regarded as first Christian bishop of Jerusalem,\nand venerated for his self-denial, his piety, his wisdom, and his\ncharity. These characteristics are conspicuous in the beautiful Epistle\nwhich bears his name. Having excited, by the fervour of his teaching,\nthe fury of the Scribes and Pharisees, and particularly the enmity of\nthe high-priest Ananus, they flung him down from a terrace or parapet\nof the Temple, and one of the infuriated populace below beat out his\nbrains with a _fuller\u2019s club_.\n\nIn single figures and devotional pictures, St. James is generally\nleaning on this club, the instrument of his martyrdom. According to\nan early tradition, he so nearly resembled our Lord in person, in\nfeatures, and deportment, that it was difficult to distinguish them.\n\u2018The Holy Virgin herself,\u2019 says the legend, \u2018had she been _capable_\nof error, might have mistaken one for the other:\u2019 and this exact\nresemblance rendered necessary the kiss of the traitor Judas, in order\nto point out his victim to the soldiers.\n\nThis characteristic resemblance is attended to in the earliest and\nbest representations of St. James, and by this he may usually be\ndistinguished when he does not bear his club, which is often a thick\nstick or staff. With the exception of those Scripture scenes in which\nthe apostles are present, I have met with few pictures in which St.\nJames Minor is introduced: he does not appear to have been popular as\na patron saint. The event of his martyrdom occurs very seldom, and\nis very literally rendered: the scene is a court of the Temple, with\nterraces and balconies; he is falling, or has fallen, to the ground,\nand one of the crowd lifts up the club to smite him.\n\nIgnorant artists have in some instances confounded St. James Major and\nSt. James Minor. The Cappella dei Belludi at Padua, already mentioned,\ndedicated to St. Philip and St. James, contains a series of frescoes\nfrom the life of St. James Minor, in which are some of the miraculous\nincidents attributed in the Legenda Aurea to St. James Major.\n\n[Illustration: 82 St. James Minor]\n\n1. The Council of the Apostles held at Jerusalem, in which St. James\nwas nominated chief or bishop of the infant Church. 2. Our Saviour\nafter his resurrection appears to St. James, who had vowed not to eat\ntill he should see Christ.[228] 3. St. James thrown down from the\npulpit in the court of the Temple. 4. He is slain by the fuller. 5.\nA certain merchant is stript of all his goods by a tyrant, and cast\ninto prison. He implores the protection of St. James, who, leading\nhim to the summit of the tower, commands the tower to bow itself to\nthe ground, and the merchant steps from it and escapes; or, according\nto the version followed in the fresco, the apostle lifts the tower on\none side from its foundation, and the prisoner escapes from under it,\nlike a mouse out of a trap. 6. A poor pilgrim, having neither money nor\nfood, fell asleep by the way-side, and, on waking, found that St. James\nhad placed beside him a loaf of bread, which miraculously supplied his\nwants to the end of his journey. These two last stories are told also\nof St. James of Galicia, but I have never met with any pictures of his\nlife in which they are included. Here they undoubtedly refer to St.\nJames Minor, the chapel being consecrated to his honour.\n\n\n  ST. SIMON ZELOTES (or THE ZEALOT). ST. JUDE (THADDEUS, or LEBBEUS).\n\n _Ital._ San Simone; San Taddeo. _Fr._ St. Simon le Z\u00e9l\u00e9. St. Thadd\u00e9e.\n                   _Ger._ Judas Thadd\u00e4us. (Oct. 28.)\n\nThe uncertainty, contradiction, and confusion which I find in all\nthe ecclesiastical biographies relative to these apostles, make it\nimpossible to give any clear account of them; and as subjects of Art\nthey are so unimportant, and so uninteresting, that it is the less\nnecessary. According to one tradition, they were the same mentioned by\nMatthew as our Lord\u2019s brethren or kinsmen. But, according to another\ntradition, they were not the same, but two brothers who were among\nthe shepherds to whom the angel and the heavenly host revealed the\nbirth of the Saviour. Those painters who followed the first tradition\nrepresent Simon and Jude as young, or at least in the prime of life.\nThose who adopt the second represent them as very old, taking it for\ngranted that at the birth of Christ they must have been full-grown men;\nand this, I think, is the legend usually followed. It seems, however,\ngenerally agreed, that they preached the Gospel together in Syria and\nMesopotamia, and together suffered martyrdom in Persia: in what manner\nthey suffered is unknown; but it is supposed that St. Simon was sawn\nasunder, and St. Thaddeus killed with a halberd.\n\nIn a series of apostles, St. Simon bears the saw, and St. Thaddeus a\nhalberd. In Greek Art, Jude and Thaddeus are two different persons.\nJude is represented young, Thaddeus old. St. Simon in extreme old age,\nwith a bald head, and long white beard. In the Greek representation\nof his martyrdom, he is affixed to a cross exactly like that of our\nSaviour, so that, but for the superscription \u039f C\u0399\u039c\u03a9\u039d, he might be\nmistaken for Christ. I do not know of any separate picture of these\napostles.\n\nThere is, however, one manner of treating them, with reference to\ntheir supposed relationship to our Saviour, which is peculiarly\nbeautiful. Assuming that the three last-named apostles, James, the\nson of Mary Cleophas; Simon and Jude; Joseph or Joses the Just, also\nnamed by Matthew among the brethren of Christ; together with James\nand John, the sons of Mary Salome,\u2014were all nearly related to the\nSaviour; it was surely a charming idea to group as children around\nhim in his infancy those who were afterwards called to be the chosen\nministers of his Word. Christianity, which has glorified womanhood and\nchildhood, never suggested to the Christian artist a more beautiful\nsubject, nor one which it would be more easy, by an unworthy or too\npicturesque treatment, to render merely pretty and commonplace. This\nversion, however, of the _Sacra Famiglia_ is rarely met with. There is\nan example in the Louvre, signed \u2018Laurentius\u2019 (Lorenzo di Pavia, A.D.\n1513), which is remarkable as a religious representation; but the most\nbeautiful instance of this treatment is a _chef-d\u2019\u0153uvre_ of Perugino,\nin the Mus\u00e9e at Marseilles. In the centre is the Virgin, seated on a\nthrone; she holds the Infant Christ in her arms. Behind her is St.\nAnna, her two hands resting affectionately on the shoulders of the\nVirgin. In front, at the foot of the throne, are two lovely children,\nundraped, with glories round their heads, on which are inscribed their\nnames, Simon and Thaddeus. To the right is Mary Salome, a beautiful\nyoung woman, holding a child in her arms\u2014St. John, afterwards the\nevangelist. Near her is Joachim, the father of the Virgin. At his feet\nanother child, James Major. To the left of the Virgin, Mary the wife of\nCleophas, standing, holds by the hand James Minor: behind her, Joseph,\nthe husband of the Virgin, and at his feet another child, Joseph (or\nJoses) Justus. I have also seen this subject in illuminated MSS., and,\nhowever treated, it is surely very poetical and suggestive.[229]\n\n\n                             ST. MATTHIAS.\n\n           _Ital._ San Mattia. _Fr._ St. Mathias. (Feb. 24.)\n\nSt. Matthias, who was chosen by lot to fill the place of the traitor\nJudas, is the last of the apostles. (Acts i.) He preached the Gospel\nin Judea, and suffered martyrdom at the hands of the Jews, either by\nthe lance or by the axe. In the Italian series of the apostles, he\nbears as his attribute the lance; in the German sets, more commonly the\naxe.[230] The ceremony of choosing St. Matthias by lot is the subject\nof a mediocre picture by Boschi. St. Denis says that the apostles were\ndirected in their choice by a beam of divine splendour, for it were\nimpious to suppose that such an election was made by chance. In this\npicture of Boschi, a ray of light falls from heaven on the head of St.\nMatthias.\n\n[Illustration: 83 St. Matthias (Raphael)]\n\nThere is a figure of this apostle by Cosimo Roselli, holding a sword\n_by the point_: what might be the intention of that capricious painter\nit is now impossible to guess.[231] Separate pictures of St. Matthias\nare very rare, and he is seldom included in sets of the apostles.\n\n                            JUDAS ISCARIOT.\n\n            _Ital._ Giuda Scariota. _Fr._ Judas Iscariote.\n\nThe very name of Judas Iscariot has become a by-word; his person and\ncharacter an eternal type of impiety, treachery, and ingratitude. We\nshudder at the associations called up by his memory; his crime, without\na name, so distances all possible human turpitude, that he cannot even\nbe held forth as a terror to evil doers; we set him aside as one cut\noff; we never think of him but in reference to the sole and unequalled\ncrime recorded of him. Not so our ancestors; one should have lived in\nthe middle ages, to conceive the profound, the ever-present, horror\nwith which Judas Iscariot was then regarded. The devil himself did not\ninspire the same passionate hatred and indignation. Being the devil,\nwhat _could_ he be but devilish? His wickedness was according to his\ninfernal nature: but the crime of Judas remains the perpetual shame\nand reproach of our humanity. The devil betrayed mankind, but Judas\nbetrayed his God.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe Gospels are silent as to the life of Judas before he became an\napostle, but our progenitors of the middle ages, who could not conceive\nit possible that any being, however perverse, would rush at once into\nsuch an abyss of guilt, have filled up the omissions of Scripture\nafter their own fancy. They picture Judas as a wretch foredoomed from\nthe beginning of the world, and prepared by a long course of vice and\ncrime for that crowning guilt which filled the measure full. According\nto this legend, he was of the tribe of Reuben. Before his mother\nbrought him forth, she dreamed that the son who lay in her womb would\nbe accursed, that he would murder his father, commit incest with his\nmother, and sell his God. Terrified at her dream, she took counsel\nwith her husband, and they agreed to avert the threatened calamity by\nexposing the child. As in the story of \u0152dipus, from which, indeed,\nthis strange wild legend seems partly borrowed, the means taken to\navert the threatened curse caused its fulfilment. Judas, at his birth,\nis enclosed in a chest, and flung into the sea; the sea casts him up,\nand, being found on the shore, he is fostered by a certain king and\nqueen as their own son; they have, however, another son, whom Judas,\nmalignant from his birth, beats and oppresses, and at length kills in a\nquarrel over a game at chess. He then flies to Judea, where he enters\nthe service of Pontius Pilate as page. In due time he commits the\nother monstrous crimes to which he was predestined; and when he learns\nfrom his mother the secret of his birth, he is filled with a sudden\ncontrition and terror; he hears of the prophet who has power on earth\nto forgive sins; and seeking out Christ throws himself at his feet.\nOur Saviour, not deceived, but seeing in him the destined betrayer,\nand that all things may be accomplished, accepts him as his apostle:\nhe becomes the seneschal or steward of Christ, bears the purse, and\nprovides for the common wants. In this position, avarice, the only\nvice to which he was not yet addicted, takes possession of his soul,\nand makes the corruption complete. Through avarice, he grudges every\npenny given to the poor, and when Mary Magdalene anoints the feet of\nour Lord he is full of wrath at what he considers the waste of the\nprecious perfume: \u2018Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred\npence, and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the\npoor, but because he was a thief.\u2019 Through avarice, he yields to the\nbribe offered by the Jews. Then follow the scenes of the betrayal of\nChrist, and the late repentance and terrible suicide of the traitor,\nas recorded in Scripture. But in the old Mystery of the \u2018Passion of\nChrist\u2019 the repentance and fate of Judas are very dramatically worked\nout, and with all possible circumstances of horror. When he beholds the\nmild Saviour before the judgment-seat of Herod, he repents: Remorse,\nwho figures as a real personage, seizes on the fated wretch, and\ntorments him till in his agony he invokes Despair. Despair appears,\nalmost in the guise of the \u2018accursed wight\u2019 in Spenser, and, with like\narguments, urges him to make away with his life:\u2014\n\n    And brings unto him swords, rope, poison, fire,\n    And all that might him to perdition draw,\n    And bids him choose what death he would desire.\n\nOr in the more homely language of the old French mystery,\u2014\n\n    Il faut que tu passes le pas!\n    Voici dagues et coutelas,\n    Forcettes, poin\u00e7ons, allumettes,\u2014\n    Avise, choisis les plus belles,\n    Et celles de meilleure forge,\n    Pour te couper \u00e0 coup la gorge;\n    Ou si tu aimes mieux te pendre,\n    Voici lacs et cordes \u00e0 vendre.\n\nThe offer here of the bodkins and the allumettes reminds us of the\nspeech of Falconbridge:\u2014\n\n      If thou would\u2019st drown thyself,\n    Put but a little water in a spoon,\n    And it shall be as all the ocean,\n    Enough to stifle such a villain up.\n\nJudas chooses the rope, and hangs himself forthwith; \u2018and falling\nheadlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed\nout:\u2019 which account is explained by an early tradition, that being\nfound and cut down, his body was thrown over the parapet of the Temple\ninto the ravine below, and, in the fall, was riven and dashed to pieces.\n\nThere required but one more touch of horror to complete the picture;\nand this is furnished by a sonnet of Giani, which I remember to have\nread in my youth. When Judas falls from the fatal tree, his evil genius\nseizes the broken rope, and drags him down to the seething abyss below:\nat his approach, hell sends forth a shout of rejoicing; Lucifer smooths\nhis brow, corrugated with fire and pain, and rises from his burning\nthrone to welcome a greater sinner than himself:\u2014\n\n    Poi fra le braccia incaten\u00f2 quel tristo,\n    E colla bocca sfavillante e nera\n    Gli rese il bacio ch\u2019 avea dato a Christo!\n\nThe retribution imaged in the last two lines borders, I am afraid, on a\n_concetto_; but it makes one shiver, notwithstanding.\n\nSeparate representations of the figure or of the life of Judas Iscariot\nare not, of course, to be looked for; they would have been regarded as\nprofane, as ominous,\u2014worse than the evil-eye. In those Scripture scenes\nin which he finds a place, it was the aim of the early artists to give\nhim a countenance as hateful, as expressive of treachery, meanness,\nmalignity, as their skill could compass,\u2014the Italians having depended\nmore on expression, the German and Spanish painters on form. We have a\nconviction, that if the man had really worn such a look, such features,\nhe would have been cast out from the company of the apostles; the\nlegend already referred to says expressly that Judas was of a comely\nappearance, and was recommended to the service of Pontius Pilate by\nhis beauty of person; but the painters, speaking to the people in the\nlanguage of form, were right to admit of no equivocation. The same\nfeeling which induced them to concentrate on the image of the Demon\nall they could conceive of hideous and repulsive, made them picture\nthe exterior of Judas as deformed and hateful as the soul within; and,\nby an exaggeration of the Jewish cast of features combined with red\nhair and beard, they flattered themselves that they had attained the\ndesired object. But as if this were not enough, the ancient painters,\nparticularly in the old illuminations, and in Byzantine Art, represent\nJudas as directly and literally possessed by the Devil: sometimes it is\na little black demon seated on his shoulder, and whispering in his ear;\nsometimes entering his mouth: thus, in their simplicity, rendering the\nwords of the Gospel, \u2018Then entered Satan into Judas.\u2019\n\nThe colour proper to the dress of Judas is a dirty dingy yellow; and\nin Spain this colour is so intimately associated with the image of the\narch-traitor, as to be held in universal dislike: both in Spain and in\nItaly, malefactors and galley-slaves are clothed in yellow.[232] At\nVenice the Jews were obliged to wear yellow hats.\n\nIn some of the scriptural scenes in which Judas is mentioned or\nsupposed to be present, it is worth while to remark whether the painter\nhas passed him over as spoiling the harmony of the sacred composition\nby his intrusive ugliness and wickedness, or has rendered him\nconspicuous by a distinct and characteristic treatment. In a picture\nby Niccol\u00f2 Frumenti[233] of the Magdalene at the feet of our Saviour,\nJudas stands in the foreground, looking on with a most diabolical\nexpression of grudging malice mingled with scorn; he seems to grind\nhis teeth as he says, \u2018To what purpose is this waste?\u2019 In Perugino\u2019s\nbeautiful picture of the washing the feet of the disciples,[234] Judas\nis at once distinguished, looking askance with a wicked sneer on his\nface, which is not otherwise ugly. In Raphael\u2019s composition of the\nMagdalene anointing the feet of Christ, Judas leans across the table\nwith an angry look of expostulation.\n\nThose subjects in which Judas Iscariot appears as a principal personage\nfollow here.\n\n1. Angelico da Fiesole.[235] He is bribed by the Jews. The high-priest\npays into the hand of Judas the thirty pieces of silver. They are\nstanding before a doorway on some steps; Judas is seen in profile, and\nhas the nimbus as one of the apostles: three persons are behind, one\nof whom expresses disapprobation and anxiety. In this subject, and in\nothers wherein Judas is introduced, Angelico has not given him ugly and\ndeformed features; but in the scowling eye and bent brow there is a\nvicious expression.\n\nIn Duccio\u2019s series of the \u2018Passion of our Saviour,\u2019 in the Duomo at\nSiena, he has, in this and in other scenes, represented Judas with\nregular and not ugly features; but he has a villanous, and at the same\ntime anxious, expression;\u2014he has a bad conscience.\n\nThe scene between Judas and the high-priest is also given by Schalken\nas a candle-light effect, and in the genuine Dutch style.\n\n2. \u2018Judas betrays his Master with a kiss.\u2019 This subject will be noticed\nat large in the Life of Christ. The early Italians, in giving this\nscene with much dramatic power, never forgot the scriptural dignity\nrequired; while the early Germans, in their endeavour to render Judas\nas odious in physiognomy as in heart, have, in this as in many other\ninstances, rendered the awful and the pathetic merely grotesque. We\nmust infer from Scripture, that Judas, with all his perversity, had a\nconscience: he would not else have hanged himself. In the physiognomy\ngiven to him by the old Germans, there is no trace of this; he is an\nugly malignant brute, and nothing more.\n\n3. Rembrandt. \u2018Judas throws down the thirty pieces of silver in the\nTemple, and departs.\u2019[236]\n\n4. \u2018The remorse of Judas.\u2019 He is seated and in the act of putting\nthe rope about his neck; beside him is seen the purse and the money,\nscattered about the ground. The design is by Bloemart, and, from the\nLatin inscription underneath, appears to be intended as a warning to\nall unrighteous dealers.\n\n5. \u2018Judas hanging on a tree\u2019 is sometimes introduced into the\nbackground, in ancient pictures of the Deposition and the Entombment:\nthere is one in the Frankfort Museum.\n\n6. \u2018Demons toss the soul of Judas from hand to hand in the manner of a\nball:\u2019 in an old French miniature.[237] This is sufficiently grotesque\nin representation; yet, in the idea, there is a restless, giddy horror\nwhich thrills us. At all events, it is better than placing Judas\nbetween the jaws of Satan with his legs in the air, as Dante has done,\nand as Orcagna in his Dantesque fresco has very literally rendered the\ndescription of the poet.[238]\n\n[Illustration: _Lionardo da Vinci_]\n\n[Illustration: _Giotto_]\n\n[Illustration: _Raphael_]\n\n\n                           THE LAST SUPPER.\n\n   _Ital._ Il Cenacolo. La Cena. _Fr._ La C\u00e8ne. _Ger._ Das Abendmal\n                               Christi.\n\nI have already mentioned the principal scenes in which the Twelve\nalways appear together; there is, however, one event belonging properly\nto the life of Christ, so important in itself, presenting the Apostles\nunder an aspect so peculiar, and throwing so much interest around them\ncollectively and individually, that I must bring it under notice here.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nNext to the Crucifixion, there is no subject taken from the history\nof our redemption so consecrated in Art as the Last Supper. The awful\nsignification lent to it by Protestants as well as Catholics has given\nit a deep religious import, and caused its frequent representation in\nchurches; it has been, more particularly, the appropriate decoration of\nthe refectories of convents, hospitals, and other institutions having\na sacred character. In our Protestant churches, it is generally the\nsubject of the altar-piece, where we have one.\n\nBesides being one of the most important and interesting, it is one of\nthe most difficult among the sacred subjects treated in Art. While the\nfixed number of personages introduced, the divine and paramount dignity\nof One among them, the well-known character of all, have limited the\ninvention of the artist, they have tasked to the utmost his power of\nexpression. The occasion, that of a repast eaten by twelve persons, is,\nunder its material aspect, so commonplace, and, taken in the spiritual\nsense, so awful, that to elevate himself to the height of his theme,\nwhile keeping the ideal conscientiously bounded within its frame of\ncircumstance, demanded in the artist aspirations of the grandest order,\ntempered by the utmost sobriety of reflection; and the deepest insight\ninto the springs of character, combined with the most perfect knowledge\nof the indications of character as manifested through form. On the\nother hand, if it has been difficult to succeed, it has been equally\ndifficult to fail signally and completely; because the spectator is not\nhere, as in the crucifixion, in danger of being perpetually shocked by\nthe intrusion of anomalous incidents, and is always ready to supply\nthe dignity and meaning of a scene so familiar in itself out of his\nown mind and heart. It has followed, that mediocrity has been more\nprevalent and more endurable in this than in any other of the more\nserious subjects of Art. But where excellence has been in some few\ninstances attained, it has been attained in such a supreme degree, that\nthese examples have become a perpetual source of contemplation and of\nemulation, and rank among the most renowned productions of human genius.\n\nBut, before I come to consider these analytically, it is necessary to\npremise one or two observations, which will assist us to discrimination\nin the general treatment.\n\nPictures and works of art, which represent the Last Supper of our\nLord, admit of the same classification which I have adhered to\ngenerally throughout this work. Those which represent it as a religious\nmystery must be considered as _devotional_; those which represent it\nmerely as a scene in the passion of our Saviour are _historical_.\nIn the first, we have the spiritual origin of the Eucharist; in\nthe second, the highly dramatic detection of Judas. It is evident\nthat the predominating _motif_ in each must be widely different. In\npaintings which are intended for the altar, or for the chapels of the\nHoly Sacrament, we have the first, the mystical version;\u2014it is the\ndistribution of the spiritual food. In the second form, as the Last\nSupper eaten by Christ with his disciples, as leading the mind to an\nhumble and grateful sense of his sacrifice, as repressing all sinful\nindulgence in food, it has been the subject chosen to decorate the\nrefectory or common dining-room of convents.\n\nIt is curious that on the Christian sarcophagi the Last Supper does\nnot occur. There is, in the Vatican, a rude painting taken from the\ncatacombs representing twelve persons in a semicircle, with something\nlike plates and dishes before them. I could not determine whether\nthis was our Saviour and his apostles, or merely one of those feasts\nor suppers instituted by the early Christians called _Agap\u00e6_ or\nlove-feasts; but I should think the latter.\n\nOn the Dalmatica (deacon\u2019s robe) preserved in the sacristy of the\nVatican, there is, if the date be exact (A.D. 795), the most ancient\nrepresentation I have seen of the institution of the Sacrament. The\nembroidery, which is wonderfully beautiful, is a copy from Byzantine\nArt. On one side, our Saviour stands by a table or altar, and presents\nthe cup to his apostles, one of whom approaches in a reverential\nattitude, and with his hands folded in his robe; on the other side,\nChrist presents the wafer or host: so that we have the two separate\nmoments in separate groups.\n\nThere exists in the Duomo of Lodi the most ancient sculptural example\nof this subject I have met with; it is a bas-relief of the twelfth\ncentury, dated 1163, and fixed in the wall to the left of the entrance.\nChrist and the apostles are in a straight row, all very much alike; six\nof the apostles lay their hands on their breast,\u2014\u2018Lord, is it I?\u2019 and\nChrist presents the sop to Judas, who sits in front, and is as ugly as\npossible.\n\nAlthough all the Byzantine pictures of the twelfth and thirteenth\ncenturies which have come under my notice represent Christ breaking the\nbread or holding the cup, that is, the institution of the Sacrament,\nthe Greek formula published by Didron distinguishes between this scene\nand that of the repast in which Judas is denounced as a traitor.\nThe earliest representation to which I can refer in Western Art, as\ntaking the historical form, is the Cenacolo of Giotto, the oldest and\nthe most important that has been preserved to us; it was painted by\nhim in the refectory of the convent of Santa Croce at Florence. This\nrefectory, when I visited it in 1847, was a carpet manufactory, and\nit was difficult to get a good view of the fresco by reason of the\nintervention of the carpet-looms. It has been often restored, and is\nnow in a bad state; still, enough remains to understand the original\nintention of the artist, and that arrangement which has since been the\ngroundwork of similar compositions.\n\nA long table extends across the picture from side to side: in the\nmiddle, and fronting the spectator, sits the Redeemer; to the right,\nSt. John, his head reclining on the lap of Christ; next to him, Peter;\nafter Peter, St. James Major; thus placing together the three favourite\ndisciples. Next to St. James, St. Matthew, St. Bartholomew, and a young\nbeardless apostle, probably St. Philip.\n\nOn the left hand of our Saviour is St. Andrew; and next to him, St.\nJames Minor (the two St. Jameses bearing the traditional resemblance\nto Christ); then St. Simon and St. Jude; and lastly, a young apostle,\nprobably St. Thomas. (The reader will have the goodness to recollect\nthat I give this explanation of the names and position of the eleven\napostles as my own, and with due deference to the opinion of those who\non a further study of the fresco may differ from me.) Opposite to the\nSaviour, and on the near side of the table, sits Judas, apart from the\nrest, and in the act of dipping his hand into the dish. It is evident\nthat the moment chosen by the artist is, \u2018He that dippeth with me in\nthe dish, the same shall betray me.\u2019\n\nAlthough the excuse may be found in the literal adoption of the words\nof the Gospel,[239] it appears to me a fault to make St. John leaning,\nas one half asleep, on the lap of our Saviour, after such words have\nbeen uttered as must have roused, or at least ought to have roused, the\nyoung and beloved apostle from his supine attitude; therefore, we may\nsuppose that Christ is about to speak the words, but has not yet spoken\nthem. The position of Judas is caused by the necessity of placing him\nsufficiently near to Christ to dip his hand in the same dish; while\nto have placed him on the same side of the table, so as to give him\nthe precedence over the more favoured disciples, would have appeared\nto the early artists nothing less than profane. Giotto has paid great\nattention to the heads, which are individually characterised, but there\nis little dramatic expression; the attention is not yet directed to\nJudas, who is seen in profile, looking up, not ugly in feature, but\nwith a mean vicious countenance, and bent shoulders.\n\nThe arrangement of the table and figures, so peculiarly fitted for\na refectory, has been generally adopted since the time of Giotto in\npictures painted for this especial purpose. The subject is placed on\nthe upper wall of the chamber; the table extending from side to side:\nthe tables of the monks are placed, as in the dining-rooms of our\ncolleges, length-ways; thus all can behold the divine assembly, and\nChrist appears to preside over and sanctify the meal.\n\nIn another Cenacolo by Giotto,[240] which forms one of the scenes in\nthe history of Christ, he has given us a totally different version of\nthe subject; and, not being intended for a refectory, but as an action\nor event, it is more dramatic. It is evident that our Saviour has just\nuttered the words, \u2018He that dippeth with me in the dish, the same shall\nbetray me.\u2019 Judas, who has mean, ugly, irregular features, looks up\nalarmed, and seems in the act of rising to escape. One apostle (Philip,\nI think) points at him, and the attention of all is more or less\ndirected to him. This would be a fault if the subject were intended\nfor a refectory, or to represent the celebration of the Eucharist. But\nhere, where the subject is historical, it is a propriety.\n\nThe composition of Duccio of Siena, in the Duomo at Siena, must have\nbeen nearly contemporary with, if it did not precede, those of Giotto\n(A.D. 1308); it is quite different, quite original in _motif_ and\narrangement. Seven apostles sit on the same side with Christ, and five\nopposite to him, turning their backs on the spectator; the faces are\nseen in profile. The attitude of St. John, leaning against our Saviour\nwith downcast eyes, is much more graceful than in the composition of\nGiotto. St. Peter is on the right of Christ; next to him St. James\nMinor: two young apostles sit at the extreme ends of the table, whom\nI suppose to be St. Philip and St. Thomas: the other apostles I am\nunable to discriminate, with the exception of Judas, who, with regular\nfeatures, has a characteristic scowl on his brow. Christ holds out a\npiece of bread in his hand: two of the apostles likewise hold bread,\nand two others hold a cup; the rest look attentive or pensive, but the\ngeneral character of the heads is deficient in elevation. The moment\nchosen may be the distribution of the bread and wine; but, to me,\nit rather expresses the commencement of the meal, and our Saviour\u2019s\naddress: \u2018With desire have I desired to eat this passover with you\nbefore I suffer\u2019 (Luke xxii. 15). The next compartment of the same\nseries, which represents the apostles seated in a group before Christ,\nand listening with upturned faces and the most profound attention to\nhis last words, has much more of character, solemnity, and beauty, than\nthe Last Supper. Judas is here omitted; \u2018for he, having received the\nsop, went immediately out.\u2019\n\nAngelico da Fiesole, in his life of Christ, has been careful to\ndistinguish between the detection of Judas and the institution of the\nEucharist.[241] He has given us both scenes. In the first compartment,\nJohn is leaning down with his face to the Saviour; the back of his head\nonly is seen, and he appears too unmindful of what is going forward.\nThe other apostles are well discriminated, the usual type strictly\nfollowed in Peter, Andrew, James Major and James Minor. To the right of\nChrist are Peter, Andrew, Bartholomew; to the left, James Minor. Four\nturn their backs, and two young apostles stand on each side,\u2014I presume\nThomas and Philip; they seem to be waiting on the rest: Judas dips\nhis hand in the dish. I suppose the moment to be the same as in the\ncomposition of Duccio.\n\nBut in the next compartment the _motif_ is different. All have risen.\nfrom table; it is no longer a repast, it is a sacred mystery; Christ is\nin the act of administering the bread to St. John; all kneel; and Judas\nis seen kneeling behind Christ, near an open door, and apart from the\nrest, as if he were watching for the opportunity to escape. To dispose\nof Judas in this holy ceremony is always a difficulty. To represent him\nas receiving with the rest the sacred rite is an offence to the pious.\nThe expression used by St. John (xii. 30), \u2018After he had received the\nsop he went out,\u2019 implies that Judas was not present at the Lord\u2019s\nSupper, which succeeded the celebration of the paschal supper. St. Luke\nand St. Mark, neither of whom were present, leave us to suppose that\nJudas partook, with the other disciples, of the mystic bread and wine;\nyet we can hardly believe that, after having been pointed out as the\nbetrayer, the conscience-stricken Judas should remain to receive the\nEucharist. Sometimes he is omitted altogether; sometimes he is stealing\nout at the door. In the composition of Luca Signorelli, which I saw at\nCortona, all the twelve apostles are kneeling; Christ is distributing\nthe wafer; and Judas, turning away with a malignant look, puts _his_\nwafer into his satchel. In the composition of Palmezzano, in the Duomo\nat Forl\u00ec, our Saviour stands, holding a plate, and is in the act of\npresenting the wafer to Peter, who kneels: St. John stands by the side\nof Christ, holding the cup: Judas is in the background; he kneels by\nthe door, and seems to be watching for the opportunity to steal away.\n\nThe fine composition, fine also in sentiment and character, of\nGhirlandajo, was painted for the small refectory in the San Marco\nat Florence. The arrangement is ingenious: the table is of what we\ncall the horse-shoe form, which allows all the figures to face the\nspectator; and at the same time takes up less room than where the\ntable runs across the picture from side to side. Judas sits in front,\nalone; Christ has just designated him. \u2018He it is to whom I shall give\nthe sop when I have dipped it.\u2019 (John xiii. 26.) Judas holds the sop\nin his hand, with an alarmed conscious look. Behind sits an ill-omened\ncat, probably intended for the fiend. John, to the left of Christ,\nappears to have swooned away. The other apostles express, in various\nways, amazement and horror.\n\nIt has been a question among critics, whether the purse ought to be\nplaced in the hand of Judas when present at the Last Supper, because it\nis usually understood as containing the thirty pieces of silver: but\nthis is a mistake; and it leads to the mistake of representing him as\nhiding the purse, as if it contained the price of his treachery. Judas\ncarries the purse openly, for he was the steward, or purse-bearer, of\nthe party \u2018he had the bag, and bare what was put therein\u2019 (John xii. 6,\nxiii. 29): and as the money-bag is also the attribute of St. Matthew\nthe tax-gatherer, we must take care not to confound him with the\ntraitor and thief. This brings me to the consideration of the subject\nas treated by Albert D\u00fcrer.\n\nIn the series of large woodcuts from the Passion of our Saviour\n(styled \u2018_La grande Passion_\u2019), the Cenacolo is an event, and not a\nmystery. John, as a beautiful youth, is leaning against our Saviour\nwith downcast eyes; he does not look as if he had thrown himself down\nhalf asleep, but as if Christ had put his arm around him, and drawn\nand pressed him fondly towards him. On the right is Peter: the other\napostles are not easily discriminated, but they have all that sort of\n_grandiose_ ugliness which is so full of character, and so particularly\nthe characteristic of the artist: the apostle seated in front in a\ncowering attitude, holding the purse which he seems anxious to conceal,\nand looking up apprehensively, I suppose to be Judas.\n\nIn the smaller set of woodcuts (\u2018_La petite Passion_\u2019) I believe the\napostle with the purse in the foreground to be St. Matthew; while the\nugly, lank-haired personage behind Christ, who looks as if about to\nsteal away, is probably intended for Judas: one of the apostles has\nlaid hold of him, and seems to say, \u2018Thou art the man!\u2019\n\nThere is a third Cenacolo, by Albert D\u00fcrer, which plainly represents\nthe Eucharist. The cup only is on the table, and Judas is omitted.\n\nIn a Cenacolo by another old German, Judas is in the act of receiving\nthe sop which Christ is putting into his mouth; and at the same time he\nis _hiding_ the purse:\u2014a mistake, as I have already observed.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThese examples must suffice to give some idea of the manner in which\nthis subject was generally treated by the early German and Italian\nartists. But, whether presented before us as a dramatic scene\nexpressing individual character, or as an historical event memorable\nin the life of Christ, or as a religious rite of awful and mysterious\nimport\u2014all the examples I have mentioned are in some respects\ndeficient. We have the feeling, that, whatever may be the merit in\nsentiment, in intention, in detail, what has been attempted has _not_\nbeen achieved.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWhen Leonardo da Vinci, the greatest thinker as well as the greatest\npainter of his age, brought all the resources of his wonderful mind\nto bear on the subject, then sprang forth a creation so consummate,\nthat since that time it has been at once the wonder and the despair of\nthose who have followed in the same path. True, the work of his hand is\nperishing\u2014will soon have perished utterly. I remember well, standing\nbefore this wreck of a glorious presence, so touched by its pale,\nshadowy, and yet divine significance, and by its hopelessly impending\nruin, that the tears sprang involuntarily. Fortunately for us,\nmultiplied copies have preserved at least the intention of the artist\nin his work. We can judge of what it _has_ been, and take that for our\ntext and for our theme.\n\nThe purpose being the decoration of a refectory in a rich convent, the\nchamber lofty and spacious, Leonardo has adopted the usual arrangement:\nthe table runs across from side to side, filling up the whole extent\nof the wall, and the figures, being above the eye, and to be viewed\nfrom a distance, are colossal; they would otherwise have appeared\nsmaller than the real personages seated at the tables below. The moment\nselected is the utterance of the words, \u2018Verily, verily, I say unto\nyou, that one of you shall betray me:\u2019 or rather the words have just\nbeen uttered, and the picture expresses their effect on the different\nauditors. It is of these auditors, his apostles, that I have to speak,\nand not of Christ himself; for the full consideration of the subject,\nas it regards _Him_, must be deferred; the intellectual elevation,\nthe fineness of nature, the benign God-like dignity, suffused with\nthe profoundest sorrow, in this divine head, surpassed all I could\nhave conceived as possible in Art; and, faded as it is, the character\nthere, being stamped on it by the soul, not the hand, of the artist,\nwill remain while a line or hue remains visible. It is a divine shadow,\nand, until it fades into nothing, and disappears utterly, will have\nthe lineaments of divinity. Next to Christ is St. John; he has just\nbeen addressed by Peter, who beckons to him that he should ask \u2018of\nwhom the Lord spake:\u2019\u2014his disconsolate attitude, as he has raised\nhimself to reply, and leans his clasped hands on the table, the almost\nfeminine sweetness of his countenance, express the character of this\ngentle and amiable apostle. Peter, leaning from behind, is all fire\nand energy; Judas, who knows full well of whom the Saviour spake,\nstarts back amazed, oversetting the salt; his fingers clutch the bag,\nof which he has the charge, with that action which Dante describes as\ncharacteristic of the avaricious:\u2014\n\n            Questi risurgeranno dal sepolcro\n            Col pugno chiuso.\n\n    These from the tomb with clench\u00e8d grasp shall rise.\n\nHis face is seen in profile, and cast into shadow: without being\nvulgar, or even ugly, it is hateful. St. Andrew, with his long grey\nbeard, lifts up his hands, expressing the wonder of a simple-hearted\nold man. St. James Minor, resembling the Saviour in his mild features,\nand the form of his beard and hair, lays his hand on the shoulder of\nSt. Peter\u2014the expression is, \u2018_Can_ it be possible? Have we heard\naright?\u2019 Bartholomew, at the extreme end of the table, has risen\nperturbed from his seat; he leans forward with a look of eager\nattention, the lips parted; he is impatient to hear more. (The fine\ncopy of Uggione, in the Royal Academy, does not give this anxious\nlook\u2014he is attentive only.) On the left of our Saviour is St. James\nMajor, who has also a family resemblance to Christ; his arms are\noutstretched, he shrinks back, he repels the thought with horror.\nThe vivacity of the action and expression are wonderfully true\nand characteristic. (Morghen, the engraver, erroneously supposed\nthis to represent St. Thomas, and placed on the border of his robe\nan inscription fixing the identity; which inscription, as Bossi\nasserts, never did exist in the original picture.) St. Thomas is\nbehind St. James, rather young, with a short beard; he holds up his\nhand, threatening\u2014\u2018If there be indeed such a wretch, let him look\nto it.\u2019 Philip, young and with a beautiful head, lays his hand on\nhis heart: he protests his love, his truth. Matthew, also beardless,\nhas more elegance, as one who belonged to a more educated class than\nthe rest; he turns to Jude and points to our Saviour, as if about\nto repeat his words, \u2018Do you hear what he says?\u2019 Simon and Jude sit\ntogether (Leonardo has followed the tradition which makes them old\nand brothers); Jude expresses consternation; Simon, with his hands\nstretched out, a painful anxiety.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTo understand the wonderful skill with which this composition has been\narranged, it ought to be studied long and minutely; and, to appreciate\nits relative excellence, it ought to be compared with other productions\nof the same period. Leonardo has contrived to break the formality of\nthe line of heads without any apparent artifice, and without disturbing\nthe grand simplicity of the usual order; and he has vanquished the\ndifficulties in regard to the position of Judas, without making him too\nprominent. He has imparted to a solemn scene sufficient movement and\nvariety of action, without detracting from its dignity and pathos; he\nhas kept the expression of each head true to the traditional character,\nwithout exaggeration, without effort. To have done this, to have been\nthe first to do this, required the far-reaching philosophic mind, not\nless than the excelling hand, of this \u2018miracle of nature,\u2019 as Mr.\nHallam styles Leonardo, with reference to his scientific as well as his\nartistic powers.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAnd now to turn to another miracle of nature, Raphael. He has given us\nthree compositions for the Last Supper. The fresco lately discovered in\nthe refectory of Sant\u2019 Onofrio, at Florence, is an early work painted\nin his twenty-third year (A.D. 1505). The authenticity of this picture\nhas been vehemently disputed; for myself\u2014as far as my opinion is worth\nanything\u2014I never, after the first five minutes, had a doubt on the\nsubject. As to its being the work of Neri de\u2019 Bicci, I do not believe\nit possible; and as for the written documents brought forward to prove\nthis, I turn from them \u2018to the handwriting on the wall,\u2019 and there I\nsee, in characters of light, RAPHAEL\u2014and _him_ only. It is, however, a\nyouthful work, full of sentiment and grace, but deficient, it appears\nto me, in that depth and discrimination of character displayed in his\nlater works. It is evident that he had studied Giotto\u2019s fresco in the\nneighbouring Santa Croce. The arrangement is nearly the same.\n\nChrist is in the centre; his right hand is raised, and he is about to\nspeak; the left hand is laid, with extreme tenderness in the attitude\nand expression, on the shoulder of John, who reclines upon him. To\nthe right of Christ is St. Peter, the head of the usual character;\nnext to him St. Andrew, with the flowing grey hair and long divided\nbeard; St. James Minor, the head declined resembling Christ: he holds\na cup. St. Philip is seen in profile with a white beard: (this is\ncontrary to the received tradition, which makes him young; and I doubt\nthe correctness of this appellation). St. James Major, at the extreme\nend of the table, looks out of the picture; Raphael has apparently\nrepresented himself in this apostle. On the left of Christ, after St.\nJohn, is St. Bartholomew; he holds a knife, and has the black beard\nand dark complexion usually given to him. Then Matthew, something like\nPeter, but milder and more refined. Thomas, young and handsome, pours\nwine into a cup; last, on the right, are Simon and Jude: Raphael has\nfollowed the tradition which supposes them young, and the kinsmen of\nour Saviour. Judas sits on a stool on the near side of the table,\nopposite to Christ, and while he dips his hand into the dish he looks\nround to the spectators; he has the Jewish features, red hair and\nbeard, and a bad expression. All have glories; but the glory round the\nhead of Judas is much smaller than the others.[242]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIn the second composition, one of the series of the life of Christ,\nin the Loggie of the Vatican, Raphael has placed the apostles round a\ntable, four on each of the three sides; our Saviour presiding in the\ncentre. John and Peter, who are, as usual, nearest to Christ, look to\nhim with an animated appealing expression. Judas is in front, looking\naway from the rest, and as if about to rise. The other heads are\nnot well discriminated, nor is the moment well expressed: there is,\nindeed, something confused and inharmonious, unlike Raphael, in the\nwhole composition. I pass it over, therefore, without further remark,\nto come to the third example\u2014a masterpiece of his later years, worthy\nas a composition of being compared with Leonardo\u2019s; but, never having\nbeen painted, we can only pronounce it perfect as far as it goes. The\noriginal drawing enriches the collection of the Queen of England: the\nadmirable engraving of Marc Antonio, said to have been touched by\nRaphael, is before me while I write. From the disposition of the unshod\nfeet as seen under the table, it is styled by collectors \u2018_il pezzo dei\npiedi_:\u2019 from the arrangement of the table and figures it was probably\ndesigned for a refectory.\n\nIn the centre is Christ, with both hands resting on the table; in the\nhead, a melancholy resignation. Peter is on the right, his hand on\nhis breast. John, on the left, places both hands on his breast, with\na most animated expression,\u2014\u2018You cannot believe it is I?\u2019 Andrew has\nlaid his hand on the shoulder of Peter, and leans forward with a sad\ninterrogative expression. The head of Judas has features akin to those\nof the antique satyr, with the look askance of a detected villain:\nhe has heard the words, but he dares not meet the eye, of his Divine\nMaster: he has no purse. James Minor, next to John, with his hands\nextended, seems to speak sadly to Philip: \u2018And they began to inquire\namong themselves, which of them should do this thing?\u2019 The whole\ncomposition is less dramatic, has less variety of action and attitude,\nthan that of Leonardo, but is full of deep melancholy feeling.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe Cenacolo of Andrea del Sarto, in the Convent of the Salvi near\nFlorence, takes, I believe, the third rank after those of Leonardo\nand Raphael. He has chosen the self-same moment, \u2018One of you shall\nbetray me.\u2019 The figures are, as usual, ranged on one side of a long\ntable. Christ, in the centre, holds a piece of bread in his hand; on\nhis left is St. John, and on his right St. James Major, both seen in\nprofile. The face of St. John expresses interrogation; that of St.\nJames, interrogation and a start of amazement. Next to St. James are\nPeter, Thomas, Andrew; then Philip, who has a small cross upon his\nbreast. After St. John come James Minor, Simon, Jude, Judas Iscariot,\nand Bartholomew. Judas, with his hands folded together, leans forward,\nand looks down, with a round mean face, in which there is no power of\nany kind, not even of malignity. In passing almost immediately from the\nCenacolo in the St. Onofrio to that in the Salvi, we feel strongly all\nthe difference between the mental and moral superiority of Raphael at\nthe age of twenty, and the artistic greatness of Andrea in the maturity\nof his age and talent. This fresco deserves its high celebrity. It is\nimpossible to look on it without admiration, considered as a work of\nart. The variety of the attitudes, the disposition of the limbs beneath\nthe table, the ample, tasteful draperies, deserve the highest praise;\nbut the heads are deficient in character and elevation, and the whole\ncomposition wants that solemnity of feeling proper to the subject.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe Cenacolo of Titian, painted for Philip II. for the altar of his\nchapel in the Escurial, is also a notable example of the want of proper\nreverential feeling: two servants are in attendance; Judas is in front,\naverting his head, which is in deep shadow; a dog is under the table,\nand the Holy Ghost is descending from above.\n\nNiccol\u00f2 Poussin has three times painted the Cenacolo. In the two series\nof the Seven Sacraments, he has, of course, represented the institution\nof the Eucharist, as proper to his subject; in both instances, in that\npure and classical taste proper to himself. In the best and largest\ncomposition, the apostles are reclining on couches round the table.\nChrist holds a plate full of bread, and appears as saying, \u2018Take, eat.\u2019\nFour are putting the morsel into their mouths. Judas is seen behind,\nwith an abject look, stealing out of the room.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe faults which I have observed in pictures of this subject are\nchiefly met with in the Venetian, Flemish, and later Bolognese schools.\nWhen the _motif_ selected is the institution of the Eucharist, it is a\nfault to sacrifice the solemnity and religious import of the scene in\norder to render it more dramatic: it ought not to be dramatic; but the\npervading sentiment should be _one_, a deep and awful reverence. When\nChrist is distributing the bread and wine, the apostles should not be\nconversing with each other; nor should the figures exceed twelve in\nnumber, for it appears to me that the introduction of Judas disturbs\nthe sacred harmony and tranquillity of the scene. When the _motif_ is\nthe celebration of the Passover, or the detection of Judas, a more\ndramatic and varied arrangement is necessary; but here, to make the\napostles intent on eating and drinking, as in some old German pictures,\nis a fault. Even Albano has represented one of the apostles as peeping\ninto an empty wine-pitcher with a disappointed look.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIt appears to me, also, a gross fault to introduce dogs and cats, and\nother animals; although I have heard it observed, that a dog gnawing a\nbone is introduced with propriety, to show that the supper is over, the\nPaschal Lamb eaten, before the moment represented.\n\nVulgar heads, taken from vulgar models, or selected without any regard\neither to the ancient types, or the traditional character of the\ndifferent apostles, are defects of frequent occurrence, especially in\nthe older German schools; and in Titian, Paul Veronese, and Rubens,\neven where the heads are otherwise fine and expressive, the scriptural\ntruth of character is in general sacrificed.\n\nIt is a fault, as I have already observed, to represent Judas anxiously\nconcealing the purse.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nHolbein, in his famous Last Supper at Basle, and in the small one in\nthe Louvre, has adopted the usual arrangement: the heads all want\nelevation; but here the attention fixes at once upon Judas Iscariot\u2014the\nvery ideal of scoundrelism\u2014I can use no other word to express the\nunmitigated ugliness, vulgarity, and brutality of the face. Lavater\nhas referred to it as an example of the physiognomy proper to cruelty\nand avarice; but the dissimulation is wanting. This base, eager,\nhungry-looking villain stands betrayed by his own looks: he is too\nprominent; he is in fact the principal figure;\u2014a fault in taste,\nfeeling, and propriety.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe introduction of a great number of figures, as spectators or\nattendants, is a fault; excusable, perhaps, where the subject is\ndecorative and intended for the wall of a refectory, but not otherwise.\nIn the composition of Paul Veronese, there are twenty-three figures;\nin that of Zucchero, forty-five; in that of Baroccio, twenty-one. These\nsupernumerary persons detract from the dignity and solemnity of the\nscene.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTintoretto has introduced several spectators, and among them an old\nwoman spinning in a corner, who, while she turns her spindle, looks on\nwith an observant eye. This alludes to an early tradition, that the\nLast Supper was eaten in the house of Mary, the mother of Mark the\nevangelist. But it is nowhere said that she was present, and therefore\nit is an impropriety to introduce her. Magnificent architecture, as in\nthe picture by B. Peruzzi (who, by the way, was an architect), seems\nobjectionable: but equally unsuitable is the poor dismantled garret in\nthis picture of Tintoretto; for the chamber in which the scene took\nplace was \u2018the guest chamber,\u2019 a large upper room, ready prepared; and\nas it was afterwards the scene of the Pentecost, it must have held more\nthan a hundred persons.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIt is a fault, as I have already observed, to represent John as\n_asleep_ on the breast or the shoulder of our Saviour.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThough countenanced by the highest authorities in Art, I believe it\nmust be considered as a fault, or at least a mistake, to represent our\nSaviour and his apostles as seated, instead of reclining round the\ntable. It is a fault, not merely because the use of the _triclinium_\nor couch at all social meals was general in the antique times,\u2014for the\ncustom of sitting upright was not so entirely extinct among the Jews\nbut that it might on any other occasion have been admissible,\u2014but, from\npeculiar circumstances, it became in this instance an impropriety. We\nknow that when the Passover was first instituted the Jews were enjoined\nto eat it standing, as men in haste, with girded loins and sandalled\nfeet: but afterwards it was made imperative that they should eat it\nin an attitude of repose, lying upon couches, and as men at ease; and\nthe reason for this was, that all the circumstances of the meal, and\nparticularly the attitude in which it was eaten, should indicate the\ncondition of security and freedom which the Israelites enjoyed after\ntheir deliverance from the Egyptian bondage. In the then imperfect\nstate of Biblical criticism, this fact seems to have been unknown to\nthe earlier artists, or disregarded by those who employed and directed\nthem. Among modern artists, Poussin and Le Sueur have scrupulously\nattended to it, even when the moment chosen is the mystical\ndistribution of the bread and wine which succeeded the Paschal Supper.\nCommentators have remarked, that if Christ and his disciples _reclined_\nat table, then, supposing Christ to have the central place of honour,\nthe head of John would have been near to the bosom of Christ: but under\nthese circumstances, if Judas were sufficiently near to receive the\nsop from the hand of Christ, then he must have reclined next to him\non the other side, and have taken precedence of Peter. This supposed\na propinquity which the early Christian artists deemed offensive and\ninadmissible.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIn the composition by Stradano the arrangement of the table and figures\nis particularly well managed: all recline on couches; in the centre\nof the table is a dish, to which Christ extends his hand, and Judas,\nwho is here rather handsome than otherwise, at the same time stretches\nforth his; the moment is evidently, \u2018He that dippeth with me in the\ndish, the same shall betray me.\u2019 Two circumstances spoil this picture,\nand bring it down to the level of the vulgar and the commonplace. In\nthe background is seen a kitchen and the cooking of the supper. Under\nJudas crouches a hideous demon, with horns, hoof, and tail, visible\nonly to the spectator.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWhen the Cenacolo represents the Eucharist, it is, perhaps, allowable\nto introduce angels, because it was, and I believe is, an established\nbelief, that, visible or invisible, they are always present at the\nSacrament. The Holy Ghost descending from above is unsanctioned by\nScripture, but may serve to mark the mystical and peculiar solemnity\nof the moment chosen for representation. It may signify, \u2018He that\nreceiveth me, receiveth _Him_ that sent me.\u2019 But where angels attend,\nor where the Spiritual Comforter comes floating down from above, then\nthe presence of Judas, or of any superfluous figures as spectators or\nservitors, or of dogs or other animals, becomes a manifest impropriety.\n\nThe introduction of the Devil in person as tempting Judas is rendered\npardonable by the na\u00efvet\u00e9 of the early painters: in the later schools\nof art it is offensive and ridiculous.\n\nThe Cenacolo of Baroccio, painted by order of Clement VIII. (1594), for\nhis family chapel in the Santa Maria-sopra-Minerva, is remarkable for\nan anecdote relating to it. Baroccio, who was not eminent for a correct\ntaste, had in his first sketch reverted to the ancient fashion of\nplacing Satan close behind Judas, whispering in his ear, and tempting\nhim to betray his Master. The Pope expressed his dissatisfaction,\u2014\u2018_che\nnon gli piaceva il demonio si dimesticasse tanto con Ges\u00f9 Cristo_,\u2019\u2014and\nordered him to remove the offensive figure. This is not the last\nexample of the ancient manner of treatment. In the Cenacolo of\nFranceschini, painted nearly a century later, two angels are attending\non the sacred repast, while Judas is in the act of leaving the room,\nconducted by Satan in person.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIt is surely a fault, in a scene of such solemn and sacred import,\nto make the head of Judas a vehicle for public or private satire, by\ngiving him the features of some obnoxious personage of the time.[243]\nThis, according to tradition, has been done in some instances. Perhaps\nthe most remarkable example that could be cited is the story of Andrea\ndel Castagno, who, after having betrayed and assassinated his friend\nDomenico Veneziano, painted himself in the character of Judas: a\ncurious instance of remorse of conscience.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nVolumes might be written on the subject of the Last Supper. It extends\nbefore me, as I think and write, into endless suggestive associations,\nwhich, for the present, I dare not follow out: but I shall have\noccasion to return to it hereafter.[244]\n\n\n                             ST. BARNABAS.\n\n         _Ital._ San Parnab\u00e0. _Fr._ Saint Barnab\u00e9. (June 11.)\n\nSt. Barnabas is usually entitled the _Apostle_ Barnabas, because he was\nassociated with the Apostles in their high calling; \u2018and,\u2019 according\nto Lardner, \u2018though without that large measure of inspiration and\nhigh authority which was peculiar to the TWELVE APOSTLES, properly so\ncalled, yet he is to be considered as _Apostolical_, and next to them\nin sanctity.\u2019 For this reason I place him here.\n\nSt. Barnabas was a Levite, born in the island of Cyprus, and the\ncousin-german of Mark the evangelist. The notices of his life and\ncharacter scattered through the Acts invest him with great personal\ninterest. He it was who, after the conversion of Paul, was the first\nto believe in his sincerity, and took courage to present him to the\nother apostles, \u2018who were afraid of him, and would not believe that\nhe was a disciple.\u2019 (Acts xv. 39.) Barnabas afterwards became the\nfellow-labourer of Paul, and attended him to Antioch. We are told\nthat \u2018he was a good man, full of the Holy Ghost and of faith;\u2019 and to\nthis the legendary traditions add, that he was a man of a most comely\ncountenance, of a noble presence, grave and commanding in his step\nand deportment; and thence, when he and Paul were at Lystra together,\n\u2018they called Barnabas Jupiter, and Paul Mercurius.\u2019 Subsequently,\nhowever, Paul and Barnabas fell into a dispute concerning Mark, and\nseparated. The tradition relates that Barnabas and Mark remained for\nsome time together, being united by the ties of friendship, as well\nas by those of kindred. Barnabas preached the Gospel in Asia Minor,\nGreece, and Italy; and there is an old legendary tradition that he was\nthe first bishop of Milan. The legend also relates that everywhere he\ncarried with him the Gospel of St. Matthew, written by the hand of\nthe evangelist, preaching what was written therein; and when any were\nsick, or possessed, he laid the sacred writing upon their bosom, and\nthey were healed; (a beautiful allegory this!) and it happened that as\nhe preached in a synagogue of Judea against the Jews, they were seized\nwith fury and took him, and put him to a cruel death. But Mark and the\nother Christians buried him with many tears.\n\nThe body of St. Barnabas remained in its place of sepulture till\nthe days of the Emperor Zeno, when, according to Nicephorus, it was\nrevealed in a dream to Antemius, that the apostle rested in a certain\nspot, and would be found there, with the Gospel of St. Matthew lying\non his bosom. And so it happened: the remains were found; the Gospel\nwas carried to the emperor at Constantinople; and a church was built,\ndedicated to St. Barnabas.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIt is, I presume, in consequence of his being the kinsman of St. Mark,\nthat Barnabas is more popular at Venice than elsewhere, and that\ndevotional figures of him are rarely found except in Venetian pictures.\nHe is represented as a man of majestic presence, holding in his hand\nthe Gospel of St. Matthew, as in a fine picture by Bonifazio; in his\nchurch at Venice he is represented over the high altar, throned as\nbishop, while St. Peter stands below.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nHe often occurs in subjects taken from the Acts and the life of St.\nPaul. In the scene in which he presents Paul to the other apostles, he\nis the principal personage; but in the scene at Paphos, where Elymas\nis struck blind, and at Lystra, he is always secondary to his great\ncompanion.\n\n[Illustration: 84 Angel (Albert D\u00fcrer) _v._ p. 79.]\n\n\n\n\n                     The Doctors of the Church.\n\n\n                      I. THE FOUR LATIN FATHERS.\n\nThe Evangelists and the Apostles represented in Art the Spiritual\nChurch, and took their place among the heavenly influences. The great\nFathers or Doctors were the representatives of the Church Militant\non earth: as teachers and pastors, as logicians and advocates, they\nwrote, argued, contended, suffered, and at length, after a long and\nfierce struggle against opposing doctrines, they fixed the articles of\nfaith thereafter received in Christendom. For ages, and down to the\npresent time, the prevailing creed has been that which was founded on\nthe interpretations of these venerable personages. They have become,\nin consequence, frequent and important subjects of Art, particularly\nfrom the tenth century\u2014the period when, in their personal character,\nthey began to be regarded not merely as gifted and venerable, but as\ndivinely inspired; their writings appealed to as infallible, their\narguments accepted as demonstration. We distinguish them as the Latin\nand the Greek Fathers. In Western Art, we find the Latin Fathers\nperpetually grouped together, or in a series: the Greek Fathers seldom\noccur except in their individual character, as saints rather than as\nteachers.\n\nThe four Latin Doctors are St. Jerome, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine,\nand St. Gregory. When represented together, they are generally\ndistinguished from each other, and from the sacred personages who may\nbe grouped in the same picture, by their conventional attributes.\nThus St. Jerome is sometimes habited in the red hat and crimson robes\nof a cardinal, with a church in his hand; or he is a half-naked,\nbald-headed, long-bearded, emaciated old man, with eager wasted\nfeatures, holding a book and pen, and attended by a lion. St. Ambrose\nwears the episcopal robes as bishop of Milan, with mitre and crosier,\nand holds his book; sometimes, also, he carries a knotted scourge, and\na bee-hive is near him. St. Augustine is also habited as a bishop, and\ncarries a book; he has often books at his feet, and sometimes a flaming\nheart transpierced by an arrow. The origin and signification of these\nsymbols I shall explain presently.\n\n[Illustration: _The Four Latin Fathers._]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIn the most ancient churches the Four Doctors are placed after the\nEvangelists. In the later churches they are seen combined or grouped\nwith the evangelists, occasionally also with the sibyls; but this\nseems a mistake. The appropriate place of the sibyls is neither with\nthe evangelists nor the fathers, but among the prophets, where Michael\nAngelo has placed them.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWhere the principal subject is the glory of Christ, or the coronation\nor assumption of the Virgin, the Four Fathers attend with their books\nas witnesses and interpreters.\n\n1. A conspicuous instance of this treatment is the dome of San Giovanni\nat Parma. In the centre is the ascension of Christ, around are the\ntwelve apostles gazing upwards; below them, in the spandrils of the\narches, as if bearing record, are the Four Evangelists, each with a\nDoctor of the Church seated by him as interpreter: St. Matthew is\nattended by St. Jerome; St. Mark, by St. Gregory; St. Luke, by St.\nAugustine; and St. John, by St. Ambrose.\n\n2. A picture in the Louvre by Pier-Francesco Sacchi (A.D. 1640)\nrepresents the Four Doctors, attended, or rather inspired, by the\nmystic symbols of the Four Evangelists. They are seated at a table,\nunder a canopy sustained by slender pillars, and appear in deep\nconsultation: near St. Augustine is the eagle; St. Gregory has the ox;\nSt. Jerome, the angel; and St. Ambrose, the lion.\n\n3. In a well-known woodcut after Titian, \u2018The Triumph of Christ,\u2019 the\nRedeemer is seated in a car drawn by the Four Evangelists; while the\nFour Latin Doctors, one at each wheel, put forth all their strength\nto urge it on. The patriarchs and prophets precede, the martyrs and\nconfessors of the faith follow, in grand procession.\n\n4. In a Coronation of the Virgin, very singularly treated, we have\nChrist and the Virgin on a high platform or throne, sustained by\ncolumns; in the space underneath, between these columns, is a group\nof unwinged angels, holding the instruments of the Passion. (Or, as I\nhave sometimes thought, this beautiful group may be the souls of the\nInnocents, their proper place being under the throne of Christ.) On\neach side a vast company of prophets, apostles, saints, and martyrs,\nranged tier above tier. Immediately in front, and on the steps of the\nthrone, are the Four Evangelists, seated each with his symbol and book:\nbehind them the Four Fathers, also seated. This picture, which as a\npainting is singularly beautiful, the execution finished, and the heads\nmost characteristic and expressive, may be said to comprise a complete\nsystem of the theology of the middle ages.[245]\n\n5. We have the same idea carried out in the lower part of Raphael\u2019s\n\u2018Disputa\u2019 in the Vatican. The Four Doctors are in the centre of what\nmay be called the _sublunary_ part of the picture: they are the only\nseated figures in the vast assembly of holy, wise, and learned men\naround; St. Gregory and St. Jerome on the right of the altar, St.\nAmbrose and St. Augustine on the left. As the two latter wear the same\nparaphernalia, they are distinguished by having books scattered at\ntheir feet, on which are inscribed the titles of their respective works.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe Madonna and Child enthroned, with the Doctors of the Church\nstanding on each side, is a subject which has been often, and sometimes\nbeautifully, treated; and here the contrast between all we can\nconceive of virginal and infantine loveliness and innocence enshrined\nin heavenly peace and glory\u2014and these solemn, bearded, grand-looking\nold Fathers, attending in humble reverence, as types of earthly\nwisdom\u2014ought to produce a magnificent effect, when conceived in the\nright spirit. I can remember, however, but few instances in which the\ntreatment is complete and satisfactory.\n\n1. One of these is a picture by A. Vivarini (A.D. 1446), now in the\nAcademy at Venice. Here, the Virgin sits upon a throne under a rich\ncanopy sustained by four little angels. She looks out of the picture\nwith a most dignified, tranquil, goddess-like expression; she wears,\nas usual, the crimson tunic and blue mantle, the latter being of a\nmost brilliant azure; on her brow, a magnificent jewelled crown; the\nDivine Child stands on her knee, and raises his little hand to bless\nthe worshipper. To the right of the Virgin, and on the platform of her\nthrone, stands St. Jerome, robed as cardinal, and bearing his church;\nwith St. Gregory, habited as pope. To the left stands St. Ambrose,\nholding his crosier and knotted scourge, and St. Augustine with his\nbook. This is a wonderful picture, and, as a specimen of the early\nVenetian school, unequalled. The accuracy of imitation, the dazzling\ncolour, the splendid dresses and accessories, the grave beauty of the\nMadonna, the divine benignity of the Infant Redeemer, and the sternly\nthoughtful heads of the old Doctors, are not only positively fine, but\nhave a relative interest and value as being stamped with that very\npeculiar character which belonged to the Vivarini and their immediate\nfollowers. It was painted for the Scuola della Carit\u00e0.[246]\n\n2. A different and a singular treatment of the Four Fathers occurs\nin another Venetian picture.[247] Christ is represented seated on a\nthrone, and disputing with the Jewish doctors, who are eagerly arguing\nor searching their books. In front of the composition stand St. Jerome,\nSt. Ambrose, St. Augustine, and St. Gregory; who, with looks fixed on\nthe youthful Saviour, appear to be reverentially listening to, and\nrecording, his words. This wholly poetical and ideal treatment of a\nfamiliar passage in the life of Christ, I have never seen but in this\none instance.\n\n3. A third example is a picture by Moretto, of extraordinary\nbeauty.[248] The Virgin sits on a lofty throne, to which there is an\nascent of several steps; the Child stands on her right; she presses\nhim to her with maternal tenderness, and his arms are round her neck.\nAt the foot of the throne stand St. Ambrose, with his scourge, and\nSt. Augustine; St. Gregory, wearing the papal tiara, and without a\nbeard, is seated on a step of the throne, holding an open book; and\nSt. Jerome, kneeling on one knee, points to a passage in it; he wears\nthe cardinal\u2019s dress complete. This picture is worthy of Titian in the\nrichness of the effect, with a more sober grandeur in the colour. The\nVirgin is too much like a portrait; this is the only fault.[249]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIn the Chapel of San Lorenzo, in the Vatican, Angelico has painted\neight Doctors of the Church, single majestic figures standing under\nGothic canopies. According to the names _now_ to be seen inscribed\non the pedestals beneath, these figures represent St. Jerome,[250]\nSt. Ambrose, St. Augustine, St. Gregory, St. Athanasius, St. Leo,\nSt. John Chrysostom, and St. Thomas Aquinas. St. John Chrysostom and\nSt. Athanasius represent the Greek doctors. St. Leo, who saved Rome\nfrom Attila, is with peculiar propriety placed in the Vatican; and\nSt. Thomas Aquinas, the angelic doctor, naturally finds a place in a\nchapel painted by a Dominican for a pope who particularly favoured the\nDominicans,\u2014Nicholas V.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe Four Fathers communing on the mystery of the Trinity, or the\nImmaculate Conception, were favourite subjects in the beginning of the\nseventeenth century, when church pictures, instead of being religious\nand devotional, became more and more theological. There is an admirable\npicture of this subject by Dosso Dossi.[251] Above is seen the Messiah,\nas Creator, in a glory; he lays his hand on the head of the Virgin,\nwho kneels in deep humility before him; St. Gregory sits in profound\nthought, a pen in one hand, a tablet in the other; St. Ambrose and\nSt. Augustine are similarly engaged; St. Jerome, to whom alone the\ncelestial vision appears to be visible, is looking up with awe and\nwonder. Guido, in a celebrated picture,[252] has represented the\nDoctors of the Church communing on the Immaculate Conception of the\nVirgin. The figures are admirable for thoughtful depth of character in\nthe expression, and for the noble arrangement of the draperies; above\nis seen the Virgin, floating amid clouds, in snow-white drapery, and\nsustained by angels; visible, however, to St. Jerome and St. Ambrose\nonly.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nRubens has treated the Fathers several times: the colossal picture in\nthe Grosvenor Gallery is well known, where they appear before us as\nmoving along in a grand procession: St. Jerome comes last; (he should\nbe first; but on these points Rubens was not particular:) he seems in\ndeep contemplation, enveloped in the rich scarlet robes of a cardinal\nof the seventeenth century, and turning the leaves of his great\nbook. In another picture we have the Four Fathers seated, discussing\nthe mystery of the Eucharist; St. Jerome points to a passage in the\nScriptures; St. Gregory is turning the page; they appear to be engaged\nin argument; the other two are listening earnestly. There is another\npicture by Rubens in which the usual attributes of the Fathers are\nborne aloft by angels, while they sit communing below.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThese examples will suffice to give a general idea of the manner\nin which the four great Doctors of the Western Church are grouped\nin devotional pictures. We will now consider them separately, each\naccording to his individual character and history.\n\n\n                              ST. JEROME.\n\n_Lat._ Sanctus Hieronymus. _Ital._ San Geronimo or Girolamo. _Fr._ St.\nJ\u00e9rome, Hi\u00e9rome, or G\u00e9roisme. _Ger._ Der Heilige Hieronimus. Patron of\n scholars and students, and more particularly of students in theology.\n                         (Sept. 30, A.D. 420.)\n\nOf the four Latin Doctors, St. Jerome, as a subject of painting, is\nby far the most popular. The reasons for this are not merely the\nexceedingly interesting and striking character of the man, and the\npicturesque incidents of his life, but also his great importance and\ndignity as founder of Monachism in the West, and as author of the\nuniversally received translation of the Old and New Testament into the\nLatin language (called \u2018The Vulgate\u2019). There is scarcely a collection\nof pictures in which we do not find a St. Jerome, either doing penance\nin the desert, or writing his famous translation, or meditating on the\nmystery of the Incarnation.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nJerome was born about A.D. 342, at Stridonium, in Dalmatia. His father,\nEusebius, was rich; and as he showed the happiest disposition for\nlearning, he was sent to Rome to finish his studies. There, through\nhis own passions, and the evil example of his companions, he fell into\ntemptation, and for a time abandoned himself to worldly pleasures. But\nthe love of virtue, as well as the love of learning, was still strong\nwithin him: he took up the profession of law, and became celebrated\nfor his eloquence in pleading before the tribunals. When more than\nthirty, he travelled into Gaul, and visited the schools of learning\nthere. It was about this time that he was baptized, and vowed himself\nto perpetual celibacy. In 373, he travelled into the East, to animate\nhis piety by dwelling for a time among the scenes hallowed by the\npresence of the Saviour; and, on his way thither, he visited some of\nthe famous Oriental hermits and ascetics, of whom he has given us such\na graphic account, and whose example inspired him with a passion for\nsolitude and a monastic life. Shortly after his arrival in Syria, he\nretired to a desert in Chalcis, on the confines of Arabia, and there\nhe spent four years in study and seclusion, supporting himself by the\nlabour of his hands. He has left us a most vivid picture of his life of\npenance in the wilderness; of his trials and temptations, his fastings,\nhis sickness of soul and body: and we must dwell for a moment on his\nown description, in order to show with what literal and circumstantial\ntruth the painters have rendered it. He says, in one of his epistles,\n\u2018Oh how often, in the desert, in that vast solitude which, parched by\nthe sultry sun, affords a dwelling to the monks, did I fancy myself\nin the midst of the luxuries of Rome! I sate alone, for I was full of\nbitterness. My misshapen limbs were rough with sackcloth, and my skin\nso squalid that I might have been mistaken for an Ethiopian. Tears\nand groans were my occupation every day and all day long. If sleep\nsurprised me unawares, my naked bones, which scarcely held together,\nrattled on the earth.\u2019 His companions, he says, \u2018were scorpions and\nwild beasts;\u2019 his home, \u2018a recess among rocks and precipices.\u2019 Yet,\nin the midst of this horrible self-torture and self-abasement, he\ndescribes himself as frequently beset by temptations to sin and sensual\nindulgence, and haunted by demons: at other times, as consoled by\nvoices and visions from heaven. Besides these trials of the flesh and\nthe spirit, he had others of the intellect. His love of learning, his\nadmiration of the great writers of classical antiquity,\u2014of Plato and\nCicero,\u2014made him impatient of the rude simplicity of the Christian\nhistorians. He describes himself as fasting before he opened Cicero;\nand, as a further penance, he forced himself to study Hebrew, which\nat first filled him with disgust, and this disgust appeared to him a\ncapital sin. In one of his distempered visions, he fancied he heard\nthe last trumpet sounded in his ear by an angel, and summoning him\nbefore the judgment-seat of God. \u2018Who art thou?\u2019 demanded the awful\nvoice. \u2018A Christian,\u2019 replied the trembling Jerome. \u2018\u2018Tis false!\u2019\nreplied the voice, \u2018thou art no Christian: thou art a Ciceronian.\nWhere the treasure is, there will the heart be also.\u2019 He persevered,\nand conquered the difficulties of Hebrew; and then, wearied by the\nreligious controversies in the East, after ten years\u2019 residence there,\nhe returned to Rome.\n\nBut neither the opposition he had met with, nor his four years of\nsolitude and penance in the desert, had subdued the fiery enthusiasm of\ntemperament which characterised this celebrated man. At Rome he boldly\ncombated the luxurious self-indulgence of the clergy, and preached\nreligious abstinence and mortification. He was particularly remarkable\nfor the influence he obtained over the Roman women; we find them,\nsubdued or excited by his eloquent exhortations, devoting themselves\nto perpetual chastity, distributing their possessions among the poor,\nor spending their days in attendance on the sick, and ready to follow\ntheir teacher to the Holy Land\u2014to the desert\u2014even to death. His most\ncelebrated female convert was Paula, a noble Roman matron, a descendant\nof the Scipios and the Gracchi. Marcella, another of these Roman\nladies, was the first who, in the East, collected together a number\nof pious women to dwell together in community: hence she is, by some\nauthors, considered as the first nun; but others contend that Martha,\nthe sister of Mary Magdalene, was the first who founded a religious\ncommunity of women.\n\nAfter three years\u2019 sojourn at Rome, St. Jerome returned to Palestine,\nand took up his residence in a monastery he had founded at Bethlehem.\nWhen, in extreme old age, he became sensible of the approach of death,\nhe raised with effort his emaciated limbs, and, commanding himself to\nbe carried into the chapel of the monastery, he received the Sacrament\nfor the last time from the hands of the priest, and soon after expired.\nHe died in 420, leaving, besides his famous translation of the\nScriptures, numerous controversial writings, epistles, and commentaries.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWe read in the legendary history of St. Jerome, that one evening, as\nhe sat within the gates of his monastery at Bethlehem, a lion entered,\nlimping, as in pain; and all the brethren, when they saw the lion, fled\nin terror: but Jerome arose, and went forward to meet him, as though he\nhad been a guest. And the lion lifted up his paw, and St. Jerome, on\nexamining it, found that it was wounded by a thorn, which he extracted;\nand he tended the lion till he was healed. The grateful beast remained\nwith his benefactor, and Jerome confided to him the task of guarding\nan ass which was employed in bringing firewood from the forest. On one\noccasion, the lion having gone to sleep while the ass was at pasture,\nsome merchants passing by carried away the latter; and the lion, after\nsearching for him in vain, returned to the monastery with drooping\nhead, as one ashamed. St. Jerome, believing that he had devoured his\ncompanion, commanded that the daily task of the ass should be laid upon\nthe lion, and that the faggots should be bound on his back, to which\nhe magnanimously submitted, until the ass was recovered; which was in\nthis wise. One day, the lion, having finished his task, ran hither and\nthither, still seeking his companion; and he saw a caravan of merchants\napproaching, and a string of camels, which, according to the Arabian\ncustom, were led by an ass; and when the lion recognised his friend, he\ndrove the camels into the convent, and so terrified the merchants, that\nthey confessed the theft, and received pardon from St. Jerome.\n\nThe introduction of the lion into pictures of St. Jerome is supposed\nto refer to this legend; but in this instance, as in many others, the\nreverse was really the case. The lion was in very ancient times adopted\nas the symbol befitting St. Jerome, from his fervid, fiery nature, and\nhis life in the wilderness; and in later times, the legend invented to\nexplain the symbol was gradually expanded into the story as given above.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nRepresentations of St. Jerome, in pictures, prints, and sculpture,\nare so numerous that it were in vain to attempt to give any detailed\naccount of them, even of the most remarkable. All, however, may be\nincluded under the following classification, and, according to the\ndescriptions given, may be easily recognised.\n\nThe devotional subjects and single figures represent St. Jerome in\none of his three great characters. 1. As Patron Saint and Doctor of\nthe Church. 2. As Translator and Commentator of the Scriptures. 3. As\nPenitent. As Doctor of the Church, and teacher, he enters into every\nscheme of decoration, and finds a place in all sacred buildings. As\nSaint and Penitent, he is chiefly to be found in the convents and\nchurches of the Jeronymites, who claim him as their Patriarch.\n\nWhen placed before us as the patron saint and father of divinity, he is\nusually standing full length, either habited in the cardinal\u2019s robes,\nor with the cardinal\u2019s hat lying at his feet. It may be necessary to\nobserve, that there is no historical authority for making St. Jerome\na cardinal. Cardinal-priests were not ordained till three centuries\nlater; but as the other fathers were all of high ecclesiastical rank,\nand as St. Jerome obstinately refused all such distinction, it has\nbeen thought necessary, for the sake of his dignity, to make him a\ncardinal: another reason may be, that he performed, in the court of\nPope Dalmasius, those offices since discharged by the cardinal-deacon.\nIn some of the old Venetian pictures, instead of the official robes of\na cardinal, he is habited in loose ample red drapery, part of which is\nthrown over his head. When represented with his head uncovered, his\nforehead is lofty and bald, his beard is very long, flowing even to his\ngirdle; his features fine and sharp, his nose aquiline. In his hand\nhe holds a book or a scroll, and frequently the emblematical church,\nof which he was the great support and luminary: and, to make the\napplication stronger and clearer, rays of light are seen issuing from\nthe door of the church.\n\n1. A signal instance of the treatment of Jerome as patron saint occurs\nin a fine picture by Wohlgemuth, the master of Albert D\u00fcrer.[253] It\nis an altar-piece representing the glorification of the saint, and\nconsists of three compartments. In the centre, St. Jerome _stands_ on\na magnificent throne, and lays his left hand on the head of a lion,\nraised up on his hind legs: the donors of the picture, a man and a\nwoman, kneel in front; on each side are windows opening on a landscape,\nwherein various incidents of the life of St. Jerome are represented;\non the right, his Penance in the Wilderness and his Landing at Cyprus;\nand on the left, the merchants who had carried off the ass bring\npropitiatory gifts, which the saint rejects, and other men are seen\nfelling wood and loading the lion. On the inner shutters or wings of\nthe central picture, are represented, on the right, the three other\ndoctors,\u2014St. Augustine, with the flaming heart; St. Ambrose, with\nthe bee-hive; both habited as bishops; and St. Gregory, wearing his\ntiara, and holding a large book (his famous Homilies) in his hand. On\nthe left, three apostles with their proper attributes, St. Andrew, St.\nThomas, and St. Bartholomew; on the other side are represented, to the\nright, St. Henry II. holding a church (the cathedral of Bamberg), and\na sword, his proper attributes; and his wife St. Cunegunda.[254] On\nthe left St. Elizabeth of Hungary and St. Martin. There are besides,\nto close in the whole, two outer doors: on the inner side, to the\nright, St. Joseph and St. Kilian;[255] on the left, St. Catherine and\nSt. Ursula; and on the exterior of the whole the mass of St. Gregory,\nwith various personages and objects connected with the Passion of\nChrist. The whole is about six feet high, dated 1511, and may bear\na comparison, for elaborate and multifarious detail and exquisite\npainting, with the famous Van Eyck altar-piece in St. John\u2019s Church at\nGhent.[256]\n\n2. In his character of patron, St. Jerome is a frequent subject of\nsculpture. There is a Gothic figure of him in Henry the Seventh\u2019s\nChapel, habited in the cardinal\u2019s robes, the lion fawning upon him.\n\nWhen St. Jerome is represented in his second great character, as the\ntranslator of the Scriptures, he is usually seated in a cave or in a\ncell, busied in reading or in writing; he wears a loose robe thrown\nover his wasted form; and either he looks down intent on his book, or\nhe looks up as if awaiting heavenly inspiration: sometimes an angel is\ndictating to him.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n1. In an old Italian print, which I have seen, he is seated on the\nground reading, in _spectacles_;\u2014an anachronism frequent in the old\npainters. Sometimes he is seated under the shade of a tree; or within\na cavern, writing at a rude table formed of a stump of a tree, or a\nboard laid across two fragments of rock; as in a beautiful picture by\nGhirlandajo, remarkable for its solemn and tranquil feeling.[257]\n\n2. Very celebrated is an engraving of this subject by Albert D\u00fcrer. The\nscene is the interior of a cell, at Bethlehem; two windows on the left\npour across the picture a stream of sunshine, which is represented with\nwonderful effect. St. Jerome is seen in the background, seated at a\ndesk, most intently writing his translation of the Scriptures; in front\nthe lion is crouching, and a fox is seen asleep. These two animals\nare here emblems;\u2014the one, of the courage and vigilance, the other of\nthe wisdom or acuteness, of the saint. The execution of this print is\na miracle of Art, and it is very rare. There is an exquisite little\npicture by Elzheimer copied from it, and of the same size, at Hampton\nCourt. I need hardly observe, that here the rosary and the pot of holy\nwater are anachronisms, as well as the cardinal\u2019s hat. By Albert D\u00fcrer\nwe have also St. Jerome writing in a cavern; and St. Jerome reading in\nhis cell: both woodcuts.\n\n3. Even more beautiful is a print by Lucas v. Leyden, in which St.\nJerome is reclining in his cell and reading intently; the lion licks\nhis foot.\n\n4. In a picture by Lucas Cranach, Albert of Brandenburg, elector of\nMayence (1527), is represented in the character of St. Jerome, seated\nin the wilderness, and writing at a table formed of a plank laid across\ntwo stumps of trees: he is in the cardinal-robes; and in the foreground\na lion, a hare, a beaver, a partridge, and a hind, beautifully\npainted, express the solitude of his life. In the background the\ncaravan of merchants is seen entering the gate of the monastery,\nconducted by the faithful lion.\n\n5. The little picture by Domenichino, in our National Gallery,\nrepresents St. Jerome looking up from his book, and listening to the\naccents of the angel. 6. In a picture by Tiarini,[258] it is St. John\nthe Evangelist, and not an angel, who dictates while he writes. 7. In\na picture by Titian, St. Jerome, seated, holds a book, and gazes up at\na crucifix suspended in the skies; the lion is drinking at a fountain.\nOut of twenty prints of St. Jerome after Titian, there are at least\neight which represent him at study or writing.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIt is in the double character of Doctor of the Church, and translator\nof the Scriptures, that we find St. Jerome so frequently introduced\ninto pictures of the Madonna, and grouped with other saints. Two of\nthe most celebrated pictures in the world suggest themselves here as\nexamples:\u20141. \u2018The Madonna della Pesce\u2019 of Raphael; where the Virgin,\nseated on a raised throne, holds the Infant Christ in her arms; on\nher right hand, the archangel Raphael presents the young Tobias, who\nholds the fish, the emblem of Christianity or Baptism. On the other\nside kneels St. Jerome, holding an open book, his beard sweeping to his\ngirdle; the lion at his feet; the Infant Christ, while he bends forward\nto greet Tobias, has one hand upon St. Jerome\u2019s book: the whole is a\nbeautiful and expressive allegory.[259] 2. Correggio\u2019s picture, called\n\u2018The St. Jerome of Parma,\u2019 represents the Infant Christ on the knees of\nhis mother: Mary Magdalene bends to kiss his feet: St. Jerome stands in\nfront, presenting his translation of the Scriptures.\n\n[Illustration: 85 St. Jerome doing Penance (Titian)]\n\nThe penitent St. Jerome seems to have been adopted throughout the\nChristian Church as the approved symbol of Christian penitence,\nself-denial, and self-abasement. No devotional subject, if we except\nthe \u2018Madonna and Child\u2019 and the \u2018Magdalene,\u2019 is of such perpetual\nrecurrence. In the treatment it has been infinitely varied. The scene\nis generally a wild rocky solitude: St. Jerome, half naked, emaciated,\nwith matted hair and beard, is seen on his knees before a crucifix,\nbeating his breast with a stone. The lion is almost always introduced,\nsometimes asleep, or crouching at his feet; sometimes keeping guard,\nsometimes drinking at a stream. The most magnificent example of this\ntreatment is by Titian:[260] St. Jerome, kneeling on one knee, half\nsupported by a craggy rock, and holding the stone, looks up with eager\ndevotion to a cross, artlessly fixed into a cleft in the rock; two\nbooks lie on a cliff behind; at his feet are a skull and hour-glass;\nand the lion reposes in front. The feeling of deep solitude, and a kind\nof sacred horror breathed over this picture, are inconceivably fine and\nimpressive. Another by Titian, but inferior, is in the Louvre; and\nthere are at least twelve engravings of St. Jerome doing penance, after\nthe same painter: among them a superb landscape, in which are seen\na lion and a lioness prowling in the wilderness, while the saint is\ndoing penance in the foreground. By Agostino Caracci there is a famous\nengraving of \u2018St. Jerome doing penance in a cave,\u2019 called from its size\nthe _great_ St. Jerome. But to particularise further would be endless:\nI know scarcely any Italian painter since the fifteenth century who has\nnot treated this subject at least once.\n\nThe Spanish painters have rendered it with a gloomy power, and\nrevelled in its mystic significance. In the Spanish gallery of the\nLouvre I counted at least twenty St. Jeromes: the old German painters\nand engravers also delighted in it, on account of its picturesque\ncapabilities.\n\nAlbert D\u00fcrer represents St. Jerome kneeling before a crucifix, which he\nhas suspended against the trunk of a massy tree; an open book is near\nit; he holds in his right hand a flint-stone, with which he is about\nto strike his breast, all wounded and bleeding from the blows already\ninflicted; the lion crouches behind him, and in the distance is a stag.\n\nThe penitent St. Jerome is not a good subject for sculpture; the\nundraped, meagre form, and the abasement of suffering, are disagreeable\nin this treatment: yet such representations are constantly met with in\nchurches. The famous colossal statue by Torrigiano, now in the Museum\nat Seville, represents St. Jerome kneeling on a rock, a stone in one\nhand, a crucifix in the other. At Venice, in the Frari, there is a\nstatue of St. Jerome, standing, with the stone in his hand and the lion\nat his feet; too majestic for the Penitent. There are several other\nstatues of St. Jerome at Venice, from the Liberi and Lombardi schools,\nall fine as statues; but the penitent saint is idealised into the\npatron-saint of penitents.\n\nWhen figures of St. Jerome as penitent are introduced in Madonna\npictures, or in the Passion of Christ, then such figures are\ndevotional, and symbolical, in a general sense, of Christian repentance.\n\nThere is an early picture of the Crucifixion, by Raphael,[261] in\nwhich he has placed St. Jerome at the foot of the cross, beating his\nbreast with a stone(86).\n\n[Illustration: 86 St. Jerome, as Penitent, in a Crucifixion (Raphael)]\n\nThe pictures from the life of St. Jerome comprise a variety of\nsubjects:\u20141. \u2018He receives the cardinal\u2019s hat from the Virgin:\u2019\nsometimes it is the Infant Christ, seated in the lap of the Virgin,\nwho presents it to him. 2. \u2018He disputes with the Jewish doctors on\nthe truth of the Christian religion;\u2019 in a curious picture by Juan\nde Valdes.[262] He stands on one side of a table in an attitude of\nauthority: the rabbis, each of whom has a demon looking over his\nshoulder, are searching their books for arguments against him. 3. \u2018St.\nJerome, while studying Hebrew in the solitude of Chalcida, hears in a\nvision the sound of the last trumpet, calling men to judgment.\u2019 This is\na common subject, and styled \u2018The Vision of St. Jerome.\u2019 I have met\nwith no example earlier than the fifteenth century. In general he is\nlying on the ground, and an angel sounds the trumpet from above. In a\ncomposition by Ribera he holds a pen in one hand and a penknife in the\nother: he seems to have been arrested in the very act of mending his\npen by the blast of the trumpet: the figure of the saint, wasted even\nto skin and bone, and his look of petrified amazement, are very fine,\nnotwithstanding the commonplace action. In a picture by Subleyras, in\nthe Louvre, St. Jerome is gazing upwards, with an astonished look;\nthree archangels sound their trumpets from above. In a picture by\nAntonio Pereda, at Madrid, St. Jerome not only hears in his vision\nthe sound of the last trump, he _sees_ the dead arise from their\ngraves around him. Lastly, by way of climax, I may mention a picture\nin the Louvre, by a modern French painter, Sigalon: St. Jerome is in\na convulsive fit, and the three angels, blowing their trumpets in his\nears, are like furies sent to torment and madden the sinner, rather\nthan to rouse the saint.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWhile doing penance in the desert, St. Jerome was sometimes haunted by\ntemptations, as well as amazed by terrors.\n\n4. Domenichino, in one of the frescoes in St. Onofrio, represents the\nparticular kind of temptation by which the saint was in imagination\nassailed: while he is fervently praying and beating his breast, a\ncircle of beautiful nymphs, seen in the background, weave a graceful\ndance. Vasari has had the bad taste to give us a penitent St. Jerome\nwith Venus and Cupids in the background: one arch little Cupid takes\naim at him;\u2014an offensive instance of the extent to which, in the\nsixteenth century, classical ideas had mingled with and depraved\nChristian Art.[263]\n\n5. Guido. \u2018St. Jerome translating the Scriptures while an angel\ndictates:\u2019 life size and very fine (except the angel, who is weak, and\nreminds one of a water-nymph[264]); in his pale manner.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n6. Domenichino. \u2018St. Jerome is flagellated by an angel for preferring\nCicero to the Hebrew writings:\u2019 also in the St. Onofrio. The Cicero,\ntorn from his hand, lies at his feet. Here the saint is a young man,\nand the whole scene is represented as a vision.\n\n7. But St. Jerome was comforted by visions of glory, as well as haunted\nby terrors and temptations. In the picture by Parmigiano, in our\nNational Gallery, St. Jerome is sleeping in the background, while St.\nJohn the Baptist points upwards to a celestial vision of the Virgin\nand Child, seen in the opening heavens above: the upper part of this\npicture is beautiful, and full of dignity; but the saint is lying\nstretched on the earth in an attitude so uneasy and distorted, that it\nwould seem as if he were condemned to do penance even in his sleep; and\nthe St. John has always appeared to me mannered and theatrical.\n\n[Illustration: 87 St. Jerome and the Lion (Coll\u2019 Antonio da Fiore)\nNaples]\n\n8. The story of the lion is often represented. St. Jerome is seated in\nhis cell, attired in the monk\u2019s habit and cowl; the lion approaches,\nand lays his paw upon his knee; a cardinal\u2019s hat and books are lying\nnear him; and, to express the self-denial of the saint, a mouse is\npeeping into an empty cup (87).[265]\n\nIn another example, by Vittore Carpaccio, the lion enters the cell, and\nthree monks, attendants on St. Jerome, flee in terror.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n9. The Last Communion of St. Jerome is the subject of one of the most\ncelebrated pictures in the world,\u2014the St. Jerome of Domenichino, which\nhas been thought worthy of being placed opposite to the Transfiguration\nof Raphael, in the Vatican. The aged saint\u2014feeble, emaciated, dying\u2014is\nborne in the arms of his disciples to the chapel of his monastery,\nand placed within the porch. A young priest sustains him; St. Paula,\nkneeling, kisses one of his thin bony hands; the saint fixes his eager\neyes on the countenance of the priest, who is about to administer the\nsacrament,\u2014a noble dignified figure in a rich ecclesiastical dress;\na deacon holds the cup, and an attendant priest the book and taper;\nthe lion droops his head with an expression of grief; the eyes and\nattention of all are on the dying saint, while four angels, hovering\nabove, look down upon the scene.\n\nAgostino Caracci, in a grand picture now in the Bologna Gallery, had\npreviously treated the same subject with much feeling and dramatic\npower: but here the saint is not so wasted and so feeble; St. Paula is\nnot present, and the lion is tenderly licking his feet.\n\nOlder than either, and very beautiful and solemn, is a picture by\nVittore Carpaccio, in which the saint is kneeling in the porch of a\nchurch, surrounded by his disciples, and the lion is seen outside.\n\n10. \u2018The Death of St. Jerome.\u2019 In the picture by Starnina he is giving\nhis last instructions to his disciples, and the expression of solemn\ngrief in the old heads around is very fine. In a Spanish picture he is\nextended on a couch, made of hurdles, and expires in the arms of his\nmonks.\n\nIn a very fine anonymous print, dated 1614, St. Jerome is dying alone\nin his cell (this version of the subject is contrary to all authority\nand precedent): he presses to his bosom the Gospel and the crucifix;\nthe lion looks up in his face roaring, and angels bear away his soul to\nheaven.\n\n11. \u2018The Obsequies of St. Jerome.\u2019 In the picture by Vittore Carpaccio,\nthe saint is extended on the ground before the high altar, and the\npriests around are kneeling in various attitudes of grief or devotion.\nThe lion is seen on one side.[266]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nI will mention here some other pictures in which St. Jerome figures as\nthe principal personage.\n\nSt. Jerome introducing Charles V. into Paradise is the subject of a\nlarge fresco, by Luca Giordano, on the staircase of the Escurial.\n\nSt. Jerome conversing with two nuns, probably intended for St. Paula\nand St. Marcella.[267]\n\nThe sleep of St. Jerome. He is watched by two angels, one of whom, with\nhis finger on his lip, commands silence.[268]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIt is worth remarking, that in the old Venetian pictures St. Jerome\ndoes not wear the proper habit and hat of a cardinal, but an ample\nscarlet robe, part of which is thrown over his head as a hood (88).\n\n[Illustration: 88 Venetian St. Jerome]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe history of St. Jerome, in a series, is often found in the churches\nand convents of the Jeronymites, and generally consists of the\nfollowing subjects, of which the fourth and sixth are often omitted:\u2014\n\n1. He is baptized. 2. He receives the cardinal\u2019s hat from the Virgin.\n3. He does penance in the desert, beating his breast with a stone.\n4. He meets St. Augustine. 5. He is studying or writing in a cell.\n6. He builds the convent at Bethlehem. 7. He heals the wounded lion.\n8. He receives the Last Sacrament. 9. He dies in the presence of his\ndisciples. 10. He is buried.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nConsidering that St. Jerome has ever been venerated as one of the great\nlights of the Church, it is singular that so few churches are dedicated\nto him. There is one at Rome, erected, according to tradition, on the\nvery spot where stood the house of Santa Paula, where she entertained\nSt. Jerome during his sojourn at Rome in 382. For the high altar of\nthis church, Domenichino painted his masterpiece of the Communion of\nSt. Jerome already described. The embarkation of Saint Paula, to follow\nher spiritual teacher St. Jerome to the Holy Land, is the subject of\none of Claude\u2019s most beautiful sea pieces, now in the collection of the\nDuke of Wellington; another picture of this subject, the figures as\nlarge as life, is in the Brera, by a clever Cremonese painter, Giuseppe\nBottoni.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nSt. Jerome has detained its long; the other Fathers are, as subjects of\nArt, much less interesting.\n\n\n                             ST. AMBROSE.\n\n   _Lat._ S. Ambrosius. _Ital._ Sant\u2019 Ambrogio. _Fr._ St. Ambroise.\n  _Ger._ Der Heilige Ambrosius. Patron Saint of Milan. (April 4, A.D.\n                                 397.)\n\nWe can hardly imagine a greater contrast than between the stern,\nenthusiastic, dreaming, ascetic Jerome, and the statesman-like,\npractical, somewhat despotic AMBROSE. This extraordinary man, in\nwhose person the priestly character assumed an importance and dignity\ntill then unknown, was the son of a prefect of Gaul, bearing the same\nname, and was born at Treves in the year 340. It is said that, when an\ninfant in the cradle, a swarm of bees alighted on his mouth, without\ninjuring him. The same story was told of Plato and of Archilochus, and\nconsidered prophetic of future eloquence. It is from this circumstance\nthat St. Ambrose is represented with the bee-hive near him.\n\nYoung Ambrose, after pursuing his studies at Rome with success, was\nappointed prefect of \u00c6milia and Liguria (Piedmont and Genoa), and took\nup his residence at Milan. Shortly afterwards the Bishop of Milan\ndied, and the succession was hotly disputed between the Catholics and\nthe Arians. Ambrose appeared in his character of prefect, to allay\nthe tumult; he harangued the people with such persuasive eloquence\nthat they were hushed into respectful silence; and in the midst a\nchild\u2019s voice was heard to exclaim, \u2018Ambrose shall be bishop!\u2019 The\nmultitude took up the cry as though it had been a voice from heaven,\nand compelled him to assume the sacred office. He attempted to avoid\nthe honour thus laid upon him by flight, by entreaties,\u2014pleading that,\nthough a professed Christian, he had never been baptized: in vain! the\ncommand of the emperor enforced the wishes of the people; and Ambrose,\nbeing baptized, was, within eight days afterwards, consecrated bishop\nof Milan. He has since been regarded as the patron saint of that city.\n\nHe began by distributing all his worldly goods to the poor; he then\nset himself to study the sacred writings, and to render himself in all\nrespects worthy of his high dignity. \u2018The Old and the New Testament,\u2019\nsays Mr. Milman, \u2018met in the person of Ambrose: the implacable\nhostility to idolatry, the abhorrence of every deviation from the\nestablished formulary of belief;\u2014the wise and courageous benevolence,\nthe generous and unselfish devotion to the great interests of humanity.\u2019\n\nHe was memorable for the grandeur and magnificence with which he\ninvested the ceremonies of worship; they had never been so imposing. He\nparticularly cultivated music, and introduced from the East the manner\nof chanting the service since called the Ambrosian chant.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTwo things were especially remarkable in the life and character of\nSt. Ambrose. The first was the enthusiasm with which he advocated\ncelibacy in both sexes: on this topic, as we are assured, he was so\npersuasive, that mothers shut up their daughters lest they should be\n_seduced_ by their eloquent bishop into vows of chastity. The other\nwas his determination to set the ecclesiastical above the sovereign\nor civil power: this principle, so abused in later times, was in the\ndays of Ambrose the assertion of the might of Christianity, of mercy,\nof justice, of freedom, over heathenism, tyranny, cruelty, slavery.\nThe dignity with which he refused to hold any communication with the\nEmperor Maximus, because he was stained with the blood of Gratian, and\nhis resolute opposition to the Empress Justina, who interfered with\nhis sacerdotal privileges, were two instances of this spirit. But the\nmost celebrated incident of his life is his conduct with regard to\nthe Emperor Theodosius, the last great emperor of Rome;\u2014a man of an\niron will, a despot, and a warrior. That _he_ should bend in trembling\nsubmission at the feet of an unarmed priest, and shrink before his\nrebuke, filled the whole world with an awful idea of the supremacy of\nthe Church, and prepared the way for the Hildebrands, the Perettis, the\nCaraffas of later times. With regard to St. Ambrose, this assumption\nof moral power, this high prerogative of the priesthood, had hitherto\nbeen without precedent, and in this its first application it certainly\ncommands our respect, our admiration, and our sympathy.\n\nTheodosius, with all his great qualities, was subject to fits of\nviolent passion. A sedition, or rather a popular affray, had taken\nplace in Thessalonica; one of his officers was ill-treated, and some\nlives lost. Theodosius, in the first moment of indignation, ordered an\nindiscriminate massacre of the inhabitants, and seven thousand human\nbeings\u2014men, women, and children\u2014were sacrificed. The conduct of Ambrose\non this occasion was worthy of a Christian prelate: he retired from\nthe presence of the emperor, and wrote to him a letter, in which, in\nthe name of Christ, of his Church, and of all the bishops over whom he\nhad any influence, he denounced this inhuman act with the strongest\nexpressions of abhorrence, and refused to allow the sovereign, thus\nstained with innocent blood, to participate in the sacraments of the\nChurch;\u2014in fact, excommunicated him. In vain the emperor threatened,\nsupplicated; in vain he appeared with all his imperial state before the\ndoors of the cathedral of Milan, and commanded and entreated entrance.\nThe doors were closed; and even on Christmas-day, when he again as\na suppliant presented himself, Ambrose appeared at the porch, and\nabsolutely forbade his entrance, unless he should choose to pass into\nthe sanctuary over the dead body of the intrepid bishop. At length,\nafter eight months of interdict, Ambrose consented to relent, on two\nconditions: the first, that the emperor should publish an edict by\nwhich no capital punishment could be executed till thirty days after\nconviction of a crime; the second, that he should perform a public\npenance. The emperor submitted; and, clothed in sackcloth, grovelling\non the earth, with dust and ashes on his head, lay the master of the\nworld before the altar of Christ, because of innocent blood hastily\nand wrongfully shed. This was a great triumph, and one of incalculable\nresults\u2014some evil, some good.\n\nAnother incident in the life of St. Ambrose should be recorded to his\nhonour. In his time, \u2018the first blood was judicially shed for religious\nopinion\u2019\u2014and the first man who suffered for heresy was Priscilian,\na noble Spaniard: on this occasion, St. Ambrose and St. Martin of\nTours raised their protest in the name of Christianity against this\ndreadful precedent; but the animosity of the Spanish bishops prevailed,\nand Priscilian was put to death; so early were bigotry and cruelty\nthe characteristics of the Spanish hierarchy! Ambrose refused to\ncommunicate with the few bishops who had countenanced this transaction:\nthe general voice of the Church was against it.\n\nThe man who had thus raised himself above all worldly power was endued\nby popular enthusiasm with supernatural privileges: he performed cures;\nhe saw visions. At the time of the consecration of the new cathedral\nat Milan, a miraculous dream revealed to him the martyrdom of two holy\nmen, Gervasius and Protasius, and the place where their bodies reposed.\nThe remains were disinterred, conveyed in solemn procession to the\ncathedral, and deposited beneath the high altar; and St. Gervasius and\nSt. Protasius became, on the faith of a dream, distinguished saints in\nthe Roman calendar. Ambrose died at Milan, in 397, in the attitude and\nthe act of prayer.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThere were many poetical legends and apologues relating to St. Ambrose\ncurrent in the middle ages.\n\nIt is related that an obstinate heretic who went to hear him preach,\nonly to confute and mock him, beheld an angel visible at his side, and\nprompting the words he uttered; on seeing which, the scoffer was of\ncourse converted; a subject represented in his church at Milan.\n\nOne day, Ambrose went to the prefect Macedonius, to entreat favour for\na poor condemned wretch; but the doors were shut against him, and he\nwas refused access. Then he said, \u2018Thou, even thou, shalt fly to the\nchurch for refuge, and shalt not enter!\u2019 and a short time afterwards,\nMacedonius, being pursued by his enemies, fled for sanctuary to the\nchurch; but, though the doors were wide open, he could not find the\nentrance, but wandered around in blind perplexity till he was slain. Of\nthis incident I have seen no picture.\n\nOn another occasion, St. Ambrose, coming to the house of a nobleman of\nTuscany, was hospitably received; and he inquired concerning the state\nof his host: the nobleman replied, \u2018I have never known adversity; every\nday hath seen me increasing in fortune, in honours, in possessions. I\nhave a numerous family of sons and daughters, who have never cost me a\npang of sorrow; I have a multitude of slaves, to whom my word is law;\nand I have never suffered either sickness or pain.\u2019 Then Ambrose rose\nhastily from table, and said to his companions, \u2018Arise! fly from this\nroof, ere it fall upon us; for the Lord is not here!\u2019 and scarcely had\nhe left the house, when an earthquake shook the ground, and swallowed\nup the palace with all its inhabitants. I have seen this story in a\nminiature, but cannot at this moment refer to it.\n\nSt. Ambrose falls asleep, or into a trance, while celebrating mass, and\nsees in the spirit the obsequies of St. Martin of Tours: the sacristan\nstrikes him on the shoulder to wake him. This is the subject of a very\nold mosaic in his church at Milan.\n\nWhen St. Ambrose was on his death-bed, Christ visited him and comforted\nhim; Honorat, bishop of Vercelli, was then in attendance on him, and\nhaving gone to sleep, an angel waked him, saying, \u2018Arise, for he\ndeparts in this hour;\u2019 and Honorat was just in time to administer the\nsacrament and see him expire. Others who were present beheld him ascend\nto heaven, borne in the arms of angels.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nDevotional pictures of St. Ambrose alone as patron saint do not often\noccur. In general he wears the episcopal pallium with the mitre and\ncrosier as bishop: the bee-hive is sometimes placed at his feet; but a\nmore frequent attribute is the knotted scourge with three thongs. The\nscourge is a received emblem of the castigation of sin: in the hand\nof St. Ambrose it may signify the penance inflicted on the Emperor\nTheodosius; or, as others interpret it, the expulsion of the Arians\nfrom Italy, and the triumph of the Trinitarians. It has always this\nmeaning, we may presume, when the scourge has three knots, or three\nthongs. I have seen figures of St. Ambrose holding two human bones in\nhis hand. When this attribute occurs (as in a picture by _Vivarini_,\n_Venice Acad._), it alludes to the discovery of the relics of Gervasius\nand Protasius.\n\nAmong the few representations of St. Ambrose as patron saint, the\nfinest beyond all comparison is that which adorns his chapel in the\nFrari at Venice, painted conjointly by B. Vivarini and Basaiti (A.D.\n1498). He is seated on a throne, raised on several steps, attired in\nhis episcopal robes and mitre, and bearing the triple scourge in his\nhand. He has a short grey beard, and looks straight out of the picture\nwith an expression of stern power;\u2014nothing here of the benignity and\nhumility of the Christian teacher! Around his throne stands a glorious\ncompany of saints: on the right, St. George in complete armour; St.\nJohn the Baptist; a young saint, bearing a sword and palm, with long\nhair, and the most beautiful expression of mild serene faith, whom I\nsuppose to be St. Theodore; St. Sebastian; and another figure behind,\npart of the head only seen. On the left, St. Maurice, armed; the three\nDoctors, St. Gregory, St. Augustine, St. Jerome, and two other saints\npartly seen behind, whose personality is doubtful. All these wait round\nSt. Ambrose, as guards and counsellors round a sovereign; two lovely\nlittle angels sit on the lower step of the throne hymning his praise.\nThe whole picture is wonderful for colour, depth, and expression, and\nshows to what a pitch of excellence the Vivarini family had attained in\nthese characteristics of the Venetian school, long before it had become\na school.\n\nMost of the single figures of St. Ambrose represent him in his most\npopular character, that of the stern adversary of the Arians. I\nremember (in the Frari at Venice) a picture in which St. Ambrose in\nhis episcopal robes is mounted on a white charger, and flourishing on\nhigh his triple scourge. The Arians are trampled under his feet, or fly\nbefore him. I have seen an old print, in which he is represented with\na short grey beard, stern countenance, and wearing the bishop\u2019s mitre:\nunderneath is the inscription \u2018_Antiquis ejus imaginibus Mediolani olim\ndepictis ad vivum expressa_;\u2019 but it seems certain that no authentic\nportrait of him exists.\n\nHis church at Milan, the Basilica of Sant\u2019 Ambrogio Maggiore, one of\nthe oldest and most interesting churches in Christendom, was founded\nby him in 387, and dedicated to all the Saints. Though rebuilt in\nthe ninth century and restored in the seventeenth, it still retains\nthe form of the primitive Christian churches (like some of those at\nRome and Ravenna), and the doors of cypress wood are traditionally\nregarded as the very doors which St. Ambrose closed against the\nEmperor Theodosius, brought hither from the ancient cathedral. Within\nthis venerable and solemn old church may be seen one of the most\nextraordinary and best-preserved specimens of Medi\u00e6val Art: it is the\ngolden shrine or covering of the high altar, much older than the famous\n_pala d\u2019 oro_ at Venice; and the work, or at least the design, of one\nman:[269] whereas the _pala_ is the work of several different artists\nat different periods. On the front of the altar, which is all of plates\nof gold, enamelled and set with precious stones, are represented in\nrelief scenes from the life of our Saviour: on the sides, which are of\nsilver-gilt, angels, archangels, and medallions of Milanese saints. On\nthe back, also of silver-gilt, we have the whole life of St. Ambrose,\nin a series of small compartments, most curious and important as a\nrecord of costume and manners, as well as an example of the state of\nArt at that time. I have never seen any engraving of this monument, but\nI examined it carefully. In the centre stand the Archangels Michael and\nGabriel, in the Byzantine style; and below them, St. Ambrose blesses\nthe donor, Bishop Angelbertus, and the goldsmith Wolvinus. Around, in\ntwelve compartments, we have the principal incidents of the life of St.\nAmbrose, the figures being, as nearly as I can recollect, about six\ninches high.\n\n1. Bees swarm round his head as he lies in his cradle. 2. He is\nappointed prefect of the Ligurian provinces. 3. He is elected Bishop\nof Milan in 375. 4. He is baptized. 5. He is ordained. 6. and 7. He\nsleeps, and beholds in a vision the obsequies of St. Martin of Tours.\n8. He preaches in the cathedral, inspired by angels. 9. He heals the\nsick and lame. 10. He is visited by Christ. 11. An angel wakes the\nbishop of Vercelli, and sends him to St. Ambrose. 12. Ambrose dies, and\nangels bear away his soul to heaven.\n\nI was surprised not to find in his church what we consider as the\nprincipal event of his life\u2014his magnanimous resistance to the Emperor\nTheodosius. In fact, the grand scene between Ambrose and Theodosius\nhas never been so popular as it deserves to be: considered merely as a\nsubject of painting, it is full of splendid picturesque capabilities;\nfor grouping, colour, contrast, background, all that could be desired.\nIn the great picture by Rubens,[270] the scene is the porch of the\nchurch. On the left the emperor, surrounded by his guards, stands\nirresolute, and in a supplicatory attitude, on the steps; on the right\nand above, St. Ambrose is seen, attended by the ministering priests,\nand stretches out his hand to repel the intruder. There is a print,\nafter Andrea del Sarto, representing Theodosius on his knees before the\nrelenting prelate. In the Louvre is a small picture, by Subleyras, of\nthe reconciliation of Ambrose and Theodosius. In our National Gallery\nis a small and beautiful copy, by Vandyck, of the great picture by\nRubens.\n\nAs joint patrons of Milan, St. Ambrose and St. Carlo Borromeo are\nsometimes represented together, but only in late pictures.\n\nThere is a statue of St. Ambrose, by Falconet,[271] in the act of\nrepelling Theodosius, which is mentioned by Diderot, with a commentary\nso characteristic of the French anti-religious feeling of that time,\u2014a\nfeeling as narrow and one-sided in its way as the most bigoted\npuritanism,\u2014that I am tempted to extract it; only premising, that if,\nafter the slaughter at Isma\u00ebl, Catherine of Russia had been placed\nunder the ban of Christendom, the world would not have been the worse\nfor such an exertion of the priestly power.\n\n C\u2019est ce fougneux \u00e9v\u00eaque qui osa fermer les portes de l\u2019\u00e9glise a\n Th\u00e9odose, et \u00e0 qui un certain souverain de par le monde [Frederic of\n Prussia] qui dans la guerre pass\u00e9e avoit une si bonne envie de faire\n un tour dans la rue des pr\u00eatres, et une certaine souveraine [Catherine\n of Russia] qui vient de d\u00e9barrasser son clerg\u00e9 de toute cette richesse\n inutile qui l\u2019emp\u00eachoit d\u2019\u00eatre respectable, auroient fait couper la\n barbe et les oreilles, en lui disant: \u2018Apprenez, monsieur l\u2019abb\u00e9, que\n le temple de votre Dieu est sur mon domain, et que si mon pr\u00e9d\u00e9cesseur\n vous a accord\u00e9 par gr\u00e2ce les trois arpens de terrain qu\u2019il occupe,\n je puis les reprendre et vous envoyer porter vos autels et votre\n fanatisme ailleurs. Ce lieu-ci est la maison du P\u00e8re commun des\n hommes, bons ou m\u00e9chans, et je veux entrer quand il me plaira. Je ne\n m\u2019accuse point \u00e0 vous; quand je daignerois vous consulter, vous n\u2019en\n savez pas assez pour me conseiller sur ma conduite, et de quel front\n vous immiscez-veus d\u2019en juger?\u2019 Mais le plat empereur ne parla pas\n ainsi, et l\u2019\u00e9v\u00eaque savoit bien \u00e0 qui il avoit \u00e0 faire. Le statuaire\n nous l\u2019a montr\u00e9 dans le moment de son insolent apostrophe.\u2019\n\nIn Diderot\u2019s criticisms on Art, which are often quoted even now,\nthere is in general a far better taste than prevailed in his time,\nand much good sense; but a low tone of sentiment when he had to deal\nwith imaginative or religious Art, and an intolerable coarseness\u2014\u2018most\nmischievous foul sin in chiding sin.\u2019\n\n\n                            ST. AUGUSTINE.\n\n St. Austin. _Lat._ Sanctus Augustinus. _Ital._ Sant\u2019 Agostino. _Fr._\n                  St. Augustin. (Aug. 28, A.D. 430.)\n\nSt. Augustine, the third of the Doctors of the Church, was born\nat Tagaste, in Numidia, in 354. His father was a heathen; his\nmother, Monica, a Christian. Endowed with splendid talents, a vivid\nimagination, and strong passions, Augustine passed his restless youth\nin dissipated pleasures, in desultory studies, changing from one faith\nto another, dissatisfied with himself and unsettled in mind. His\nmother, Monica, wept and prayed for him, and, in the extremity of her\nanguish, repaired to the bishop of Carthage. After listening to her\nsorrows, he dismissed her with these words: \u2018Go in peace; the son of so\nmany tears will not perish!\u2019 Augustine soon afterwards went to Rome,\nwhere he gained fame and riches by his eloquence at the bar; but he\nwas still unhappy and restless, nowhere finding peace either in labour\nor in pleasure. From Rome he went to Milan; there, after listening for\nsome time to the preaching of Ambrose, he was, after many struggles,\nconverted to the faith, and was baptized by the bishop of Milan, in\npresence of his mother, Monica. On this occasion was composed the\nhymn called the \u2018Te Deum,\u2019 still in use in our Church; St. Ambrose\nand St. Augustine reciting the verses alternately as they advanced to\nthe altar. Augustine, after some time spent in study, was ordained\npriest, and then bishop of Hippo, a small town and territory not far\nfrom Carthage. Once installed in his bishopric, he ever afterwards\nrefused to leave the flock intrusted to his care, or to accept of\nany higher dignity. His life was passed in the practice of every\nvirtue: all that he possessed was spent in hospitality and charity,\nand his time was devoted to the instruction of his flock, either by\npreaching or writing. In 430, after he had presided over his diocese\nfor thirty-five years, the city of Hippo was besieged by the Vandals;\nin the midst of the horrors that ensued, Augustine refused to leave\nhis people, and died during the siege, being then in his seventy-sixth\nyear. It is said that his remains were afterwards removed from Africa\nto Pavia, by Luitprand, king of the Lombards. His writings in defence\nof Christianity are numerous and celebrated; and he is regarded as the\npatron saint of theologians and learned men.\n\nOf his glorious tomb, in the Cathedral of Pavia, I can only say that\nits beauty as a work of art astonished me. I had not been prepared for\nanything so rich, so elegant in taste, and so elaborate in invention.\nIt is of the finest florid Gothic, worked in white marble, scarcely\ndiscoloured by time. Augustine lies upon a bier, and angels of\nexquisite grace are folding his shroud around him. The basso-relievos\nrepresent the events of his life; the statues of the evangelists,\napostles, and other saints connected with the history of the Church,\nare full of dignity and character. It comprises in all 290 figures.\nThis magnificent shrine is attributed by Cicognara to the Jacobelli\nof Venice, and by Vasari to the two brothers Agostino and Agnolo of\nSiena; but he does not speak with certainty, and the date 1362 seems to\njustify the supposition of Cicognara, the Sienese brothers being then\neighty or ninety years old.\n\nSingle figures of St. Augustine are not common; and when grouped\nwith others in devotional pictures, it is not easy to distinguish\nhim from other bishops; for his proper attribute, the heart flaming\nor transpierced, to express the ardour of his piety or the poignancy\nof his repentance, is very seldom introduced: but when a bishop\nis standing with a book in his hand, or a pen, accompanied by St.\nJerome, and with no particular attribute, we may suppose it to be\nSt. Augustine; and when the title of one of his famous writings is\ninscribed on the book, it of course fixes the identity beyond a doubt.\n\n1. B. Vivarini. St. Augustine seated on a throne, as patron saint,\nmitred and robed; alone, stern, and majestic.[272]\n\n2. Dosso Dossi. St. Augustine throned as patron, attended by two\nangels; he looks like a jovial patriarch.[273]\n\n3. F. Filippo Lippi. St. Augustine writing in his chamber; no emblem,\nno mitre; yet the _personalit\u00e9_ so marked, that one could not mistake\nhim either for Ambrose or Jerome.[274]\n\n4. Andrea del Sarto. St. Augustine as doctor; before him stand St.\nDominic and St. Peter Martyr; beside him St. Laurence, listening; in\nfront kneel St. Sebastian and Mary Magdalen.[275]\n\n5. V. Carpaccio. St. Augustine standing; a fine, stern, majestic\nfigure; he holds his book and scourge.[276]\n\n6. Paris Bordone. The Virgin and Child enthroned; the Virgin places\non the head of St. Augustine, who kneels before her, the jewelled\nmitre.[277]\n\n7. Florigerio. St. Augustine, as bishop, and St. Monica, veiled, stand\non each side of the Madonna.[278]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAs a _series_ of subjects, the history of St. Augustine is not\ncommonly met with; yet certain events in his life are of very frequent\noccurrence.\n\nI shall begin with the earliest.\n\n1. Monica brings her son to school; the master receives him; the\nscholars are sitting in a row conning their hornbooks. The names of\nMonica and Augustine are inscribed in the glories round their heads.\nThis is a very curious little oval picture of the early part of the\nfourteenth century.[279]\n\nBenozzo Gozzoli has painted the same subject in a large fresco in\nthe church of San Geminiano at Volterra (A.D. 1460). Monica presents\nher son to the schoolmaster, who caresses him; in the background a\nlittle boy is being whipped, precisely in the same attitude in which\ncorrection is administered to this day in some of our schools.\n\n2. St. Augustine under the fig-tree meditating, with the inscription,\n\u2018Dolores anim\u00e6 salutem parturientes;\u2019 and the same subject varied,\nwith the inscription, _Tolle, lege_. He tells us in his Confessions,\nthat while still unconverted and in deep communion with his friend\nAlypius on the subject of the Scriptures, the contest within his mind\nwas such that he rushed from the presence of his friend and threw\nhimself down beneath a fig-tree, pouring forth torrents of repentant\ntears; and he heard a voice, as it were the voice of a child, repeating\nseveral times, \u2018_Tolle, lege_,\u2019 \u2018Take and read;\u2019 and returning to the\nplace where he had left his friend, and taking up the sacred volume,\nhe opened it at the verse of St. Paul\u2019s Epistle to the Romans, \u2018Not\nin rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in\nstrife and envying; but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not\nprovision for the flesh.\u2019 Considering that this was the voice of God,\nhe took up the religious profession, to the great joy of his mother and\nhis friend.\n\n3. C. Procaccino. The Baptism of St. Augustine in the presence of St.\nMonica. This is a common subject in chapels dedicated to St. Augustine\nor St. Monica.[280]\n\n4. As the supposed founder of one of the four great religious\ncommunities, St. Augustine is sometimes represented as giving the rules\nto his Order: or in the act of writing them, while his monks stand\naround, as in a picture by Carletto Cagliari:[281] both are common\nsubjects in the houses of the Augustine friars. The habit is black.[282]\n\n5. St. Augustine dispensing alms, generally in a black habit, and with\na bishop\u2019s mitre on his head.\n\n6. St. Augustine, washing the feet of the pilgrims, sees Christ descend\nfrom above to have his feet washed with the rest; a large picture in\nthe Bologna Academy by Desubleo, a painter whose works, with this one\nexception, are unknown to me. The saint wears the black habit of an\nAugustine friar, and is attended by a monk with a napkin in his hand.\nI found the same subject in the Louvre, in a Spanish picture of the\nseventeenth century; above is seen a church (like the Pantheon) in\na glory, and Christ is supposed to utter the words, \u2018_Tibi commendo\nEcclesiam meam_.\u2019[283]\n\n7. St. Augustine, borne aloft by angels in an ecstatic vision, beholds\nChrist in the opening heavens above, St. Monica kneeling below. This\nfine picture, by Vandyck, is or was in the gallery of Lord Methuen\nat Corsham: and at Madrid there is another example, by Murillo: St.\nAugustine kneeling in an ecstasy sees a celestial vision; on one hand\nthe Saviour crucified, on the other the Virgin and angels.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n[Illustration: 89 The Vision of St. Augustine (Murillo)]\n\nThis, however, is not the famous subject called, in general, 8.\n\u2018The Vision of St. Augustine,\u2019 which represents a dream or vision\nrelated by himself. He tells us that while busied in writing his\nDiscourse on the Trinity, he wandered along the sea-shore lost in\nmeditation. Suddenly he beheld a child, who, having dug a hole in\nthe sand, appeared to be bringing water from the sea to fill it.\nAugustine inquired what was the object of his task? He replied, that he\nintended to empty into this cavity all the waters of the great deep.\n\u2018Impossible!\u2019 exclaimed Augustine. \u2018Not more impossible,\u2019 replied the\nchild, \u2018than for thee, O Augustine! to explain the mystery on which\nthou art now meditating.\u2019\n\nNo subject from the history of St. Augustine has been so often treated,\nyet I do not remember any very early example. It was adopted as a\nfavourite theme when Art became rather theological than religious, and\nmore intent on illustrating the dogmas of churchmen than the teaching\nof Christ. During the 16th and 17th centuries we find it everywhere,\nand treated in every variety of style; but the _motif_ does not vary,\nand the same fault prevails too generally, of giving us a material\nfact, rather than a spiritual vision or revelation. Augustine, arrayed\nin his black habit or his episcopal robes, stands on the sea-shore,\ngazing with an astonished air on the Infant Christ, who pauses, and\nlooks up from his task, holding a bowl, a cup, a ladle, or a shell\nin his hand. Thus we have it in Murillo\u2019s picture\u2014the most beautiful\nexample I have seen: the child is heavenly, but not visionary,\n\u2018palpable to feeling as to sense.\u2019\n\nIn Garofalo\u2019s picture of this subject, now in our National Gallery,\nAugustine is seated on a rock by the margin of the sea, habited in\nhis episcopal robes, and with his books and writing implements near\nhim; and while he gazes on the mysterious child, the Virgin appears\namid a choir of angels above: behind Augustine stands St. Catherine,\nthe patron saint of theologians and scholars: the little red figure\nin the background represents St. Stephen, whose life and actions are\neloquently set forth in the homilies of St. Augustine: the introduction\nof St. Catherine, St. Stephen, and the whole court of heaven, gives\nthe picture a visionary character. Rubens has painted this subject\nwith all his powerful reality: here Augustine wears the black habit\nof his Order. Vandyck in his large grand picture has introduced St.\nMonica kneeling, thus giving at once the devotional or visionary\ncharacter.[284] Albert D\u00fcrer has designed and engraved the same\nsubject. The most singular treatment is the classical composition of\nRaphael, in one of the small chiaro-scuro pictures placed significantly\nunder the \u2018Dispute of the Sacrament.\u2019 St. Augustine is in a Roman\ndress, bare-beaded, and on horseback; his horse starts and rears at the\nsight of the miraculous child.\n\nThere is something at once picturesque and mystical in this subject,\nwhich has rendered it a favourite with artists and theologians; yet\nthere is always, at least in every instance I can recollect, something\nprosaic and literal in the treatment which spoils the poetry of the\nconception.\n\n9. \u2018St. Augustine and St. Stephen bury \u2018Count Orgaz\u2019\u2014the masterpiece\nof Domenico el Greco, once in the Cathedral of Toledo, now in the\nMadrid Gallery. This Conde de Orgaz, as Mr. Ford tells us in his\nHandbook, lived in 1312, and had repaired a church in his lifetime,\nand _therefore_ St. Stephen and St. Augustine came down from heaven to\nlay him in his tomb, in presence of Christ, the Virgin, and all the\ncourt of heaven. \u2018The black and gold armour of the dead Count is equal\nto Titian; the red brocades and copes of the saints are admirable;\nless good are the Virgin and celestial groups. I have before mentioned\nthe reason why St. Augustine and St. Stephen are often represented in\ncompanionship.\n\nSt. Monica is often introduced into pictures of her son, where she has,\nof course, the secondary place; her dress is usually a black robe, and\na veil or coif, white or grey, resembling that of a nun or a widow.\nI have met with but one picture where she is supreme; it is in the\nCarmine at Florence. St. Monica is seated on a throne and attended by\ntwelve holy women or female saints, six on each side. The very dark\nsituation of this picture prevented me from distinguishing individually\nthe saints around her, but Monica herself as well as the other figures\nhave that _grandiose_ air which belongs to the painter\u2014Filippo Lippi.\n\nI saw in the atelier of the painter Ary Scheffer, in 1845, an admirable\npicture of St. Augustine and his mother Monica. The two figures, not\nquite full length, are seated; she holds his hand in both hers, looking\nup to heaven with an expression of enthusiastic undoubting faith;\u2014\n\u2018the son of so many tears cannot be cast away!\u2019 He also is looking up\nwith an ardent, eager, but anxious, doubtful expression, which seems\nto say, \u2018Help thou my unbelief!\u2019 For profound and truthful feeling and\nsignificance, I know few things in the compass of modern Art that can\nbe compared to this picture.[285]\n\n\n                             ST. GREGORY.\n\n _Lat._ Sanctus Gregorius Magnus. _Ital._ San Gregorio Magno or Papa.\n _Fr._ St. Gr\u00e9goire. _Ger._ Der Heilige Gregor. (March 12, A.D. 604.)\n\nThe fourth Doctor of the Latin Church, St. Gregory, styled, and not\nwithout reason, Gregory the Great, was one of those extraordinary men\nwhose influence is not only felt in their own time, but through long\nsucceeding ages. The events of his troubled and splendid pontificate\nbelong to history; and I shall merely throw together here such\nparticulars of his life and character as may serve to render the\nmultiplied representations of him both intelligible and interesting.\nHe was born at Rome in the year 540. His father, Gordian, was of\nsenatorial rank: his mother, Sylvia, who, in the history of St.\nGregory, is almost as important as St. Monica in the story of St.\nAugustine, was a woman of rare endowments, and, during his childish\nyears, the watchful instructress of her son. It is recorded that when\nhe was still an infant she was favoured by a vision of St. Antony, in\nwhich he promised to her son the supreme dignity of the tiara. Gregory,\nhowever, commenced his career in life as a lawyer, and exercised during\ntwelve years the office of pr\u00e6tor or chief magistrate of his native\ncity; yet, while apparently engrossed by secular affairs, he became\ndeeply imbued with the religious enthusiasm which was characteristic\nof his time and hereditary in his family. Immediately on the death\nof his father he devoted all the wealth he had inherited to pious\nand charitable purposes, converted his paternal home on the Celian\nHill into a monastery and hospital for the poor, which he dedicated\nto St. Andrew: then, retiring to a little cell within it, he took\nthe habit of the Benedictine Order, and gave up all his time to study\nand preparation for the duties to which he had devoted himself. On\nthe occasion of a terrific plague which almost depopulated Rome, he\nfearlessly undertook the care of the poor and sick. Pope Pelagius\nhaving died at this time, the people with one voice called upon Gregory\nto succeed him: but he shrank from the high office, and wrote to the\nEmperor Maurice, entreating him not to ratify the choice of the people.\nThe emperor sent an edict confirming his election, and thereupon\nGregory fled from Rome, and bid himself in a cave. Those who went\nin search of him were directed to the place of his concealment by a\ncelestial light, and the fugitive was discovered and brought back to\nRome.\n\nNo sooner had he assumed the tiara, thus forced upon him against his\nwill, than he showed himself in all respects worthy of his elevation.\nWhile he asserted the dignity of his station, he was distinguished\nby his personal humility: he was the first pope who took the title\nof \u2018Servant of the Servants of God;\u2019 he abolished slavery throughout\nChristendom on religious grounds; though enthusiastic in making\nconverts, he set himself against persecution; and when the Jews of\nSardinia appealed to him, he commanded that the synagogues which had\nbeen taken from them, and converted into churches, should be restored.\nHe was the first who sent missionaries to preach the Gospel in England,\nroused to pity by the sight of some British captives exposed for sale\nin the market at Rome. Shocked at the idea of an eternity of vengeance\nand torment, if he did not originate the belief in purgatory, he was\nat least the first who preached it publicly, and made it an article of\nfaith. In his hatred of war, of persecution, of slavery, he stepped\nnot only in advance of his own time, but of ours. He instituted the\ncelibacy of the clergy, one of the boldest strokes of ecclesiastical\npower; he reformed the services of the Church; defined the model of\nthe Roman liturgy, such as it has ever since remained\u2014the offices\nof the priests, the variety and change of the sacerdotal garments;\nhe arranged the music of the chants, and he himself trained the\nchoristers. \u2018Experience,\u2019 says Gibbon, \u2018had shown him the efficacy of\nthese solemn and pompous rites to soothe the distress, to confirm the\nfaith, to mitigate the fierceness, and to dispel the dark enthusiasm of\nthe vulgar; and he readily forgave their tendency to promote the reign\nof priesthood and superstition.\u2019 If, at a period when credulity and\nignorance were universal, he showed himself in some instances credulous\nand ignorant, it seems hardly a reproach to one in other respects so\ngood and so great.\n\nHis charity was boundless, and his vigilance indefatigable: he\nconsidered himself responsible for every sheep of the flock intrusted\nto him; and when a beggar died of hunger in the streets of Rome,\nhe laid himself under a sentence of penance and excommunication,\nand interdicted himself for several days from the exercise of his\nsacerdotal functions.\n\nSuch was St. Gregory the Great, the last pope who was canonised:\ncelestial honours and worldly titles have often been worse\u2014seldom so\nwell\u2014bestowed.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nDuring the last two years of his life, his health, early impaired by\nfasts and vigils, failed entirely, and he was unable to rise from his\ncouch. He died in 604, in the fourteenth year of his pontificate. They\nstill preserve, in the church of the Lateran at Rome, his bed, and the\nlittle scourge with which he was wont to keep the choristers in order.\n\nThe monastery of St. Andrew, which he founded on the Celian Hill, is\nnow the church of San Gregorio. To stand on the summit of the majestic\nflight of steps which leads to the portal, and look across to the\nruined palace of the C\u00e6sars, makes the mind giddy with the rush of\nthoughts. _There_, before us, the Palatine Hill\u2014pagan Rome in dust:\n_here_, the little cell, a few feet square, where slept in sackcloth\nthe man who gave the last blow to the power of the C\u00e6sars, and first\nset his foot as sovereign on the cradle and capital of their greatness.\n\nSt. Gregory was in person tall and corpulent, and of a dark complexion,\nwith black hair, and very little beard. He speaks in one of his\nepistles of his large size, contrasted with his weakness and painful\ninfirmities. He presented to the monastery of St. Andrew his own\nportrait, and those of his father, and his mother St. Sylvia: they\nwere still in existence 300 years after his death, and the portrait of\nGregory probably furnished that particular type of physiognomy which we\ntrace in all the best representations of him, in which he appears of a\ntall, large, and dignified person, with a broad full face, black hair\nand eyebrows, and little or no beard.\n\nAs he was, next to St. Jerome, the most popular of the Four Doctors,\nsingle figures of him abound. They are variously treated: in general,\nhe bears the tiara as pope, and the crosier with the double cross,\nin common with other papal saints; but his peculiar attribute is the\ndove, which in the old pictures is always close to his ear. He is\noften seated on a throne in the pontifical robes, wearing the tiara:\none hand raised in benediction; in the other a book, which represents\nhis homilies, and other famous works attributed to him: the dove\neither rests on his shoulder, or is hovering over his head. He is\nthus represented in the fine statue, designed, as it is said, by M.\nAngelo, and executed by Cordieri, in the chapel of St. Barbara, in\nSan Gregorio, Rome; and in the picture over the altar-piece of his\nchapel, to the right of the high altar. In the Salviati Chapel, on the\nleft, is the \u2018St. Gregory in prayer,\u2019 by Annibal Caracci. He is seen\nin front bareheaded, but arrayed in the pontifical habit, kneeling on\na cushion, his hands outspread and uplifted; the dove descends from\non high; the tiara is at his feet, and eight angels hover around:\u2014a\ngrand, finely-coloured, but, in sentiment, rather cold and mannered\npicture.[286]\n\nBy Guercino, St. Gregory seated on a throne, looking upwards, his hand\non an open book, in act to turn the leaves; the dove hovers at his\nshoulder: to the left stands St. Francis Xavier; on the right, and more\nin front, St. Ignatius Loyola. Behind St. Gregory is an angel playing\non the viol, in allusion to his love and patronage of sacred music;\nin front an infant angel holds the tiara. The type usually adopted in\nfigures of St. Gregory is here exaggerated into coarseness, and the\npicture altogether appears to me more remarkable for Guercino\u2019s faults\nthan for his beauties.[287]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nSeveral of the legends connected with the history of St. Gregory are of\nsingular interest and beauty, and have afforded a number of picturesque\nthemes for Art: they appear to have arisen out of his exceeding\npopularity. They are all expressive of the veneration in which he was\nheld by the people; of the deep impression left on their minds by his\neloquence, his sanctity, his charity; and of the authority imputed to\nhis numerous writings, which commonly said to have been dictated by\nthe Holy Spirit.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n1. John the deacon, his secretary, who has left a full account of his\nlife, declares that he beheld the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove\nperched upon his shoulder while he was writing or dictating his famous\nhomilies. This vision, or rather figure of speech, has been interpreted\nas a fact by the early painters. Thus, in a quaint old picture in the\nBologna Gallery, we have St. Gregory seated on a throne writing, the\ncelestial dove at his ear. A little behind is seen John the deacon,\ndrawing aside a curtain, and looking into the room at his patron with\nan expression of the most na\u00efve astonishment.\n\n2. The Archangel Michael, on the cessation of the pestilence, sheathes\nhis sword on the summit of the Mole of Hadrian. I have never seen even\na tolerable picture of this magnificent subject. There is a picture in\nthe Vatican, in which Gregory and a procession of priests are singing\nlitanies, and in the distance a little _Mola di Adriano_, with a little\nangel on the summit;\u2014curious, but without merit of any kind.\n\n3. The Supper of St. Gregory. It is related that when Gregory was only\na monk, in the Monastery of St. Andrew, a beggar presented himself at\nthe gate, and requested alms: being relieved, he came again and again,\nand at length nothing was left for the charitable saint to bestow,\nbut the silver porringer in which his mother, Sylvia, had sent him a\n_potage_; and he commanded that this should be given to the mendicant.\nIt was his custom, when he became pope, to entertain every evening at\nhis own table twelve poor men, in remembrance of the number of our\nLord\u2019s apostles. One night, as he sat at supper with his guests, he\nsaw, to his surprise, not twelve, but thirteen seated at his table.\nAnd he called to his steward, and said to him, \u2018Did I not command thee\nto invite twelve? and behold, there are thirteen!\u2019 And the steward\ntold them over, and replied, \u2018Holy Father, there are surely twelve\nonly!\u2019 and Gregory held his peace; and after the meal, he called forth\nthe unbidden guest, and asked him, \u2018Who art thou?\u2019 And he replied,\n\u2018I am the poor man whom thou didst formerly relieve; but my name is\nthe Wonderful, and through me thou shalt obtain whatever thou shalt\nask of God.\u2019 Then Gregory knew that he had entertained an angel (or,\naccording to another version of the story, our Lord himself). This\nlegend has been a frequent subject in painting, under the title of\n\u2018The Supper of St. Gregory.\u2019 In the fresco in his church at Rome, it\nis a winged angel who appears at the supper-table. In the fresco of\nPaul Veronese, one of his famous banquet-scenes, the stranger seated\nat the table is the Saviour habited as a pilgrim.[288] In the picture\npainted by Vasari, his masterpiece, now in the Bologna Gallery, he has\nintroduced a great number of figures and portraits of distinguished\npersonages of his own time, St. Gregory being represented under the\nlikeness of Clement VII. The unbidden guest, or angel, bears the\nfeatures of the Saviour.\n\nThis is one of many beautiful mythic legends, founded on the words of\nSt. Paul in which he so strongly recommends hospitality as one of the\nvirtues: \u2018Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some\nhave entertained angels unawares.\u2019 (Heb. xiii. 2.) Or, as Massinger has\nrendered the apostolic precept,\u2014\n\n                        Learn all,\n    By this example, to look on the poor\n    With gentle eyes, for in such habits often\n    Angels desire an alms.\n\n4. The Mass of St. Gregory. On a certain occasion, when St. Gregory\nwas officiating at the mass, one who was near him doubted the real\npresence; thereupon, at the prayer of the saint, a vision is suddenly\nrevealed of the crucified Saviour himself, who descends upon the\naltar, surrounded by the instruments of his passion. This legend has\nbeen a popular subject of painting from the beginning of the fifteenth\ncentury, and is called \u2018The Mass of St. Gregory.\u2019 I have met with it\nin every variety of treatment and grouping; but, however treated, it\nis not a pleasing subject. St. Gregory is seen officiating at the\naltar, surrounded by his attendant clergy. Sometimes several saints are\nintroduced in a poetical manner, as witnesses of the miracle: as in\nan old picture I saw in the gallery of Lord Northwick;\u2014the crucified\nSaviour descends from the cross, and stands on the altar, or is\nupborne in the air by angels; while all the incidental circumstances\nand instruments of the Passion,\u2014not merely the crown of thorns, the\nspear, the nails, but the kiss of Judas, the soldiers\u2019 dice, the cock\nthat crew to Peter,\u2014are seen floating in the air. As a specimen of the\nutmost na\u00efvet\u00e9 in this representation may be mentioned Albert D\u00fcrer\u2019s\nwoodcut.\n\nThe least offensive and most elegant in treatment is the marble\nbas-relief in front of the altar in the Chapel of St. Gregory at Rome.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n5. The miracle of the Brandeum. The Empress Constantia sent to St.\nGregory requesting some of the relics of St. Peter and St. Paul. He\nexcused himself, saying that he dared not disturb their sacred remains\nfor such a purpose, but he sent her part of a consecrated cloth\n(_Brandeum_) which had enfolded the body of St. John the Evangelist.\nThe empress rejected this gift with contempt: whereupon Gregory, to\nshow that such things are hallowed not so much in themselves as by\nthe faith of believers, laid the Brandeum on the altar, and after\npraying he took up a knife and pierced it, and blood flowed as from a\nliving body. This incident, called the \u2018miracle _dei Brandei_,\u2019 has\nalso been painted. Andrea Sacchi has represented it in a grand picture\nnow in the Vatican; the mosaic copy is over the altar of St. Gregory\nin St. Peter\u2019s. Gregory holds up to view the bleeding cloth, and the\nexpression of astonishment and conviction in the countenances of the\nassistants is very fine.\n\n6. St. Gregory releases the soul of the Emperor Trajan. In a little\npicture in the Bologna Academy, he is seen praying before a tomb, on\nwhich is inscribed TRAJANO IMPERADOR; beneath are two angels raising\nthe soul of Trajan out of the flames. Such is the usual treatment of\nthis curious and poetical legend, which is thus related in the Legenda\nAurea:\u2014\u2018It happened on a time, as Trajan was hastening to battle at\nthe head of his legions, that a poor widow flung herself in his path,\nand cried aloud for justice, and the emperor stayed to listen to her;\nand she demanded vengeance for the innocent blood of her son, killed\nby the son of the emperor. Trajan promised to do her justice when he\nreturned from his expedition. \u201cBut, Sire,\u201d answered the widow, \u201cshould\nyou be killed in battle, who then will do me justice?\u201d \u201cMy successor,\u201d\nreplied Trajan. And she said, \u201cWhat will it signify to you, great\nemperor, that any other than yourself should do me justice? Is it not\nbetter that you should do this good action yourself than leave another\nto do it?\u201d And Trajan alighted, and having examined into the affair, he\ngave up his own son to her in place of him she had lost, and bestowed\non her likewise a rich dowry. Now, it came to pass that as Gregory was\none day meditating in his daily walk, this action of the Emperor Trajan\ncame into his mind, and he wept bitterly to think that a man so just\nshould be condemned as a heathen to eternal punishment. And entering\ninto a church he prayed most fervently that the soul of the good\nemperor might be released from torment. And a voice said to him, \u201cI\nhave granted thy prayer, and I have spared the soul of Trajan for thy\nsake; but because thou hast supplicated for one whom the justice of God\nhad already condemned, thou shalt choose one of two things: either thou\nshalt endure for two days the fires of purgatory, or thou shalt be sick\nand infirm for the remainder of thy life.\u201d Gregory chose the latter,\nwhich sufficiently accounts for the grievous pains and infirmities to\nwhich this great and good man was subjected, even to the day of his\ndeath.\u2019\n\nThis story of Trajan was extremely popular in the middle ages: it\nis illustrative of the character of Gregory, and the feeling which\ngave rise to his doctrine of purgatory. Dante twice alludes to it;\nhe describes it as one of the subjects sculptured on the walls of\nPurgatory, and takes occasion to relate the whole story:\u2014\n\n            ... There was storied on the rock\n    Th\u2019 exalted glory of the Roman prince,\n    Whose mighty worth moved Gregory to earn\n    His mighty conquest\u2014Trajan the Emperor.\n    A widow at his bridle stood attired\n    In tears and mourning. Round about them troop\u2019d\n    Full throng of knights: and overhead in gold\n    The eagles floated, struggling with the wind.\n    The wretch appear\u2019d amid all these to say:\n    \u2018Grant vengeance, Sire! for, woe beshrew this heart,\n    My son is murder\u2019d!\u2019 He, replying, seem\u2019d:\n    \u2018Wait now till I return.\u2019 And she, as one\n    Made hasty by her grief: \u2018O Sire, if thou\n    Dost not return?\u2019\u2014\u2018Where I am, who then is,\n    May right thee.\u2019\u2014\u2018What to thee is others\u2019 good,\n    If thou neglect thy own?\u2019\u2014\u2018Now comfort thee,\u2019\n    At length he answers. \u2018It beseemeth well\n    My duty be perform\u2019d, ere I move hence.\n    So justice wills; and pity bids me stay.\u2019\n                                 Cary\u2019s DANTE, _Purg._ x.\n\nIt was through the efficacy of St. Gregory\u2019s intercession that Dante\nafterwards finds Trajan in Paradise, seated between King David and King\nHezekiah. (_Par._ xx.)\n\nAs a subject of painting, the story of Trajan was sometimes selected as\nan appropriate ornament for a hall of justice. We find it sculptured\non one of the capitals of the pillars of the Ducal Palace at Venice:\nthere is the figure of the widow kneeling, somewhat stiff, but very\nsimple and expressive, and over it in rude ancient letters\u2014\u2018_Trajano\nImperador, che die justizia a la Vedova_.\u2019 In the Town Hall of Ceneda,\nnear Belluna, are the three Judgments (_i tre Giudizi_), painted by\nPompeo Amalteo: the Judgment of Solomon, the Judgment of Daniel, and\nthe Judgment of Trajan. It is painted in the Town Hall of Brescia by\nGiulio Campi, one of a series of eight righteous judgments.\n\nI found the same subject in the church of St. Thomas of Canterbury at\nVerona. \u2018The son of the Emperor Trajan trampling over the son of the\nwidow\u2019 is a most curious composition by Hans Schaufelein.[289]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n7. There was a monk, who, in defiance of his vow of poverty,\nsecreted in his cell three pieces of gold. Gregory, on learning\nthis, excommunicated him, and shortly afterwards the monk died. When\nGregory heard that the monk had perished in his sin, without receiving\nabsolution, he was filled with grief and horror; and he wrote upon a\nparchment a prayer and a form of absolution, and gave it to one of\nhis deacons, desiring him to go to the grave of the deceased and read\nit there: on the following night the monk appeared in a vision, and\nrevealed to him his release from torment.\n\nThis story is represented in the beautiful bas-relief in white marble\nin front of the altar of his chapel; it is the last compartment on the\nright. The obvious intention of this wild legend is to give effect to\nthe doctrine of purgatory, and the efficacy of prayers for the dead.\n\nSt. Gregory\u2019s merciful doctrine of purgatory also suggested those\npictures so often found in chapels dedicated to the service of the\ndead, in which he is represented in the attitude of supplication, while\non one side, or in the background, angels are raising the tormented\nsouls out of the flames.\n\nIn ecclesiastical decoration I have seen the two popes, St. Gelasius,\nwho reformed the calendar in 494, and St. Celestinus, who arranged the\ndiscipline of the monastic orders, added to the series of beatified\nDoctors of the Church.\n\n\n                      II. THE FOUR GREEK FATHERS.\n\nThe Four Greek Fathers are St. John Chrysostom, St. Basil the Great,\nSt. Athanasius, and St. Gregory Nazianzen. To these, in Greek pictures,\na fifth is generally added, St. Cyril of Alexandria.\n\nFrom the time of the schism between the Eastern and Western Churches,\nthese venerable personages, who once exercised such an influence over\nall Christendom, who preceded the Latin Fathers, and were in fact their\nteachers, have been almost banished from the religious representations\nof the west of Europe. When they are introduced collectively as a part\nof the decoration of an ecclesiastical edifice, we may conclude in\ngeneral, that the work is Byzantine and executed under the influence of\nGreek artists.\n\nA signal example is the central dome of the baptistery of St. Mark\u2019s at\nVenice, executed by Greek artists of the 12th and 13th centuries. In\nthe four spandrils of the vault are the Greek Fathers seated, writing\n(if I well remember), and in the purest Byzantine style of art. They\noccupy the same places here that we find usually occupied by the Latin\nDoctors in church decoration: each has his name inscribed in Greek\ncharacters. We have exactly the same representation in the Cathedral\nof Monreale at Palermo. The Greek Fathers have no attributes to\ndistinguish them, and the general custom in Byzantine Art of inscribing\nthe names over each figure renders this unnecessary: in general, each\nholds a book, or, in some instances, a scroll, which represents his\nwritings; while the right hand is raised in benediction, in the Greek\nmanner, the first and second finger extended, and the thumb and third\nfinger forming a cross. According to the formula published by M.\nDidron, each of the Greek Fathers bears on a scroll the first words\nof some remarkable passage from his works: thus, St. John Chrysostom\nhas \u2018God, our God, who hath given us for food the bread of life,\u2019 &c.:\nSt. Basil, \u2018None of those who are in the bondage of fleshly desires are\nworthy,\u2019 &c.: St. Athanasius, \u2018Often, and anew, do we flee to thee, O\nGod,\u2019 &c.: St. Gregory Nazianzen, \u2018God, the holy among the holies, the\nthrice holy,\u2019 &c.: and St. Cyril, \u2018Above all, a Virgin without sin or\nblemish,\u2019 &c.\n\n[Illustration: _The five Greek Fathers._]\n\nThe Greek bishops do not wear mitres; consequently, when in the Italian\nor German pictures St. Basil or any of his companions wear the mitre,\nit is a mistake arising from the ignorance of the artist.\n\nThe Fathers of the Greek Church have been represented by Domenichino\nat Grotta Ferrata, placed over the cornice and under the evangelists,\ntheir proper place: they are majestic figures, with fine heads, and\ncorrectly draped according to the Greek ecclesiastical costume. They\nare placed here with peculiar propriety, because the convent originally\nbelonged to the Greek order of St. Basil, and the founder, St. Nilus,\nwas a Greek.[290]\n\nThe etched outline, from a beautiful ancient Greek miniature, will give\nan accurate idea of the characteristic figures and habits of the Greek\nFathers.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAs separate devotional and historical representations of these Fathers\ndo sometimes, though rarely, occur, I shall say a few words of them\nindividually.\n\n\n                         ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM.\n\n _Lat._ Sanctus Johannes Chrysostom. _Ital._ San Giovanni Crisostomo,\n San Giovanni Bocca d\u2019 Oro. _Fr._ St. Jean Chrysostome. Died Sept. 14,\n   A.D. 407. His festival is celebrated by the Greeks on the 13th of\n       November, and by the Latin Church on the 27th of January.\n\nSt. John, called CHRYSOSTOM, or OF THE GOLDEN MOUTH, because of his\nextraordinary eloquence, was born at Antioch in 344. His parents were\nillustrious, and the career opened to him was of arts and arms; but\nfrom his infancy the bent of his mind was peculiar. He lost his father\nwhen young; his mother Arthusia, still in the prime of her life,\nremained a widow for his sake, and superintended his education with\ncare and intelligence. The remark of Sir James Mackintosh that \u2018all\ndistinguished men have had able mothers,\u2019 appears especially true of\nthe great churchmen and poets. The mother of St. John Chrysostom ranks\nwith the Monicas and Sylvias, already described.\n\nJohn, at the age of twenty, was already a renowned pleader at the bar.\nAt the age of twenty-six, the disposition to self-abnegation and the\npassion for solitude, which had distinguished him from boyhood, became\nso strong, that he wished to retire altogether from the world; his\nlegal studies, his legal honours, had become hateful to him: he would\nturn hermit. For a time his mother\u2019s tears and prayers restrained him.\nHe has himself recorded the pathetic remonstrance in which she reminded\nhim of all she had done and suffered in her state of widowhood for his\nsake, and besought him not to leave her. For the present he yielded:\nbut two years later he fled from society, and passed five or six years\nin the wilderness near Antioch, devoting himself solely to the study of\nthe Scriptures, to penance and prayer; feeding on the wild vegetables,\nand leading a life of such rigorous abstinence that his health sank\nunder it, and he was obliged to return to Antioch.\n\nAll this time he was not even an ordained priest; but shortly after\nhe had emerged from the desert, Flavian, bishop of Antioch, ordained\nhim, and appointed him preacher. At the moment of his consecration,\naccording to the tradition, a white dove descended on his head, which\nwas regarded as the sign of immediate inspiration. He then entered on\nhis true vocation as a Christian orator, the greatest next to Paul.\nOn one occasion, when the people of Antioch had offended the Emperor\nTheodosius, and were threatened with a punishment like that which had\nfallen on Thessalonica, the eloquence of St. John Chrysostom saved\nthem: he was so adored by the people, that when he was appointed\npatriarch of Constantinople, it was necessary to kidnap him, and carry\nhim off from Antioch by a force of armed soldiers, before the citizens\nhad time to interfere.\n\nFrom the moment he entered on his high office at Constantinople,\nhe became the model of a Christian bishop. Humble, self-denying,\nsleeping on a bare plank, content with a little bread and pulse, he\nentertained with hospitality the poor and strangers: indefatigable as\na preacher, he used his great gift of eloquence to convert his hearers\nto what he believed to be the truth: he united the enthusiasm and the\nimagination of the poet, the elegant taste of the scholar, the logic\nof the pleader, with the inspired earnestness of one who had authority\nfrom above. He was, like St. Jerome, remarkable for his influence\nover women; and his correspondence with one of his female converts\nand friends, Olympias, is considered one of the finest of his works\nremaining to us: but, inexorable in his denunciations of vice, without\nregard to sex or station, he thundered against the irregularities\nof the monks, the luxury and profligacy of the Empress Eudosia, and\nthe servility of her flatterers, and brought down upon himself the\nvengeance of that haughty woman, with whom the rest of his life was\none long contest. He was banished: the voice of the people obliged\nthe emperor to recall him. Persisting in the resolute defence of his\nchurch privileges, and his animadversions on the court and the clergy,\nhe was again banished; and, on his way to his distant place of exile,\nsank under fatigue and the cruel treatment of his guards, who exposed\nhim, bareheaded and bare-footed, to the burning sun of noon: and thus\nhe perished, in the tenth year of his bishopric, and the sixty-third\nof his age. Gibbon adds, that, at the pious solicitation of the clergy\nand people of Constantinople, his relics, thirty years after his death,\nwere transported from their obscure sepulchre to the royal city. The\nEmperor Theodosius advanced to receive them as far as Chalcedon, and,\nfalling prostrate on the coffin, implored, in the name of his guilty\nparents, Arcadius and Eudosia, the forgiveness of the injured saint.\u2018\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIt is owing, I suppose, to the intercourse of Venice with the East,\nthat one of her beautiful churches is dedicated to San Gian Grisostomo,\nas they call him there, in accents as soft and sonorous as his own\nGreek. Over the high altar is the grandest devotional picture in\nwhich I have seen this saint figure as a chief personage. It is the\nmasterpiece of Sebastian del Piombo,[291] and represents St. John\nChrysostom throned and in the act of writing in a great book; behind\nhim, St. Paul. In front, to the right, stands St. John the Baptist, and\nbehind him St. George as patron of Venice; to the left Mary Magdalene,\nwith a beautiful Venetian face; behind her, St. Catherine, patroness of\nVenice: close to St. J. Chrysostom stands St. Lucia holding her lamp;\nshe is here the type of celestial light or wisdom.[292] This picture\nwas for a long time attributed to Giorgione. There was also a very\nfine majestic figure of this saint by Rubens, in the collection of M.\nSchamp: he is in the habit of a Greek bishop; in one hand he holds the\nsacramental cup, and the left hand rests on the Gospel: the celestial\ndove hovers near him, and two angels are in attendance.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nI cannot quit the history of St. John Chrysostom without alluding\nto a subject well known to collectors and amateurs, and popularly\ncalled \u2018_La P\u00e9nitence de St. Jean Chrysostome_.\u2019 It represents a woman\nundraped, seated in a cave, or wilderness, with an infant in her arms;\nor lying on the ground with a new-born infant beside her; in the\ndistance is seen a man with a glory round his head, meagre, naked,\nbearded, crawling on his hands and knees in the most abject attitude;\nbeneath, or at the top, is inscribed S. JOHANNES CRISOSTOMUS.\n\nFor a long time this subject perplexed me exceedingly, as I was quite\nunable to trace it in any of the biographies of Chrysostom, ancient or\nmodern: the kindness of a friend, learned in all the _byways_ as well\nas the _highways_ of Italian literature, at length assisted me to an\nexplanation.\n\n[Illustration: 90 The Penance of St. Chrysostom (Albert D\u00fcrer)]\n\nThe bitter enmity excited against St. John Chrysostom in his lifetime,\nand the furious vituperations of his adversary, Theophilus of\nAlexandria, who denounced him as one stained by every vice, \u2018_hostem\nhumanitatis, sacrilegorum principem, immundum d\u00e6monem_,\u2019 as a wretch\nwho had absolutely delivered up his soul to Satan, were apparently\ndisseminated by the monks. Jerome translated the abusive attack of\nTheophilus into Latin; and long after the slanders against Chrysostom\nhad been silenced in the East, they survived in the West. To this\nmay be added the slaughter of the Egyptian monks by the friends of\nChrysostom in the streets of Constantinople; which, I suppose, was also\nretained in the traditions, and mixed up with the monkish fictions. It\nseems to have been forgotten who John Chrysostom really was; his name\nonly survived in the popular ballads and legends as an epitome of every\nhorrible crime; and to account for his being, notwithstanding all this,\na _saint_, was a difficulty which in the old legend is surmounted after\na very original, and, I must needs add, a very audacious fashion. \u2018I\nhave,\u2019 writes my friend, \u2018three editions of this legend in Italian,\nwith the title _La Historia di San Giovanni Boccadoro_. It is in\n_ottava rima_, thirty-six stanzas in all, occupying two leaves of\nletter-press. It was originally composed in the fifteenth century,\nand reprinted again and again, like the ballads and tales hawked by\nitinerant ballad-mongers, from that day to this, and as well known to\nthe lower orders as \u201cJack the Giant-killer\u201d here. I will give you the\nstory as succinctly and as properly as I can. A gentleman of the high\nroads, named Schitano, confesses his robberies and murders to a certain\nFrate, who absolves him, upon a solemn promise not to do three things\u2014\n\n    Che tu non facci falso sacramento,\n    N\u00e8 homicidio, n\u00e8 adulterare.\n\nSchitano thereupon takes possession of a cave, and turns _Romito_\n(Hermit) in the wilderness. A neighbouring king takes his daughter\nout hunting with him; a white deer starts across their path; the king\ndashes away in pursuit ten miles or more, forgetting his daughter;\nnight comes on; the princess, left alone in the forest, wanders till\nshe sees a light, and knocks for admittance at the cave of Schitano.\nHe fancies at first that it must be the \u201cDemonio,\u201d but at length he\nadmits her after long hesitation, and turns her horse out to graze.\nHer beauty tempts him to break one of his vows; the fear of discovery\ninduces him to violate another by murdering her, and throwing her body\ninto a cistern. The horse, however, is seen by one of the cavaliers of\nthe court, who knocks and inquires if he has seen a certain \u201cdonzella\u201d\nthat way? The hermit swears that he has not beheld a Christian face\nfor three years, thus breaking his third vow; but, reflecting on this\nthree-fold sin with horror, he imposes on himself a most severe\npenance (\u201cun\u2019 aspra penitenza\u201d), to wit\u2014\n\n    Di stare sette anni nell\u2019 aspro diserto.\n    Pane non manger\u00f2 n\u00e8 ber\u00f2 vino,\n    N\u00e8 mai risguarder\u00f2 il ciel scoperto,\n    Non parler\u00f2 Hebraico n\u00e8 Latino,\n    Per fin che quel ch\u2019 io dico non \u00e8 certo,\n    Che un fantin di sei di porga favella,\n    \u201cPerdonato t\u2019 ha Dio; va alla tua cella.\u201d\n\nThat is, he swears that for seven years he will neither eat bread nor\ndrink wine, nor look up in the face of heaven, nor speak either Hebrew\nor Latin, until it shall come to pass that an infant of seven days old\nshall open its mouth and say, \u201cHeaven hath pardoned thee\u2014go in peace.\u201d\nSo, stripping off his clothes, he crawls on hands and knees like the\nbeasts of the field, eating grass and drinking water.\n\n\u2018Nor did his resolution fail him\u2014he persists in this \u201caspra penitenza\u201d\nfor seven years\u2014\n\n    Sette anni e sette giorni nel diserto;\n    Come le bestie andava lui carpone,\n    E mai non risguard\u00f2 il ciel scoperto,\n    Peloso egli era a modo d\u2019 un montone;\n    Spine e fango il suo letto era per certo,\n    Del suo peccato havea contrizione;\n    E ogni cosa facea con gran fervore,\n    Per purgar il suo fallo e grand\u2019 errore.\n\nIn the meantime it came into the king\u2019s head to draw the covers where\nthe hermit was leading this life. The dogs of course _found_, but\nneither they nor the king could make anything of this new species\nof animal, \u201c_che pareva un orso_.\u201d So they took him home in a chain\nand deposited him in their zoological collection, where he refused\nmeat and bread, and persisted in grazing. On new year\u2019s day the queen\ngives birth to a son, who, on the seventh day after he is born, says\ndistinctly to the hermit,\u2014\n\n                    Torna alla tua cella,\n    Che Dio t\u2019 ha perdonato il tuo peccato,\n    Levati su, Romito! ova favella!\n\nBut the hermit does not _speak_ as commanded; he makes signs that he\nwill write. The king orders the inkstand to be brought, but there\nis no ink in it: so Schitano at once earns his surname of Boccadoro\n(Chrysostom) by a simple expedient: he puts the pen to his mouth, wets\nit with his saliva, and writes in letters of gold\u2014\n\n    Onde la penna in bocca si metteva,\n    E a scrivere cominci\u00f2 senza dimoro,\n    Col sputo, lettere che parevan d\u2019 oro!\n\n\u2018After seven years and seven days, he opens his golden mouth in speech,\nand confesses his foul crimes to the king; cavaliers are despatched in\nsearch of the body of the princess; as they approach the cavern they\nhear celestial music, and in the end they bring the donzella out of\nthe cistern alive and well, and very sorry to leave the blessed Virgin\nand the angels, with whom she had been passing her time most agreeably:\nshe is restored to her parents with universal _festa e allegrezza_, and\nshe announces to the hermit that he is pardoned and may return to his\ncell, which he does forthwith, and ends in leading the life of a saint,\nand being beatified. The \u201c_discreti auditori_\u201d are invited to take\nexample\u2014\n\n    Da questo Santo pien di leggiadria\n    Che Iddio sempre perdona a\u2019 peccatori,\n\nand are finally informed that they may purchase this edifying history\non easy terms, to wit, a halfpenny\u2014\n\n    Due quattrini dia senza far pi\u00f9 parole.\n\nThe price, however, rose; for in the next century the line is altered\nthus:\u2014\n\n    Pero ciascun che comperarne vuole,\n    Tre quattrini mi dia senza pi\u00f9 parole.\u2019\n\nThe woodcuts prefixed to the ballad represent this saintly\nNebuchadnezzar on all fours, surprised by the king with his huntsmen\nand dogs; but no female figure, as in the German prints, in which\nthe German version of the legend has evidently been in the mind of\nthe artists. It differs in some respects from the Italian ballad. I\nshall therefore give as much of it here as will explain the artistic\ntreatment of the story.\n\n \u2018When John Chrysostom was baptized, the Pope[293] stood godfather. At\n seven years old he went to school, but he was so dull and backward,\n that he became the laughing-stock of his schoolfellows. Unable to\n endure their mockery, he took refuge in a neighbouring church,\n and prayed to the Virgin; and a voice whispered, \u201cKiss me on the\n mouth, and thou shalt be endowed with all learning.\u201d He did so, and,\n returning to the school, he surpassed all his companions, so that\n they remained in astonishment: as they looked, they saw a golden\n ring or streak round his mouth, and asked him how it came there?\n and when he told them, they wondered yet more. Thence he obtained\n the name of Chrysostom. John was much beloved by his godfather the\n Pope, who ordained him priest at a very early age; but the first time\n he offered the sacrifice of the mass, he was struck to the heart by\n his unworthiness, and resolved to seek his salvation in solitude;\n therefore, throwing off his priestly garments, he fled from the city,\n and made his dwelling in a cavern of the rock, and lived there a long\n while in prayer and meditation.\n\n \u2018Now not far from the wilderness in which Chrysostom dwelt, was the\n capital of a great king; and it happened that one day, as the princess\n his daughter, who was young and very fair, was walking with her\n companions, there came a sudden and violent gust of wind, which lifted\n her up and carried her away, and set her down in the forest, far\n off; and she wandered about till she came to the cave of Chrysostom,\n and knocked at the door. He, fearing some temptation of the devil,\n would not let her in; but she entreated, and said, \u201cI am no demon,\n but a Christian woman; and if thou leavest me here, the wild beasts\n will devour me!\u201d So he yielded perforce, and arose and let her in.\n And he drew a line down the middle of his cell, and said, \u201cThat is\n your part, this is mine; and neither shall pass this line.\u201d But this\n precaution was in vain, for passion and temptation overpowered his\n virtue; he over-stepped the line, and sinned. Both repented sorely;\n and Chrysostom, thinking that if the damsel remained longer in his\n cave it would only occasion further sin, carried her to a neighbouring\n precipice, and flung her down. When he had done this deed, he was\n seized with horror and remorse; and he departed and went to Rome to\n his godfather the Pope, and confessed all, and entreated absolution.\n But his godfather knew him not; and, being seized with horror, he\n drove him forth, and refused to absolve him. So the unhappy sinner\n fled to the wilderness, and made a solemn vow that he would never rise\n from the earth nor look up, but crawl on his hands and knees, until he\n had expiated his great sin and was absolved by Heaven.\n\n \u2018When he had thus crawled on the earth for fifteen years, the queen\n brought forth a son; and when the Pope came to baptize the child, the\n infant opened its mouth and said, \u201cI will not be baptized by thee,\n but by St. John;\u201d and he repeated this three times: and none could\n understand this miracle; but the Pope was afraid to proceed. In the\n meantime, the king\u2019s huntsmen had gone to the forest to bring home\n game for the christening feast: there, as they rode, they beheld a\n strange beast creeping on the ground; and not knowing what it might\n be, they threw a mantle over it and bound it in a chain and brought it\n to the palace. Many came to look on this strange beast, and with them\n came the nurse with the king\u2019s son in her arms; and immediately the\n child opened its mouth and spake, \u201cJohn, come thou and baptize me!\u201d He\n answered, \u201cIf it be God\u2019s will, speak again!\u201d And the child spoke the\n same words a second and a third time. Then John stood up; and the hair\n and the moss fell from his body, and they brought him garments; and he\n took the child, and baptized him with great devotion.\n\n \u2018When the king heard his confession, he thought, \u201cPerhaps this was my\n daughter, who was lost and never found;\u201d and he sent messengers into\n the forest to seek for the remains of his daughter, that her bones at\n least might rest in consecrated ground. When they came to the foot\n of the precipice, there they found a beautiful woman seated, naked,\n and holding a child in her arms; and John said to her, \u201cWhy sittest\n thou here alone in the wilderness?\u201d And she said, \u201cDost thou not know\n me? I am the woman who came to thy cave by night, and whom thou didst\n hurl down this rock!\u201d Then they brought her home with great joy to her\n parents.\u2018[294]\n\nThis extravagant legend becomes interesting for two reasons: it\nshows the existence of the popular feeling and belief with regard to\nChrysostom, long subsequent to those events which aroused the hatred of\nthe early monks; and it has been, from its popular notoriety, embodied\nin some rare and valuable works of art, which all go under the name of\n\u2018the Penance or Penitence of Johannes Chrysostom or Crisostomos.\u2019\n\n1. A rare print by Lucas Cranach, composed and engraved by himself.\nIn the centre is an undraped woman reclining on the ground against a\nrock, and contemplating her sleeping infant, which is lying on her lap;\na stag, a hind crouching, a pheasant feeding near her, express the\nsolitude of her life; in the background is \u2018the savage man\u2019 on all\nfours, and browsing: here, he has no glory round his head. The whole\ncomposition is exceedingly picturesque.\n\n2. A rare and beautiful print by B. Beham, and repeated by Hans Sebald\nBeham, represents a woman lying on the ground with her back turned to\nthe spectator; a child is near her; Chrysostom is seen crawling in the\nbackground, with the glory round his head.\n\n3. A small print by Albert D\u00fcrer, also exquisitely engraved (from which\nI give a sketch). Here the woman is sitting at the entrance of a rocky\ncave, feeding her child from her bosom: in the background the \u2018savage\nman\u2019 crawling on all fours, and a glory round his head. This subject\nhas been called St. Genevi\u00e8ve of Brabant; but it is evidently the same\nas in the two last-named compositions.\n\nAll these prints, being nearly contemporaneous, show that the legend\nmust have been particularly popular about this time (1509-1520). There\nis also an old French version of the story which I have not seen.\n\n\n                         ST. BASIL THE GREAT.\n\n   _Lat._ St. Basilius Magnus. _Ital._ San Basilio Magno. _Fr._ St.\n                     Basile. (June 14, A.D. 380.)\n\nSt. Basil, called the Great, was born at Cesarea in Cappadocia, in\nthe year 328. He was one of a family of saints. His father St. Basil,\nhis mother St. Emmelie, his two brothers St. Gregory of Nyssa and St.\nPeter of Sebaste, and his sister St. Macrina, were all distinguished\nfor their sanctity, and renowned in the Greek calendar. The St.\nBasil who takes rank as the second luminary of the Eastern Church,\nand whose dogmatical and theological works influenced the faith of\nhis own age, and consequently of ours, was the greatest of all. But,\nnotwithstanding his importance in the Greek Church, he figures so\nseldom in the productions of Western Art, that I shall content myself\nwith relating just so much of his life and actions as may render the\nfew representations of him interesting and intelligible.\n\nHe owed his first education to his grandmother St. Macrina the elder, a\nwoman of singular capacity and attainments, to whom he has in various\nparts of his works acknowledged his obligations. For several years\nhe pursued his studies in profane learning, philosophy, law, and\neloquence, at Constantinople, and afterwards at Athens, where he had\ntwo companions and fellow-students of very opposite character: Gregory\nof Nazianzen, afterwards the _Saint_; and Julian, afterwards the\n_Apostate_.\n\nThe success of the youthful Basil in all his studies, and the\nreputation he had obtained as an eloquent pleader, for a time swelled\nhis heart with vanity, and would have endangered his salvation but\nfor the influence of his sister, St. Macrina, who in this emergency\npreserved him from himself, and elevated his mind to far higher aims\nthan those of mere worldly science and worldly distinction. From that\nperiod, and he was then not more than twenty-eight, Basil turned\nhis thoughts solely to the edification of the Christian Church; but\nfirst he spent some years in retreat among the hermits of the desert,\nas was the fashion of that day, living, as they did, in abstinence,\npoverty, and abstracted study; acknowledging neither country, family,\nhome, nor friends, nor fortune, nor worldly interests of any kind,\nbut with his thoughts fixed solely on eternal life in another world.\nIn these austerities he, as was also usual, consumed and ruined his\nbodily health; and remained to the end of his life a feeble wretched\ninvalid,\u2014a circumstance which was supposed to contribute greatly to\nhis sanctity. He was ordained priest in 362, and bishop of Cesarea in\n370; his ordination on the 14th of June being kept as one of the great\nfeasts of the Eastern Church.\n\nOn the episcopal throne he led the same life of abstinence and humility\nas in a cavern of the desert; and contended for the doctrine of the\nTrinity against the Arians, but with less of vehemence, and more of\ncharity, than the other Doctors engaged in the same controversy. The\nprincipal event of his life was his opposition to the Emperor Valens,\nwho professed Arianism, and required that, in the Church of Cesarea,\nBasil should perform the rites according to the custom of the Arians.\nThe bishop refused: he was threatened with exile, confiscation, death:\nhe persisted. The emperor, fearing a tumult, resolved to appear in\nthe church on the day of the Epiphany, but not to communicate. He\ncame, hoping to overawe the impracticable bishop, surrounded by all\nhis state, his courtiers, his guards. He found Basil so intent on his\nsacred office as to take not the slightest notice of him; those of\nthe clergy around him continued to chant the service, keeping their\neyes fixed in the profoundest awe and respect on the countenance of\ntheir bishop. Valens, in a situation new to him, became agitated: he\nhad brought his oblation; he advanced with it; but the ministers at\nthe altar, not knowing whether Basil would accept it, dared not take\nit from his hands. Valens stood there for a moment in sight of all\nthe people, rejected before the altar,\u2014he lost his presence of mind,\ntrembled, swooned, and would have fallen to the earth, if one of the\nattendants had not received him in his arms. A conference afterwards\ntook place between Basil and the emperor; but the latter remained\nunconverted, and some concessions to the Catholics was all that the\nbishop obtained.\n\nSt. Basil died in 379, worn out by disease, and leaving behind him many\ntheological writings. His epistles, above all, are celebrated, not only\nas models of orthodoxy, but of style.\n\nOf St. Basil, as of St. Gregory and St. John Chrysostom, we have\nthe story of the Holy Ghost, in visible form as a dove of wonderful\nwhiteness, perched on his shoulder, and inspiring his words when he\npreached. St. Basil is also celebrated as the founder of Monachism in\nthe East. He was the first who enjoined the vows of poverty, chastity,\nand obedience; and his Rule became the model of all other monastic\nOrders. There is, in fact, no other Order in the Greek Church, and when\neither monks or nuns appear in a Greek or a Russian picture they must\nbe Basilicans, and no other: the habit is a plain black tunic with\na cowl, the tunic fastened round the waist with a girdle of cord or\nleather. Such is the dress of the Greek caloyer, and it never varies.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe devotional figures of St. Basil represent him, or ought to\nrepresent him, in the Greek pontificals, bareheaded, and with a thin\nworn countenance, as he appears in the etching of the Greek Fathers.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\u2018The Emperor Valens in the church at Cesarea,\u2019 an admirably picturesque\nsubject, has received as little justice as the scene between Ambrose\nand Theodosius. When the French painter Subleyras was at Rome in\n1745, he raised himself to name and fame by his portrait of Benedict\nXIV.,[295] and received, through the interest of his friend Cardinal\nValenti, the commission to paint a picture for one of the mosaics in\nSt. Peter\u2019s. The subject selected was the Emperor Valens fainting in\npresence of St. Basil. We have all the pomp of the scene:\u2014the altar,\nthe incense, the richly attired priests on one side; on the other,\nthe Imperial court. It is not easy to find fault, for the picture is\nwell drawn, well composed, in the mannered taste of that time; well\ncoloured, rather tenderly than forcibly; and Lanzi is enthusiastic\nin his praise of the draperies; yet, as a whole, it leaves the mind\nunimpressed. As usual, the original sketch for this picture far excels\nthe large composition.[296]\n\nThe prayers of St. Basil were supposed by the Armenian Christians,\npartly from his sanctity, and partly from his intellectual endowments,\nto have a peculiar, almost resistless, power; so that he not only\nredeemed souls from purgatory, but even lost angels from the abyss of\nhell. \u2018On the sixth day of the creation, when the rebellious angels\nfell from heaven through that opening in the firmament which the\nArmenians call Arocea, and we the Galaxy, one unlucky angel, who had\nno participation in their sin, but seems to have been entangled in\nthe crowd, fell with them.\u2019 (A moral, I presume, on the consequences\nof keeping bad company.) \u2018And this unfortunate angel was not restored\ntill he had obtained, it is not said how, the prayers of St. Basil. His\ncondition meantime, from the sixth day of the creation to the fourth\ncentury of the Christian era, must have been even more uncomfortable\nthan that of Klopstock\u2019s repentant demon in \u201cThe Messiah.\u201d\u2019\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThere are many other beautiful legendary stories of St. Basil, but,\nas I have never met with them in any form of Art, I pass them over\nhere. One of the most striking has been versified by Southey in his\nballad-poem, \u2018All for Love.\u2019 It would afford a great variety of\npicturesque subjects.\n\n\n                            ST. ATHANASIUS.\n\n _Lat._ S. Athanasius, Pater Orthodoxi\u00e6. _Ital._ Sant\u2019 Atanasio. _Fr._\n                   St. Athanase. (May 2, A.D. 373.)\n\nSt. Athanasius, whose famous Creed remains a stumbling-block in\nChristendom, was born at Alexandria, about the year 298; he was\nconsequently the eldest of the Greek Fathers, though he does not in\nthat Church take the first rank. He, like the others, began his career\nby the study of profane literature, science, and eloquence; but, seized\nby the religious spirit of the age, he, too, fled to the desert,\nand became, for a time, the pupil of St. Anthony. He returned to\nAlexandria, and was ordained deacon. His first appearance as a public\ncharacter was at the celebrated council of Nice (A.D. 325), where he\nopposed Arius and his partisans with so much zeal and eloquence, that\nhe was thenceforth regarded as the great pillar of orthodoxy. He became\nBishop of Alexandria the following year; and the rest of his life was a\nperpetual contest with the Arians. The great schism of the early Church\nblazed at this time in the East and in the West, and Athanasius, by his\ninvincible perseverance and intrepidity, procured the victory for the\nCatholic party. He died in 372, after having been Bishop of Alexandria\nforty-six years, of which twenty years had been spent in exile and\ntribulation.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIt is curious that, notwithstanding his fame and his importance in the\nChurch, St. Athanasius should be, as a patron and a subject of Art,\nof all saints the most unpopular. He figures, of course, as one of\nthe series of Greek Doctors; but I have never met with any separate\nrepresentation of him, and I know not any church dedicated to him, nor\nany picture representing the vicissitudes of his unquiet life, fraught\nas it was with strange reverses and picturesque incidents. Such _may_\nexist, but in Western Art, at least, they have never been prominent.\nAccording to the Greek formula, he ought to be represented old,\nbald-headed, and with a long white beard, as in the etching.\n\n\n                        ST. GREGORY NAZIANZEN.\n\n _Gr._ St. Gregory Theologos. _Lat._ S. Gregorius Nazianzenus. _Ital._\n  San Gregorio Nazianzeno. _Fr._ St. Gr\u00e9goire de Naziance. _Ger._ St.\n                Gregor von Nazianz. (May 9, A.D. 390.)\n\nThis Doctor, like St. Basil, was one of a family of saints; his father,\nSt. Gregory, having been bishop of Nazianzus before him; his mother,\nSt. Nonna, famous for her piety; and two of his sisters, St. Gorgonia\nand St. Cesarea, also canonized. Gregory was born about the year 328;\nand his mother, who fondly believed that he had been granted to her\nprayers, watched over his early education, and guided his first steps\nin piety and literature. When a boy, he had a singular dream, which he\nhas related himself. He beheld in his sleep two virgins of celestial\nbeauty; they were clothed in white garments, and their faces shone\nupon him like two stars out of heaven: they took him in their arms and\nkissed him as if he had been their child. He, charmed by their virgin\nbeauty and their caresses, asked who they were, and whence they came?\nOne of them replied, \u2018I am called Chastity, and my sister here is\nTemperance; we come to thee from Paradise, where we stand continually\nbefore the throne of Christ, and taste ineffable delights: come to us,\nmy son, and dwell with us for ever;\u2019 and having spoken thus, they left\nhim and flew upwards to heaven. He followed them with longing eyes till\nthey disappeared, and as he stretched his arms towards them he awoke.\n\nThis dream\u2014how natural in a boy educated between a tender mother, who\nhad shielded him, as only mothers can, against all sinful temptations,\nand a lovely and saintly sister!\u2014he regarded as a direct revelation\nfrom heaven: it decided his future life, and he made a vow of perpetual\ncontinence and temperance. Like the other Greek doctors, he began\nby the study of profane literature and rhetoric. He went to Athens,\nwhere he formed an enduring friendship with St. Basil, and pursued\nhis studies with Julian, afterwards C\u00e6sar and Apostate. After leaving\nAthens, in his thirtieth year, he was baptized; and, devoting himself\nsolemnly to the service of God and the study of the Scriptures, like\nhis friend Basil, he destroyed his health by his austerities and\nmortifications: he confesses that they were wholly repugnant to his\nnature \u2014a nature sensitive, imaginative, poetical; but this of course\nonly added to their merit and efficacy. His aged father withdrew\nhim from his solitude, and ordained him as his coadjutor: in 362 he\nsucceeded to the bishopric of Nazianzus: but great part of his time\nwas still spent at Constantinople, whither he was invited to preach\nagainst the Arians. It was a strange spectacle to see, in the capital\nof the world, a man, from a distant province and an obscure town, of\nsmall shrunken stature, bald-headed, wrinkled, haggard with vigils and\nfasting, poor, ill-clothed, and in his address unpolished and abrupt,\nstand up to oppose himself to a luxurious court and prevalent sect.\nThe people began by stoning him; but at length his earnestness and\neloquence overcame all opposition.\n\nReligious disputes were the fashion at that time in Constantinople,\nnot merely among the priesthood, but among the laity, the lawyers, and\nabove all the women, who were heard, in assemblies and at feasts, at\nhome and abroad, declaiming and arguing on the most abstruse mysteries\nof the evangelical doctrine, till they lost temper and modesty:\u2014so\ntrue it is, that there is nothing new under the sun. This was in 378,\nand St. Gregory found more difficulty in silencing their squabbles\nthan in healing the schisms of the Church. He was ordained Bishop of\nConstantinople by the favour of Theodosius; but, unable to endure the\nodious cabals and uncharitable contests which at that time distracted\nand disgraced Christianity, he resigned his sacred office, and retired\nto a small paternal estate, where he lived, with his usual self-denial\nand austerity, till his death. He composed in his retreat a number of\nbeautiful poems in his native Greek: he was, in fact, the earliest\nChristian poet on record. These poems are not hymns only, but lyrics,\nin which he poured forth his soul, his aspirations, his temptations,\nhis joys, his sufferings, his plaintive supplications to Christ, to\naid him in his perpetual combats against a too vivid imagination, and\nfeelings and passions which not even age and penance had subdued.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nSt. Gregory Nazianzen ought to be represented as an old man wasted\nby fasting and vigils, with a bald head, a long beard of a reddish\ncolour, and eyebrows the same. He is always the last in a series of\nthe Four Greek Fathers, and, though often occurring in Greek Art,\nthe popularity of St. Gregory the GREAT has completely banished St.\nGregory the POET from Western Art.\n\nThere remains, however, a very valuable and singular monument to the\nhonour of St. Gregory Nazianzen, in the Greek MS. of his sermons\npreserved in the Imperial Library at Paris, and adorned with Byzantine\nminiatures, which must once have been beautiful and brilliant: ruined\nas they are, they present some of the most ancient examples which\nremain to us of the treatment of many sacred subjects from the Old and\nthe New Testament, and give a high idea of the classic taste and the\nskill of the Byzantine limners of the ninth century. Besides the sacred\nsubjects, we have numerous scenes interspersed from the life of Gregory\nhimself, his friend St. Basil, and the Emperor Theodosius. As these are\nsubjects which are exceptional, I need not describe them. Of the style\nof the miniatures I have already spoken, and given one example (_v._ p.\n75).\n\n\n                              ST. CYRIL.\n\n _Lat._ S. Cyrillus. _Ital._ San Cirillo. _Fr._ St. Cyrille. (Jan. 28,\n                              A.D. 444.)\n\nSt. Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria from the year 412 to 444, was famous\nin his time as deeply engaged in all the contests which disturbed the\nearly Christian Church. He has left a great number of theological\nwritings, which are regarded as authority in matters of faith. He,\nappears to have been violent against the so-called heresies of that\nday, and opposed Nestorius with the same determined zeal and inexorable\nfirmness with which Athanasius had opposed Arius. The ascendency of\nCyril was disgraced by the death of the famous female mathematician and\nphilosopher Hypatia, murdered with horrible cruelty, and within the\nwalls of a church, by the fanatic followers of the Patriarch, if he\ndid not himself connive at it. He is much more venerated in the Greek\nthan in the Latin Church. In the Greek representations he is the only\nbishop who has his head covered; he wears a veil or hood, coming over\nhis head, falling down on his shoulders, and the front embroidered with\na cross, as in the illustration.\n\nWith the Greek Fathers I conclude the list of those saints who are\ngenerally represented in their collective character, grouped, or in a\nseries.\n\n\n\n\n   St. Mary Magdalene, St. Martha, St. Lazarus, St. Mar\u00edm\u00edn, St.\n     Marcella, St. Mary of Egypt, and the Beatified Penitents.\n\n\n                          ST. MARY MAGDALENE.\n\n _Lat._ Sancta Maria Magdalena. _Ital._ Santa Maria Maddalena. _Fr._\n La Madeleine. La Sainte Demoiselle p\u00e9cheresse. (July 22, A.D. 68.)\n Patroness of Provence, of Marseilles, and of frail and penitent women.\n\nOf all the personages who figure in history, in poetry, in art, Mary\nMagdalene is at once the most unreal and the most real:\u2014the most\n_unreal_, if we attempt to fix her identity, which has been a subject\nof dispute for ages; the most _real_, if we consider her as having\nbeen, for ages, recognised and accepted in every Christian heart as the\nimpersonation of the penitent sinner absolved through faith and love.\nIn this, her mythic character, she has been surrounded by associations\nwhich have become fixed in the imagination, and which no reasoning,\nno array of facts, can dispel. This is not the place to enter into\ndisputed points of biblical criticism; they are quite beside our\npresent purpose. Whether Mary Magdalene, \u2018out of whom Jesus cast seven\ndevils,\u2019 Mary of Bethany, and the \u2018woman who was a sinner,\u2019 be, as\nsome authorities assert, three distinct persons, or, as others affirm,\none and the same individual under different designations, remains a\nquestion open to dispute, nothing having been demonstrated on either\nside, from Scripture or from tradition; and I cannot presume even to\ngive an opinion where doctors\u2014and doctors of the Church, too\u2014disagree;\nOrigen and St. Chrysostom taking one side of the question, St. Clement\nand St. Gregory the other. Fleury, after citing the opinions of both\nsides, thus beautifully sums up the whole question:\u2014\u2018Il importe de ne\npas croire t\u00e9m\u00e9rairement ce que l\u2019\u00c9vangile ne dit point, et de ne pas\nmettre la religion \u00e0 suivre aveuglement toutes les opinions populaires:\n_la foi est trop pr\u00e9cieuse pour la prodiguer ainsi_; mais la charit\u00e9\nl\u2019est encore plus; et ce qui est le plus important, c\u2019est d\u2019\u00e9viter\nles disputes qui peuvent l\u2019alt\u00e9rer tant soit peu.\u2019 And this is most\ntrue;\u2014in his time the fast hold which the Magdalene had taken of the\naffections of the people was not to be shaken by theological researches\nand doubts. Here critical accuracy was nothing less than profanation\nand scepticism, and to have attacked the sanctity of the Blessed Mary\nMagdalene would have embittered and alienated many kindly and many\nbelieving spirits. It is difficult to treat of Mary Magdalene; and\nthis difficulty would be increased infinitely if it were absolutely\nnecessary to enter on the much-vexed question of her scriptural\ncharacter and identity: one thing only appeals certain,\u2014that such a\nperson, whatever might have been her veritable appellation, did exist.\nThe woman who, under the name of Mary Magdalene,\u2014whether that name be\nrightfully or wrongfully bestowed,\u2014stands before us, sanctified in the\nimagination and in the faith of the people in her combined character\nof Sinner and of Saint, as the first-fruits of Christian penitence,\u2014is\na reality, and not a fiction. Even if we would, we cannot do away with\nthe associations inseparably connected with her name and her image. Of\nall those to whom much has been forgiven, she was the first: of all\nthe tears since ruefully shed at the foot of the cross of suffering,\nhers were the first: of all the hopes which the Resurrection has\nsince diffused through nations and generations of men, hers were the\nfirst. To her sorrowful image how many have looked up through tears,\nand blessed the pardoning grace of which she was the symbol\u2014or rather\nthe impersonation! Of the female saints, some were the chosen patrons\nof certain virtues\u2014others of certain vocations; but the accepted and\nglorified penitent threw her mantle over all, and more especially over\nthose of her own sex, who, having gone astray, were recalled from error\nand from shame, and laid down their wrongs, their sorrows, and their\nsins in trembling humility at the feet of the Redeemer.\n\nNor is it only the popularity of Mary Magdalene as the representative\nand the patroness of repentant sinners which has multiplied her image\nthrough all Christendom. As a subject for painting,\n\n    Whether the fair one sinner it or saint it,\n\nit is rich in picturesque capabilities. It combines all that can\ninspire, with all that can chasten the fancy; yet, when we review\nwhat has been done, how inadequate the result! In no class of subjects\nhave the mistakes of the painters, even the most distinguished, been\nso conspicuous as in the representation of the penitent Magdalene;\nand it must be allowed that, with all its advantages and attractions,\nit is a subject full of perils and difficulties. Where the penitent\nprevails, the saint appears degraded; where the wasted, unclad form\nis seen attenuated by vigils and exposed in haggard unseemliness,\nit is a violation of that first great rule of Art which forbids the\nrepulsive and the painful. And herein lies the fault of the earlier\nschools, and particularly of the old Greek and German painters;\u2014their\nmatter-of-fact ugliness would be intolerable, if not redeemed by the\nintention and sentiment. On the other hand, where sensual beauty has\nobviously been the paramount idea in the artist\u2019s work, defeating its\nholiest purpose and perverting its high significance, the violation of\nthe moral sentiment is yet more revolting. This is especially the fault\nof the later painters, more particularly of the schools of Venice and\nBologna: while the French painters are yet worse, adding affectation to\nlicentiousness of sentiment; the Abb\u00e9 M\u00e8ry exclaims with reasonable and\npious indignation against that \u2018_air de galanterie_\u2019 which in his time\nwas regarded as characteristic of Mary Magdalene. The \u2018larmoyantes\u2019\npenitents of Greuze\u2014Magdalenes _\u00e0 la Pompadour_\u2014are more objectionable\nto my taste than those of Rubens.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nI shall give the legend of the Magdalene here as it was accepted by the\npeople, and embodied by the arts, of the middle ages, setting aside\nthose Eastern traditions which represent the Mary of Bethany and the\nMagdalene as distinct personages, and place the death and burial-place\nof Mary Magdalene at Ephesus. Our business is with the Western legend,\nwhich has been the authority for Western Art. This legend, besides\nattributing to one individual, and blending into one narrative, the\nvery few scattered notices in the Gospels, has added some other\nincidents, inconceivably wild and incredible, leaving her, however,\nthe invariable attributes of the frail loving woman, the sorrowing\npenitent, and the devout enthusiastic saint.\n\nMary Magdalene was of the district of Magdala, on the shores of the\nsea of Galilee, where stood her castle, called Magdalon; she was\nthe sister of Lazarus and of Martha, and they were the children of\nparents reputed noble, or, as some say, of royal race. On the death\nof their father, Syrus, they inherited vast riches and possessions\nin land, which were equally divided between them. Lazarus betook\nhimself to the military life; Martha ruled her possessions with great\ndiscretion, and was a model of virtue and propriety,\u2014 perhaps a little\ntoo much addicted to worldly cares: Mary, on the contrary, abandoned\nherself to luxurious pleasures, and became at length so notorious\nfor her dissolute life, that she was known through all the country\nround only as \u2018THE SINNER.\u2019 Her discreet sister, Martha, frequently\nrebuked her for these disorders, and at length persuaded her to listen\nto the exhortations of Jesus, through which her heart was touched\nand converted. The seven demons which possessed her, and which were\nexpelled by the power of the Lord, were the seven deadly sins to which\nshe was given over before her conversion. On one occasion Martha\nentertained the Saviour in her house, and, being anxious to feast him\nworthily, she was \u2018cumbered with much serving.\u2019 Mary, meanwhile, sat\nat the feet of Jesus, and heard his words, which completed the good\nwork of her conversion; and when, some time afterwards, he supped\nin the house of Simon the Pharisee, she followed him thither, \u2018and\nshe brought an alabaster box of ointment, and began to wash his feet\nwith tears, and did wipe them with the hair of her head, and kissed\nhis feet, and anointed them with ointment; and He said unto her, Thy\nsins are forgiven.\u2019 She became afterwards one of the most devoted of\nhis followers; \u2018ministered to him of her substance;\u2019 attended him to\nCalvary, and stood weeping at the foot of the cross. She, with the\nother Mary, watched by his tomb, and was the first to whom he appeared\nafter the resurrection; her unfaltering faith, mingled as it was with\nthe intensest grief and love, obtained for her this peculiar mark of\nfavour. It is assumed by several commentators that our Saviour appeared\nfirst to Mary Magdalene because she, of all those whom he had left on\nearth, had most need of consolation:\u2014\u2018_The disciples went away to their\nown home; but Mary stood without the sepulchre, weeping._\u2019\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThus far the notices in the Gospel and the suggestions of\ncommentators: the old Proven\u00e7al legend then continues the story. After\nthe ascension, Lazarus with his two sisters, Martha and Mary; with\nMaximin, one of the seventy-two disciples, from whom they had received\nbaptism; Cedon, the blind man whom our Saviour had restored to sight;\nand Marcella, the handmaiden who attended on the two sisters, were by\nthe heathens set adrift in a vessel without sails, oars, or rudder;\nbut, guided by Providence, they were safely borne over the sea till\nthey landed in a certain harbour which proved to be Marseilles, in the\ncountry now called France. The people of the land were pagans, and\nrefused to give the holy pilgrims food or shelter; so they were fain to\ntake refuge under the porch of a temple; and Mary Magdalene preached to\nthe people, reproaching them for their senseless worship of dumb idols;\nand though at first they would not listen, yet being after a time\nconvinced by her eloquence, and by the miracles performed by her and by\nher sister, they were converted and baptized. And Lazarus became, after\nthe death of the good Maximin, the first bishop of Marseilles.\n\nThese things being accomplished, Mary Magdalene retired to a desert\nnot far from the city. It was a frightful barren wilderness, in the\nmidst of horrid rocks and caves: and here for thirty years she devoted\nherself to solitary penance for the sins of her past life, which she\nhad never ceased to bewail bitterly. During this long seclusion, she\nwas never seen or heard of, and it was supposed that she was dead.\nShe fasted so rigorously, that but for the occasional visits of the\nangels, and the comfort bestowed by celestial visions, she must have\nperished. Every day during the last years of her penance, the angels\ncame down from heaven and carried her up in their arms into regions\nwhere she was ravished by the sounds of unearthly harmony, and beheld\nthe glory and the joy prepared for the sinner that repenteth. One day\na certain hermit, who dwelt in a cell on one of those wild mountains,\nhaving wandered farther than usual from his home, beheld this wondrous\nvision\u2014the Magdalene in the arms of ascending angels, who were singing\nsongs of triumph as they bore her upwards; and the hermit, when he\nhad a little recovered from his amazement, returned to the city of\nMarseilles, and reported what he had seen. According to some of the\nlegends, Mary Magdalene died within the walls of the Christian church,\nafter receiving the sacrament from the hand of St. Maximin; but the\nmore popular accounts represent her as dying in her solitude, while\nangels watched over and ministered to her.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe middle of the thirteenth century was an era of religious excitement\nall over the south of Europe. A sudden fit of penitence\u2014\u2018una subita\ncompunzione,\u2019 as an Italian author calls it\u2014seized all hearts; relics\nand pilgrimages, and penances and monastic ordinances, filled all\nminds. About this period, certain remains, supposed to be those of Mary\nMagdalene and Lazarus, were discovered at a place since called St.\nMaximin, about twenty miles north of Toulon. The discovery strongly\nexcited the devotion and enthusiasm of the people; and a church was\nfounded on the spot by Charles, Count of Provence (the brother of\nSt. Louis), as early as 1279. A few years afterwards, this prince\nwas vanquished and taken prisoner by the king of Aragon, and when at\nlength set free after a long captivity, he ascribed his deliverance\nparticularly to the intercession of his chosen patroness, Mary\nMagdalene. This incident greatly extended her fame as a saint of power;\nand from this time we may date her popularity, and those sculptural\nand pictorial representations of her, under various aspects, which,\nfrom the fourteenth century to the present time, have so multiplied,\nthat scarcely any Catholic place of worship is to be found without her\nimage. In fact, it is difficult for us, in these days, to conceive,\nfar more difficult to sympathise with, the passionate admiration and\ndevotion with which she was regarded by her votaries in the middle\nages. The imputed sinfulness of her life only brought her nearer to\nthem. Those who did not dare to lift up their eyes to the more saintly\nmodels of purity and holiness,\u2014to the martyrs who had suffered in\nthe cause of chastity,\u2014took courage to invoke her intercession. The\nextravagant titles bestowed upon her in the middle ages\u2014\u2018_l\u2019amante\nde J\u00e9sus-Christ_,\u2019 \u2018_la bien-aim\u00e9e du Sauveur_,\u2019 \u2018_la tr\u00e8s-saincte\ndemoiselle p\u00e9cheresse_,\u2019\u2014and others which I should hardly dare to\ntranscribe, show the spirit in which she was worshipped, particularly\nin the south of France, and the kind of chivalrous sentiment which\nmingled with the devotion of her adorers. I found in an old French\nsermon a eulogium of Mary Magdalene, which for its eloquence and\ningenuity seems to me without a parallel. The preacher, while\nacknowledging the excesses which brought her a penitent to the feet of\nChrist, is perfectly scandalised that she should be put on a par with\ncommon sinners of the same class, and that on the faith of a passage in\nSt. Luke, \u2018on a os\u00e9 fl\u00e9trir une des plus belles \u00e2mes qui soient jamais\nsorties des mains du Cr\u00e9ateur!\u2019 He rather glorifies her as a kind of\nAspasia, to whom, indeed, he in a manner compares her.[297]\n\nThe traditional scene of the penance of the Magdalene, a wild spot\nbetween Toulon and Marseilles, is the site of a famous convent called\nLa Sainte Beaume (which in the Proven\u00e7al tongue signifies _Holy Cave_),\nformerly a much frequented place of pilgrimage. It is built on the\nverge of a formidable precipice; near it is the grotto in which the\nsaint resided; and to Mount Pilon, a rocky point about six hundred feet\nabove the grotto, the angels bore her seven times a day to pray. This\nconvent was destroyed and pillaged at the commencement of the French\nRevolution. It was filled with relics and works of art, referring to\nthe life and the worship of the Magdalene.\n\nBut the most sumptuous fane ever erected to her special honour is that\nwhich, of late years, has arisen in the city of Paris. The church, or\nrather the temple, of La Madeleine stands an excelling monument, if not\nof modern piety, at least of modern Art. It is built on the model of\nthe temple of Jupiter at Athens:\u2014\n\n    That noble type is realised again\n    In perfect form; and dedicate\u2014to whom?\n    To a poor Syrian girl of lowliest name\u2014\n    A hapless creature, pitiful and frail\n    As ever wore her life in sin and shame!\n                                      R. M. MILNES.\n\nThe saint, whether she were \u2018the lowly Syrian girl\u2019 or the \u2018Princess of\nMagdala,\u2019 would be equally astonished to behold herself thus honoured\nwith a sort of pagan magnificence in the midst of a luxurious capital,\nand by a people more remarkable for scoffing than for praying. Even in\nthe successive vicissitudes of this splendid edifice there is something\nstrange. That which is now the temple of the lowly penitent was, a few\nyears ago, _Le Temple de la Gloire_.\n\nLet us now turn to those characteristic representations with which\npainting and sculpture have made us familiar, and for which both\nScripture and legendary tradition have furnished the authority and the\ngroundwork. These are so numerous and so infinitely varied that I find\nit necessary here, as in the case of St. Jerome, to arrange them under\nseveral heads.\n\nThe devotional representations may be divided into two classes. 1.\nThose which represent the Magdalene as patron saint. 2. Those which\nrepresent her penitence in the desert.\n\nThe historical subjects may also be divided into two classes. 1. Those\nscenes from Gospel story in which Mary Magdalene figures as a chief or\nconspicuous personage. 2. The scenes taken from her legendary life.\n\nIn all these subjects the accompanying attribute is the alabaster box\nof ointment; which has a double significance: it may be the perfume\nwhich she poured over the feet of the Saviour, or the balm and spices\nwhich she had prepared to anoint his body. Sometimes she carries it in\nher hand, sometimes it stands at her feet, or near her; frequently, in\nlater pictures, it is borne by an attendant angel. The shape varies\nwith the fancy of the artist; it is a small vase, a casket, a box, a\ncup with a cover; more or less ornamented, more or less graceful in\nform; but always there\u2014the symbol at once of her conversion and her\nlove, and so peculiar that it can leave no doubt of her identity.\n\nHer drapery in the ancient pictures is usually red, to express the\nfervour of her love; in modern representations, and where she figures\nas penitent, it is either blue or violet; violet, the colour of\nmourning and penitence\u2014blue, the colour of constancy. To express both\nthe love and the sorrow, she sometimes wears a violet-coloured tunic\nand a red mantle. The luxuriant hair ought to be fair or golden.\nDark-haired Magdalenes, as far as I can remember, belong exclusively to\nthe Spanish school.\n\n1. When exhibited to us as the patron saint of repentant sinners, Mary\nMagdalene is sometimes a thin wasted figure with long dishevelled hair,\nof a pale golden hue, falling over her shoulders almost to the ground;\nsometimes a skin or a piece of linen is tied round her loins, but not\nseldom her sole drapery is her long redundant hair. The most ancient\nsingle figure of this character to which I can refer is an old picture\nin the Byzantine manner, as old perhaps as the thirteenth century, and\nnow in the Academy at Florence. She is standing as patroness, covered\nonly by her long hair, which falls in dark brown masses to her feet:\nthe colour, I imagine, was originally much lighter. She is a meagre,\nhaggard, grim-looking figure, and holds in her hand a scroll, on which\nis inscribed in ancient Gothic letters\u2014\n\n    Ne despectetis\n    Vos qui peccare soletis\n    Exemplo meo\n    Vos reparate Deo.[298]\n\nRude and unattractive as is this specimen of ancient Art, I could not\nlook at it without thinking how often it must have spoken hope and\npeace to the soul of the trembling sinner, in days when it hung, not in\na picture-gallery to be criticised, but in a shrine to be worshipped.\nAround this figure, in the manner of the old altar-pieces, are six\nsmall square compartments containing scenes from her life.\n\n[Illustration: 91 Mary Magdalene (Donatello)]\n\nThe famous statue carved in wood by Donatello, in point of character\nmay be referred to this class of subjects: she stands over her altar\nin the Baptistery at Florence, with clasped hands, the head raised\nin prayer; the form is very expressive of wasting grief and penance,\nbut too meagre for beauty. \u2018_Egli, la volle specchio alle penitenti,\nnon incitamento alla cupidizia degli sguardi, come avenne ad altri\nartisti_,\u2019 says Cicognara; and, allowing that beauty has been\nsacrificed to expression, he adds, \u2018but if Donatello had done all,\nwhat would have remained for Canova?\u2019 That which remained for Canova\nto do, he has done; he has made her as lovely as possible, and he has\ndramatised the sentiment: she is more the penitent than the patron\nsaint. The display of the beautiful limbs is chastened by the humility\nof the attitude\u2014half kneeling, half prostrate; by the expression of the\ndrooping head\u2014\u2018all sorrow\u2019s softness charmed from its despair.\u2019 Her\neyes are fixed on the cross which lies extended on her knees; and she\nweeps\u2014not so much her own past sins, as the sacrifice it has cost to\nredeem them. This is the prevailing sentiment, or, as the Germans would\ncall it, the _motive_ of the representation, to which I should feel\ninclined to object as deficient in dignity and severity, and bordering\ntoo much on the _genre_ and dramatic style: but the execution is almost\nfaultless. Very beautiful is another modern statue of the penitent\nMagdalene, executed in marble for the Count d\u2019Espagnac, by M. Henri de\nTriqueti. She is half seated, half reclining on a fragment of rock, and\npressing to her bosom a crown of thorns, at once the mourner and the\npenitent: the sorrow is not for herself alone.\n\n[Illustration: 92 Mary Magdalene (Lucas v. Leyden)]\n\nBut, in her character of patron saint, Mary Magdalene was not always\nrepresented with the squalid or pathetic attributes of humiliation and\npenance. She became idealised as a noble dignified creature bearing no\ntraces of sin or of sorrow on her beautiful face; her luxuriant hair\nbound in tresses round her head; her drapery rich and ample; the vase\nof ointment in her hand or at her feet, or borne by an angel near her.\nNot unfrequently she is attired with the utmost magnificence, either\nin reference to her former state of worldly prosperity, or rather,\nperhaps, that with the older painters, particularly those of the\nGerman school, it was a common custom to clothe all the ideal figures\nof female saints in rich habits. In the fourteenth and fifteenth\ncenturies such representations of the Magdalene are usual both in\nItalian and German Art. A beautiful instance may be seen in a picture\nby Signorelli, in the Cathedral of Orvieto, where she is standing\nin a landscape, her head uncovered, and the rich golden hair partly\nbraided, partly flowing over her shoulders; she wears a magnificent\ntunic embroidered with gold, over it a flowing mantle descending to her\nfeet; she holds the vase with her left hand, and points to it with her\nright. If it were not for the saintly aureole encircling her head, this\nfigure, and others similar to it, might be mistaken for Pandora. See,\nfor example, the famous print by Lucas v. Leyden, where she stands on\nclouds with an embroidered coif and flowing mantle, holding the vase in\nher left hand, and lifting the cover with her right (in the sketch it\nis reversed): and in the half-length by Leonardo, or one of his school.\nThe want of a religious sentiment gives such figures a very heathen\nand _Pandora_ look, so that the aureole alone fixes the identity. This\nis not the case with a noble Magdalene by Dennis Calvert, in the\nManfrini Palace at Venice. She is standing in a fine bold landscape;\none hand sustains her ample crimson drapery, the other holds her vase;\nher fair hair falls in masses over her shoulders, and she looks down\non her worshippers with a serious dignified compassion. This is one of\nthe finest pictures of the later Bologna school, finer and truer in\nsentiment than any of the Caracci and Guido Magdalenes.\n\nIn this her wholly divine and ideal character of saint and intercessor,\nMary Magdalene is often most beautifully introduced as standing near\nthe throne of the Virgin, or as grouped with other saints. In two of\nthe most famous pictures in the world she is thus represented. In the\nSt. Cecilia of Raphael, she stands on the left, St. Paul being on\nthe right of the principal figure; they are here significant of the\nconversion of the man through _power_, of the woman through _love_,\nfrom a state of reprobation to a state of reconcilement and grace. St.\nPaul leans in deep meditation on his sword. Mary Magdalene is habited\nin ample drapery of blue and violet, which she sustains with one hand,\nand bears the vase in the other. She looks out of the picture with\na benign countenance and a particularly graceful turn of the head.\nRaphael\u2019s original design for this picture (engraved by Marc Antonio)\nis, however, preferable in the sentiment given to the Magdalene: she\ndoes not look _out_ of the picture, but she looks _up_: _she_ also\nhears the divine music which has ravished St. Cecilia. In the picture\nshe is either unconscious or inattentive.\n\nIn the not less celebrated St. Jerome of Correggio she is on the\nleft of the Madonna, bending down with an expression of the deepest\nadoration to kiss the feet of the infant Christ, while an angel behind\nholds up the vase of ointment: thus recalling to our minds, and\nshadowing forth in the most poetical manner, that memorable act of\nlove and homage rendered at the feet of the Saviour. Parmigiano has\nrepresented her, in a Madonna picture, as standing on one side, and\nthe prophet Isaiah on the other. Lord Ashburton has a fine picture by\nCorreggio, in which we have the same ideal representation: she is here\ngrouped with St. Peter, St. Margaret, and St. Leonardo.\n\nThere are two classes of subjects in which Mary Magdalene is richly\nhabited, and which must be carefully distinguished; those above\ndescribed, in which she figures as patron saint, and those which\nrepresent her _before_ her conversion, as the votary of luxury and\npleasure. In the same manner we must be careful to distinguish those\nfigures of the penitent Magdalene which are wholly devotional in\ncharacter and intention, and which have been described in the first\nclass, from those which represent her in the act of doing penance, and\nwhich are rather dramatic and sentimental than devotional.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n2. The penance of the Magdalene is a subject which has become, like the\npenance of St. Jerome, a symbol of Christian penitence, but still more\nendeared to the popular imagination by more affecting and attractive\nassociations, and even more eminently picturesque,\u2014so tempting to the\nartists, that by their own predilection for it they have assisted in\nmaking it universal. In the display of luxuriant female forms, shadowed\n(not hidden) by redundant fair hair, and flung in all the _abandon_\nof solitude, amid the depth of leafy recesses, or relieved by the\ndark umbrageous rocks; in the association of love and beauty with the\nsymbols of death and sorrow and utter humiliation; the painters had\nample scope, ample material, for the exercise of their imagination, and\nthe display of their skill: and what has been the result? They have\nabused these capabilities even to licence; they have exhausted the\nresources of Art in the attempt to vary the delineation; and yet how\nseldom has the ideal of this most exquisite subject been\u2014I will not say\nrealised\u2014but even approached? We have Magdalenes who look as if they\nnever could have sinned, and others who look as if they never could\nhave repented; we have Venetian Magdalenes with the air of courtesans,\nand Florentine Magdalenes with the air of Ariadnes; and Bolognese\nMagdalenes like sentimental Niobes; and French Magdalenes, _moiti\u00e9\ngalantes_, _moiti\u00e9 d\u00e9votes_; and Dutch Magdalenes, who wring their\nhands like repentant washerwomen. The Magdalenes of Rubens remind us of\nnothing so much as of the \u2018unfortunate Miss Bailey;\u2019 and the Magdalenes\nof Van Dyck are fine ladies who have turned Methodists. But Mary\nMagdalene, such as we have conceived her, mournful yet hopeful,\u2014tender\nyet dignified,\u2014worn with grief and fasting, yet radiant with the glow\nof love and faith, and clothed with the beauty of holiness,\u2014is an ideal\nwhich painting has not yet realised. Is it beyond the reach of Art? We\nmight have answered this question, had Raphael attempted it;\u2014but he has\nnot. His Magdalene at the feet of Christ is yet unforgiven\u2014the forlorn\ncastaway, not the devout penitent.\n\nThe Magdalene doing penance in her rocky desert first became a popular\nsubject in the sixteenth century; in the seventeenth it was at the\nheight of favour. There are two distinct versions of the subject,\ninfinitely varied as to detail and sentiment: either she is represented\nas bewailing her sins, or as reconciled to Heaven.\n\nIn the former treatment she lies prostrate on the earth, or she is\nstanding or kneeling at the entrance of the cave (in some of the old\nilluminated missals the upper part of her body is seen emerging from a\ncave, or rather a hole in the ground), the hands clasped, or extended\ntowards heaven; the eyes streaming with tears; the long yellow hair\nfloating over the shoulders. The crucifix, the skull, and sometimes the\nscourge, are introduced as emblems of faith, mortality, and penance;\nweeping angels present a crown of thorns.\n\nIn the latter treatment she is reading or meditating; the expression\nis serene or hopeful; a book lies beside the skull; angels present the\npalm, or scatter flowers; a vision of glory is seen in the skies.\n\nThe alabaster box is in all cases the indispensable attribute. The eyes\nare usually raised, if not in grief, in supplication or in aspiration.\nThe \u2018uplifted eye\u2019 as well as the \u2018loose hair\u2019 became a characteristic;\nbut there are some exceptions. The conception of character and\nsituation, which was at first simple, became more and more picturesque,\nand at length theatrical\u2014a mere vehicle for sentiment and attitude.\n\n1. The earliest example I can remember of the Penitent Magdalene,\n_dramatically_ treated, remains as yet unsurpassed,\u2014the reading\nMagdalene of Correggio, in the Dresden Gallery. This lovely creation\nhas only one fault the virginal beauty is that of a Psyche or a\nSeraph. In Oelenschl\u00e4ger\u2019s drama of \u2018Correggio,\u2019 there is a beautiful\ndescription of this far-famed picture; he calls it \u2018Die Gottinn des\nWaldes Fr\u00f6mmigkeit,\u2019\u2014the goddess of the religious solitude. And in\ntruth, if we could imagine Diana reading instead of hunting, she might\nhave looked thus. Oelenschl\u00e4ger has made poetical use of the tradition\nthat Correggio painted this Magdalene for a poor monk who was his\nconfessor or physician; and thus he makes Silvestro comment on the\nwork:\u2014\n\n                    What a fair picture!\u2014\n    This dark o\u2019erhanging shade, the long fair hair,\n    The delicate white skin, the azure robe,\n    The full luxuriant life, the grim death\u2019s head,\n    The tender womanhood, and the great book:\u2014\n    These various contrasts have you cunningly\n    Brought into sweetest harmony.\n\nBut truer, at least nobler in sentiment, is the Magdalene by the\nsame painter (in the Manfrini Palace, Venice), of the same size and\nsimilarly draped in dark blue; but here _standing_ at the entrance of\nher cave. She leans her elbow on the book which lies on the rock, and\nappears to be meditating on its contents. The head, seen in front, is\ngrand and earnest, with a mass of fair hair, a large wide brow, and\ndeep, deep eyes full of mystery. The expression of power in this head\npleases me especially, because true to the character, as I conceive it.\n\n    Doch ist es sch\u00f6n von einem Weibe, mein\u2019 ich,\n    Einmal gefallen wieder sich zu heben;\n    Es gibt sehr wen\u2019ge M\u00e4nner, die das k\u00f6nnen!\n\n          Yes! it is good to see a hapless woman,\n    That once has fallen, redeem herself! In truth,\n    There be few men, methinks, could do as much.\n                                  _Correggio_, Act i. Scene 1.\n\nI do not know why this lovely Manfrini picture should be so much\nless celebrated than the Dresden Magdalene: while the latter has\nbeen multiplied by copies and engravings, I do not remember a single\nprint after the Manfrini Magdalene. There is a bad feeble copy in the\nLouvre;[299] I know no other.\n\n2. There is a celebrated picture by Timoteo della Vite, in the Bologna\nGallery. She is standing before the entrance of her cavern, arrayed\nin a crimson mantle; her long hair is seen beneath descending to her\nfeet; the hands joined in prayer, the head declined on one side, and\nthe whole expression that of girlish innocence and simplicity, with\na touch of the pathetic. A mendicant, not a Magdalene, is the idea\nsuggested; and, for myself, I confess that at the first glance I was\nreminded of the little Red-Riding-Hood, and could think of no sin\nthat could have been attributed to such a face and figure, beyond the\nbreaking of a pot of butter: yet the picture is very beautiful.\n\n[Illustration: 93 Mary Magdalene (Timoteo della Vite)]\n\n3. The Magdalene of Titian was so celebrated in his own time, that\nhe painted at least five or six repetitions of it, and copies and\nengravings have since been multiplied. The eyes, swimming in tears,\nare raised to heaven; the long dishevelled hair floats over her\nshoulders; one hand is pressed on her bosom, the other rests on\nthe skull; the forms are full and round, the colouring rich; a book\nand a box of ointment lie before her on a fragment of rock. She is\nsufficiently woeful, but seems rather to regret her past life than\nto repent of it, nor is there anything in the expression which can\nsecure us against a relapse. Titian painted the original for Charles V.\nHis idea of the _pose_ was borrowed, as we are told, from an antique\nstatue, and his model was a young girl, who being fatigued with long\nstanding, the tears ran down her face, and Titian attained the desired\nexpression.\u2019(!) His idea therefore of St. Mary Magdalene was the\nfusion of an antique statue and a girl taken out of the streets; and\nwith all its beauties as a work of art\u2014and very beautiful it is\u2014this\n_chef-d\u2019\u0153uvre_ of Titian is, to my taste, most unsatisfactory.\n\n4. Cigoli\u2019s Magdalene is seated on a rock, veiled _only_ by her long\nhair, which falls over the whole figure; the eyes, still wet with\ntears, are raised to heaven; one arm is round a skull, the right hand\nrests on a book which is on her knees.\n\n5. The Magdalene of Carlo Cignani, veiled in her dishevelled hair, and\nwringing her hands, is also most affecting for the fervent expression\nof sorrow; both these are in the Florence Gallery.[300]\n\n6. Guido, regarded as the painter of Magdalenes _par excellence_, has\ncarried this mistake yet farther; he had ever the classical Niobe\nin his mind, and his saintly penitents, with all their exceeding\nloveliness, appear to me utterly devoid of that beauty which has been\ncalled \u2018the beauty of holiness;\u2019 the reproachful grandeur of the Niobe\nis diluted into voluptuous feebleness; the tearful face, with the loose\ngolden hair and uplifted eyes, of which he has given us at least ten\nrepetitions, however charming as art\u2014as painting, are unsatisfactory\nas religious representations. I cannot except even the beautiful study\nin our National Gallery, nor the admired full-length in the Sciarra\nPalace, at Rome; the latter, when I saw it last, appeared to me poor\nand mannered, and the pale colouring not merely delicate, but vapid.\nA head of Mary Magdalene reading, apparently a study from life, is,\nhowever, in a grand style.[301]\n\n[Illustration: 94 Mary Magdalene (Murillo)]\n\n7. Murillo\u2019s Magdalene, in the Louvre, kneeling, with hands crossed\non her bosom, eyes upraised, and parted lips, has eager devout hope\nas well as sorrow in the countenance. 8. But turn to the Magdalene of\nAlonzo Cano, which hangs near: drooping, negligent of self; the very\nhands are nerveless, languid, dead.[302] Nothing but woe, guilt, and\nmisery are in the face and attitude: _she_ has not yet looked into the\nface of Christ, nor sat at his feet, nor heard from his lips, \u2018Woman,\nthy sins be forgiven thee,\u2019 nor dared to hope; it is the penitent only:\nthe whole head is faint, and the whole heart sick. 9. But the beautiful\nMagdalene of Annibal Caracci has heard the words of mercy; _she_ has\nmemories which are not of sin only; angelic visions have already come\nto her in that wild solitude: she is seated at the foot of a tree;\nshe leans her cheek on her right hand, the other rests on a skull;\nshe is in deep contemplation; but her thoughts are not of death: the\nupward ardent look is full of hope, and faith, and love. The fault of\nthis beautiful little picture lies in the sacrifice of the truth of\nthe situation to the artistic feeling of beauty\u2014the common fault of\nthe school; the forms are large, round, full, untouched by grief and\npenance.\n\n[Illustration: 95 Mary Magdalene (Annibal Caracci)]\n\n10. Vandyck\u2019s Magdalenes have the same fault as his Madonnas; they are\nnot feeble nor voluptuous, but they are too elegant and ladylike. I\nremember, for example, a Deposition by Vandyck, and one of his finest\npictures, in which Mary Magdalene kisses the hand of the Saviour\nquite with the air of a princess. The most beautiful of his penitent\nMagdalenes is the half-length figure with the face in profile,\nbending with clasped hands over the crucifix; the skull and knotted\nscourge lie on a shelf of rock behind; underneath is the inscription,\n\u2018_Fallit gratia, et vana est pulchritudo; mulier timens Dominum ipsa\nlaudabitur_.\u2019 (Prov. xxxi. 30.) 11. Rubens has given us thirteen\nMagdalenes, more or less coarse; in one picture[303] she is tearing her\nhair like a disappointed virago; in another, the expression of grief\nis overpowering, but it is that of a woman in the house of correction.\nFrom this sweeping condemnation I must make one exception; it is the\npicture known as \u2018The Four Penitents.\u2019[304] In front the Magdalene\nbows down her head on her clasped hands with such an expression of\nprofound humility as Rubens only, when painting out of nature and\nhis own heart, could give. Christ, with an air of tender yet sublime\ncompassion, looks down upon her:\u2014\u2018Thy sins be forgiven thee!\u2019 Behind\nChrist and the Magdalene stand Peter, David, and Didymus, the penitent\nthief; the faces of these three, thrown into shadow to relieve the\ntwo principal figures, have a self-abased, mournful expression. I\nhave never seen anything from the hand of Rubens at once so pure and\npathetic in sentiment as this picture, while the force and truth of the\npainting are, as usual, wonderful. No one should judge Rubens who has\nnot studied him in the Munich Gallery.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe HISTORICAL SUBJECTS from the life of Mary Magdalene are either\nscriptural or legendary; and the character of the Magdalene, as\nconceived by the greatest painters, is more distinctly expressed in\nthose scriptural scenes in which she is an important figure, than in\nthe single and ideal representations. The illuminated Gospels of the\nninth century furnish the oldest type of Mary, the penitent and the\nsister of Lazarus, but it differs from the modern conception of the\nMagdalene. She is in such subjects a secondary scriptural personage,\none of the accessories in the history of Christ, and nothing more: no\nattempt was made to give her importance, either by beauty, or dignity,\nor prominence of place, till the end of the thirteenth century.\n\nThe sacred subjects in which she is introduced are the following:\u2014\n\n1. Jesus at supper with Simon the Pharisee.\u2014\u2018And she began to wash\nhis feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hair of her head, and\nkissed his feet, and anointed them with ointment.\u2019 (Luke vii. 30.)\n\n2. Christ is in the house of Martha and Mary.\u2014\u2018And she sat at Jesus\u2019\nfeet, and heard his words; but Martha was cumbered with much serving.\u2019\n(Luke x. 39, 40.)\n\n3. The Raising of Lazarus.\u2014\u2018Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother\nhad not died.\u2019 (John xi. 32.)\n\n4. The Crucifixion.\u2014\u2018Now there stood by the cross Mary Magdalene.\u2019\n(John xix. 25; Matt. xxvii. 56.)\n\n5. The Deposition from the Cross.\u2014\u2018And Mary Magdalene, and the mother\nof Jesus, beheld where he was laid.\u2019 (Mark xv. 47.)\n\n6. The Maries at the Sepulchre.\u2014\u2018And there was Mary Magdalene and the\nother Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre.\u2019 (Matt. xxvii. 61.)\n\n7. Christ appears to Mary Magdalene in the Garden, called the _Noli me\ntangere_.\u2014\u2018Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father.\u2019 (John\nxx. 17.)\n\nIn the first, second, and last of these subjects, the Magdalene is\none of the two principal figures, and necessary to the action; in the\nothers she is generally introduced, but in some instances omitted; and\nas all belong properly to the life of Christ, I shall confine myself\nnow to a few remarks on the characteristic treatment of the Magdalene\nin each.\n\n1. The supper with Simon has been represented in every variety of\nstyle. The earliest and simplest I can call to mind is the fresco of\nTaddeo Gaddi in the Rinuccini Chapel at Florence. The Magdalene bends\ndown prostrate on the feet of the Saviour; she is in a red dress, and\nher long yellow hair flows down her back; the seven devils by which\nshe was possessed are seen above, flying out of the roof of the house\nin the shape of little black monsters. Raphael, when treating the same\nsubject, thought only of the religious significance of the action, and\nhow to express it with the utmost force and the utmost simplicity.\nThere are few figures\u2014our Saviour, the Pharisee, four apostles, and two\nattendants: Mary Magdalene, in front, bends over the feet of Christ,\nwhile her long hair half conceals her face and almost sweeps the\nground; nothing can exceed the tenderness and humility of the attitude\nand the benign dignity of Christ. As an example of the most opposite\ntreatment, let us turn to the gorgeous composition of Paul Veronese; we\nhave a stately banquet-room, rich architecture, a crowd of about thirty\nfigures; and the Magdalene is merely a beautiful female with loose\nrobes, dishevelled tresses, and the bosom displayed: this gross fault\nof sentiment is more conspicuous in the large picture in the Durazzo\nPalace at Genoa than in the beautiful finished sketch in the collection\nof Mr. Rogers.[305] A fine sketch by the same painter, but quite\ndifferent, is at Alton Towers. The composition of Rubens, of which a\nvery fine sketch is in the Windsor collection, is exceedingly dramatic:\nthe dignity of Christ and the veneration and humility of the Magdalene\nare admirably expressed; but the disdainful surprise of some of the\nassistants, and the open mockery of others,\u2014the old man in spectacles\npeering over to convince himself of the truth,\u2014disturb the solemnity of\nthe feeling: and this fault is even more apparent in the composition\nof Philippe de Champagne, where a young man puts up his finger with\nno equivocal expression. In these two examples the moment chosen is\nnot \u2018_Thy sins are forgiven thee_,\u2019 but the scepticism of the Pharisee\nbecomes the leading idea: \u2018_This man, if he were a prophet, would have\nknown who and what manner of woman this is._\u2019\n\n2. Christ in the house of Martha and Mary. Of this beautiful subject\nI have never seen a satisfactory version; in the fresco by Taddeo\nGaddi in the Rinuccini Chapel the subject becomes legendary rather\nthan scriptural. Mary Magdalene is seated at the feet of Christ in\nan attitude of attention; Martha seems to expostulate; three of\nthe disciples are behind; a little out of the principal group, St.\nMarcella, also with a glory round her head, is seen cooking. At Hampton\nCourt there is a curious picture of this subject by Hans Vries, which\nis an elaborate study of architecture: the rich decoration of the\ninterior has been criticised; but, according to the legend, Martha\nand Mary lived in great splendour; and there is no impropriety in\nrepresenting their dwelling as a palace, but a very great impropriety\nin rendering the decorations of the palace more important than the\npersonages of the scene. In a picture by Old Bassano, Christ is seen\nentering the house; Mary Magdalene goes forward to meet him; Martha\npoints to the table where Lazarus sits composedly cutting a slice of\nsausage, and in the corner St. Marcella is cooking at a fire. In a\npicture by Rubens, the treatment is similar. The holy sisters are like\ntwo Flemish farm servants, and Christ\u2014but I dare not proceed:\u2014in both\nthese instances, the colouring, the expression, the painting of the\naccessories\u2014the vegetables and fruit, the materials and implements for\ncooking a feast\u2014are as animated and true to nature as the conception of\nthe whole scene is trivial, vulgar, and, to a just taste, intolerably\nprofane.\n\nOne of the most modern compositions of this scene which has attracted\nattention is that of Overbeck, very simple and poetical, but deficient\nin individual expression.\n\n3. The raising of Lazarus was selected by the early Christians as an\nemblem, both of the general resurrection, and the resurrection of our\nSaviour, at a time that the resurrection of the Saviour in person\nwas considered a subject much too solemn and mysterious to be dealt\nwith by the imitative arts. In its primitive signification, as the\nreceived emblem of the resurrection of the dead, we find this subject\nabounding in the catacombs, and on the sarcophagi of the third and\nfourth centuries. The usual manner of representation shows the dead man\nswathed like a mummy, under the porch of a temple resembling a tomb,\nto which there is an ascent by a flight of steps. Christ stands before\nhim, and touches him with a wand. Sometimes there are two figures only,\nbut in general Mary Magdalene is kneeling by. There is one instance\nonly in which Christ stands surrounded by the apostles, and the two\nsisters are kneeling at his feet:\u2014\u2018Lord, hadst thou been here, my\nbrother had not died.\u2019[306]\n\nIn more modern Art this subject loses its mystic signification, and\nbecomes simply a scriptural incident. It is treated like a scene in a\ndrama, and the painters have done their utmost to vary the treatment.\nBut, however varied as regards the style of conception and the number\nof personages, Martha and Mary are always present, and, in general,\nMary is at the feet of our Saviour. The incident is of course one of\nthe most important in the life of Christ, and is never omitted in the\nseries, nor yet in the miracles of our Saviour. But, from the beginning\nof the fourteenth century, it forms one of the scenes of the story of\nMary Magdalene. The fresco of Giovanni da Milano at Assisi contains\nthirteen figures, and the two sisters kneeling at the feet of Christ\nhave a grand and solemn simplicity; but Mary is not here in any respect\ndistinguished from Martha, and both are attired in red.\n\nIn the picture in our National Gallery, the kneeling figure of Mary\nlooking up in the face of Jesus, with her grand severe beauty and\nearnest expression, is magnificent: but here, again, Mary of Bethany\nis not Mary Magdalene, nor the woman \u2018who was a sinner;\u2019 and I doubt\nwhether Michael Angelo intended to represent her as such. On the\nother hand, the Caracci, Rubens, and the later painters are careful\nto point out the supposed identity, by the long fair hair, exposed\nand dishevelled, the superior beauty and the superior prominence and\nimportance of the figure, while Martha stands by, veiled, and as a\nsecondary personage.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n4. In the Crucifixion, where more than the three figures (the Redeemer,\nthe Virgin, and St. John) are introduced, the Magdalene is almost\nalways at the foot of the cross, and it is said that Giotto gave the\nfirst example. Sometimes she is embracing the cross, and looking up\nwith all the abandonment of despairing grief, which is more picturesque\nthan true in sentiment; finer in feeling is the expression of serene\nhope tempering the grief. In Rubens\u2019 famous \u2018Crucifixion\u2019 at Antwerp,\nshe has her arms round the cross, and is gazing at the executioner with\na look of horror: this is very dramatic and striking, but the attention\nof the penitent ought to be fixed on the dying Saviour, to the\nexclusion of every other thought or object. In Vandyck\u2019s \u2018Crucifixion,\u2019\nthe face of the Magdalene seen in front is exquisite for its pathetic\nbeauty. Sometimes the Virgin is fainting in her arms. The box of\nointment is frequently placed near, to distinguish her from the other\nMaries present.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n5. In the Descent or Deposition from the Cross, and in the Entombment,\nMary Magdalene is generally conspicuous. She is often supporting\nthe feet or one of the hands of the Saviour; or she stands by\nweeping; or she sustains the Virgin; or (which is very usual in the\nearlier pictures) she is seen lamenting aloud, with her long tresses\ndisordered, and her arms outspread in an ecstasy of grief and passion;\nor she bends down to embrace the feet of the Saviour, or to kiss his\nhand; or contemplates with a mournful look one of the nails, or the\ncrown of thorns, which she holds in her hand.\n\nIn the Piet\u00e0, of Fra Bartolomeo, in the Pitti Palace, the prostrate\nabandonment in the figure of the Magdalene, pressing the feet of Christ\nto her bosom, is full of pathetic expression; in the same gallery is\nthe Piet\u00e0 by Andrea del Sarto, where the Magdalene, kneeling, wrings\nher hands in mute sorrow. But in this, as in other instances, Raphael\nhas shown himself supreme: there is a wonderful little drawing by him,\nin which Nicodemus and others sustain the body of the Saviour, while\nMary Magdalene lies prostrate bending her head over his feet, which she\nembraces; the face is wholly concealed by the flowing hair, but never\nwas the expression of overwhelming love and sorrow conveyed with such\nartless truth.\n\n6. The Maries at the Sepulchre. The women who carry the spices\nand perfumes to the tomb of Jesus are called, in Greek Art, the\n_Myrrhophores_, or myrrh-bearers: with us there are usually three,\nMary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and John, and Mary Salome. In\nMatthew, two women are mentioned; in Mark, three; in Luke, the number\nis indefinite; and in John, only one is mentioned, Mary Magdalene.\nThere is scarcely a more beautiful subject in the whole circle of\nScripture story than this of the three desolate affectionate women\nstanding before the tomb in the grey dawn, while the majestic angels\nare seen guarding the hallowed spot. I give, as one of the earliest\nexamples, a sketch from the composition of Duccio: the rules of\nperspective were then unknown,\u2014but what a beautiful simplicity in the\ngroup of women! how fine the seated angel!\u2014\u2018The angel of the Lord\ndescended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door\nand sat upon it.\u2019 I have seen one instance, and only one, in which the\nangel is in the act of descending; in general, the version according\nto St. John is followed, and the \u2018two men in shining garments\u2019 are\nseated within the tomb. There is a famous engraving, after a design by\nMichael Angelo, called \u2018The three Maries going to the Sepulchre:\u2019 it\nrepresents three old women veiled, and with their backs turned\u2014very\nawful; but they might as well be called the three Fates, or the three\nWitches, as the three Maries. The subject has never been more happily\ntreated than by Philip Veit, a modern German artist, in a print which\nhas become popular; he has followed the version of Matthew: \u2018As it\nbegan to dawn, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the\nsepulchre.\u2019 The attitude of motionless sorrow; the anxious expectant\nlooks, fixed on the tomb; the deep shadowy stillness; the morning light\njust breaking in the distance, are very truly and feelingly expressed.\n\n7. The \u2018Noli me tangere\u2019 is the subject of many pictures; they do not\nvary in the simplicity of the _motif_, which is fixed by tradition, and\nadmits but of two persons. The composition of Duccio, as one of the\nseries of the Passion of Christ, is extremely grand; and the figure\nof Mary, leaning forward as she kneels, with outstretched hands,\nfull of expression. The old fresco of Taddeo Gaddi, in the Rinuccini\nChapel,[307] is also exquisite. Two of the finest in conception and\ntreatment are, notwithstanding, in striking contrast to each other.\nOne is the Titian in the collection of Mr. Rogers:[308] the Magdalene,\nkneeling, bends forward with eager expression, and one hand extended to\ntouch him: the Saviour, drawing his linen garment round him, shrinks\nback from her touch\u2014yet with the softest expression of pity. Besides\nthe beauty and truth of the expression, this picture is transcendent\nas a piece of colour and effect; while the rich landscape and the\napproach of morning over the blue distance are conceived with a sublime\nsimplicity. Not less a miracle of Art, not less poetical, but in a\nfar different style, is the Rembrandt in the Queen\u2019s Gallery: at the\nentrance of the sepulchre the Saviour is seen in the habiliments of\na gardener, and Mary Magdalene at his feet, adoring. This picture\nexhibits, in a striking degree, all the wild originality and peculiar\nfeeling of Rembrandt: the forms and characters are common; but the\ndeep shadow of the cavern tomb, the dimly-seen supernatural beings\nwithin it, the breaking of the dawn over the distant city, are awfully\nsublime, and worthy of the mysterious scene. Barroccio\u2019s great\naltar-piece, which came to England with the Duke of Lucca\u2019s pictures,\nonce so famous, and well known from the fine engraving of Raphael\nMorghen, is poor compared with any of these: Christ is effeminate and\ncommonplace,\u2014Mary Magdalene all in a flutter.\n\nI now leave these scriptural incidents, to be more fully considered\nhereafter, and proceed to the fourth class of subjects pertaining to\nthe life of the Magdalene\u2014those which are taken from the wild Proven\u00e7al\nlegends of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.\n\n1. \u2018La Danse de la Madeleine\u2019 is the title given to a very rare and\nbeautiful print by Lucas v. Leyden. It represents Mary Magdalene\nabandoned to the pleasures of the world. The scene is a smiling and\nvaried landscape; in the centre Mary Magdalene, with the anticipative\nglory round her head, is seen dancing along to the sound of a flute\nand tabor, while a man in a rich dress leads her by the hand: several\ngroups of men and women are diverting themselves in the foreground; in\nthe background, Mary Magdalene, with a number of gay companions, is\nchasing the stag; she is mounted on horseback, and has again the glory\nround her head: far in the distance she is seen borne upwards by the\nangels. This singular and suggestive composition is dated 1519. There\nis a fine impression in the British Museum.\n\n2. \u2018Mary Magdalene rebuked by her sister Martha for her vanity and\nluxury.\u2019 I believe I am the first to suggest that the famous picture\nin the Sciarra Palace, by Leonardo da Vinci, known as \u2018Modesty and\nVanity,\u2019 is a version of this subject. When I saw it, this idea was\nsuggested, and no other filled my mind. The subject is one often\ntreated, and here treated in Leonardo\u2019s peculiar manner. The attitude\nof the veiled figure is distinctly that of remonstrance and rebuke; the\nother, decked and smiling, looks out of the picture holding flowers in\nher hand, as yet unconvinced, unconverted: the vase of ointment stands\nnear her. In other pictures there is no doubt as to the significance of\nthe subject; it has been gracefully treated in a picture by Giovanni\nLopicino, now in the gallery of the Belvedere at Vienna. She is seated\nat her toilette; her maid is binding her luxuriant hair; Martha,\nstanding by, appears to be remonstrating with great fervour. There is\na pretty picture by Elisabetta Sirani of the same scene, similarly\ntreated.\n\n3. \u2018Mary Magdalene conducted by her sister Martha to the feet of\nJesus.\u2019 Of this most beautiful subject, I know but one composition of\ndistinguished merit. It is by Raphael, and exists only in the drawing,\nand the rare engraving by Marc Antonio. Christ sits within the porch\nof the Temple, teaching four of his disciples who stand near him.\nMartha and Mary are seen ascending the steps which lead to the portico:\nMartha, who is veiled, seems to encourage her sister, who looks down.\nI observe that Passavant and others are uncertain as to the subject of\nthis charming design: it has been styled \u2018The Virgin Mary presenting\nthe Magdalene to Christ;\u2019 but with any one who has carefully considered\nthe legend, there can be no doubt as to the intention of the artist.\n\u2018Mary Magdalene listening to the preaching of our Saviour, with Martha\nseated by her side,\u2019 is one of the subjects in the series by Gaudenzio\nFerrari at Vercelli: it is partly destroyed. We have the same subject\nby F. Zucchero; Mary, in a rich dress, is kneeling at the feet of the\nSaviour, who is seated under a portico; Martha, veiled, stands near\nher, and there are numerous spectators and accessories.\n\n4. \u2018The Magdalene renouncing the Vanities of the World\u2019 is also a very\nattractive subject. In a picture by Guido she has partly divested\nherself of her rich ornaments, and is taking some pearls from her hair,\nwhile she looks up to heaven with tearful eyes. In a sketch by Rubens,\nin the Dulwich Gallery, she is seated in a forest solitude, still\narrayed in her worldly finery, blue satin, pearls, &c., and wringing\nher hands with an expression of the bitterest grief. The treatment,\nas usual with him, is coarse, but effective. In his large picture at\nVienna, with the figures life-size, Mary is spurning with her feet a\ncasket of jewels, and throwing herself back with her hands clasped in\nan agony of penitence: while Martha sits behind, gazing on her with an\nexpression so demurely triumphant as to be almost comic. There is an\nexquisite little picture by Gerard Douw in the Berlin Gallery, in which\nthe Magdalene, in a magnificent robe of crimson and sables, is looking\nup to heaven with an expression of sorrow and penitence; the table\nbefore her is covered with gold and jewels. \u2018Mary Magdalene renouncing\nthe World,\u2019 by Le Brun, is a famous picture, now in the Louvre. She\nlooks up to heaven with tearful eyes, and is in the act of tearing\noff a rich mantle; a casket of jewels lies overturned at her feet.\nThis picture is said to be the portrait of Madame de la Valli\u00e8re, by\nwhose order it was painted for the church of the Carmelites at Paris,\nwhere she had taken refuge from the court and from the world. It has\nthat sort of theatrical grace and grandeur, that mannered mediocrity,\ncharacteristic of the painter and the time.[309] There is a Magdalene\nin the Gallery at Munich by Le Brun, which is to me far preferable;\nand this, and not the Paris one, I presume to be the portrait of the\nDuchesse de la Valli\u00e8re. In a picture by Franceschini she has flung off\nher worldly ornaments, which lie scattered on the ground, and holds a\nscourge in her hand, with which she appears to have castigated herself:\nshe sinks in the arms of one of her attendant maidens, while Martha,\nstanding by, seems to speak of peace, and points towards heaven: the\nfigures are life-size.[310] None of these pictures, with the exception\nof the precious Leonardo in the Sciarra Palace, have any remarkable\nmerit as pictures. The scenes between Mary and Martha are capable of\nthe most dramatic and effective illustration, but have never yet been\nworthily treated.\n\n5. \u2018The embarkation of the Magdalene in Palestine, with Martha,\nLazarus, and the others, cast forth by their enemies in a vessel\nwithout sails or rudder, but miraculously conducted by an angel,\u2019 is\nanother subject of which I have seen no adequate representation. There\nis a mediocre picture by Curradi in the Florence Gallery. Among the\nbeautiful frescoes of Gaudenzio Ferrari in the Church of St. Cristoforo\nat Vercelli, is the voyage of the Magdalene and her companions, and\ntheir disembarkation at Marseilles.[311]\n\n6. \u2018Mary Magdalene preaching to the inhabitants of Marseilles\u2019 has been\nseveral times represented in the sculpture and stained glass of the old\ncathedrals in the south of France. In the H\u00f4tel de Cluny there is a\ncurious old picture in distemper attributed to King Ren\u00e9 of Provence,\nthe father of our Margaret of Anjou, and famous for his skill as a\nlimner. Mary Magdalene is standing on some steps, arrayed in loose\nwhite drapery, and a veil over her head. She is addressing earnestly a\ncrowd of listeners, and among them we see King Ren\u00e9 and his wife Jeanne\nde Laval on thrones with crown and sceptre:\u2014a trifling anachronism of\nabout 1400 years, but it may be taken in a poetical and allegorical\nsense. The port of Marseilles is seen in the background. The same\nsubject has been classically treated in a series of bas-reliefs in\nthe porch of the Certosa at Pavia: there is a mistake, however, in\nexhibiting her as half naked, clothed only in a skin, and her long\nhair flowing down over her person: for she was at this time the\nmissionary saint, and not yet the penitent of the desert.\n\n[Illustration: 96 The Assumption of the Magdalene (Albert D\u00fcrer)]\n\n7. \u2018Mary Magdalene borne by angels above the summit of Mount Pilon,\u2019\ncalled also \u2018The Assumption of the Magdalene,\u2019 is a charming subject\nwhen treated in the right spirit. Unfortunately, we are oftener\nreminded of a Pandora, sustained by a group of Cupids, or a Venus\nrising out of the sea, than of the ecstatic trance of the reconciled\npenitent. It was very early a popular theme. In the treatment we find\nlittle variety. She is seen carried upwards very slightly draped,\nand often with no other veil than her redundant hair, flowing over\nher whole person. She is in the arms of four, five, or six angels.\nSometimes one of the angels bears the alabaster box of ointment; far\nbelow is a wild mountainous landscape, with a hermit looking up at the\nvision, as it is related in the legend. The illustration is from a fine\nwoodcut of Albert D\u00fcrer (96).\n\nIn a hymn to the Magdalene, by an old Proven\u00e7al poet (Balthazar de la\nBurle) there is a passage describing her ascent in the arms of angels,\nwhich, from its vivid graphic na\u00efvet\u00e9, is worthy of being placed under\nthis print of Albert D\u00fcrer:\u2014\n\n    Ravengat lou jour los anges la portavan\n    Ben plus hault que lou roc.\n    Jamais per mauvais temps que fessa ne freddura,\n    Autre abit non avia que la sien cabellura,\n    Que como un mantel d\u2019or tant eram bels e blonds\n    La couvria de la testa fin al bas des talons.\n\nThe fresco by Giulio Romano, in which she is reclining amid clouds, and\nsustained by six angels, while her head is raised and her arms extended\nwith the most ecstatic expression, was cut from the walls of a chapel\nin the Trinit\u00e0 di Monte, at Rome, and is now in our National Gallery.\n\nOne of the finest pictures ever painted by Ribera is the Assumption\nof the Magdalene in the Louvre, both for beauty of expression and\ncolour. She is here draped, and her drapery well managed. The Spanish\npainters never fell into the mistake of the Italians; they give us no\nMagdalenes which recall the idea of a Venus Meretrix. The rules of the\nInquisition were here absolute, and held the painters in wholesome\ncheck, rendering such irreligious innovations inadmissible and unknown.\nIn the Turin Gallery there is an Assumption of the Magdalene by\nDennis Calvert, admirably painted, in which she is carried up by four\nApollo-like angels, who, with their outstretched arms, form a sort of\nthrone on which she is seated: she is herself most lovely, draped in\nthe thin undress of a Venus; and the whole composition, at first view,\nbrought to my fancy the idea of a Venus rising from the sea, throned in\nher shell and sustained by nymphs and cupids.\n\nIn general, the early painters, Albert D\u00fcrer, Vivarini, Lorenzo di\nCredi, Benedetto Montagna, represent her in an upright position, with\nhands folded in prayer, or crossed over her bosom, and thus soaring\nupwards, without effort of will or apparent consciousness; while the\npainters of the seventeenth century (with whom this was a favourite\nsubject) strained their imagination to render the form and attitude\nvoluptuously graceful, and to vary the action of the attendant angels,\nuntil, in one or two instances, the representation became at once\nabsurdly prosaic and offensively theatrical. F. Zucchero, Cambiasi,\nLanfranco, Carlo Maratti, have all given us versions of this subject in\na florid, mannered style.\n\nOver the high altar of the Madeleine, at Paris, is the same subject in\na marble group, by Marochetti, rather above life-size. Two angels bear\nher up, while on each side an archangel kneels in adoration.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n8. The Last Communion of the Magdalene is represented in two different\nways, according to the two different versions of the story: in the\nfirst, she expires in her cave, and angels administer the last\nsacraments; one holds a taper, another presents the cup, a third the\nwafer. This has been painted by Domenichino. In the other version,\nshe receives the sacrament from the hand of St. Maximin, who wears\nthe episcopal robes, and the Magdalene kneels before him, half-naked,\nemaciated, and sustained by angels: the scene is the porch of a church.\n\n9. The Magdalene dying in the Wilderness, extended on the bare earth,\nand pressing the crucifix to her bosom, is a frequent subject in the\nseventeenth century. One of the finest examples is the picture of\nRustichino in the Florence Gallery. The well-known \u2018Dying Magdalene\u2019 of\nCanova has the same merits and defects as his Penitent Magdalene.\n\nI saw a picture at Bologna by Tiarini, of which the conception appeared\nto me very striking and poetical. The Virgin, \u2018La Madre Addolorata,\u2019\nis seated, and holds in her hand the crown of thorns, which she\ncontemplates with a mournful expression; at a little distance kneels\nMary Magdalene with long dishevelled hair, in all the abandonment of\ngrief. St. John stands behind, with his hands clasped, and his eyes\nraised to heaven.\n\nWhen the Magdalene is introduced into pictures of the \u2018Incredulity of\nThomas,\u2019 it is in allusion to a famous parallel in one of the Fathers,\nin which it is insisted, \u2018that the faith of Mary Magdalene, and the\ndoubts of Thomas, were equally serviceable to the cause of Christ.\u2019\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAmong the many miracles imputed to the Magdalene, one only has\nbecome popular as a subject of Art. Besides being extremely na\u00efve\nand poetical, it is extremely curious as illustrating the manners of\nthe time. It was probably fabricated in the fourteenth century, and\nintended as a kind of parable, to show that those who trusted in Mary\nMagdalene, and invoked her aid, might in all cases reckon upon her\npowerful intercession. It is thus related:\u2014\n\n\u2018Soon after Mary Magdalene landed in Provence, a certain prince of\nthat country arrived in the city of Marseilles with his wife, for the\npurpose of sacrificing to the gods; but they were dissuaded from doing\nso by the preaching of Mary Magdalene: and the prince one day said to\nthe saint, \u201cWe greatly desire to have a son. Canst thou obtain for\nus that grace from the God whom thou preachest?\u201d And the Magdalene\nreplied, \u201cIf thy prayer be granted, wilt thou then believe?\u201d And he\nanswered, \u201cYes, I will believe.\u201d But shortly afterwards, as he still\ndoubted, he resolved to sail to Jerusalem to visit St. Peter, and to\nfind out whether his preaching agreed with that of Mary Magdalene. His\nwife resolved to accompany him: but the husband said, \u201cHow shall that\nbe possible, seeing that thou art with child, and the dangers of the\nsea are very great?\u201d But she insisted, and, throwing herself at his\nfeet, she obtained her desire. Then, having laden a vessel with all\nthat was necessary, they set sail; and when a day and a night were\ncome and gone, there arose a terrible storm. The poor woman was seized\nprematurely with the pains of childbirth; in the midst of the tempest\nshe brought forth her first-born son, and then died. The miserable\nfather, seeing his wife dead, and his child deprived of its natural\nsolace, and crying for food, wrung his hands in despair, and knew not\nwhat to do. And the sailors said, \u201cLet us throw this dead body into the\nsea, for as long as it remains on board the tempest will not abate.\u201d\nBut the prince, by his entreaties, and by giving them money, restrained\nthem for a while. Just then, for so it pleased God, they arrived at a\nrocky island, and the prince laid the body of his wife on the shore,\nand, taking the infant in his arms, he wept greatly, and said, \u201cO Mary\nMagdalene! to my grief and sorrow didst thou come to Marseilles! Why\ndidst thou ask thy God to give me a son only that I might lose both\nson and wife together? O Mary Magdalene! have pity on my grief, and,\nif thy prayers may avail, save at least the life of my child!\u201d Then he\nlaid down the infant on the bosom of the mother, and covered them both\nwith his cloak, and went on his way, weeping. And when the prince and\nhis attendants had arrived at Jerusalem, St. Peter showed him all the\nplaces where our Saviour had performed his miracles, and the hill on\nwhich he had been crucified, and the spot from whence he had ascended\ninto heaven. Having been instructed in the faith by St. Peter, at the\nend of two years the prince embarked to return to his own country, and\npassing near to the island in which he had left his wife, he landed in\norder to weep upon her grave.\n\n\u2018Now, wonderful to relate!\u2014his infant child had been preserved alive\nby the prayers of the blessed Mary Magdalene; and he was accustomed\nto run about on the sands of the sea-shore, to gather up pebbles and\nshells; and when the child, who had never beheld a man, perceived the\nstrangers, he was afraid, and ran and hid himself under the cloak which\ncovered his dead mother; and the father, and all who were with him,\nwere filled with astonishment; but their surprise was still greater\nwhen the woman opened her eyes, and stretched out her arms to her\nhusband. Then they offered up thanks, and all returned together to\nMarseilles, where they fell at the feet of Mary Magdalene, and received\nbaptism. From that time forth, all the people of Marseilles and the\nsurrounding country became Christians.\u2019\n\nThe picturesque capabilities of this extravagant but beautiful legend\nwill immediately suggest themselves to the fancy;\u2014the wild sea-shore\n\u2014the lovely naked infant wandering on the beach\u2014the mother, slumbering\nthe sleep of death, covered with the mysterious drapery\u2014the arrival\nof the mariners\u2014what opportunity for scenery and grouping, colour\nand expression! It was popular in the Giotto school, which arose and\nflourished just about the period when the enthusiasm for Mary Magdalene\nwas at its height; but later painters have avoided it, or, rather, it\nwas not sufficiently accredited for a Church legend; and I have met\nwith no example later than the end of the fourteenth century.\n\nThe old fresco of Taddeo Gaddi in the S. Croce at Florence will give\nsome idea of the manner in which the subject was usually treated.\nIn the foreground is a space representing an island; water flowing\nround it, the water being indicated by many strange fishes. On the\nisland a woman lies extended with her hands crossed upon her bosom;\nan infant lifts up the mantle, and seems to show her to a man bending\nover her; the father on his knees, with hands joined, looks devoutly\nup to heaven; four others stand behind expressing astonishment or\nfixed attention. In the distance is a ship, in which sits a man with a\nlong white beard, in red drapery; beside him another in dark drapery:\nbeyond is a view of a port with a lighthouse, intended, I presume,\nfor Marseilles. The story is here told in a sort of Chinese manner as\nregards the drawing, composition, and perspective; but the figures and\nheads are expressive and significant.\n\nIn the Chapel of the Magdalene at Assisi, the same subject is given\nwith some variation. The bark containing the pilgrims is guided by\nan angel, and the infant is seated by the head of the mother, as if\nwatching her.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe life of Mary Magdalene in a series of subjects, mingling the\nscriptural and legendary incidents, may often be found in the old\nFrench and Italian churches, more especially in the chapels dedicated\nto her: and I should think that among the remains of ancient painting\nnow in course of discovery in our own sacred edifices they cannot fail\nto occur.[312] In the mural frescoes, in the altar-pieces, the stained\nglass, and the sculpture of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries,\nsuch a series perpetually presents itself; and, well or ill executed,\nwill in general be found to comprise the following scenes:\u2014\n\n1. Her conversion at the feet of the Saviour. 2. Christ entertained\nin the house of Martha: Mary sits at his feet to hear his words. 3.\nThe raising of Lazarus. 4. Mary Magdalene and her companions embark\nin a vessel without sails, oars, or rudder. 6. Steered by an angel,\nthey land at Marseilles. 6. Mary Magdalene preaches to the people. 7.\nThe miracle of the mother and child. 8. The penance of the Magdalene\nin a desert cave. 9. She is carried up in the arms of angels. 10. She\nreceives the sacraments from the hands of an angel or from St. Maximin.\n11. She dies, and angels bear her spirit to heaven.[313]\n\nThe subjects vary of course in number and in treatment, but, with some\nattention to the foregoing legend, they will easily be understood\nand discriminated. Such a series was painted by Giotto in the Chapel\nof the Bargello at Florence (where the portrait of Dante was lately\ndiscovered), but they are nearly obliterated; the miracle of the\nmother and child is, however, to be distinguished on the left near the\nentrance. The treatment of the whole has been imitated by Taddeo Gaddi\nin the Rinuccini Chapel at Florence, and by Giovanni da Milano and\nGiottino in the Chapel of the Magdalene at Assisi; on the windows of\nthe Cathedrals of Chartres and Bourges; and in a series of bas-reliefs\nround the porch of the Certosa of Pavia, executed in the classical\nstyle of the sixteenth century.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOn reviewing generally the infinite variety which has been given to\nthese favourite subjects, the life and penance of the Magdalene, I\nmust end where I began; in how few instances has the result been\nsatisfactory to mind or heart, or soul or sense! Many have well\nrepresented the particular situation, the appropriate sentiment, the\nsorrow, the hope, the devotion: but who has given us the _character_?\nA noble creature, with strong sympathies, and a strong will, with\npowerful faculties of every kind, working for good or evil such a woman\nMary Magdalene must have been, even in her humiliation; and the feeble,\ngirlish, commonplace, and even vulgar women who appear to have been\nusually selected as models by the artists, turned into Magdalenes by\nthrowing up their eyes and letting down their hair, ill represent the\nenthusiastic convert or the majestic patroness.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nI must not quit the subject of the Magdalene without some allusion to\nthose wild legends which suppose a tender attachment (but of course\nwholly pure and Platonic) to have existed between her and St. John the\nEvangelist.[314] In the enthusiasm which Mary Magdalene excited in\nthe thirteenth century, no supposition that tended to exalt her was\ndeemed too extravagant: some of her panegyrists go so far as to insist\nthat the marriage at Cana, which our Saviour and his mother honoured\nby their presence, was the marriage of St. John with the Magdalene;\nand that Christ repaired to the wedding-feast on purpose to prevent\nthe accomplishment of the marriage, having destined both to a state of\ngreater perfection. This fable was never accepted by the Church; and\namong the works of art consecrated to religious purposes I have never\nmet with any which placed St. John and the Magdalene in particular\nrelation to each other, except when they are seen together at the\nfoot of the cross, or lamenting with the Virgin over the body of\nthe Saviour: but such was the popularity of these extraordinary\nlegends towards the end of the thirteenth and in the beginning of the\nfourteenth century, that I think it possible such may exist, and, for\nwant of this key, may appear hopelessly enigmatical.\n\n[Illustration: _Martha presents her sister Mary to our Lord._]\n\nIn a series of eight subjects which exhibit the life of St. John\nprefixed to a copy of the Revelation,[315] there is one which I\nthink admits of this interpretation. The scene is the interior of\na splendid building sustained by pillars. St. John is baptizing a\nbeautiful woman, who is sitting in a tub; she has long golden hair.\nOn the outside of the building seven men are endeavouring to see what\nis going forward: one peeps through the key-hole; one has thrown\nhimself flat on the ground, and has his eye to an aperture; a third,\nmounted on the shoulders of another, is trying to look in at a window;\na fifth, who cannot get near enough, tears his hair in an agony of\nimpatience; and another is bawling into the ear of a deaf and blind\ncomrade a description of what he has seen. The execution is French, of\nthe fourteenth century; the taste, it will be said, is also _French_;\nthe figures are drawn with a pen and slightly tinted: the design is\nincorrect; but the vivacity of gesture and expression, though verging\non caricature, is so true, and so comically dramatic, and the whole\ncomposition so absurd, that it is impossible to look at it without a\nsmile.\n\n\n                              ST. MARTHA.\n\n  _Ital._ Santa Marta, Vergine, Albergatrice di Cristo. _Fr._ Sainte\n Marthe, la Travailleuse. Patroness of cooks and housewives. (June 29,\n                               A.D. 84.)\n\nMartha has shared in the veneration paid to her sister. The important\npart assigned to her in the history of Mary has already been adverted\nto; she is always represented as the instrument through whom Mary was\nconverted, the one who led her first to the feet of the Saviour. \u2018Which\nthing,\u2019 says the story, should not be accounted as the least of her\nmerits, seeing that Martha was a chaste and prudent virgin, and the\nother publicly contemned for her evil life; notwithstanding which,\nMartha did not despise her, nor reject her as a sister, but wept for\nher shame and admonished her gently and with persuasive words; and\nreminded her of her noble birth, to which she was a disgrace, and that\nLazarus, their brother, being a soldier, would certainly get into\ntrouble on her account. So she prevailed, and conducted her sister to\nthe presence of Christ, and afterwards, as it is well known, she lodged\nand entertained the Saviour in her own house.\u2018[316]\n\nAccording to the Proven\u00e7al legend, while Mary Magdalene converted the\npeople of Marseilles, Martha preached to the people of Aix and its\nvicinity. In those days the country was ravaged by a fearful dragon,\ncalled the _Tarasque_, which during the day lay concealed in the river\nRhone. Martha overcame this monster by sprinkling him with holy water,\nand having bound him with her girdle (or, as others say, her garter),\nthe people speedily put an end to him. The scene of this legend is now\nthe city of _Tarascon_, where there is, or was, a magnificent church,\ndedicated to St. Martha, and richly endowed by Louis XI.\n\nThe same legends assure us that St. Martha was the first who founded a\nmonastery for women; the first, after the blessed Mother of Christ, who\nvowed her virginity to God; and that when she had passed many years in\nprayer and good works, feeling that her end was near, she desired to\nbe carried to a spot where she could see the glorious sun in heaven,\nand that they should read to her the history of the passion of Christ;\nand when they came to the words, \u2018Father, into thy hands I commend my\nspirit,\u2019 she died.\n\nAs Mary Magdalene is the patroness of repentant frailty, so Martha is\nthe especial patroness of female discretion and good housekeeping. In\nthis character, she is often represented with a skimmer or ladle in her\nhand, or a large bunch of keys is attached to her girdle. For example,\nin a beautiful old German altar-piece attributed to Albert D\u00fcrer,[317]\nshe is standing in a magnificent dress, a jewelled turban, and holding\na well-known implement of cookery in her hand. In a missal of Henry\nVIII.,[318] she is represented with the same utensil, and her name\nis inscribed beneath. In general, however, her dress is not rich but\nhomely, and her usual attributes as patron saint are the pot of holy\nwater, the asperge in her hand, and a dragon bound at her feet. In the\nchapels dedicated to the Magdalene, she finds her appropriate place\nas pendant to her sister, generally distinguished by her close coif\nand by being draped in blue or dark brown or grey; while the Magdalene\nis usually habited in red. When attended by her dragon, St. Martha is\nsometimes confounded with St. Margaret, who is also accompanied by a\ndragon: but it must be remembered that St. Margaret bears a crucifix or\npalm, and St. Martha the pot of holy water; and in general the early\npainters have been careful to distinguish these attributes.\n\nSt. Martha, besides being a model of female discretion, sobriety, and\nchastity, and the patroness of good housewives, was, according to\nthe old legends, the same woman who was healed by Christ, and who in\ngratitude erected to his honour a bronze statue, which statue is said\nto have existed in the time of Eusebius, and to have been thrown down\nby Julian the Apostate.[319]\n\nWhen Martha and Mary stand together as patronesses, one represents the\n_active_, the other the _contemplative_, Christian life.\n\nMartha is generally introduced among the holy women who attend the\ncrucifixion and entombment of our Lord. In a most beautiful Entombment\nby Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Martha kisses the hand of the Saviour, while\nMary Magdalene is seen behind with outspread arms: Lazarus and Maximin\nstand at the head of the Saviour.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nLazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary, is revered as the first\nbishop and patron saint of Marseilles, and is generally represented\nwith the mitre and stole. There are at least fifty saints who wear\nthe same attire; but when a figure in episcopal robes is introduced\ninto the same picture, or the same series, with Martha and Mary, it\nmay be presumed, if not otherwise distinguished, to be St. Lazarus:\nsometimes, but rarely, the introduction of a bier, or his resurrection,\nin the background, serves to fix the identity. Grouped with these\nthree saints, we occasionally find St. Marcella (or Martilla), who\naccompanied them from the East, but who is not distinguished by any\nattribute; nor is anything particular related of her, except that she\nwrote the life of Martha, and preached the Gospel in Sclavonia.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThere are beautiful full-length figures of Mary, Martha, Lazarus, and\nMarcella, in the Brera at Milan, painted by one of the Luini school,\nand treated in a very classical and noble style; draped, and standing\nin niches to represent statues. At Munich are the separate figures of\nMary, Martha, and Lazarus, by Gr\u00fcnewald: Lazarus is seen standing by\nhis bier; Mary, in the rich costume of a German lady of rank, presents\nher vase; and Martha is habited like a German _hausfrau_, with her\ndragon at her feet. They are much larger than life, admirably painted,\nand full of character, though somewhat grotesque in treatment.\n\nOver the altar of the church \u2018La Major\u2019 at Marseilles, stands Lazarus\nas bishop; Mary on the right, and Martha on the left: underneath these\nthree statues runs a series of bas-reliefs containing the history of\nLazarus. 1. He is recalled to life. 2. Seated on the edge of his tomb,\nhe addresses the spectators. 3. He entertains Christ. 4. The arrival at\nMarseilles. 5. He preaches to the people. 6. He is consecrated bishop.\n7. He suffers martyrdom.\n\nIn a tabernacle or triptica by Nicol\u00f2 Frumenti (A.D. 1461),[320] the\ncentral compartment represents the raising of Lazarus, who has the\ntruest and most horrid expression of death and dawning life I ever\nbeheld. On the volet to the right is the supper in the house of Levi,\nand the Magdalene anointing the feet of the Saviour; on the left volet,\nMartha meets him on his arrival at Bethany: \u2018Lord, if thou hadst been\nhere, my brother had not died.\u2019\n\nIn the chapel of Mary Magdalene at Assisi, we find, besides the history\nof her life, full-length figures of Mary, Martha, Lazarus, and Maximin.\nMary, a beautiful dignified figure, as usual in rich red drapery,\nstands to the right of the altar, holding out her hand to a kneeling\nFranciscan: on the left Martha stands in grey drapery with a close\nhood: Lazarus and Maximin as bishops.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThis will give an idea of the manner in which these personages are\neither grouped together or placed in connection with each other.\n\n\n                          ST. MARY OF EGYPT.\n\n      _Ital._ Santa Maria Egiziaca Penitente. _Fr._ Sainte Marie\n    l\u2019\u00c9gyptienne, La Gipesienne, La Jussienne. (April 2, A.D. 433.)\n\nI place the story of St. Mary of Egypt here, for though she had no real\nconnection with the Magdalene, in works of art they are perpetually\nassociated as _les bienheureuses p\u00e9cheresses_, and in their personal\nand pictorial attributes not unfrequently confounded. The legend of\nMary _Egyptiaca_ is long anterior to that of Mary Magdalene. It was\ncurrent in a written form so early as the sixth century, being then\nreceived as a true history; but it appears to have been originally one\nof those instructive parables or religious romances which, in the early\nages of the Church, were composed and circulated for the edification\nof the pious. In considering the manners of that time, we may easily\nbelieve that it may have had some foundation in fact. That a female\nanchoret of the name of Mary lived and died in a desert of Palestine\nnear the river Jordan\u2014that she there bewailed her sins in solitude\nfor a long course of years, and was accidentally discovered\u2014is a very\nancient tradition, supported by contemporary evidence. The picturesque,\nmiraculous, and romantic incidents with which the story has been\nadorned, appear to have been added to enhance the interest; and, in its\npresent form, the legend is attributed to St. Jerome.\n\n\u2018Towards the year of our Lord 365, there dwelt in Alexandria a woman\nwhose name was Mary, and who in the infamy of her life far exceeded\nMary Magdalene. After passing seventeen years in every species of vice,\nit happened that one day, while roving along the sea-shore, she beheld\na ship ready to sail, and a large company preparing to embark. She\ninquired whither they were going? They replied that they were going\nup to Jerusalem, to celebrate the feast of the true cross. She was\nseized with a sudden desire to accompany them; but having no money,\nshe paid the price of her passage by selling herself to the sailors\nand pilgrims, whom she allured to sin by every means in her power.\nOn their arrival at Jerusalem, she joined the crowds of worshippers\nwho had assembled to enter the church; but all her attempts to pass\nthe threshold were in vain; whenever she thought to enter the porch,\na supernatural power drove her back in shame, in terror, in despair.\nStruck by the remembrance of her sins, and filled with repentance, she\nhumbled herself and prayed for help; the interdiction was removed, and\nshe entered the church of God, crawling on her knees. Thenceforward she\nrenounced her wicked and shameful life, and, buying at a baker\u2019s three\nsmall loaves, she wandered forth into solitude, and never stopped or\nreposed till she had penetrated into the deserts beyond the Jordan,\nwhere she remained in severest penance, living on roots and fruits,\nand drinking water only; her garments dropped away in rags piecemeal,\nleaving her unclothed; and she prayed fervently not to be left thus\nexposed: suddenly her hair grew so long as to form a covering for\nher whole person (or, according to another version, an angel brought\nher a garment, from heaven). Thus she dwelt in the wilderness, in\nprayer and penance, supported only by her three small loaves, which,\nlike the widow\u2019s meal, failed her not, until, after the lapse of\nforty-seven years, she was discovered by a priest named Zosimus. Of\nhim she requested silence, and that he would return at the end of a\nyear, and bring with him the elements of the holy sacrament, that she\nmight confess and communicate, before she was released from earth. And\nZosimus obeyed her, and returned after a year; but not being able to\npass the Jordan, the penitent, supernaturally assisted, passed over\nthe water to him; and, having received the sacrament with tears, she\ndesired the priest to leave her once more to her solitude, and to\nreturn in a year from that time. And when he returned he found her\ndead, her hands crossed on her bosom. And he wept greatly; and, looking\nround, he saw written in the sand these words:\u2014\u201cO Father Zosimus, bury\nthe body of the poor sinner, Mary of Egypt! Give earth to earth, and\ndust to dust, for Christ\u2019s sake!\u201d He endeavoured to obey this last\ncommand, but being full of years, and troubled and weak, his strength\nfailed him, and a lion came out of the wood and aided him, digging with\nhis paws till the grave was sufficiently large to receive the body of\nthe saint, which being committed to the earth, the lion retired gently,\nand the old man returned home, praising God, who had shown mercy to the\npenitent.\u2019\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIn single figures and devotional pictures, Mary of Egypt is portrayed\nas a meagre, wasted, aged woman, with long hair, and holding in her\nhand three small loaves. Sometimes she is united with Mary Magdalene,\nas joint emblems of female penitence; and not in painting only, but in\npoetry,\u2014\n\n                Like redeemed Magdalene,\n    Or that Egyptian penitent, whose tears\n    Fretted the rock, and moisten\u2019d round her cave\n    The thirsty desert.\n\nThus they stand together in a little rare print by Marc\u2019 Antonio,\nthe one distinguished by her vase, the other by her three loaves.\nSometimes, when they stand together, Mary Magdalene is young,\nbeautiful, richly dressed; and Mary of Egypt, a squalid, meagre, old\nwoman, covered with rags: as in a rare and curious print by Israel von\nMecken.[321]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nPictures from her life are not common. The earliest I have met with\nis the series painted on the walls of the Chapel of the Bargello, at\nFlorence, above the life of Mary Magdalene: they had been whitewashed\nover. In seeking for the portrait of Dante, this whitewash has been in\npart removed; and it is only just possible for those acquainted with\nthe legend to trace in several compartments the history of Mary of\nEgypt.\n\n1. Detached subjects are sometimes met with. In the church of San\nPietro-in-P\u00f2, at Cremona, they preserve relics said to be those of Mary\nof Egypt: and over the altar there is a large picture by Malosso,\nrepresenting the saint at the door of the Temple at Jerusalem,\nand repulsed by a miraculous power. She is richly dressed, with a\nbroad-brimmed hat, and stands on the step, as one endeavouring to\nenter, while several persons look on,\u2014some amazed, others mocking.\n\n2. Mary of Egypt doing penance in the desert is easily confounded with\nthe penitent Magdalene. Where there is no skull, no vase of ointment,\nno crucifix near her, where the penitent is aged, or at least not young\nand beautiful, with little or no drapery, and black or grey hair,\nthe picture may be presumed to represent Mary of Egypt, and not the\nMagdalene, however like in situation and sentiment. There is a large\nfine picture of this subject at Alton Towers.\n\n3. The first meeting of Mary and the hermit Zosimus has been painted by\nRibera: in this picture her hair is grey and short, her skin dark and\nsunburnt, and she is clothed in rags.\n\n4. In another picture by the same painter she is passing over the\nJordan by the help of angels; she is seen floating in the air with her\nhands clasped, and Zosimus is kneeling by. This subject might easily\nbe confounded with the Assumption of the Magdalene, but the sentiment\nought to distinguish them; for, instead of the ecstatic trance of the\nMagdalene, we have merely a miraculous incident: the figure is but\nlittle raised above the waters, and the hermit is kneeling on the\nshore.[322]\n\n5. St. Mary receives the last communion from the hands of Zosimus. I\nhave known this subject to be confounded with the last communion of the\nMagdalene. The circumstances of the scene, as well as the character,\nshould be attended to. Mary of Egypt receives the sacrament in the\ndesert; a river is generally in the background: Zosimus is an aged\nmonk. Where the Magdalene receives the sacrament from the hands of\nMaximin, the scene is a portico or chapel with rich architecture, and\nMaximin wears the habit of a bishop.\n\n6. The death of Mary of Egypt. Zosimus is kneeling beside her, and the\nlion is licking her feet or digging her grave. The presence of the lion\ndistinguishes this subject from the death of Mary Magdalene.\n\n[Illustration: 97 The Death of Mary of Egypt]\n\nSt. Mary of Egypt was early a popular saint in France, and particularly\nvenerated by the Parisians, till eclipsed by the increasing celebrity\nof the Magdalene. She was styled, familiarly, La Gipesienne (the\nGipsy), softened by time into La Jussienne. The street in which stood\na convent of reformed women, dedicated to her, is still _la Rue\nJussienne_.\n\nWe find her whole story in one of the richly painted windows of the\ncathedral of Chartres; and again in the \u2018Vitraux de Bourges,\u2019 where the\ninscription underneath is written \u2018Segiptiaca.\u2019\n\nAmong the best modern frescoes which I saw at Paris, was the decoration\nof a chapel in the church of St. Merry, dedicated to Ste. Marie\nl\u2019\u00c9gyptienne: the religious sentiment and manner of middle-age Art are\nas usual imitated, but with a certain unexpected originality in the\nconception of some of the subjects which pleased me. 1. On the wall,\nto the right, she stands leaning on the pedestal of the statue of the\nMadonna in a meditative attitude, and having the dress and the dark\ncomplexion of an Egyptian dancing-girl; a crowd of people are seen\nbehind entering the gates of the Temple, at which she alone has been\nrepulsed. 2. She receives the communion from the hand of Zosimus, and\nis buried by a lion.\n\nOn the left-hand wall. 3. Her apotheosis. She is borne aloft by many\nangels, two of whom swing censers, and below is seen the empty grave\nwatched by a lion. 4. Underneath is a group of hermits, to whom the\naged Zosimus is relating the story of the penitence and death of St.\nMary of Egypt.\n\nI do not in general accept modern representations as authorities, nor\nquote them as examples; but this resuscitation of Mary of Egypt in a\ncity where she was so long a favourite saint, appears to me a curious\nfact. Her real existence is doubted even by the writers of that Church\nwhich, for fourteen centuries, has celebrated her conversion and\nglorified her name. Yet the poetical, the moral significance of her\nstory remains; and, as I have reason to know, can still impress the\nfancy, and, through the fancy, waken the conscience and touch the heart.\n\nThere were several other legends current in the early ages of\nChristianity, promulgated, it should seem, with the distinct purpose of\ncalling the frail and shining woman to repentance. If these were not\npure inventions, if the names of these beatified penitents retained in\nthe offices of the Church must be taken as evidence that they _did_\nexist, it is not less certain that the prototype in all these cases\nwas the reclaimed woman of the Scriptures, and that it was the pitying\ncharity of Christ which first taught men and angels to rejoice over the\nsinner that repenteth.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe legend of MARY, the niece of the hermit Abraham[323] must not be\nconfounded with that of Mary of Egypt. The scene of this story is\nplaced in the deserts of Syria. The anchoret Abraham had a brother,\nwho lived in the world and possessed great riches, and when he died,\nleaving an only daughter, she was brought to her uncle Abraham,\napparently because of his great reputation for holiness, to be brought\nup as he should think fit. The ideas of this holy man, with regard\nto education, seem to have been those entertained by many wise and\nreligious people since his time; but there was this difference, that\nhe did not show her the steep and thorny way to heaven, and choose for\nhimself \u2018the primrose path of dalliance.\u2019 Instead of applying to his\ncharge a code of morality as distinct as possible from his own, he,\nmore just, only brought up his niece in the same ascetic principles\nwhich he deemed necessary for the salvation of all men.\n\nMary, therefore, being brought to her uncle when she was only seven\nyears old, he built a cell close to his own, in which he shut her\nup; and, through a little window, which opened between their cells,\nhe taught her to say her prayers, to recite the Psalter, to sing\nhymns, and dedicated her to a life of holiness and solitude, praying\ncontinually that she might be delivered from the snares of the\narch-enemy, and keeping her far, as he thought, from all possibility of\ntemptation; while he daily instructed her to despise and hate all the\npleasures and vanities of the world.\n\nThus Mary grew up in her cell till she was twenty years old: then it\nhappened that a certain youth, who had turned hermit and dwelt in that\ndesert, came to visit Abraham to receive his instructions; and he\nbeheld through the window the face of the maiden as she prayed in her\ncell, and heard her voice as she sang the morning and the evening hymn;\nand he was inflamed with desire of her beauty, till his whole heart\nbecame as a furnace for the love of her; and forgetting his religious\nvocation, and moved thereto by the devil, he tempted Mary, and she\nfell. When she came to herself, her heart was troubled; she beat her\nbreast and wept bitterly, thinking of what she had been, what she had\nnow become; and she despaired, and said in her heart, \u2018For me there is\nno hope, no return; shame is my portion evermore!\u2019 So she fled, not\ndaring to meet the face of her uncle, and went to a distant place, and\nlived a life of sin and shame for two years.\n\nNow, on the same night that she fled from her cell, Abraham had a\ndream; and he saw in his dream a monstrous dragon, who came to his\ncell, and finding there a beautiful white dove, devoured it, and\nreturned to his den. When the hermit awoke from his dream he was\nperplexed, and knew not what it might portend; but again he dreamt, and\nhe saw the same dragon, and he put his foot on its head, and crushed\nit, and took from its maw the beautiful dove, and put it in his bosom,\nand it came to life again, and spread its wings and flew towards heaven.\n\nThen the old man knew that this must relate to his niece Mary; so\nhe took up his staff, and went forth through the world seeking her\neverywhere. At length he found her, and seeing her overpowered with\nshame and despair, he exhorted her to take courage, and comforted her,\nand promised to take her sin and her penance on himself. She wept and\nembraced his knees, and said, \u2018O my father! if thou thinkest there is\nhope for me, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest, and kiss\nthy footsteps which lead me out of this gulf of sin and death!\u2019 So he\nprayed with her, and reminded her that God did not desire the death of\na sinner, but rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live;\nand she was comforted. And the next morning Abraham rose up and took\nhis niece by the hand, leaving behind them her gay attire and jewels\nand ill-gotten wealth. And they returned together to the cell in the\nwilderness.\n\nFrom this time did Mary lead a life of penitence and of great humility,\nministering to her aged uncle, who died glorifying God: after his\ndeath, she lived on many years, praising God, and doing good in\nhumbleness and singleness of heart, and having favour with the people;\nso that from all the country round they brought the sick, and those who\nwere possessed, and she healed them,\u2014such virtue was in her prayers,\nalthough she had been a sinner! Nay, it is written, that even the touch\nof her garment restored health to the afflicted. At length she died,\nand the angels carried her spirit out of the shadow and the cloud of\nsin, into the glory and the joy of heaven.\n\nAlthough the legend of Mary the Penitent is accepted by the Church,\nwhich celebrates her conversion on the 29th of October, effigies of\nher must be rare; I have never met with any devotional representation\nof her. A print attributed to Albert D\u00fcrer represents the hermit\nAbraham bringing back his penitent niece to his cell.[324]\n\nIn the Louvre are two large landscapes by Philippe de Champagne, which\nin poetry and grandeur of conception come near to those of Niccol\u00f2\nPoussin; both represent scenes from the life of Mary the Penitent. In\nthe first, amid a wild and rocky landscape, is the cell of Abraham, and\nMary, sitting within it, is visited by the young hermit who tempted\nher to sin: in the second, we have the same wilderness, under another\naspect; Mary, in a rude secluded hut, embowered in trees, is visited\nby pilgrims and votaries, who bring to her on their shoulders and on\nlitters, the sick and the afflicted, to be healed by her prayers. The\ndaughter of Champagne, whom he tenderly loved, was a nun at Port-Royal,\nand I think it probable that these pictures (like others of his works)\nwere painted for that celebrated convent.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nSt. Thais, a renowned Greek saint, is another of these \u2018_bienheureuses\np\u00e9cheresses_,\u2019 not the same who sat at Alexander\u2019s feast, and fired\nPersepolis, but a firebrand in her own way. St. Pelagia, called\n_Pelagia Meretrix_ and _Pelagia Mima_ (for she was also an actress), is\nanother. These I pass over without further notice, because I have never\nseen nor read of any representation of them in Western Art.\n\nSt. Afra, who sealed her conversion with her blood, will be found among\nthe Martyrs.\n\nPoets have sung, and moralists and sages have taught, that for the\nfrail woman there was nothing left but to die; or if more remained\nfor her to suffer, there was at least nothing left for her to be or\ndo: no choice between sackcloth and ashes and the livery of sin. The\nbeatified penitents of the early Christian Church spoke another lesson;\nspoke divinely of hope for the fallen, hope without self-abasement or\ndefiance. We, in these days, acknowledge no such saints: we have even\ndone our best to dethrone Mary Magdalene; but we have martyrs,\u2014\u2018by the\npang without the palm,\u2019\u2014and _one_ at least among these who has not\ndied without lifting up a voice of eloquent and solemn warning; who\nhas borne her palm on earth, and whose starry crown may be seen on high\neven now, amid the constellations of Genius.\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n                          LONDON: PRINTED BY\n                SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE\n                         AND PARLIAMENT STREET\n\n\n                              FOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] Milman, Hist. of Christianity, iii. 540.\n\n[2] Venice; SS. Giovanni e Paolo.\n\n[3] Siena; San Domenico.\n\n[4] Rome; Vatican.\n\n[5] Dresden Gal.\n\n[6] The Saints who do not appear in these volumes will be found in the\n\u2018Legends of the Monastic Orders.\u2019\n\n[7] \u2018Avant le 5me si\u00e8cle le nimbe chr\u00e9tien ne se voit pas sur les\nmonuments _authentiques_.\u2019 (Didron, Iconographie, p. 101.)\n\n[8] A metal circle, like a round plate, was fastened on the head of\nthose statues placed in the open air, to defend them from the rain or\ndust. Some of the ancient glories are very like those plates, but I do\nnot think they are derived from them.\n\n[9] I believe these coloured glories to be symbolical, but am not\nsure of the application of the colours. Among the miniatures of the\n_Hortus Deliciarum_, painted in 1180, is a representation of the\ncelestial paradise, in which the virgins, the apostles, the martyrs,\nand confessors wear the golden nimbus; the prophets and the patriarchs,\nthe white or silver nimbus; the saints who strove with temptation, the\nred nimbus; those who were married have the nimbus green, while the\nbeatified penitents have theirs of a yellowish white, somewhat shaded.\n(Didron, Iconographie Chr\u00e9tienne, p. 168.)\n\n[10] In the example of St. Jerome, a lion may have originally typified\nany hinderance in the way of study or of duty; in allusion to the text,\n\u2018The slothful man saith, There is a lion by the way.\u2019 Prov. xxvi. 13.\n\n[11] _Vide_ \u2018Legends of the Madonna.\u2019\n\n[12] In the Spanish schools the colour of our Saviour\u2019s mantle is\ngenerally a deep rich violet.\n\n[13] Bologna Gal.\n\n[14] 2 Sam. xiv. 17.\n\n[15] Gen. xxxii. 1, 2; Ps. ciii. 21; 1 Kings xxii. 19; Job i. 6.\n\n[16] Gen. xxii. 11; Exod. xiv. 19; Num. xx. 16; Gen. xxi. 17; Judg.\nxiii. 3; 2 Kings i. 3; Ps. xxxiv. 7; Judith xiii. 20.\n\n[17] 2 Sam. xxiv. 16; 2 Kings xix. 35; Gen: xviii. 8; Num. xxii. 31; 1\nChron. xxi. 16; Gen. xix. 13.\n\n[18] Calmet.\n\n[19] Matt. xxvi. 53; Heb. xii. 22; Matt. xxii. 30; Luke xx. 36; Matt.\nxix. 24; Luke i. 11; Acts v. 19, _et passim_; Luke xv. 10; 1 Peter i.\n12; Luke xvi. 22; Heb. i. 14; 1 Cor. xi. 10; Matt. i. 20, xvi. 27, xxv.\n31.\n\n[20] Rom. viii. 38; Col. i. 16; Ephes. i. 21.\n\n[21] I know not whether it be necessary to observe here, that in\nearly Art the souls of the blessed are not represented as angels, nor\nregarded as belonging to this order of spiritual beings, though I\nbelieve it is a very common notion that we are to rise from the dead\nwith the angelic attributes as well as the angelic nature. For this\nbelief there is no warrant in Scripture, unless Mark xii. 25 be so\ninterpreted.\n\n[22] Now in the Collection of Prince Wallerstein at Kensington Palace.\n\n[23] Vasari, p. 648. Fl. edit.\n\n[24] I saw in the palace of the Bishop of Norwich an elegant little\nbas-relief in alabaster, exhibiting the nine choirs, each represented\nby a single angel. The first (the Seraphim) hold the sacramental cup;\nthe Cherubim, a book; the Thrones, a throne; the Principalities, a\nbunch of lilies; the Archangels are armed. The other attributes are not\nclearly made out.\n\nThe figures have been ornamented with painting and gilding, now\npartially worn off, and the style is of the early part of the fifteenth\ncentury. It appeared to me to have formed one of the compartments of an\naltar-piece.\n\n[25] As in the picture in our National Gallery, No. 10.\n\n[26] Vatican: Raphael\u2019s fresco.\n\n[27] _v._ Purg. c. viii.; Par. c. xxxi.; Purg. c. xxiv.\n\n[28] The Cherubim in the upper lights of the painted windows at\nSt. Michael\u2019s, Coventry, and at Cirencester, are represented each\nstanding on a white wheel with eight spokes. They have six wings, of\npeacocks\u2019 feathers, of a rich yellow colour. A white cross surmounts\nthe forehead, and both arms and legs are covered with short plumage.\nThe extremities are human and bare. At Cirencester the Cherubim hold a\nbook; at Coventry a scroll.\n\n[29] In the sacristy of the Vatican.\n\n[30] In the Louvre.\n\n[31] In the Cathedral at Orvieto.\n\n[32] In the _Frari_ at Venice.\n\n[33] Gen. xviii., xlviii. 16.\n\n[34] Purg. c. viii.\n\n[35] 1 Kings vi. 23.\n\n[36] MS. 10th century. Paris, Bibl. Nationale.\n\n[37] MS. 13th century, Breviaire de St. Louis.\n\n[38] Paris. Bibl. Nat., No. 510. G. MS.\n\n[39] As in the legend of Prometheus. (Plato, Protag. p. 320.)\n\n[40] Sutherland Gallery.\n\n[41] As in Raphael\u2019s fresco in the Vatican.\n\n[42] As in the picture by Allston, painted for Lord Egremont, and now\nat Petworth.\n\n[43] As in a picture by F. Bol.\n\n[44] See \u2018Legends of the Madonna,\u2019 p. 180.\n\n[45] For several curious and interesting particulars relative to these\nsubjects, see the \u2018Legends of the Madonna,\u2019 pp. 247, 256.\n\n[46] The picture is, I suspect, not by Poussin, but by Stella. There is\nanother, similar, by Guido; Louvre, 1057.\n\n[47] Ciampini, p. 131, A.D. 394.\n\n[48] Greek MS. A.D. 867.\n\n[49] Paris, Bib. Nat., No. 510.\n\n[50] In the Academy at Florence: they must have formed the side wings\nto an enthroned Madonna and Child.\n\n[51] Gallery of the Vatican.\n\n[52] S. Maria del Popolo, Rome.\n\n[53] The mosaics in the dome of the Chigi chapel are so ill lighted\nthat it is difficult to observe them in detail, but they have lately\nbeen rendered cheaply accessible in the fine set of engravings by\nGruner, an artist who in our day has revived the pure and correct\ndesign and elegant execution of Marc Antonio.\n\n[54] As in the fresco in the Vatican.\n\n[55] See the engraving under this title by Marc Antonio; it is properly\nSt. Cecilia, and not St. F\u00e9licit\u00e9.\n\n[56] It is now in the Lanti chapel in the church of the Lateran.\n\n[57] Mr. Ruskin remarks very truly, that in early Christian art there\nis a certain confidence, in the way in which angels trust to their\nwings, very characteristic of a period of bold and simple conception.\nModern science has taught us that a wing cannot be anatomically joined\nto a shoulder; and in proportion as painters approach more and more to\nthe scientific as distinguished from the contemplative state of mind,\nthey put the wings of their angels on more timidly, and dwell with\ngreater emphasis on the human form with less upon the wings, until\nthese last become a species of decorative appendage, a mere _sign_ of\nan angel. But in Giotto\u2019s time an angel was a complete creature, as\nmuch believed in as a bird, and the way in which it would or might\ncast itself into the air and lean hither and thither on its plumes,\nwas as naturally apprehended as the manner of flight of a chough or a\nstarling. Hence Dante\u2019s simple and most exquisite synonym for angel,\n\u201cBird of God;\u201d and hence also a variety and picturesqueness in the\nexpression of the movements of the heavenly hierarchies by the earlier\npainters, ill replaced by the powers of foreshortening and throwing\nnaked limbs into fantastic positions, which appear in the cherubic\ngroups of later times.\u2019 The angels from the Campo Santo at Pisa,\nnumbered 12, 21, and 32, are instances of this bird-like form. They are\n_Uccelli di Dio_. Those numbered 27, 28, and 37 are examples of the\nlater treatment.\n\n[58] A.D. 1352. Florence, S. Maria Novella.\n\n[59] Greek mosaic, A.D. 1174.\n\n[60] MS. of the Book of Revelation, fourteenth century. Trinity\nCollege, Dublin.\n\n[61] Coll. of the Duke of Sutherland.\n\n[62] H\u00f4tel de Cluny, 399.\n\n[63] _v._ Il perfetto Legendario. 1659.\n\n[64] The Gnostics taught that the universe was created by the Seven\nGreat Angels, who ranked next to the _Eons_, or direct emanations from\nGod: \u2018and when a distribution was afterwards made of things, the chief\nof the creating angels had the people of the Jews particularly to his\nshare; a doctrine which in the main was received by many ancients.\u2019\u2014See\nLardner\u2019s \u2018History of the Early Heresies.\u2019 I have alluded to the angel\npictured as the agent in creation (p. 39), but the Seven creating\nAngels I have not met with in art. This was one of the Gnostic fancies\ncondemned by the early Church.\n\n[65] Le Livre des Angeles de Dieu, MS. Paris Bibl. Nat.\n\n[66] Dr. Arnold has some characteristic remarks on the half-human\neffigies of Satan; he objects to the Miltonic representation:\u2014\u2018By\ngiving a human likeness, and representing him as a bad man, you\nnecessarily get some image of what is good, as well as of what is bad,\nfor no man is entirely evil.\u2019\u2014\u2018The hoofs, the horns, the tail, were\nall useful in this way, as giving you an image of something altogether\ndisgusting; and so Mephistophiles, and the utterly contemptible and\nhateful character of the Little Master in Sintram, are far more true\nthan the Paradise Lost.\u2019\u2014_Life_, vol. ii.\n\n[67] Vatican MSS., No. 1613, A.D. 989.\n\n[68] A.D. 1365. Eremitani. Padua.\n\n[69] Greek Apocalypse MS. Paris Bibl. Nat.\n\n[70] Siena Acad.\n\n[71] By Marco di Ravenna. Bartsch, xiv. 106.\n\n[72] Brescia. S. Maria delle Grazie.\n\n[73] Milan, Brera.\n\n[74] Boisser\u00e9e Gallery.\n\n[75] A.D. 1400. Engraved in Lusinio\u2019s \u2018Early Florentine Masters.\u2019\n\n[76] Milan. Brera.\n\n[77] Psalter of St. Louis. Bib. de l\u2019Arsenal, Paris.\n\n[78] See ante, p. 111, for the figure of St. Michael.\n\n[79] St. Ephrem, Bib. Orient. tom. i. p. 78. De Beausobre, vol. ii. p.\n17.\n\n[80] Didron, Manuel grec., p. 101.\n\n[81] Judges vi. 11.\n\n[82] 2 Sam. xxiv. 16.\n\n[83] Calmet.\n\n[84] De Oratione, cap. xii.\n\n[85] Bottari, Tab. xxii. On the early Christian sarcophagi, as I have\nalready observed, there are no winged angels. In the oft-repeated\nsubject of the \u2018Three Children in the burning fiery furnace,\u2019 the\nfourth figure, when introduced, may represent _a_ son of God,\u2014i.e. an\nangel; or _the_ Son of God, i.e. Christ, as it has been interpreted in\nboth senses.\n\n[86] Bel and the Dragon, 26.\n\n[87] Bottari, 15, 49, 84.\n\n[88] See \u2018Legends of the Madonna.\u2019\n\n[89] \u2018The stone on which stood the angel Gabriel when he announced to\nthe most Blessed Virgin the great mystery of the Incarnation,\u2019 is among\nthe relies enumerated as existing in the church of the Santa Croce at\nRome.\n\n[90] In Paradise he sings for ever the famous salutation:\u2014\n\n    Cantando _Ave Maria gratia plena_\n    Dinanzi a lei le sue ali distese.\n\n    DANTE, _Par._ 32.\n\n\n[91] See the Ursuline Manual. \u2018When an angel anciently appeared to\nthe patriarchs or prophets, he was received with due honour as being\nexalted above them, both by nature and grace; but when an archangel\nvisited Mary, he was struck with her superior dignity and pre-eminence,\nand, approaching, saluted her with admiration and respect. Though\naccustomed to the lustre of the highest heavenly spirits, yet he was\ndazzled and amazed at the dignity and spiritual glory of her whom he\ncame to salute Mother of God, while the attention of the whole heavenly\ncourt was with rapture fixed upon her.\u2019\n\n[92] The Annunciation and the Death of the Virgin, and the office and\ncharacter of the announcing angel in both subjects, are fully treated\nand illustrated in the \u2018Legends of the Madonna,\u2019 pp. 179, 334.\n\n[93] As in a very curious print by \u2018Le Graveur de 1466;\u2019 and there are\nother instances.\n\n[94] Chants Royaux. Paris Bibl. Nat. MS. No. 6,989.\n\n[95] Mr. Stirling entitles this picture \u2018An Angel appearing to a Bishop\nat his prayers.\u2019\n\n[96] In the church of S. Marziale, Venice.\n\n[97] Passavant\u2019s Rafael, vol. ii. pp. 6, 150.\n\n[98] Madrid Gallery.\n\n[99] Louvre, No. 358.\n\n[100] In our National Gallery.\n\n[101] Rupertus, Commentar. in Apocal. c. 4. Mark xvi. 16.\n\n[102] Fl. Acad.\n\n[103] There is a small and beautiful picture by Giulio Romano in the\nBelvedere at Vienna, representing the emblems of the Four Evangelists\ngrouped in a picturesque manner, which was probably suggested by\nRaphael\u2019s celebrated picture, which is in the Pitti palace at Florence.\n\n[104] Grosvenor Gallery.\n\n[105] Dresden Gallery. No. 828.\n\n[106] Paris, Bib. du Roi, No. 510.\n\n[107] A.D. 1377. Eng. in Rossini, pl. 24.\n\n[108] Designed by Titian, and executed by F. Zuccati.\n\n[109] It is so like Giorgione in sentiment and colour that it has\nbeen attributed to him. For this expressive votive group, see the\nfrontispiece to vol. ii., and the legends of the four patron saints\nabove mentioned.\n\n[110] Beneath the monument of Nicol\u00f2 Orsini, in the SS.\nGiovanni-e-Paolo at Venice. A very remarkable and beautiful picture\nof this class is in the Berlin Gallery (No. 316). St. Mark, enthroned\nand holding his gospel open on his knees, is instructing three of the\n_Procuradori di San Marco_, who kneel before him in their rich crimson\ndresses, and listen reverently.\n\n[111] Venice Ducal Palace.\n\n[112] Fl. Gal.\n\n[113] Venice Acad.\n\n[114] Brera, Milan.\n\n[115] Brera, Milan.\n\n[116] A.D. 1500. Scuola di S. Marco, Venice.\n\n[117] Fl. Gal.\n\n[118] The _Procuradori_ had the charge of the church and the treasury\nof St. Mark.\n\n[119] Sanuto, Vite de\u2019 Duci Veneti.\n\n[120] Acad. Venice.\n\n[121] Acad. Venice.\n\n[122] Ibid.\n\n[123] Venice, Ducal Palace.\n\n[124] The little black Virgin of the Monte della Guardia, near Bologna,\nI saw carried in grand procession through the streets of that city,\nin May 1847. The following inscription is engraved on a tablet in\nthe church of San Domenico and San Sisto at Rome: \u2018Here at the high\naltar is preserved that image of the most blessed Mary, which, being\ndelineated by St. Luke the Evangelist, received its colours and\nform divinely. This is that image with which St. Gregory the Great\n(according to St. Antonine), as a suppliant, purified Rome; and\nthe pestilence being dispelled, the angel messenger of peace, from\nthe summit of the castle of Adrian, commanding the Queen of Heaven\nto rejoice, restored health to the city.\u2019 A Virgin in the Ara C\u0153li\npretends to the same honour: both these are black and ugly, while that\nin the S. Maria in Cosmedino is of uncommon dignity and beauty. See\n\u2018Legends of the Madonna,\u2019 Introduction, p. xli.\n\n[125] MS. A.D. 1500. Paris, Bib. Imp.\n\n[126] F. Rizi. A.D. 1660.\n\n[127] As in the Missal of Henry VIII. Bodleian, Oxford.\n\n[128] Both among the fine lithographs of the Boisser\u00e9e Gallery. (_v._\nNos. 5, 15, 25.)\n\n[129] Acad. Bologna.\n\n[130] Mus\u00e9e, Marseilles.\n\n[131] Leigh Court, Gal. of Mr. Miles.\n\n[132] Petersburg, Gal. of Prince Narishken. Eng. by M\u00fcller.\n\n[133] Munich Gal.\n\n[134] Westmin. Abbey.\n\n[135] Rome, S. Maria-sopra-Minerva.\n\n[136] _v._ \u2018Legends of the Madonna.\u2019\n\n[137] Brera, Milan.\n\n[138] We find among the relics exhibited on great occasions in the\nchurch of the S. Croce at Rome \u2018the cup in which St. John, the apostle\nand evangelist, by command of Domitian the emperor, drank poison\nwithout receiving any injury; which afterwards being tasted by his\nattendants, on the instant they fell dead.\u2019\n\n[139] Vatican MSS., tenth century.\n\n[140] MSS., ninth century. Paris Nat. Library.\n\n[141] Vatican, Christian Museum.\n\n[142] Johannis Brompton Cronicon, 955.\n\n[143] Dart\u2019s Hist. of Westminster.\n\n[144] _v._ Legend of St. Edward the Confessor in the \u2018Legends of the\nMonastic Orders,\u2019 p. 99.\n\n[145] Rome. S. M. in Trastevere. S. Prassede. S. Clemente. S. Cecilia.\n\n[146] Bottari, Tab. xxviii.\n\n[147] The churches in the eastern provinces of France, particularly in\nChampagne, exhibit marked traces of the influence of Greek Art in the\neleventh and twelfth centuries.\n\n[148] A.D. 451. Ciampini, Vet. Mon. p. 1, c. iv.\n\n[149] Matt. xix. 28; and Luke xxii. 30.\n\n[150] I must refer the reader to Mr. Cockerell\u2019s illustrations and\nrestorations of the rich and multifarious and significant sculpture of\nWells Cathedral.\n\n[151] Luke xxii. 30.\n\n[152] Venice Acad., fourteenth century.\n\n[153] Rosini, vol. iii. p. 75.\n\n[154] Convent of Chilandari, Mount Athos.\n\n[155] Vatican, Sala del Pozzo.\n\n[156] Vatican.\n\n[157] Greek MS., ninth century. Paris, Bibl. du Roi, No. 510.\n\n[158] A set of martyrdoms is in the Frankfort Museum; another is\nmentioned in Bartsch, viii. 22.\n\n[159] Eusebius says that _all_ the Apostles suffered martyrdom; but\nthis is not borne out by any ancient testimony.\u2014_Lardner\u2019s Cred. of\nGospel Hist._ vol. viii. p. 81.\n\n[160] They were fortunately engraved for D\u2019Agincourt\u2019s _Histoire de\nl\u2019Art_, before they were destroyed by fire.\n\n[161] St. Guthlac\u2019s Book. Ethelwold\u2019s Benedictional.\n\n[162] As in the mosaic on the tomb of Otho II. (Lateran Mus.).\n\n[163] Bottari, Tab. xxv.\n\n[164] One of the finest I have ever seen is the \u2018Saint Pierre au\nDonateur,\u2019 by Gaudenzio Ferrari; holding his keys (both of gold), he\npresents a kneeling votary, a man of middle age, who probably bore\nhis name. The head of St. Peter is very characteristic, and has an\nenergetic pleading expression, almost _demanding_ what he requires for\nhis votary. The whole picture is extremely fine. (_Turin Gallery_, No.\n19.)\n\n[165] Milan, Brera (No. 189).\n\n[166] What St. Clement says is to this purpose: that St. Peter\u2019s\nhearers at Rome were desirous of having his sermons writ down for their\nuse; that they made their request to Mark to leave them a written\nmemorial of the doctrine they had received by word of mouth; that they\ndid not desist from their entreaties till they had prevailed upon him;\nand St. Peter confirmed that writing by his authority, that it might be\nread in the churches.\u2019\u2014LARDNER, _Cred._, vol. i. p. 250.\n\n[167] Fl. Gal.\n\n[168] Brera, Milan.\n\n[169] Gian Bellini: Venice. S. M. de\u2019 Frari.\n\n[170] Vienna Gal.\n\n[171] Bartsch, vi. 92.\n\n[172] \u2018Le Christ \u00e0 la Colonne.\u2019 _Louvre_, No. 550.\n\n[173] Tab. xxi.\n\n[174] Hampton Court.\n\n[175] Madrid Gal., No. 114.\n\n[176] Bridgewater Gal.\n\n[177] Cathedral at Malines.\n\n[178] Gal. of the Hague.\n\n[179] This picture, formerly in the Brera, is now in England, in the\ngallery of Lord Ward. It is the finest and most characteristic specimen\nof the master I have ever seen.\n\n[180] It is signed M\u1ebcDULA\u00c9, and attributed to Giulio della Mendula; a\npainter (except through this picture) unknown to me.\n\n[181] Brancacci Chapel, Florence.\n\n[182] Berlin Gal., No. 313.\n\n[183] Louvre, No. 685.\n\n[184] As in the Greek mosaics in the Cathedral of Monreale, near\nPalermo.\n\n[185] Several such pictures are in the royal collections at Windsor and\nHampton Court.\n\n[186] Moore makes a characteristic remark on this fresco; he is\n_amazed_ at the self-denial of the painter who could cross this fine\ngroup with the black iron bars which represent the prison.\n\n[187] Some Protestant writers have set aside St. Peter\u2019s ministry at\nRome, as altogether apocryphal; but Gieseler, an author by no means\ncredulous, considers that the historical evidence is in favour of the\ntradition (_v._ Text-book of Eccles. Hist. p. 53). This is the more\nsatisfactory because, even to Protestants, it is not agreeable to be at\nRome and to be obliged to reject certain associations which add to the\npoetical, as well as to the religious, interest of the place.\n\n[188] He represented her as a resuscitation of the famous Helen of\nTroy, which is said to have suggested to Goethe the resuscitation of\nHelena in the second part of \u2018Faust.\u2019\n\n[189] MS., Vatican, No. 6409. 10th century.\n\n[190] In the sacristy of the Vatican.\n\n[191] In the Brancacci Chapel at Florence.\n\n[192] In the Gallery of the Vatican.\n\n[193] Vatican. Capella Paolina.\n\n[194] _v._ Il perfetto Legendario.\n\n[195] There was an oratory in the church of the Franciscans at\nVarallo, in which they celebrated a yearly festival in honour of St.\nPetronilla. While Gaudenzio Ferrari was painting there the series\nof frescoes in the chapel of the crucifixion on the Sacro Monte, he\npromised to paint for the festival an effigy of the saint. The eve of\nthe day arrived, and still it was not begun: the people murmured, and\nreproached him, which he affected to treat jestingly; but he arose in\nthe night, and with no other light than the beams of the full moon,\nexecuted a charming figure of St. Petronilla, which still exists. She\nstands holding a book, a white veil over her head, and a yellow mantle\nfalling in rich folds: she has no distinctive emblem. \u2018Gaudenzio, che\nin una bella notte d\u2019estate dipinse fra ruvide muraglie una Santa\ntutta grazia e pudore mentre un pallido raggio di luna sbucato dalla\nfrondosa chioma d\u2019albero dolcemente gl\u2019irradia la fronte calva e la\nbarba rossiccia, presenta un non so che di ideale e di romanzesco che\nveramente rapisce.\u2019\u2014Opere di Gaudenzio Ferrari, No. 21. (Maggi, Turin.\nIt is to be regretted that in this valuable work neither the pages nor\nthe plates are numbered.)\n\n[196] Second or third century. Bosio, p. 519.\n\n[197] _v._ M\u00fcnter\u2019s Sinnbilder, p. 35.\n\n[198] _v._ Zani. Enc. delle Belle Arti.\n\n[199] In the gallery of Mr. Miles, at Leigh Court.\n\n[200] Those who consult the engravings by Santi Bartoli and Landon\nmust bear in mind that almost all the references are erroneous. See\nPassavant\u2019s \u2018Rafael,\u2019 ii. 245.\n\n[201] The clergy who permitted Sir James Thornhill to paint the cupola\nof St. Paul\u2019s with Scripture scenes, refused to admit any other\npaintings into the church. Perhaps they were justified; but not by the\nplea of Bishop Terrick\u2014the fear of idolatry.\n\n[202] This series, the most important work of the painter, Hans\nSchaufelein, is not mentioned in Kugler\u2019s Handbook. It is engraved in\noutline in the \u2018New Florence Gallery,\u2019 published in 1837.\n\n[203] \u2018St. Paul prevents his jailor from killing himself\u2019 (Acts xvi.)\nhas been lately painted by Claude Hall\u00e9, and is now in the Louvre.\n(\u00c9cole fran\u00e7aise, No. 283.)\n\n[204] In the Dresden Gal., No. 821.\n\n[205] Bartsch, vii. 79.\n\n[206] Th\u00e9ologie des Peintres.\n\n[207] In several ancient pictures and bas-reliefs the cross has the\nusual form, but he is not nailed\u2014always bound with cords, as in the\nancient bas-relief over the portal of his church at Vercelli.\n\n[208] Gallery of the Vatican.\n\n[209] Munich, 363.\n\n[210] In the collection of Mr. Miles at Leigh Court.\n\n[211] Hermogenes was the name of a famous Gnostic teacher and\nphilosopher; thence, I suppose, adopted into this legend.\n\n[212] _v._ Southey, \u2018Pilgrim of Compostella.\u2019\n\n[213] Passavant\u2019s Rafael, I. 508.\n\n[214] Duomo, Siena.\n\n[215] Belvedere, Vienna.\n\n[216] Venice Acad.\n\n[217] Rome, S. Maria-in-Trastevere. A.D. 1397.\n\n[218] Stirling\u2019s \u2018Artists of Spain,\u2019 ii. p. 753.\n\n[219] Legenda Aurea.\n\n[220] Gallery of Antwerp.\n\n[221] Passavant\u2019s Rafael, II. 116.\n\n[222] Eng. by Audran.\n\n[223] Gal. Vatican.\n\n[224] Fl. Acad.\n\n[225] Fl. Gal.\n\n[226] Florence, Casa Ruccellai.\n\n[227] The romantic Legend of the _sacratissima cintola_, \u2018the most\nsacred girdle of the Virgin,\u2019 is given at length in the \u2018Legends of the\nMadonna,\u2019 p. 344.\n\n[228] \u2018Very soon after the Lord was risen, he went to James, and showed\nhimself to him. For James had solemnly sworn that he would eat no bread\nfrom the time that he had drunk the cup of the Lord till he should see\nhim risen from among them that sleep. \u201cBring,\u201d saith the Lord, \u201ca table\nand bread.\u201d He took bread, and blessed and brake it, and then gave it\nto James the Just, and said to him, \u201cMy brother, eat thy bread; for the\nSon of man is risen from among them that sleep.\u201d\u2019\u2014St. Jerome, as quoted\nin Lardner, _Lives of the Apostles_, chap. xvi.\n\n[229] Matt. xiii. 55; Mark xv. 40.\n\n[230] Fl. Gal.\n\n[231] Fl. Acad.\n\n[232] See Ford\u2019s \u2018Handbook of Spain;\u2019 also Goethe\u2019s \u2018Theory of\nColours,\u2019 translated by Sir C. Eastlake. \u2018When a yellow colour is\ncommunicated to dull and coarse surfaces, such as common cloth,\nfelt, or the like, on which it does not appear with full energy, the\ndisagreeable effect alluded to is apparent. By a slight and scarcely\nperceptible change, the beautiful impression of fire and gold is\ntransformed into one not undeserving the epithet foul, and the colour\nof honour and joy reversed to that of ignominy and aversion. To this\nimpression, the yellow hats of bankrupts, and the yellow circles on the\nmantles of Jews, may have owed their origin.\u2019 (P. 308.)\n\n[233] Fl. Gal.\n\n[234] Manfrini P., Venice.\n\n[235] Fl. Acad.\n\n[236] In the gallery of Lord Charlemont, Dublin.\n\n[237] MS., No. 7206. Bib. du Roi.\n\n[238] Florence, S. Maria Novella. It is clear that the extravagant\nlegends which refer to Judas Iscariot were the inventions of the\nmiddle ages, and are as little countenanced by the writings of the\nearly fathers as by the Gospels. Eusebius says, that \u2018Christ gave like\ngifts to Judas with the other apostles; that once our Saviour had good\nhopes of him on account of the power of the free will, for Judas was\nnot of such a nature as rendered his salvation impossible; like the\nother apostles, he might have been instructed by the Son of God, and\nmight have been a sincere and good disciple.\u2019 (Quoted in Lardner, vol.\nviii. p. 77.) The Mahometans believe that Christ did not die, that\nhe ascended alive into heaven, and that Judas was crucified in his\nlikeness. (Curzon, p. 185.)\n\n[239] The Greek expression, \u2018leaning on his bosom, or on his lap,\u2019\nis not, I believe, to be taken literally, being used to signify an\nintimate and affectionate intercourse.\n\n[240] Florence Acad.\n\n[241] In the series of compositions from the life of Christ, now in the\nAcademy at Florence; beautifully and faithfully engraved by P. Nocchi.\n\n[242] This is also observable in the Last Supper by Nicol\u00f2 Petri in the\nSan Francesco at Pisa.\n\n[243] For a signal example, see Stirling\u2019s \u2018Artists of Spain,\u2019 p. 493.\n\n[244] For some remarks on the subject of the Pentecost, _v._ \u2018Legends\nof the Madonna,\u2019 p. 325.\n\n[245] Acad. Venice. Giovanni ed Antonio da Murano. 1440.\n\n[246] As I have frequent occasion to refer to pictures painted for\nthe _Scuole_ of Venice, it may be as well to observe that the word\n_scuola_, which we translate _school_, is not a place of education, but\na confraternity for charitable purposes,\u2014visiting the sick, providing\nhospitals, adopting orphans, redeeming prisoners and captives, &c.\nIn the days of the republic these schools were richly supported and\nendowed, and the halls, churches, and chapels attached to them were\noften galleries of art: such were the schools of St. Mark, St. Ursula,\nSt. Roch, the Carit\u00e0 and others. Unhappily, they exist no longer; the\nFrench seized on their funds, and Austria does not like confraternities\nof any kind. The Scuola della Carit\u00e0 is now the Academy of Arts.\n\n[247] Acad. Venice. Gio. da Udine.\n\n[248] Frankfort Museum.\n\n[249] We missed the opportunity, now never more to be recalled, of\nobtaining this admirable picture when it was sold out of the Fesch\ncollection.\n\n[250] I believe the figure called St. Bonaventura, to represent St.\nJerome, because, in accordance with the usual scheme of ecclesiastical\ndecoration, the greatest of the four Latin Fathers would take the first\nplace, and the cardinal\u2019s hat and the long flowing beard are his proper\nattribute; whereas there is no example of a St. Bonaventura with a\nbeard, or wearing the monastic habit without the Franciscan cord. The\nArundel Society have engraved this fine figure under the name of St.\nBonaventura.\n\n[251] Dresden Gal.\n\n[252] Imp. Gal., St. Petersburg.\n\n[253] Vienna Gal.\n\n[254] In the catalogue, St. Cunegunda is styled _St. Elizabeth Queen of\nHungary_, and St. Elizabeth of Hungary is styled _St. Elizabeth Queen\nof Portugal_.\n\n[255] Irish Bishop of W\u00fcrtzburg, and Patron, A.D. 689.\n\n[256] \u2018In this picture we recognise the master to whom Albert D\u00fcrer was\nindebted for his education; indeed, Wohlgemuth here surpasses his great\nscholar in the expression of gentleness and simplicity, particularly in\nthe heads of some of the female saints.\u2019\u2014_Handbook of Painting: German,\nFlemish, and Dutch Schools_, p. 111.\n\n[257] Florence, Ogni Santi.\n\n[258] Bologna, S. Maria Maggiore.\n\n[259] The picture, originally at Naples, was purchased or appropriated\nby Philip IV. for the Church of the Escurial, which belonged to the\nJeronymites.\n\n[260] Milan, Brera.\n\n[261] Collection of Lord Ward.\n\n[262] Louvre, Sp. Gal.\n\n[263] P. Pitti, Florence.\n\n[264] Lichtenstein Gal.\n\n[265] Kugler pronounces this to be a Flemish picture (_v._ \u2018Handbook,\u2019\np. 190).\n\n[266] The three frescoes by Carpaccio are in the Church of San Giorgio\nde\u2019 Schiavoni at Venice.\n\n[267] It was in the Standish Gal. in the Louvre.\n\n[268] Engraved by Loli.\n\n[269] Wolvinus, A.D. 832. \u2018His name seems to indicate that he was of\nTeutonic race\u2014a circumstance which has excited much controversy amongst\nthe modern Italian antiquaries.\u2019\u2014_Murray\u2019s Handbook._\n\n[270] Belvedere Gal., Vienna.\n\n[271] Paris, Invalides.\n\n[272] SS. Giovan e Paolo, Venice.\n\n[273] Brera, Milan.\n\n[274] Fl. Gal.\n\n[275] Pitti Pal. This fine picture was painted for the Agostini.\n\n[276] Brera, Milan.\n\n[277] Berlin Gal.\n\n[278] Acad., Venice.\n\n[279] Vatican, Christian Museum.\n\n[280] Cremona.\n\n[281] Belvedere, Vienna.\n\n[282] _v._ \u2018Legends of the Monastic Orders,\u2019 p. 191.\n\n[283] I believe this picture was afterwards in the possession of Mr.\nDennistoun, of Dennistoun. Mr. Stirling mentions it as a fine specimen\nof Murillo\u2019s second style.\n\n[284] Once in Lord Methuen\u2019s Gallery at Corsham.\n\n[285] It was in the possession of Her Majesty the Ex-Queen of the\nFrench, who paid for it 25,000f.\n\n[286] There is a duplicate in the Bridgewater Gallery.\n\n[287] Sutherland Gal.\n\n[288] Vicenza. S. Maria del Monte.\n\n[289] Bartsch, _Le Peintre Graveur_, vii. 264.\n\n[290] For an account of St. Nilus, and the foundation of Grotta\nFerrata, see the \u2018Legends of the Monastic Orders.\u2019\n\n[291] According to Sansovino, begun by Giorgione and finished by\nSebastian.\n\n[292] Dante, _Inf._ c. xi.\n\n[293] The Greek word _Papa_, here translated _der Papst_ (the Pope),\nbetrays the Eastern origin of the story. It is the general title of the\nGreek priesthood, and means simply a priest, elevated in the German\nlegend into \u2018the Pope.\u2019\n\n[294] Koburgher, \u2018Legendensammlung,\u2019 1488, p. 325. Heller\u2019s \u2018Leben und\nWerke Albrecht D\u00fcrer\u2019s,\u2019 p. 440.\n\n[295] Sutherland Gal.\n\n[296] \u2018_La Messe de saint Basile._\u2019 Louvre, \u00c9cole fran\u00e7aise, No. 508.\n\n[297] \u2018Pour vous ramener \u00e0 des id\u00e9es plus favorables \u00e0 la Madeleine,\nvous transportant au temps et aux circonstances o\u00f9 v\u00e9cut cette c\u00e9l\u00e8bre\nIsra\u00e9lite, je pourrais vous dire, MESSIEURS, que l\u2019antiquit\u00e9, ne\njugeant pas \u00e9quitable d\u2019exiger plus de vertu du sexe r\u00e9put\u00e9 pour\nle plus faible, ne croyait pas les femmes d\u00e9shonor\u00e9es de ce qui ne\nd\u00e9shonorait pas les hommes \u00e0 ses yeux; qu\u2019elle a d\u2019ailleurs toujours\n\u00e9t\u00e9 bien moins s\u00e9v\u00e8re \u00e0 des sentiments qui, naissant avec nous, lui\nparaissaient une partie de nous-m\u00eames, et qu\u2019elle n\u2019attacha jamais\naucune id\u00e9e fl\u00e9trissante aux suites d\u2019une passion qu\u2019elle trouvait\npresque aussi pardonnable que naturelle. Les gr\u00e2ces de la beaut\u00e9\n\u00e9taient alors regard\u00e9es comme les autres talents; et l\u2019art de plaire,\naussi autoris\u00e9 que les autres arts, loin d\u2019inspirer de l\u2019\u00e9loignement,\u2019\n&c.\n\nAfter describing, in glowing terms, her splendid position in the world,\nher illustrious rank, her understanding, \u2018_droit, solide, et d\u00e9licat_,\u2019\nher \u2018_gr\u00e2ce_,\u2019 her \u2018_esprit_,\u2019 her wondrous beauty, particularly\nher superb hair, \u2018_cultiv\u00e9 avec tant de soin, arrang\u00e9 avec tant\nd\u2019art_;\u2019\u2014and lamenting that a creature thus nobly gifted should have\nbeen cast away upon the same rock which had shipwrecked the greatest,\nthe most illustrious, of her _compatriotes, \u2018le fort Samson, le preux\nDavid, le sage Salomon_;\u2019 he goes on to describe, with real eloquence,\nand in a less offensive strain of panegyric, her devotion at the foot\nof the cross, her pious visit to the tomb by break of day, braving the\nfury of the guards, the cruelty of the Jews, and taking the place of\nthe apostles, who were dispersed or fled. And thus he winds up with a\nmoral, most extraordinary when we recollect that it was preached from a\npulpit by a grave doctor in theology:\u2014\n\n\u2018Jeunes personnes qui vivez encore dans l\u2019innocence! apprenez donc\nde la Madeleine combien grands sont les p\u00e9rils de la jeunesse, de la\nbeaut\u00e9, de tous les dons purement naturels; souvenez-vous que le d\u00e9sir\nexcessif de plaire est toujours dangereux, rarement innocent, et qu\u2019il\nest bien difficile de donner beaucoup de sentiments, sans en prendre\nsoi-m\u00eame. A la vue des faiblesses de la jeune Isra\u00e9lite, comprenez de\nquelle importance est, pour vous, la garde de votre c\u0153ur; et \u00e0 quels\nd\u00e9sordres il vous expose, si vous ne vous accoutumez \u00e0 le contrarier\nsans cesse, en tous ses penchants.\n\n\u2018Femmes mondaines, et peut-\u00eatre voluptueuses! apprenez de la\nMadeleine \u00e0 revenir de vos \u00e9carts; ils ont \u00e9t\u00e9, dans vous, le fruit\nde la faiblesse humaine; que votre retour soit le fruit de votre\ncorrespondance \u00e0 la gr\u00e2ce. Et pourriez-vous ou vous proposer un mod\u00e8le\nplus digne d\u2019\u00eatre suivi que celui que vous pr\u00e9sente Madeleine, ou\ntrouver ailleurs un motif plus puissant de le suivre?\n\n\u2018Et vous qui, fi\u00e8res d\u2019une r\u00e9serve que vous ne devez peut-\u00eatre qu\u2019\u00e0\nvotre insensibilit\u00e9, vous en faites un rempart, \u00e0 l\u2019abri duquel vous\ncroyez pouvoir m\u00e9priser toute la terre, et dont la mondanit\u00e9 de\nMadeleine elle-m\u00eame a peut-\u00eatre scandalis\u00e9 la pr\u00e9cieuse vertu! femmes\nplus vaines que sages! apprenez de notre Sainte, qu\u2019il n\u2019y a que la\ngr\u00e2ce de Dieu et une attention continuelle sur nous-m\u00eames qui puissent\nnous aider constamment contre la pente qui nous pr\u00e9cipite vers le\nmal; et craignez qu\u2019on ne puisse vous dire, \u00e0 son sujet, ce quo Saint\nAugustin disait \u00e0 une d\u00e9vote de votre caract\u00e8re, pleine d\u2019elle-m\u00eame et\nm\u00e9disante: \u201cPl\u00fbt \u00e0 Dieu que vous eussiez donn\u00e9 dans les m\u00eames exc\u00e8s\ndont vous croyez si volontiers les autres capables! vous seriez moins\n\u00e9loign\u00e9e du royaume de Dieu; du moins vous auriez de l\u2019humanit\u00e9!\u201d\u2019\n\nLe Brun\u2019s Magdalene is just the Magdalene described by this preacher:\nboth one and the other are as like the Magdalene of Scripture as Leo X.\nwas like St. Peter.\n\n[298] The original Latin distich runs thus:\u2014\n\n    Ne desperetis vos qui peccare soletis,\n    Exemploque meo vos reparate Deo.\n\n\n[299] It was in the Standish Gallery belonging to Louis-Philippe, and\nnow dispersed.\n\n[300] There is a beautiful half-length female figure, attributed to\nCorreggio, and engraved under the title of \u2018Gismunda\u2019 weeping over\nthe heart of her lover, in the collection of the Duke of Newcastle.\nThe duplicate in the Belvedere Gallery at Vienna is there styled a\nMagdalene, and attributed correctly to Francesco Furini.\n\n[301] Lichtenstein Gal.\n\n[302] These two pictures were sold out of the Louvre with King\nLouis-Philippe\u2019s pictures.\n\n[303] Turin Gallery.\n\n[304] Munich Gallery, No. 266. There is an inferior repetition in the\nRoyal Gallery at Turin.\n\n[305] The great picture formerly in the Durazzo Palace is now in the\nRoyal Gallery at Turin. It is wonderful for life and colour, and\ndramatic feeling\u2014a masterpiece of the painter in his characteristic\nstyle.\n\n[306] Bottari, Tab. xxx.\n\n[307] Santa Croce, Florence.\n\n[308] This beautiful and valuable picture has been bequeathed by the\npoet to the National Gallery.\n\n[309] The print by Edelinck is considered as the masterpiece of that\ncelebrated engraver.\n\n[310] Dresden Gal.\n\n[311] See p. 379, _note_.\n\n[312] There are about 150 churches in England dedicated in honour of\nMary Magdalene.\n\n[313] There is a fine series of frescoes from the life of Mary\nMagdalene by Gaudenzio Ferrari, in the church of St. Cristoforo at\nVercelli. 1. Mary and Martha are seated, with a crowd of others,\nlistening to Christ, who is preaching in a pulpit. Martha is veiled and\nthoughtful: Mary, richly dressed, looks up eagerly.\u2014Half destroyed. 2.\nMary anoints the feet of the Saviour: she lays her head down on his\nfoot with a tender humiliation: in the background the Maries at the\nsepulchre and the _Noli me tangere_.\u2014This also in great part ruined.\n3. The legend of the Prince of Provence and his wife, who are kneeling\nbefore Lazarus and Mary. Martha is to the left, and Marcella behind. In\nthe background are the various scenes of the legend:\u2014the embarkation;\nthe scene on the island; the arrival at Jerusalem; the return to\nMarseilles with the child. This is one of the best preserved, and the\nheads are remarkably fine. 4. Mary Magdalene sustained by angels,\nher feet resting between the wings of one of them, is borne upwards.\nAll the upper part of the figure is destroyed. In the background are\nthe last communion and burial of the Magdalene. I saw these frescoes\nin October 1855. They suffered greatly from the siege in 1638, when\nseveral bombs shattered this part of the wall, and will soon cease to\nexist. They are engraved in their present state in Pianazzi\u2019s \u2018Opere di\nGaudenzio Ferrari,\u2019 No. 19.\n\n[314] Bayle, Dict. Hist.; Molanus, lib. iv., de Hist. Sacrar. S. Mag.,\ncap. xx. p. 428; Thomasium, prefat. 78. The authority usually cited is\nAbdius, a writer who pretended to have lived in the first century, and\nwhom Bayle styles \u2018the most impudent of legendary impostors.\u2019\n\n[315] Paris, Biblioth\u00e8que du Roi, MS. 7013, fourteenth century.\n\n[316] Il Perfetto Legendario.\n\n[317] Queen\u2019s Gal.\n\n[318] Bodleian MSS., Oxford.\n\n[319] It is perhaps in reference to this tradition that St. Martha\nhas become the patroness of an order of charitable women, who serve\nin the hospitals, particularly the military hospitals, in France and\nelsewhere,\u2014her brother Lazarus having been a soldier.\n\n[320] Fl. Gal.\n\n[321] B. Museum.\n\n[322] It was in the Sp. Gal. in the Louvre, now dispersed.\n\n[323] Santa Maria Penitente.\n\n[324] \u2018Leben und Werke Von Albrecht D\u00fcrer,\u2019 No. 2067.","title":"Sacred and legendary art, volume 1 (of 2): Containing legends of the angels and archangels, the evangelists, the Apostles, the doctors of the church, and St. Mary magdalene, as represented in the fine arts.","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":143647}