Chapter XVI: Part 16

‘Towards the year of our Lord 365, there dwelt in Alexandria a woman whose name was Mary, and who in the infamy of her life far exceeded Mary Magdalene. After passing seventeen years in every species of vice, it happened that one day, while roving along the sea-shore, she beheld a ship ready to sail, and a large company preparing to embark. She inquired whither they were going? They replied that they were going up to Jerusalem, to celebrate the feast of the true cross. She was seized with a sudden desire to accompany them; but having no money, she paid the price of her passage by selling herself to the sailors and pilgrims, whom she allured to sin by every means in her power. On their arrival at Jerusalem, she joined the crowds of worshippers who had assembled to enter the church; but all her attempts to pass the threshold were in vain; whenever she thought to enter the porch, a supernatural power drove her back in shame, in terror, in despair. Struck by the remembrance of her sins, and filled with repentance, she humbled herself and prayed for help; the interdiction was removed, and she entered the church of God, crawling on her knees. Thenceforward she renounced her wicked and shameful life, and, buying at a baker’s three small loaves, she wandered forth into solitude, and never stopped or reposed till she had penetrated into the deserts beyond the Jordan, where she remained in severest penance, living on roots and fruits, and drinking water only; her garments dropped away in rags piecemeal, leaving her unclothed; and she prayed fervently not to be left thus exposed: suddenly her hair grew so long as to form a covering for her whole person (or, according to another version, an angel brought her a garment, from heaven). Thus she dwelt in the wilderness, in prayer and penance, supported only by her three small loaves, which, like the widow’s meal, failed her not, until, after the lapse of forty-seven years, she was discovered by a priest named Zosimus. Of him she requested silence, and that he would return at the end of a year, and bring with him the elements of the holy sacrament, that she might confess and communicate, before she was released from earth. And Zosimus obeyed her, and returned after a year; but not being able to pass the Jordan, the penitent, supernaturally assisted, passed over the water to him; and, having received the sacrament with tears, she desired the priest to leave her once more to her solitude, and to return in a year from that time. And when he returned he found her dead, her hands crossed on her bosom. And he wept greatly; and, looking round, he saw written in the sand these words:—“O Father Zosimus, bury the body of the poor sinner, Mary of Egypt! Give earth to earth, and dust to dust, for Christ’s sake!” He endeavoured to obey this last command, but being full of years, and troubled and weak, his strength failed him, and a lion came out of the wood and aided him, digging with his paws till the grave was sufficiently large to receive the body of the saint, which being committed to the earth, the lion retired gently, and the old man returned home, praising God, who had shown mercy to the penitent.’

* * * * *

In single figures and devotional pictures, Mary of Egypt is portrayed as a meagre, wasted, aged woman, with long hair, and holding in her hand three small loaves. Sometimes she is united with Mary Magdalene, as joint emblems of female penitence; and not in painting only, but in poetry,—

Like redeemed Magdalene,
Or that Egyptian penitent, whose tears
Fretted the rock, and moisten’d round her cave
The thirsty desert.

Thus they stand together in a little rare print by Marc’ Antonio, the one distinguished by her vase, the other by her three loaves. Sometimes, when they stand together, Mary Magdalene is young, beautiful, richly dressed; and Mary of Egypt, a squalid, meagre, old woman, covered with rags: as in a rare and curious print by Israel von Mecken.[321]

* * * * *

Pictures from her life are not common. The earliest I have met with is the series painted on the walls of the Chapel of the Bargello, at Florence, above the life of Mary Magdalene: they had been whitewashed over. In seeking for the portrait of Dante, this whitewash has been in part removed; and it is only just possible for those acquainted with the legend to trace in several compartments the history of Mary of Egypt.

1. Detached subjects are sometimes met with. In the church of San Pietro-in-Pò, at Cremona, they preserve relics said to be those of Mary of Egypt: and over the altar there is a large picture by Malosso, representing the saint at the door of the Temple at Jerusalem, and repulsed by a miraculous power. She is richly dressed, with a broad-brimmed hat, and stands on the step, as one endeavouring to enter, while several persons look on,—some amazed, others mocking.

2. Mary of Egypt doing penance in the desert is easily confounded with the penitent Magdalene. Where there is no skull, no vase of ointment, no crucifix near her, where the penitent is aged, or at least not young and beautiful, with little or no drapery, and black or grey hair, the picture may be presumed to represent Mary of Egypt, and not the Magdalene, however like in situation and sentiment. There is a large fine picture of this subject at Alton Towers.

3. The first meeting of Mary and the hermit Zosimus has been painted by Ribera: in this picture her hair is grey and short, her skin dark and sunburnt, and she is clothed in rags.

4. In another picture by the same painter she is passing over the Jordan by the help of angels; she is seen floating in the air with her hands clasped, and Zosimus is kneeling by. This subject might easily be confounded with the Assumption of the Magdalene, but the sentiment ought to distinguish them; for, instead of the ecstatic trance of the Magdalene, we have merely a miraculous incident: the figure is but little raised above the waters, and the hermit is kneeling on the shore.[322]

5. St. Mary receives the last communion from the hands of Zosimus. I have known this subject to be confounded with the last communion of the Magdalene. The circumstances of the scene, as well as the character, should be attended to. Mary of Egypt receives the sacrament in the desert; a river is generally in the background: Zosimus is an aged monk. Where the Magdalene receives the sacrament from the hands of Maximin, the scene is a portico or chapel with rich architecture, and Maximin wears the habit of a bishop.

6. The death of Mary of Egypt. Zosimus is kneeling beside her, and the lion is licking her feet or digging her grave. The presence of the lion distinguishes this subject from the death of Mary Magdalene.

St. Mary of Egypt was early a popular saint in France, and particularly venerated by the Parisians, till eclipsed by the increasing celebrity of the Magdalene. She was styled, familiarly, La Gipesienne (the Gipsy), softened by time into La Jussienne. The street in which stood a convent of reformed women, dedicated to her, is still _la Rue Jussienne_.

We find her whole story in one of the richly painted windows of the cathedral of Chartres; and again in the ‘Vitraux de Bourges,’ where the inscription underneath is written ‘Segiptiaca.’

Among the best modern frescoes which I saw at Paris, was the decoration of a chapel in the church of St. Merry, dedicated to Ste. Marie l’Égyptienne: the religious sentiment and manner of middle-age Art are as usual imitated, but with a certain unexpected originality in the conception of some of the subjects which pleased me. 1. On the wall, to the right, she stands leaning on the pedestal of the statue of the Madonna in a meditative attitude, and having the dress and the dark complexion of an Egyptian dancing-girl; a crowd of people are seen behind entering the gates of the Temple, at which she alone has been repulsed. 2. She receives the communion from the hand of Zosimus, and is buried by a lion.

On the left-hand wall. 3. Her apotheosis. She is borne aloft by many angels, two of whom swing censers, and below is seen the empty grave watched by a lion. 4. Underneath is a group of hermits, to whom the aged Zosimus is relating the story of the penitence and death of St. Mary of Egypt.

I do not in general accept modern representations as authorities, nor quote them as examples; but this resuscitation of Mary of Egypt in a city where she was so long a favourite saint, appears to me a curious fact. Her real existence is doubted even by the writers of that Church which, for fourteen centuries, has celebrated her conversion and glorified her name. Yet the poetical, the moral significance of her story remains; and, as I have reason to know, can still impress the fancy, and, through the fancy, waken the conscience and touch the heart.

There were several other legends current in the early ages of Christianity, promulgated, it should seem, with the distinct purpose of calling the frail and shining woman to repentance. If these were not pure inventions, if the names of these beatified penitents retained in the offices of the Church must be taken as evidence that they _did_ exist, it is not less certain that the prototype in all these cases was the reclaimed woman of the Scriptures, and that it was the pitying charity of Christ which first taught men and angels to rejoice over the sinner that repenteth.

* * * * *

The legend of MARY, the niece of the hermit Abraham[323] must not be confounded with that of Mary of Egypt. The scene of this story is placed in the deserts of Syria. The anchoret Abraham had a brother, who lived in the world and possessed great riches, and when he died, leaving an only daughter, she was brought to her uncle Abraham, apparently because of his great reputation for holiness, to be brought up as he should think fit. The ideas of this holy man, with regard to education, seem to have been those entertained by many wise and religious people since his time; but there was this difference, that he did not show her the steep and thorny way to heaven, and choose for himself ‘the primrose path of dalliance.’ Instead of applying to his charge a code of morality as distinct as possible from his own, he, more just, only brought up his niece in the same ascetic principles which he deemed necessary for the salvation of all men.

Mary, therefore, being brought to her uncle when she was only seven years old, he built a cell close to his own, in which he shut her up; and, through a little window, which opened between their cells, he taught her to say her prayers, to recite the Psalter, to sing hymns, and dedicated her to a life of holiness and solitude, praying continually that she might be delivered from the snares of the arch-enemy, and keeping her far, as he thought, from all possibility of temptation; while he daily instructed her to despise and hate all the pleasures and vanities of the world.

Thus Mary grew up in her cell till she was twenty years old: then it happened that a certain youth, who had turned hermit and dwelt in that desert, came to visit Abraham to receive his instructions; and he beheld through the window the face of the maiden as she prayed in her cell, and heard her voice as she sang the morning and the evening hymn; and he was inflamed with desire of her beauty, till his whole heart became as a furnace for the love of her; and forgetting his religious vocation, and moved thereto by the devil, he tempted Mary, and she fell. When she came to herself, her heart was troubled; she beat her breast and wept bitterly, thinking of what she had been, what she had now become; and she despaired, and said in her heart, ‘For me there is no hope, no return; shame is my portion evermore!’ So she fled, not daring to meet the face of her uncle, and went to a distant place, and lived a life of sin and shame for two years.

Now, on the same night that she fled from her cell, Abraham had a dream; and he saw in his dream a monstrous dragon, who came to his cell, and finding there a beautiful white dove, devoured it, and returned to his den. When the hermit awoke from his dream he was perplexed, and knew not what it might portend; but again he dreamt, and he saw the same dragon, and he put his foot on its head, and crushed it, and took from its maw the beautiful dove, and put it in his bosom, and it came to life again, and spread its wings and flew towards heaven.

Then the old man knew that this must relate to his niece Mary; so he took up his staff, and went forth through the world seeking her everywhere. At length he found her, and seeing her overpowered with shame and despair, he exhorted her to take courage, and comforted her, and promised to take her sin and her penance on himself. She wept and embraced his knees, and said, ‘O my father! if thou thinkest there is hope for me, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest, and kiss thy footsteps which lead me out of this gulf of sin and death!’ So he prayed with her, and reminded her that God did not desire the death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live; and she was comforted. And the next morning Abraham rose up and took his niece by the hand, leaving behind them her gay attire and jewels and ill-gotten wealth. And they returned together to the cell in the wilderness.

From this time did Mary lead a life of penitence and of great humility, ministering to her aged uncle, who died glorifying God: after his death, she lived on many years, praising God, and doing good in humbleness and singleness of heart, and having favour with the people; so that from all the country round they brought the sick, and those who were possessed, and she healed them,—such virtue was in her prayers, although she had been a sinner! Nay, it is written, that even the touch of her garment restored health to the afflicted. At length she died, and the angels carried her spirit out of the shadow and the cloud of sin, into the glory and the joy of heaven.

Although the legend of Mary the Penitent is accepted by the Church, which celebrates her conversion on the 29th of October, effigies of her must be rare; I have never met with any devotional representation of her. A print attributed to Albert Dürer represents the hermit Abraham bringing back his penitent niece to his cell.[324]

In the Louvre are two large landscapes by Philippe de Champagne, which in poetry and grandeur of conception come near to those of Niccolò Poussin; both represent scenes from the life of Mary the Penitent. In the first, amid a wild and rocky landscape, is the cell of Abraham, and Mary, sitting within it, is visited by the young hermit who tempted her to sin: in the second, we have the same wilderness, under another aspect; Mary, in a rude secluded hut, embowered in trees, is visited by pilgrims and votaries, who bring to her on their shoulders and on litters, the sick and the afflicted, to be healed by her prayers. The daughter of Champagne, whom he tenderly loved, was a nun at Port-Royal, and I think it probable that these pictures (like others of his works) were painted for that celebrated convent.

* * * * *

St. Thais, a renowned Greek saint, is another of these ‘_bienheureuses pécheresses_,’ not the same who sat at Alexander’s feast, and fired Persepolis, but a firebrand in her own way. St. Pelagia, called _Pelagia Meretrix_ and _Pelagia Mima_ (for she was also an actress), is another. These I pass over without further notice, because I have never seen nor read of any representation of them in Western Art.

St. Afra, who sealed her conversion with her blood, will be found among the Martyrs.

Poets have sung, and moralists and sages have taught, that for the frail woman there was nothing left but to die; or if more remained for her to suffer, there was at least nothing left for her to be or do: no choice between sackcloth and ashes and the livery of sin. The beatified penitents of the early Christian Church spoke another lesson; spoke divinely of hope for the fallen, hope without self-abasement or defiance. We, in these days, acknowledge no such saints: we have even done our best to dethrone Mary Magdalene; but we have martyrs,—‘by the pang without the palm,’—and _one_ at least among these who has not died without lifting up a voice of eloquent and solemn warning; who has borne her palm on earth, and whose starry crown may be seen on high even now, amid the constellations of Genius.

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FOOTNOTES:

[1] Milman, Hist. of Christianity, iii. 540.

[2] Venice; SS. Giovanni e Paolo.

[3] Siena; San Domenico.

[4] Rome; Vatican.

[5] Dresden Gal.

[6] The Saints who do not appear in these volumes will be found in the ‘Legends of the Monastic Orders.’

[7] ‘Avant le 5me siècle le nimbe chrétien ne se voit pas sur les monuments _authentiques_.’ (Didron, Iconographie, p. 101.)

[8] A metal circle, like a round plate, was fastened on the head of those statues placed in the open air, to defend them from the rain or dust. Some of the ancient glories are very like those plates, but I do not think they are derived from them.

[9] I believe these coloured glories to be symbolical, but am not sure of the application of the colours. Among the miniatures of the _Hortus Deliciarum_, painted in 1180, is a representation of the celestial paradise, in which the virgins, the apostles, the martyrs, and confessors wear the golden nimbus; the prophets and the patriarchs, the white or silver nimbus; the saints who strove with temptation, the red nimbus; those who were married have the nimbus green, while the beatified penitents have theirs of a yellowish white, somewhat shaded. (Didron, Iconographie Chrétienne, p. 168.)

[10] In the example of St. Jerome, a lion may have originally typified any hinderance in the way of study or of duty; in allusion to the text, ‘The slothful man saith, There is a lion by the way.’ Prov. xxvi. 13.

[11] _Vide_ ‘Legends of the Madonna.’

[12] In the Spanish schools the colour of our Saviour’s mantle is generally a deep rich violet.

[13] Bologna Gal.

[14] 2 Sam. xiv. 17.

[15] Gen. xxxii. 1, 2; Ps. ciii. 21; 1 Kings xxii. 19; Job i. 6.

[16] Gen. xxii. 11; Exod. xiv. 19; Num. xx. 16; Gen. xxi. 17; Judg. xiii. 3; 2 Kings i. 3; Ps. xxxiv. 7; Judith xiii. 20.

[17] 2 Sam. xxiv. 16; 2 Kings xix. 35; Gen: xviii. 8; Num. xxii. 31; 1 Chron. xxi. 16; Gen. xix. 13.

[18] Calmet.

[19] Matt. xxvi. 53; Heb. xii. 22; Matt. xxii. 30; Luke xx. 36; Matt. xix. 24; Luke i. 11; Acts v. 19, _et passim_; Luke xv. 10; 1 Peter i. 12; Luke xvi. 22; Heb. i. 14; 1 Cor. xi. 10; Matt. i. 20, xvi. 27, xxv. 31.

[20] Rom. viii. 38; Col. i. 16; Ephes. i. 21.

[21] I know not whether it be necessary to observe here, that in early Art the souls of the blessed are not represented as angels, nor regarded as belonging to this order of spiritual beings, though I believe it is a very common notion that we are to rise from the dead with the angelic attributes as well as the angelic nature. For this belief there is no warrant in Scripture, unless Mark xii. 25 be so interpreted.

[22] Now in the Collection of Prince Wallerstein at Kensington Palace.

[23] Vasari, p. 648. Fl. edit.

[24] I saw in the palace of the Bishop of Norwich an elegant little bas-relief in alabaster, exhibiting the nine choirs, each represented by a single angel. The first (the Seraphim) hold the sacramental cup; the Cherubim, a book; the Thrones, a throne; the Principalities, a bunch of lilies; the Archangels are armed. The other attributes are not clearly made out.

The figures have been ornamented with painting and gilding, now partially worn off, and the style is of the early part of the fifteenth century. It appeared to me to have formed one of the compartments of an altar-piece.

[25] As in the picture in our National Gallery, No. 10.

[26] Vatican: Raphael’s fresco.

[27] _v._ Purg. c. viii.; Par. c. xxxi.; Purg. c. xxiv.

[28] The Cherubim in the upper lights of the painted windows at St. Michael’s, Coventry, and at Cirencester, are represented each standing on a white wheel with eight spokes. They have six wings, of peacocks’ feathers, of a rich yellow colour. A white cross surmounts the forehead, and both arms and legs are covered with short plumage. The extremities are human and bare. At Cirencester the Cherubim hold a book; at Coventry a scroll.

[29] In the sacristy of the Vatican.

[30] In the Louvre.

[31] In the Cathedral at Orvieto.

[32] In the _Frari_ at Venice.

[33] Gen. xviii., xlviii. 16.

[34] Purg. c. viii.

[35] 1 Kings vi. 23.

[36] MS. 10th century. Paris, Bibl. Nationale.

[37] MS. 13th century, Breviaire de St. Louis.

[38] Paris. Bibl. Nat., No. 510. G. MS.

[39] As in the legend of Prometheus. (Plato, Protag. p. 320.)

[40] Sutherland Gallery.

[41] As in Raphael’s fresco in the Vatican.

[42] As in the picture by Allston, painted for Lord Egremont, and now at Petworth.

[43] As in a picture by F. Bol.

[44] See ‘Legends of the Madonna,’ p. 180.

[45] For several curious and interesting particulars relative to these subjects, see the ‘Legends of the Madonna,’ pp. 247, 256.

[46] The picture is, I suspect, not by Poussin, but by Stella. There is another, similar, by Guido; Louvre, 1057.

[47] Ciampini, p. 131, A.D. 394.

[48] Greek MS. A.D. 867.

[49] Paris, Bib. Nat., No. 510.

[50] In the Academy at Florence: they must have formed the side wings to an enthroned Madonna and Child.

[51] Gallery of the Vatican.

[52] S. Maria del Popolo, Rome.

[53] The mosaics in the dome of the Chigi chapel are so ill lighted that it is difficult to observe them in detail, but they have lately been rendered cheaply accessible in the fine set of engravings by Gruner, an artist who in our day has revived the pure and correct design and elegant execution of Marc Antonio.

[54] As in the fresco in the Vatican.

[55] See the engraving under this title by Marc Antonio; it is properly St. Cecilia, and not St. Félicité.

[56] It is now in the Lanti chapel in the church of the Lateran.

[57] Mr. Ruskin remarks very truly, that in early Christian art there is a certain confidence, in the way in which angels trust to their wings, very characteristic of a period of bold and simple conception. Modern science has taught us that a wing cannot be anatomically joined to a shoulder; and in proportion as painters approach more and more to the scientific as distinguished from the contemplative state of mind, they put the wings of their angels on more timidly, and dwell with greater emphasis on the human form with less upon the wings, until these last become a species of decorative appendage, a mere _sign_ of an angel. But in Giotto’s time an angel was a complete creature, as much believed in as a bird, and the way in which it would or might cast itself into the air and lean hither and thither on its plumes, was as naturally apprehended as the manner of flight of a chough or a starling. Hence Dante’s simple and most exquisite synonym for angel, “Bird of God;” and hence also a variety and picturesqueness in the expression of the movements of the heavenly hierarchies by the earlier painters, ill replaced by the powers of foreshortening and throwing naked limbs into fantastic positions, which appear in the cherubic groups of later times.’ The angels from the Campo Santo at Pisa, numbered 12, 21, and 32, are instances of this bird-like form. They are _Uccelli di Dio_. Those numbered 27, 28, and 37 are examples of the later treatment.

[58] A.D. 1352. Florence, S. Maria Novella.

[59] Greek mosaic, A.D. 1174.

[60] MS. of the Book of Revelation, fourteenth century. Trinity College, Dublin.

[61] Coll. of the Duke of Sutherland.

[62] Hôtel de Cluny, 399.

[63] _v._ Il perfetto Legendario. 1659.

[64] The Gnostics taught that the universe was created by the Seven Great Angels, who ranked next to the _Eons_, or direct emanations from God: ‘and when a distribution was afterwards made of things, the chief of the creating angels had the people of the Jews particularly to his share; a doctrine which in the main was received by many ancients.’—See Lardner’s ‘History of the Early Heresies.’ I have alluded to the angel pictured as the agent in creation (p. 39), but the Seven creating Angels I have not met with in art. This was one of the Gnostic fancies condemned by the early Church.

[65] Le Livre des Angeles de Dieu, MS. Paris Bibl. Nat.

[66] Dr. Arnold has some characteristic remarks on the half-human effigies of Satan; he objects to the Miltonic representation:—‘By giving a human likeness, and representing him as a bad man, you necessarily get some image of what is good, as well as of what is bad, for no man is entirely evil.’—‘The hoofs, the horns, the tail, were all useful in this way, as giving you an image of something altogether disgusting; and so Mephistophiles, and the utterly contemptible and hateful character of the Little Master in Sintram, are far more true than the Paradise Lost.’—_Life_, vol. ii.

[67] Vatican MSS., No. 1613, A.D. 989.

[68] A.D. 1365. Eremitani. Padua.

[69] Greek Apocalypse MS. Paris Bibl. Nat.

[70] Siena Acad.

[71] By Marco di Ravenna. Bartsch, xiv. 106.

[72] Brescia. S. Maria delle Grazie.

[73] Milan, Brera.

[74] Boisserée Gallery.

[75] A.D. 1400. Engraved in Lusinio’s ‘Early Florentine Masters.’

[76] Milan. Brera.

[77] Psalter of St. Louis. Bib. de l’Arsenal, Paris.

[78] See ante, p. 111, for the figure of St. Michael.

[79] St. Ephrem, Bib. Orient. tom. i. p. 78. De Beausobre, vol. ii. p. 17.

[80] Didron, Manuel grec., p. 101.

[81] Judges vi. 11.

[82] 2 Sam. xxiv. 16.

[83] Calmet.

[84] De Oratione, cap. xii.

[85] Bottari, Tab. xxii. On the early Christian sarcophagi, as I have already observed, there are no winged angels. In the oft-repeated subject of the ‘Three Children in the burning fiery furnace,’ the fourth figure, when introduced, may represent _a_ son of God,—i.e. an angel; or _the_ Son of God, i.e. Christ, as it has been interpreted in both senses.

[86] Bel and the Dragon, 26.

[87] Bottari, 15, 49, 84.

[88] See ‘Legends of the Madonna.’

[89] ‘The stone on which stood the angel Gabriel when he announced to the most Blessed Virgin the great mystery of the Incarnation,’ is among the relies enumerated as existing in the church of the Santa Croce at Rome.

[90] In Paradise he sings for ever the famous salutation:—

Cantando _Ave Maria gratia plena_
Dinanzi a lei le sue ali distese.

DANTE, _Par._ 32.

[91] See the Ursuline Manual. ‘When an angel anciently appeared to the patriarchs or prophets, he was received with due honour as being exalted above them, both by nature and grace; but when an archangel visited Mary, he was struck with her superior dignity and pre-eminence, and, approaching, saluted her with admiration and respect. Though accustomed to the lustre of the highest heavenly spirits, yet he was dazzled and amazed at the dignity and spiritual glory of her whom he came to salute Mother of God, while the attention of the whole heavenly court was with rapture fixed upon her.’

[92] The Annunciation and the Death of the Virgin, and the office and character of the announcing angel in both subjects, are fully treated and illustrated in the ‘Legends of the Madonna,’ pp. 179, 334.

[93] As in a very curious print by ‘Le Graveur de 1466;’ and there are other instances.

[94] Chants Royaux. Paris Bibl. Nat. MS. No. 6,989.

[95] Mr. Stirling entitles this picture ‘An Angel appearing to a Bishop at his prayers.’

[96] In the church of S. Marziale, Venice.

[97] Passavant’s Rafael, vol. ii. pp. 6, 150.

[98] Madrid Gallery.

[99] Louvre, No. 358.

[100] In our National Gallery.

[101] Rupertus, Commentar. in Apocal. c. 4. Mark xvi. 16.

[102] Fl. Acad.

[103] There is a small and beautiful picture by Giulio Romano in the Belvedere at Vienna, representing the emblems of the Four Evangelists grouped in a picturesque manner, which was probably suggested by Raphael’s celebrated picture, which is in the Pitti palace at Florence.

[104] Grosvenor Gallery.

[105] Dresden Gallery. No. 828.

[106] Paris, Bib. du Roi, No. 510.

[107] A.D. 1377. Eng. in Rossini, pl. 24.

[108] Designed by Titian, and executed by F. Zuccati.

[109] It is so like Giorgione in sentiment and colour that it has been attributed to him. For this expressive votive group, see the frontispiece to vol. ii., and the legends of the four patron saints above mentioned.

[110] Beneath the monument of Nicolò Orsini, in the SS. Giovanni-e-Paolo at Venice. A very remarkable and beautiful picture of this class is in the Berlin Gallery (No. 316). St. Mark, enthroned and holding his gospel open on his knees, is instructing three of the _Procuradori di San Marco_, who kneel before him in their rich crimson dresses, and listen reverently.

[111] Venice Ducal Palace.

[112] Fl. Gal.

[113] Venice Acad.

[114] Brera, Milan.

[115] Brera, Milan.

[116] A.D. 1500. Scuola di S. Marco, Venice.

[117] Fl. Gal.

[118] The _Procuradori_ had the charge of the church and the treasury of St. Mark.

[119] Sanuto, Vite de’ Duci Veneti.

[120] Acad. Venice.

[121] Acad. Venice.

[122] Ibid.

[123] Venice, Ducal Palace.

[124] The little black Virgin of the Monte della Guardia, near Bologna, I saw carried in grand procession through the streets of that city, in May 1847. The following inscription is engraved on a tablet in the church of San Domenico and San Sisto at Rome: ‘Here at the high altar is preserved that image of the most blessed Mary, which, being delineated by St. Luke the Evangelist, received its colours and form divinely. This is that image with which St. Gregory the Great (according to St. Antonine), as a suppliant, purified Rome; and the pestilence being dispelled, the angel messenger of peace, from the summit of the castle of Adrian, commanding the Queen of Heaven to rejoice, restored health to the city.’ A Virgin in the Ara Cœli pretends to the same honour: both these are black and ugly, while that in the S. Maria in Cosmedino is of uncommon dignity and beauty. See ‘Legends of the Madonna,’ Introduction, p. xli.

[125] MS. A.D. 1500. Paris, Bib. Imp.

[126] F. Rizi. A.D. 1660.

[127] As in the Missal of Henry VIII. Bodleian, Oxford.

[128] Both among the fine lithographs of the Boisserée Gallery. (_v._ Nos. 5, 15, 25.)

[129] Acad. Bologna.

[130] Musée, Marseilles.

[131] Leigh Court, Gal. of Mr. Miles.

[132] Petersburg, Gal. of Prince Narishken. Eng. by Müller.

[133] Munich Gal.

[134] Westmin. Abbey.

[135] Rome, S. Maria-sopra-Minerva.

[136] _v._ ‘Legends of the Madonna.’

[137] Brera, Milan.

[138] We find among the relics exhibited on great occasions in the church of the S. Croce at Rome ‘the cup in which St. John, the apostle and evangelist, by command of Domitian the emperor, drank poison without receiving any injury; which afterwards being tasted by his attendants, on the instant they fell dead.’

[139] Vatican MSS., tenth century.

[140] MSS., ninth century. Paris Nat. Library.

[141] Vatican, Christian Museum.

[142] Johannis Brompton Cronicon, 955.

[143] Dart’s Hist. of Westminster.

[144] _v._ Legend of St. Edward the Confessor in the ‘Legends of the Monastic Orders,’ p. 99.

[145] Rome. S. M. in Trastevere. S. Prassede. S. Clemente. S. Cecilia.

[146] Bottari, Tab. xxviii.

[147] The churches in the eastern provinces of France, particularly in Champagne, exhibit marked traces of the influence of Greek Art in the eleventh and twelfth centuries.

[148] A.D. 451. Ciampini, Vet. Mon. p. 1, c. iv.

[149] Matt. xix. 28; and Luke xxii. 30.

[150] I must refer the reader to Mr. Cockerell’s illustrations and restorations of the rich and multifarious and significant sculpture of Wells Cathedral.

[151] Luke xxii. 30.

[152] Venice Acad., fourteenth century.

[153] Rosini, vol. iii. p. 75.

[154] Convent of Chilandari, Mount Athos.

[155] Vatican, Sala del Pozzo.

[156] Vatican.

[157] Greek MS., ninth century. Paris, Bibl. du Roi, No. 510.

[158] A set of martyrdoms is in the Frankfort Museum; another is mentioned in Bartsch, viii. 22.

[159] Eusebius says that _all_ the Apostles suffered martyrdom; but this is not borne out by any ancient testimony.—_Lardner’s Cred. of Gospel Hist._ vol. viii. p. 81.

[160] They were fortunately engraved for D’Agincourt’s _Histoire de l’Art_, before they were destroyed by fire.

[161] St. Guthlac’s Book. Ethelwold’s Benedictional.

[162] As in the mosaic on the tomb of Otho II. (Lateran Mus.).

[163] Bottari, Tab. xxv.

[164] One of the finest I have ever seen is the ‘Saint Pierre au Donateur,’ by Gaudenzio Ferrari; holding his keys (both of gold), he presents a kneeling votary, a man of middle age, who probably bore his name. The head of St. Peter is very characteristic, and has an energetic pleading expression, almost _demanding_ what he requires for his votary. The whole picture is extremely fine. (_Turin Gallery_, No. 19.)

[165] Milan, Brera (No. 189).

[166] What St. Clement says is to this purpose: that St. Peter’s hearers at Rome were desirous of having his sermons writ down for their use; that they made their request to Mark to leave them a written memorial of the doctrine they had received by word of mouth; that they did not desist from their entreaties till they had prevailed upon him; and St. Peter confirmed that writing by his authority, that it might be read in the churches.’—LARDNER, _Cred._, vol. i. p. 250.

[167] Fl. Gal.

[168] Brera, Milan.

[169] Gian Bellini: Venice. S. M. de’ Frari.

[170] Vienna Gal.

[171] Bartsch, vi. 92.

[172] ‘Le Christ à la Colonne.’ _Louvre_, No. 550.

[173] Tab. xxi.

[174] Hampton Court.

[175] Madrid Gal., No. 114.

[176] Bridgewater Gal.

[177] Cathedral at Malines.

[178] Gal. of the Hague.

[179] This picture, formerly in the Brera, is now in England, in the gallery of Lord Ward. It is the finest and most characteristic specimen of the master I have ever seen.

[180] It is signed MẼDULAÉ, and attributed to Giulio della Mendula; a painter (except through this picture) unknown to me.

[181] Brancacci Chapel, Florence.

[182] Berlin Gal., No. 313.

[183] Louvre, No. 685.

[184] As in the Greek mosaics in the Cathedral of Monreale, near Palermo.

[185] Several such pictures are in the royal collections at Windsor and Hampton Court.

[186] Moore makes a characteristic remark on this fresco; he is _amazed_ at the self-denial of the painter who could cross this fine group with the black iron bars which represent the prison.

[187] Some Protestant writers have set aside St. Peter’s ministry at Rome, as altogether apocryphal; but Gieseler, an author by no means credulous, considers that the historical evidence is in favour of the tradition (_v._ Text-book of Eccles. Hist. p. 53). This is the more satisfactory because, even to Protestants, it is not agreeable to be at Rome and to be obliged to reject certain associations which add to the poetical, as well as to the religious, interest of the place.

[188] He represented her as a resuscitation of the famous Helen of Troy, which is said to have suggested to Goethe the resuscitation of Helena in the second part of ‘Faust.’

[189] MS., Vatican, No. 6409. 10th century.

[190] In the sacristy of the Vatican.

[191] In the Brancacci Chapel at Florence.

[192] In the Gallery of the Vatican.

[193] Vatican. Capella Paolina.

[194] _v._ Il perfetto Legendario.

[195] There was an oratory in the church of the Franciscans at Varallo, in which they celebrated a yearly festival in honour of St. Petronilla. While Gaudenzio Ferrari was painting there the series of frescoes in the chapel of the crucifixion on the Sacro Monte, he promised to paint for the festival an effigy of the saint. The eve of the day arrived, and still it was not begun: the people murmured, and reproached him, which he affected to treat jestingly; but he arose in the night, and with no other light than the beams of the full moon, executed a charming figure of St. Petronilla, which still exists. She stands holding a book, a white veil over her head, and a yellow mantle falling in rich folds: she has no distinctive emblem. ‘Gaudenzio, che in una bella notte d’estate dipinse fra ruvide muraglie una Santa tutta grazia e pudore mentre un pallido raggio di luna sbucato dalla frondosa chioma d’albero dolcemente gl’irradia la fronte calva e la barba rossiccia, presenta un non so che di ideale e di romanzesco che veramente rapisce.’—Opere di Gaudenzio Ferrari, No. 21. (Maggi, Turin. It is to be regretted that in this valuable work neither the pages nor the plates are numbered.)

[196] Second or third century. Bosio, p. 519.

[197] _v._ Münter’s Sinnbilder, p. 35.

[198] _v._ Zani. Enc. delle Belle Arti.

[199] In the gallery of Mr. Miles, at Leigh Court.

[200] Those who consult the engravings by Santi Bartoli and Landon must bear in mind that almost all the references are erroneous. See Passavant’s ‘Rafael,’ ii. 245.

[201] The clergy who permitted Sir James Thornhill to paint the cupola of St. Paul’s with Scripture scenes, refused to admit any other paintings into the church. Perhaps they were justified; but not by the plea of Bishop Terrick—the fear of idolatry.

[202] This series, the most important work of the painter, Hans Schaufelein, is not mentioned in Kugler’s Handbook. It is engraved in outline in the ‘New Florence Gallery,’ published in 1837.

[203] ‘St. Paul prevents his jailor from killing himself’ (Acts xvi.) has been lately painted by Claude Hallé, and is now in the Louvre. (École française, No. 283.)

[204] In the Dresden Gal., No. 821.

[205] Bartsch, vii. 79.

[206] Théologie des Peintres.

[207] In several ancient pictures and bas-reliefs the cross has the usual form, but he is not nailed—always bound with cords, as in the ancient bas-relief over the portal of his church at Vercelli.

[208] Gallery of the Vatican.

[209] Munich, 363.

[210] In the collection of Mr. Miles at Leigh Court.

[211] Hermogenes was the name of a famous Gnostic teacher and philosopher; thence, I suppose, adopted into this legend.

[212] _v._ Southey, ‘Pilgrim of Compostella.’

[213] Passavant’s Rafael, I. 508.

[214] Duomo, Siena.

[215] Belvedere, Vienna.

[216] Venice Acad.

[217] Rome, S. Maria-in-Trastevere. A.D. 1397.

[218] Stirling’s ‘Artists of Spain,’ ii. p. 753.

[219] Legenda Aurea.

[220] Gallery of Antwerp.

[221] Passavant’s Rafael, II. 116.

[222] Eng. by Audran.

[223] Gal. Vatican.

[224] Fl. Acad.

[225] Fl. Gal.

[226] Florence, Casa Ruccellai.

[227] The romantic Legend of the _sacratissima cintola_, ‘the most sacred girdle of the Virgin,’ is given at length in the ‘Legends of the Madonna,’ p. 344.

[228] ‘Very soon after the Lord was risen, he went to James, and showed himself to him. For James had solemnly sworn that he would eat no bread from the time that he had drunk the cup of the Lord till he should see him risen from among them that sleep. “Bring,” saith the Lord, “a table and bread.” He took bread, and blessed and brake it, and then gave it to James the Just, and said to him, “My brother, eat thy bread; for the Son of man is risen from among them that sleep.”’—St. Jerome, as quoted in Lardner, _Lives of the Apostles_, chap. xvi.

[229] Matt. xiii. 55; Mark xv. 40.

[230] Fl. Gal.

[231] Fl. Acad.

[232] See Ford’s ‘Handbook of Spain;’ also Goethe’s ‘Theory of Colours,’ translated by Sir C. Eastlake. ‘When a yellow colour is communicated to dull and coarse surfaces, such as common cloth, felt, or the like, on which it does not appear with full energy, the disagreeable effect alluded to is apparent. By a slight and scarcely perceptible change, the beautiful impression of fire and gold is transformed into one not undeserving the epithet foul, and the colour of honour and joy reversed to that of ignominy and aversion. To this impression, the yellow hats of bankrupts, and the yellow circles on the mantles of Jews, may have owed their origin.’ (P. 308.)

[233] Fl. Gal.

[234] Manfrini P., Venice.

[235] Fl. Acad.

[236] In the gallery of Lord Charlemont, Dublin.

[237] MS., No. 7206. Bib. du Roi.

[238] Florence, S. Maria Novella. It is clear that the extravagant legends which refer to Judas Iscariot were the inventions of the middle ages, and are as little countenanced by the writings of the early fathers as by the Gospels. Eusebius says, that ‘Christ gave like gifts to Judas with the other apostles; that once our Saviour had good hopes of him on account of the power of the free will, for Judas was not of such a nature as rendered his salvation impossible; like the other apostles, he might have been instructed by the Son of God, and might have been a sincere and good disciple.’ (Quoted in Lardner, vol. viii. p. 77.) The Mahometans believe that Christ did not die, that he ascended alive into heaven, and that Judas was crucified in his likeness. (Curzon, p. 185.)

[239] The Greek expression, ‘leaning on his bosom, or on his lap,’ is not, I believe, to be taken literally, being used to signify an intimate and affectionate intercourse.

[240] Florence Acad.

[241] In the series of compositions from the life of Christ, now in the Academy at Florence; beautifully and faithfully engraved by P. Nocchi.

[242] This is also observable in the Last Supper by Nicolò Petri in the San Francesco at Pisa.

[243] For a signal example, see Stirling’s ‘Artists of Spain,’ p. 493.

[244] For some remarks on the subject of the Pentecost, _v._ ‘Legends of the Madonna,’ p. 325.

[245] Acad. Venice. Giovanni ed Antonio da Murano. 1440.

[246] As I have frequent occasion to refer to pictures painted for the _Scuole_ of Venice, it may be as well to observe that the word _scuola_, which we translate _school_, is not a place of education, but a confraternity for charitable purposes,—visiting the sick, providing hospitals, adopting orphans, redeeming prisoners and captives, &c. In the days of the republic these schools were richly supported and endowed, and the halls, churches, and chapels attached to them were often galleries of art: such were the schools of St. Mark, St. Ursula, St. Roch, the Carità and others. Unhappily, they exist no longer; the French seized on their funds, and Austria does not like confraternities of any kind. The Scuola della Carità is now the Academy of Arts.

[247] Acad. Venice. Gio. da Udine.

[248] Frankfort Museum.

[249] We missed the opportunity, now never more to be recalled, of obtaining this admirable picture when it was sold out of the Fesch collection.

[250] I believe the figure called St. Bonaventura, to represent St. Jerome, because, in accordance with the usual scheme of ecclesiastical decoration, the greatest of the four Latin Fathers would take the first place, and the cardinal’s hat and the long flowing beard are his proper attribute; whereas there is no example of a St. Bonaventura with a beard, or wearing the monastic habit without the Franciscan cord. The Arundel Society have engraved this fine figure under the name of St. Bonaventura.

[251] Dresden Gal.

[252] Imp. Gal., St. Petersburg.

[253] Vienna Gal.

[254] In the catalogue, St. Cunegunda is styled _St. Elizabeth Queen of Hungary_, and St. Elizabeth of Hungary is styled _St. Elizabeth Queen of Portugal_.

[255] Irish Bishop of Würtzburg, and Patron, A.D. 689.

[256] ‘In this picture we recognise the master to whom Albert Dürer was indebted for his education; indeed, Wohlgemuth here surpasses his great scholar in the expression of gentleness and simplicity, particularly in the heads of some of the female saints.’—_Handbook of Painting: German, Flemish, and Dutch Schools_, p. 111.

[257] Florence, Ogni Santi.

[258] Bologna, S. Maria Maggiore.

[259] The picture, originally at Naples, was purchased or appropriated by Philip IV. for the Church of the Escurial, which belonged to the Jeronymites.

[260] Milan, Brera.

[261] Collection of Lord Ward.

[262] Louvre, Sp. Gal.

[263] P. Pitti, Florence.

[264] Lichtenstein Gal.

[265] Kugler pronounces this to be a Flemish picture (_v._ ‘Handbook,’ p. 190).

[266] The three frescoes by Carpaccio are in the Church of San Giorgio de’ Schiavoni at Venice.

[267] It was in the Standish Gal. in the Louvre.

[268] Engraved by Loli.

[269] Wolvinus, A.D. 832. ‘His name seems to indicate that he was of Teutonic race—a circumstance which has excited much controversy amongst the modern Italian antiquaries.’—_Murray’s Handbook._

[270] Belvedere Gal., Vienna.

[271] Paris, Invalides.

[272] SS. Giovan e Paolo, Venice.

[273] Brera, Milan.

[274] Fl. Gal.

[275] Pitti Pal. This fine picture was painted for the Agostini.

[276] Brera, Milan.

[277] Berlin Gal.

[278] Acad., Venice.

[279] Vatican, Christian Museum.

[280] Cremona.

[281] Belvedere, Vienna.

[282] _v._ ‘Legends of the Monastic Orders,’ p. 191.

[283] I believe this picture was afterwards in the possession of Mr. Dennistoun, of Dennistoun. Mr. Stirling mentions it as a fine specimen of Murillo’s second style.

[284] Once in Lord Methuen’s Gallery at Corsham.

[285] It was in the possession of Her Majesty the Ex-Queen of the French, who paid for it 25,000f.

[286] There is a duplicate in the Bridgewater Gallery.

[287] Sutherland Gal.

[288] Vicenza. S. Maria del Monte.

[289] Bartsch, _Le Peintre Graveur_, vii. 264.

[290] For an account of St. Nilus, and the foundation of Grotta Ferrata, see the ‘Legends of the Monastic Orders.’

[291] According to Sansovino, begun by Giorgione and finished by Sebastian.

[292] Dante, _Inf._ c. xi.

[293] The Greek word _Papa_, here translated _der Papst_ (the Pope), betrays the Eastern origin of the story. It is the general title of the Greek priesthood, and means simply a priest, elevated in the German legend into ‘the Pope.’

[294] Koburgher, ‘Legendensammlung,’ 1488, p. 325. Heller’s ‘Leben und Werke Albrecht Dürer’s,’ p. 440.

[295] Sutherland Gal.

[296] ‘_La Messe de saint Basile._’ Louvre, École française, No. 508.

[297] ‘Pour vous ramener à des idées plus favorables à la Madeleine, vous transportant au temps et aux circonstances où vécut cette célèbre Israélite, je pourrais vous dire, MESSIEURS, que l’antiquité, ne jugeant pas équitable d’exiger plus de vertu du sexe réputé pour le plus faible, ne croyait pas les femmes déshonorées de ce qui ne déshonorait pas les hommes à ses yeux; qu’elle a d’ailleurs toujours été bien moins sévère à des sentiments qui, naissant avec nous, lui paraissaient une partie de nous-mêmes, et qu’elle n’attacha jamais aucune idée flétrissante aux suites d’une passion qu’elle trouvait presque aussi pardonnable que naturelle. Les grâces de la beauté étaient alors regardées comme les autres talents; et l’art de plaire, aussi autorisé que les autres arts, loin d’inspirer de l’éloignement,’ &c.

After describing, in glowing terms, her splendid position in the world, her illustrious rank, her understanding, ‘_droit, solide, et délicat_,’ her ‘_grâce_,’ her ‘_esprit_,’ her wondrous beauty, particularly her superb hair, ‘_cultivé avec tant de soin, arrangé avec tant d’art_;’—and lamenting that a creature thus nobly gifted should have been cast away upon the same rock which had shipwrecked the greatest, the most illustrious, of her _compatriotes, ‘le fort Samson, le preux David, le sage Salomon_;’ he goes on to describe, with real eloquence, and in a less offensive strain of panegyric, her devotion at the foot of the cross, her pious visit to the tomb by break of day, braving the fury of the guards, the cruelty of the Jews, and taking the place of the apostles, who were dispersed or fled. And thus he winds up with a moral, most extraordinary when we recollect that it was preached from a pulpit by a grave doctor in theology:—

‘Jeunes personnes qui vivez encore dans l’innocence! apprenez donc de la Madeleine combien grands sont les périls de la jeunesse, de la beauté, de tous les dons purement naturels; souvenez-vous que le désir excessif de plaire est toujours dangereux, rarement innocent, et qu’il est bien difficile de donner beaucoup de sentiments, sans en prendre soi-même. A la vue des faiblesses de la jeune Israélite, comprenez de quelle importance est, pour vous, la garde de votre cœur; et à quels désordres il vous expose, si vous ne vous accoutumez à le contrarier sans cesse, en tous ses penchants.

‘Femmes mondaines, et peut-être voluptueuses! apprenez de la Madeleine à revenir de vos écarts; ils ont été, dans vous, le fruit de la faiblesse humaine; que votre retour soit le fruit de votre correspondance à la grâce. Et pourriez-vous ou vous proposer un modèle plus digne d’être suivi que celui que vous présente Madeleine, ou trouver ailleurs un motif plus puissant de le suivre?

‘Et vous qui, fières d’une réserve que vous ne devez peut-être qu’à votre insensibilité, vous en faites un rempart, à l’abri duquel vous croyez pouvoir mépriser toute la terre, et dont la mondanité de Madeleine elle-même a peut-être scandalisé la précieuse vertu! femmes plus vaines que sages! apprenez de notre Sainte, qu’il n’y a que la grâce de Dieu et une attention continuelle sur nous-mêmes qui puissent nous aider constamment contre la pente qui nous précipite vers le mal; et craignez qu’on ne puisse vous dire, à son sujet, ce quo Saint Augustin disait à une dévote de votre caractère, pleine d’elle-même et médisante: “Plût à Dieu que vous eussiez donné dans les mêmes excès dont vous croyez si volontiers les autres capables! vous seriez moins éloignée du royaume de Dieu; du moins vous auriez de l’humanité!”’

Le Brun’s Magdalene is just the Magdalene described by this preacher: both one and the other are as like the Magdalene of Scripture as Leo X. was like St. Peter.

[298] The original Latin distich runs thus:—

Ne desperetis vos qui peccare soletis,
Exemploque meo vos reparate Deo.

[299] It was in the Standish Gallery belonging to Louis-Philippe, and now dispersed.

[300] There is a beautiful half-length female figure, attributed to Correggio, and engraved under the title of ‘Gismunda’ weeping over the heart of her lover, in the collection of the Duke of Newcastle. The duplicate in the Belvedere Gallery at Vienna is there styled a Magdalene, and attributed correctly to Francesco Furini.

[301] Lichtenstein Gal.

[302] These two pictures were sold out of the Louvre with King Louis-Philippe’s pictures.

[303] Turin Gallery.

[304] Munich Gallery, No. 266. There is an inferior repetition in the Royal Gallery at Turin.

[305] The great picture formerly in the Durazzo Palace is now in the Royal Gallery at Turin. It is wonderful for life and colour, and dramatic feeling—a masterpiece of the painter in his characteristic style.

[306] Bottari, Tab. xxx.

[307] Santa Croce, Florence.

[308] This beautiful and valuable picture has been bequeathed by the poet to the National Gallery.

[309] The print by Edelinck is considered as the masterpiece of that celebrated engraver.

[310] Dresden Gal.

[311] See p. 379, _note_.

[312] There are about 150 churches in England dedicated in honour of Mary Magdalene.