Chapter III: 282 (3)

[566] Burgon. Bosio.
History of Jonas 23 11
The Smitten Rock 21 16
Apprehension of Peter 20 14
Miracle of the Loaves 20 14
Giving Sight to the Blind 19 11
Change of Water into Wine 16 8
Raising of Lazarus 16 14
Peter’s Denial 14 8
Daniel in the Lions’ Den 14 7
Paralytic Healed 12 7
Creation of Eve 11 2
Sacrifice of Isaac 11 9
Adoration of the Magi 11 8
Fall of Adam and Eve 14 10
Woman with Issue of Blood 8 9
Christ’s Entry into Jerusalem 6 8
The Good Shepherd 6 9
Noah in the Ark 5 6
Christ before Pilate 5 6
Giving of the Law 4 6
The Three Hebrew Children 4 3
Moses Taking Off his Shoes 2 2
Elias Taken Up to Heaven 2 3
Nativity, with Ox and Ass 1 4
Christ Crowned with Thorns 1 1

It will be seen that there is only one example of Christ crowned
with thorns, and in that the harshness is removed by the
substitution of a garland of flowers. How different from modern
Roman Catholic art, in which the scenes of the passion are
endlessly repeated! In pagan sarcophagi we find, instead of these
sacred themes, crowded battle-pieces, with processions of
warriors, chariots, horses, maskers, mythological groups, vintage
scenes, etc. See the sarcophagi of the Empress Helena and of
Constantia in the Vatican Museum, and before described.

[567] In ecclesia nullatenus sepeliantur, sed in atrio, aut
porticu, aut in exedris ecclesiæ.--_Council of Nantes_, can. 6.

[568] Chrys., _Hom._ 26, _in_ 2 _Cor._

[569] Numerous Christian sarcophagi have also been found at
Arles, Saragossa, Ravenna, Milan, and elsewhere.

The name sarcophagus, _flesh-eating_, from σάρξ and φάγω, it is
well known, was derived from the supposed quality of the _Lapis
Assius_, a stone of Assos in Asia Minor of which they were
originally made, of corroding and consuming dead bodies, as
ascribed to it by Theophrastus and Pliny.

[570] See especially Figs. 47, 48, 63, 91, 92, 96, 97, and postea
106.

[571] _Christian Art_, vol. i, p. 42.

[572] Τὸν ἀειδῆ καὶ ἄτιμον φανέντα.--_Dial. cum Tryph._, 85.

[573] Adeo nec humanæ honestatis corpus fuit, nedum coelestis
claritatis.--_De Carn. Christi._, c. 9.

[574] Sed species ejus inhonorata, deficiens ultra omnes
homines.--_Contra Marc._, iii, 17.

[575] Si inglorius, si ignobilis, si inhonorabilis; meus erit
Christus.--_Ibid._

[576] Ἀλλὰ τὸ εἶδος αὐτοῦ ἄτιμον ἔκλιπον παρὰ πάντας τοὺς υἱοὺς
τῶν ἀνθρώπων.--_De Nudatione Noe_, lib. ii, vol. i, p. 13.

[577] Nisi enim habuisset et in vultu quiddam et in oculis
sidereum, nunquam eum statim secuti fuissent apostoli.--_Epis. ad
Princip. Virginem._

[578] Certe fulgor ipsa et majestas divinitatis occultæ, quæ
etiam in humanâ facie relucebat, ex primo ad se venientes trahere
poterat aspectu.--_Hieronym. in Matth._, ix, 9.

[579] Qua fuerit ille facie nos penitus ignoramus: nam et ipsius
Dominicæ facies carnis innumerabilium cogitationum diversitate
variatur et fingitur, quæ tamen una erat, quæcunque erat.--_De
Trin._, lib. vii, c. 4, 5.

[580] _Tableau des Catacombes_, p. 164.

[581] _Rom. Sott._, p. 252.

[582] _Hist. Eccl._, vii, 18. From this frequent association
St. Paul as well as St. Peter was frequently regarded as being
both among the original disciples. “Justly do they deserve to
err,” says Augustine, speaking of this mistake, “who seek Christ
and his apostles, not in the holy volumes, but on painted
walls.”--_De Consens. Evang._, lib. i, cx.

[583] This statue, it has been suggested, probably represented
the philosopher Apollonius or the Emperor Vespasian, and the
suppliant female figure a personified city or province. Gibbon
thinks it impossible that it could be intended for the _poor_
woman mentioned in the gospel. Eusebius mentions the belief as a
mere popular tradition. “_They say_ that this statue bears the
likeness of Jesus”--Τοῦτον δὲ τὸν ἀνδριάντα εἰκόνα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ
φέρειν ἔλεγον.--_Hist. Eccl._, viii, 18.

[584] Iren., _adv. Hæres._, i, 25. Aug., _De Hærisib._, c. viii.
The Emperor Alex. Severus, we have seen, had one of these images
of Christ in his _Lararium_, with those of Abraham and
Orpheus.--Æl. Lamprid. _in Vit. Alex. Sev._, c. 29.

[585] Conspectus vultus ejus cum severitate et plenus efficacia,
ut spectatores amare eum possint et rursus timere.... In
reprehendendo et objurgando formidabilis; in docendo et
exhortando blandæ linguæ et amabilis. Gratia miranda vultus cum
gravitate. Vel semel eum ridentem nemo vidit sed flentem
imo.--Fabricius, _Codex. Apoc. Nov. Teste._, 1e., pars. 301.

Père Mabillon tells us that one of Christ’s tears has been
preserved and peculiarly honoured at Vendôme.

John Damascenus, in the eighth century, records the legend of a
miraculous contemporary portrait of Christ which healed Agbarus,
King of Edessa, of a mortal disease. It was till recently
honoured in the church of St. Silvester at Rome.

The miraculous image known as the Veronica is claimed to be the
actual impression of the Saviour’s features made on the veil or
handkerchief of a devout Jewess, who piously wiped his brow as he
toiled along the way to Calvary. This image she brought to Rome,
where it cured Tiberius Cæsar of the leprosy, and was afterwards
presented to the Emperor Charlemagne. It is now publicly
worshipped in St. Peter’s with the utmost devotion and splendor.
The name is probably derived from the label _vera icon_ or
_icona_--a true image--commonly attached to pictures of Our
Lord. It was also given to the pious Jewess, who is identified as
the niece of Herod. A colossal statue of St. Veronica adorns St.
Peter’s fane, and the event is celebrated in sacred art and pious
verse. The following, from a MS. in St. George’s Library,
Windsor, is a favourable specimen of the latter:

Salve, Sancta facies
Mei Redemptoris,
In qua nitet species
Divini splendoris.
Impressa panniculo
Nivei candoris,
Dataque Veronicæ,
Signum ob Amoris.

Of equally apocryphal character are the _Volto Santo_, exhibited
during Holy Week at St. Peter’s, and the portraits attributed to
Nicodemus, Pilate, St. Luke, or to celestial artists. One of the
_Acheiropoietes_, or pictures made without hands, almost
blackened with age, and of the Byzantine type, is thrice a year
exhibited at the Lateran palace at Rome.

[586] Clem. Alex., _Strom._, v.

[587] _Sacred Art in Italy_, p. 212. The Mosaics of this century
in the adoration of the Magi at S. Maria Maggiore, before
mentioned, is the earliest example of the appearance in art of
the figures of angels, those sublime creations that glorify the
canvas of the artists of the Renaissance. The winged genii in the
Catacombs are rather an imitation of classic types than of a
Christian significance.

The symbols of the four evangelists--the angel, lion, ox, and
eagle--are unknown in the Catacombs, and first appear in the
fourth century. Sometimes these symbols have reference to the
four historic aspects of redemption through Christ--the
Incarnation, Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension, as explained
in the following monkish rhyme:

Quatuor haec Dominum signant animalia Christum:
Est homo nascendo, Vitulusque sacer moriendo,
Et Leo surgendo, coelos Aquilaque petendo.

[588] Psa. xcvii, 3.

[589] In the austere drama of Dante Christ receives the title of
Sovereign Jove:
O summo Giove,
Che fosti ’n terra per noi crocifisso.--_Purgat._, canto vi.

In Mediæval art Christ is frequently modeled after the pagan
_Jupiter Tonans_.

[590] In some quaint French verses accompanying one of these
pictures Our Lord, in giving an account of his journey, in
characteristic accord with the erroneous theology of the times,
is made to intimate that he would fain have avoided the unwelcome
task:

“Père,” dist Jhésus, “retourné
Suis á toy, et ai consummé
Ce que faire me commandas
Quant jus ou monde m’envoyas,
_Dont bien je m’en feusse passé_.”
--_Romant des Trois Pélerinages_, A. D. 1358.

[591] Tale simulacrum nefas est Christiano in templo collocare,
multo magis is corde nefarium est.--_De Fide et Symbolo_, c. 7.

[592] Nefas habent docti ejus (ecclesiæ Catholicæ) credere Deum
figurâ humani corporis terminatum.--_Confess._, vi, 11. See also
Orig. _Cont. Cels._, 6, and Ambr. in Psa. cxviii.

[593] Pleno coruscat Trinitas mysterio;
Stat Christus in agno; vox Patris coelo tonat;
Et per columbam Spiritus Sanctus fluit.

See a valuable note on the doctrine of a Trinity in Classic and
Hindoo mythology in Whedon’s Commentary, vol. ii, p. 77.

[594] Greg. II., Ep. i, _ad Leon._

[595] Act 4. Concil. Nicen., 2.

[596] Παραφροσύνης ἄκρας καὶ ἀσεβείας τὸ σχηματίζειν τὸ
θεῖον. κ. τ. λ.--_De Fide Orthodox._, l. iv, c. 17.

Dei qui est incorporeus, invisibilis, a materia remotissimus,
figuræ expers, incircumscriptus, et incomprehensibilis, imago
nulla fieri potest.... In errore quidem versaremur ... impie
rursum ageremus ... si vel invisibilis Dei conficeremus
imaginem.--_Orat. 1 et 2 de Imaginibus._

[597] Les défenseurs les plus zelés des images ayant condamné
celles-ci _i. e._, de la Trinité ou de la Divinité.--Dupin:
_Bibli. Eccles._, t. vi, p. 154.

[598] _Orig. Eccles._, bk. vi, chap. viii, § 10.

[599] Northcote’s _Catacombs_, p. 116.

[600] _Rom. Sott._, p. 300.

[601] _Ibid._, 301.

[602] _Dissertazioni Archeologiche di Raffaelle Garrucci_, (Roma,
4to., 1865,) vol. ii, p. 1.

[603] Dr. Northcote describes a bearded figure standing behind
the chair of Mary as a representation of the Holy Ghost. Surely
the more natural interpretation is that it is intended for Joseph.

[604] Ezekiel speaks of the manifestation of God by a “hand sent
unto him.” Ezek. ii, 9. The inspiration of Isaiah, and the divine
judgments inflicted on Ananias and Sapphira, are thus indicated.
In a Greek painting at Salamis, executed as late as the
eighteenth century, the souls of the righteous in a state of
beatitude are represented by five infant figures held in a
gigantic hand projecting from the clouds.

[605] _Discours Sur les Anciens Monumens_, pp. 43, 46. The
instance he refers to occurs in a Latin Bible presented to
Charles the Bold in A. D. 850. The interpretation, however, is
not certain.

[606] _Iconog. Chrét._, pp. 55, 205.

[607] In a Greek painting of as late date as the twelfth or
thirteenth century, Christ, indicated by the letters |IC XC|, is
represented as stretching out his hand over a prostrate figure
labeled ΑΔΑΜ Ο ΠΡΩΤΟΠΛΑϹΤΟϹ--“Adam, the first-born,” or rather
“the first-formed.”

[608] In one of these a winged head with cruciform nimbus,
surrounded by a chaos of stars and planets, utters the word FIAT,
and the earth with its inhabitants are called into being.

[609] In France the Supreme Being was generally represented as
King, in Germany as Emperor, and in Italy as Pope.

[610] As in an example at the Madeleine at Paris.

[611] We have seen a picture of the creation in which the
Almighty was represented as a feeble old man dressed in
ecclesiastical robes, _with a lantern in his hand_.

[612] See a fresco by Andrea del Sarto at St. Salvi, Florence,
two of the fifteenth century at Perugia, and an engraving in a
copy of Dante printed at Florence in A. D. 1491. In an example
given in Ames’ Typography, a triangular jewel is appended to the
three-faced head, the inscription on which attempts to explain
mathematically the mysterious doctrine of the unity in trinity.
This mystery was also symbolized by the shape of some of the
ancient monasteries, by the number of their cloistered inmates,
by the genuflections of the service and the parts of the liturgy;
and even the bell and

“The rope with its twisted cordage three
Denoted the scriptural Trinity.”

Sometimes the Holy Spirit is represented by a dove proceeding
from the mouths of the Father and the Son, or even nailed to the
cross with Christ.

[613] See on the carved stalls of the Amiens Cathedral, and at
Vierrières in the Department de l’Aube, both of the sixteenth
century.