For All the Saints: A Post to Close All Hallowstide

This past Thursday, November 1, many Christians celebrated All Saints Day, also called the Feast of All Saints or All Hallows Day. It’s been one of my favorite holy days since I attended an All Saints Day chapel service many years ago where I first sang For all the Saints Who from Their Labors Rest (Hymn 463 in the Lutheran Hymnal) with rousing accompaniment by the trumpets and tympani in my Lutheran high school’s band. I see now that the hymn’s fourth verse nicely summarizes the Protestant perspective on saints. It stresses solidarity over hierarchy:

O blest communion, fellowship divine; we feebly struggle, they in glory shine; yet all are one in Thee, for all are thine. Alleluia! Alleluia!

For Lutherans and other Protestants, the main point is that all believers belong to a mystical communion of saints. Thus, the Feast of All Saints becomes a day to remember Christians past and present—Saints with a “big S” like Paul and John and those with a “little s” like mom, dad and my Sunday school teacher. I think that All Saints Day appeals to me because it’s a time to reflect on the unseen connections between the living and dead, and those near and far. It reminds me that I’m part of a big picture that looks a bit like a Diego Rivera mural where the lines between past and present poignantly blur.

In this post, after a brief overview of All Saints Day’s origins, I’ll present images of several saints in a decidedly un-Lutheran like way. Using categories in a Roman Catholic prayer called the Litany of Saints, I’ll offer background and photos on one or two saints who exemplify each group. The ancient prayer is significant for its beauty and because many Roman Catholic congregations sing or recite it on All Saints Day and at the Easter vigil. A lector invokes dozens of saints’ names and after each is spoken or sung, the congregation responds, “Pray for us” (Ora pro nobis in Latin). The categories are:

Mary and the Angels
Patriarchs and Prophets
Apostles and Disciples
Martyrs
Bishops and Doctors of the Church
Priests and Members of Religious Orders
Lay Members

Origins of All Saints Day Denominations in the Western church celebrate the holiday on November 1 while Eastern rite churches do so on the first Sunday after Pentecost. The common theme among denominations is a desire to honor all saints, known and unknown, whose souls abide after earthly life with God. The liturgical practice of commemorating saints’ lives extends to the early days of Christianity when local communities recalled the martyrs on the anniversaries of their deaths. Some speculate that the need for a day of remembrance for all martyrs—the saints in early usage—arose during the Diocletian persecutions of the early 300’s (photo 1, below) when so many Christians died that each could not have his or her own memorial day. Scholars trace the first reference to a common saints’ day to a Syrian Christian community in the late 300’s.

2. Head of a Togate Statue of Emperor Diocletian (ca. 300), J. Paul Getty Musuem, Villa Collection, Malibu, CA

Two centuries later, on May 13, 609 or 610, Pope Boniface IV dedicated the Pantheon in Rome as a church in honor of Mary and all martyrs, naming it the church of Santa Maria del Martiri. Workers reportedly removed 28 cartloads of human remains from the catacombs where Christians buried their dead, and placed them beneath the converted church’s high altar as relics of the holy martyrs. Today, many cathedrals and churches are dedicated to All Saints including the Episcopal cathedral in my hometown (photo 2).

2. Cathedral Church of All Saints, Milwaukee, WI, by Architect E. Townsend Mix in 1868

According to the Encylopedia Brittanica, “the first evidence for the November 1 date … and broadening the festival to include all saints as well as all martyrs occurred during the reign of Pope Gregory III (731–741), who dedicated a chapel in St. Peter’s, Rome, on November 1 in honor of all saints.” E.O. James asserts in Seasonal Feasts and Festivals that Pope Gregory IV officially established the annual commemoration of All Saints on November 1, 835 as part of an effort to curb the autumnal pagan rites that coincided with November 1 and still persisted in parts of northern Europe, Britain and Ireland. About 150 years later, the Benedictine abbeys in Europe were celebrating All Souls Day on November 2, an observance to honor the faithful departed established by Odilo, the abbot of the Cluny monastery, in 988. The three day period between Halloween and All Souls Day has since been called “All Hallowstide.”

Spiritual Bonds The Catholic Encyclopedia notes that the theology of the All Saints Day feast emphasizes the bond of those Christians who are already with God and those who are still on the earth, and that it points to an ultimate goal—“to be with God.” Consequently, artists sometimes depict the saints “in glory,” i.e., in heaven with God, as we’ll see below with Mary and some others. But in the stained glass and sculpture that appears in many churches and cathedrals, we usually find heroic images of saints holding an attribute, an identifying symbol. One sees martyrs holding a palm frond, a symbol of victory over death, along with the instrument(s) used to kill or torture them. Other images employ elements drawn from saints’ legends or biographies to help identify them. The evangelists and other writers often appear holding a pen or book.

Here, organized around the seven categories in the Litany of Saints, are photos I’ve taken of some noteworthy saints as they appear in the stained glass and sculpture of 11 cathedrals and churches in Europe, the United States, and Mexico.

3. Mary’s Coronation by Royal Bavarian Art Institute, Basilica Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Denver, CO

Mary and the Angels Aside from Jesus, Mary probably appears more often in Christian art than any other figure. She is central to scenes of the Nativity, Annunciation, and Pentecost. Artists also portray her as the Queen of Heaven, imaginatively interpreting a verse in the Book of Revelation that describes a woman clothed with the sun, the moon under her feet, who wears a crown of 12 stars. A 20^th century Munich-style window in the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Denver (photo 3, above) illustrates a traditional scene of God the Son and God the Father, both seated on a heavenly rainbow throne, crowning Mary as the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, hovers above with two curious cherubs. The Father’s triangular nimbus symbolizes the Christian belief in a Triune God. A 14^th century boss in the vaulting of the Basilica of Santa Maria del Mar in Barcelona condenses the scene with Jesus and Mary seated while two angels make heavenly music with a stringed instrument and flute (photo 4, below).

4. Mary’s Coronation, 14th century vaulting boss, Basilica of Santa Maria del Mar, Barcelona, Spain

Patriarchs and Prophets Three Hebrew patriarchs and their wives—Abraham and Sarah, Issac and Rebecca, Jacob and Rachel—appear in the art of some cathedrals and churches. One of the more popular scenes shows Abraham’s “test of faith” described in Genesis 22 where an angel of the Lord shows up in the nick of time to stop Abraham from sacrificing Issac, his son. A stained glass panel at St. Philip’s Episcopal Cathedral in Atlanta captures the drama with Abraham heeding the angel as a worried Issac, hands bound with rope, observes the encounter with a heaven-sent messenger (photo 5).

5. Abraham & Issac, Hebrew Bible Lancet by Willet Studios, Episcopal Cathedral of St. Philip, Atlanta, GA

My favorite biblical account involving a patriarch, though, is Jacob’s dream in Genesis 28. In the dream Jacob sees a ladder reaching from earth to heaven upon which angels ascend and descend, and then hears God declare, “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go….” A sculpted ensemble at Bath Abbey in England famously conveys the essentials of the dream with sculpted angels scurrying up and down two ladders that flank the prominent window on the abbey’s west façade (photos 6 and 7).

6. Bath Abbey, Bath England

7. Angels on Ladder, Bath Abbey, England

Apostles & Disciples Stained glass images of the most famous apostles and disciples abound in the cathedrals and churches of many Christian denominations. Familiar ones include St. Peter holding the keys of the kingdom, St. Paul with a sword, and St. Mary Magdalene holding a box or jar containing ointment that, tradition tells us, she used to anoint Jesus’ feet (photo 8). But what of disciples like St. James Minor (also called the Less) whose very name implies obscurity? As with other saints, when St. James Minor shows up in art he often holds the legendary instrument of his death, in his case a club or bat. But sometimes you’ll find him holding a leafy branch. What does this attribute signify? It likely alludes to a pre-Christian May Day ritual. In the pre-dawn hours of May 1st, St. James Minor’s saint’s day, the youth in some European towns would go off into the woods to cavort and later return with branches cut from young trees to use as Maypole decorations. A window at Conception Abbey in Missouri shows the saint (Jacobus in Latin) holding a branch in one hand a a book in the other (photo 9, below).

8. St. Mary Magdalene Anoints Jesus’ Foot, Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Albany, NY

9. St. James Minor, Conception Abbey, Conception, MO

Martyrs An enterprising writer could devote an entire blog post (or voluminous book) to the many martyred saints and their attributes. But that’s not me. I’m going to focus on St. Catherine of Alexandria, one of the so-called “Virgin Martyrs.” As a group, the Virgin Martyrs were said to endure unspeakably cruel tortures in witness to their faith. According to the Golden Legend, Jacob of Voragine’s 13^th century compilation of myths and legends about the lives of saints, Catherine lived during the persecution of Maxentius, the emperor who ruled Rome in the early 4th century after Diocletian. Catherine, an aristocrat and devout Christian, rejected marriage with the emperor because she was a “bride of Christ” and publicly protested the persecution. The Roman authorities punished her impertinence by breaking her body on a wheel, afterwards known as a “Catherine wheel.” Legend holds that the wheel broke during the torture, and Catherine was then beheaded. A 13^th century panel at Chartres Cathedral shows an angel dismantling the wheel as Catherine kneels in prayer before it (photo 10).

10. St. Catherine and the Broken Wheel, Chartres Cathedral, France

The Roman Catholic Church’s list of martyred saints recently grew with the addition of Archbishop Oscar Romero. Abp. Romero, an outspoken critic of the El Salvadoran revolutionary government’s treatment of the poor, was assassinated by gunfire as he stood on the altar of a hospital chapel. Pope Francis canonized him three weeks ago on October 14^th. A few years after Romero’s death in 1980, the Washington National Cathedral installed a statuette in his honor (photo 11).

11. Archbishop Romero Statuette, Washington National Cathedral, Washington, DC

Bishops and Doctors of the Church I’ll feature a saint in this category who was both bishop and doctor. St. Augustine served as the bishop of Hippo (now Annaba in modern day Algeria), a coastal city in North Africa, in the early 5^th century. After converting to Christianity in 386, Augustine became a brilliant and influential writer on theological topics ranging from grace and charity to the Trinity. The Roman Catholic Church has long regarded him as one of its original four great “doctors,” meaning teacher in Latin. According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Doctor of the Church is a title given to saints who are recognized as having made a significant contribution to theology or doctrine through their research, study, or writing. Augustine was a prolific writer who is probably best known in our time for works that include his Confessions and the City of God.

But in addition to his scholarship, in 397 Augustine wrote a set of rules to guide the common life of lay Christian communities. The Augustinian Rule, which is likely the oldest monastic rule in the western church, is still followed today by monks (or friars) of the Augustinian Order. A detailed bas-relief sculpture above the portal to the 18th century Augustinian monastery church in Oaxaca, Mexico (photos 12 and 13) shows the saint wearing a bishop’s mitre and vestments, standing as a heavenly giant above a host of kneeling clerics. A pair of angels lift and open his robe as Augustine holds a model of a church building and book, likely symbolizing his role as a foundational Christian author. He stands on the heads of three bearded men. Who do they represent? Since Augustine surmounts them, the heads probably symbolize three heretical opponents—Mani, Pelagius, and Donatus Magnus—against whom Augustine argued and prevailed.

12. Iglesia de San Agustin, Oaxaca, Mexico

13. St. Augustine Sculpture (18th century) by Tomás de Sigüenza, Oaxaca, Mexico

Priests & Religious This category covers priests and the male and female members of religious orders such as the Benedictines, Carmelites, Dominicans, Franciscans, Jesuits, and Sisters of Mercy. I’m highlighting St. Rose of Lima because she’s the first saint of the Americas, canonized by Pope Clement IX in 1667. Rose of Lima joined a Dominican community in her native Peru, snubbing marriage and vowing virginity in the face of her parents’ strong protests. According to the Oxford Dictionary of Saints, she “lived as a recluse in a hut…and experienced both trials and consolations of an extraordinary kind.” Rose was known to help the sick and hungry by caring for them in her room, and by making and selling lace to help the poor. She also withstood extreme forms of self-inflicted penance to help her identify with Christ’s sufferings. This might have shortened her life. She died after a long illness in 1617, at age 31. St. Rose is regarded as the patron of South America and the Philippines, and today many Roman Catholic churches in South and North America are dedicated to her, including a parish church in Quincy, Illinois. A window there, designed by the Emil Frei Studios in St. Louis, shows her contemplating a crucifix as she wears her signature silver crown of thorns and holds a crown of roses (photo 14).

14. St. Rose of Lima by Emil Frei Studios, St. Rose of Lima Church, Quincy, IL

Lay Members of the Church Occasionally men and women who were not members of the clergy have been seen as saintly and eventually canonized. In some cases, rulers have been honored for the role they played in Christianizing their realms. Bohemia’s good St. Wenceslas is a prime example. Less frequently, the Church has recognized noblemen and noblewomen for lives devoted to the less fortunate. St. Elizabeth of Hungary, a widowed princess, spent much of her fortune founding hospitals and caring for children who were orphaned by the Crusades in the 13^th century. A panel in the Humanitarians Window at Washington National Cathedral shows her nursing a sick man (photo 15).

15. Elizabeth of Hungary Panel in the Humanitarians Window (1958) by Rowan & Irene LeCompte, Washington National Cathedral, Washington, DC

But it probably comes as no great surprise that some saints in this category are largely forgotten. One of them is St. Henry who is known to historians and the Germans who settled in and around Austin, Texas in the 1800’s, as Emperor Heinrich II. Henry was a Bavarian duke who became the Holy Roman Emperor in 1014 and a saint in 1146. His claim to sainthood rests largely on efforts to restore property taken from the church during a long war between the German states and Poland. Henry also founded the diocese of Bamberg, one of his favorite cities, and built a cathedral there. He and Abbott Odilo of Cluny were good friends, and Henry is the only German king ever to be canonized. A window in Austin’s St. Mary’s Cathedral shows the saint in imperial garb holding a model of Bamberg’s renowned four-towered cathedral (photo 16).

St. Henry by F.X. Zettler Studios, St. Mary’s Cathedral, Austin, TX

Isaiah & Advent

I’m posting this article on the fourth and final Sunday of Advent, the ecclesiastical season that precedes Christmas. It’s a period during which Christians prepare for and commemorate the coming of Jesus at his nativity in Bethlehem. Some celebrate the season by attending performances of Handel’s Messiah. Others light the four candles on an Advent wreath, the tapers representing the four Sundays in the season. Meanwhile, many children open one of the small windows on Advent calendars in a daily count-down to December 25th.

Advent is also the time when attentive church goers hear a series of readings from a book in the Hebrew Bible (Christians call it the Old Testament) attributed to the prophet Isaiah. Scholars believe that multiple authors contributed to its 66 chapters and that they wrote the book in three sections over a 300 year span starting in the eighth century, BCE. Some of Isaiah’s writings are so integral to the theology of Jesus as the long hoped for Messiah that they prompted St. John Chrysostom, one of the early church fathers, to call Isaiah “the prophet with the loudest voice.” Isaiah’s stature among the medieval theologians at Chartres led them to set a stained glass image of the prophet in a place of honor in the window next to Mary and the Christ child, high in the cathedral’s glistening apse (photos 1 and 2, click to enlarge).

1. Central Apse Lancets, Chartres Cathedral, France

2. Isaiah (top) & Moses in Apse Lancet, Chartres Cathedral, France

It is worth noting that, on no less than half the days in Advent, lectors read excerpts from the Book of Isaiah at daily worship services precisely because Christians believe that they foretell something significant about Jesus; his lineage, the circumstances of his birth, and his meaning for all humanity. In today’s post, we’ll look at one of Isaiah’s common attributes and explore how medieval and modern artists have rendered four of Isaiah’s prophetic texts in sculpture and stained glass at cathedrals and churches in Europe, Canada, and the U.S.

Isaiah’s Attributes Without a caption bearing his name, it can be difficult to distinguish Isaiah from other prophets in cathedral art. The Old Testament prophets—Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and others—tend to look alike. They wear robes and have beards. But artists sometimes depict Isaiah with a hot coal touching his mouth. This identifying attribute derives from a verse in the Book of Isaiah, chapter six, where the prophet describes an encounter with a six-winged angel: “Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar, and he laid it upon my mouth, and said, ‘Lo, this hath touched thy lips, and thine iniquity is taken away….” A 20th century stained glass quatrefoil at Sts. Michael & Gudula Cathedral in Brussels captures the scene (Photo 3). The angel holds the tongs in his right hand and raises his left hand in a gesture of blessing. Isaiah’s right hand holds a quill with which he is writing his book. A circular halo appears about his head, a sign normally used to identify Christian saints.

2. Isaiah & Angel, Sts. Michael & Gudula Cathedral, Brussels

3. Isaiah & Angel, Sts. Michael & Gudula Cathedral, Brussels, Belgium

Isaiah & John the Baptist The first words sung in the Messiah, Handel’s majestic oratorio about Jesus’ nativity and passion, are, “Comfort ye my people, saith your God.” The words, from the first verse of Isaiah, chapter 40, begin a passage that Christians believe refers to Jesus’ precursor and cousin, John the Baptist. Verse three reads, “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, ‘Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.’”

Matthew’s gospel relates that John the Baptist preached and baptized “in the wilderness of Judea” and identifies John specifically as the one to whom Isaiah’s words refer. Matthew wrote, “For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah saying, ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” He goes on to say that John wore garments made of camel’s hair with a leather girdle on his loins, and that his meager diet consisted of locusts and honey. Like Isaiah, John spoke with a prophetic voice about Jesus when he declared, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”

3. L-R, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Simeon, John the Baptist, St. Peter, Chartres Cathedral, France

4. L-R, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Simeon, John the Baptist, St. Peter, Chartres Cathedral, France

Thirteenth century sculptors at Chartres Cathedral illustrated this link between Isaiah and John the Baptist by placing them in a group of five Biblical figures who reputedly foresaw that Jesus would (or had) come to save a fallen world (photo 4 above, click to enlarge). Isaiah and Jeremiah were among the first and John, along with Simeon and Peter, were the last. An emaciated John the Baptist holds a disc that encircles a lamb clutching a cross with an oriflamme at its top. The lamb alludes to John’s recognition of Jesus as the “Lamb of God” while the oriflamme symbolizes Jesus’ eventual victory over death. A wingless dragon (photo 5) appears on the sculpted pedestal beneath John’s feet to indicate that John has surmounted evil. Nineteenth century Victorian artists acknowledged the connection between Isaiah and John by placing them in a pair of adjacent windows at Gloucester Cathedral in England (photo 6).

5. John the Baptist’s Dragon Pedestal, Chartres Cathedral, France

6. Isaiah & John the Baptist Windows, Gloucester Cathedral, England

Isaiah and the Virgin Birth The Christian belief in Jesus as both God and Man rests largely on the premise that Mary, Jesus’ mother, conceived a child through the agency of the Holy Spirit. Matthew’s gospel tells how an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream to inform him that Mary, a virgin, would bear a child of God. Matthew explains that this improbable occurrence was foretold long ago. He wrote, “Now all of this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, ‘Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with us.’” Isaiah is the prophet Matthew cites. A 20th century mosaic to the right of the altar at St. Joseph’s Oratory in Montreal depicts the messenger angel descending on Joseph as he sleeps (photos 7 & 8).

St. Joseph Oratory Altar, Montreal, Quebec

7. St. Joseph Oratory, Altar and Mosaics, Montreal, Quebec

9. Joseph's Dream, St. Joseph Oratory, Montreal, Quebec

8. Joseph’s Dream, St. Joseph Oratory, Montreal, Quebec

The close link between Isaiah’s prophetic texts and Matthew’s nativity narrative probably explains why medieval artists at Chartres designed a stained glass scene with Matthew perched on Isaiah’s shoulders, implying that the New Testament writer sits atop an Old Testament giant (photo 9). Modern glass at the Washington National Cathedral follows a similar pattern in which gospel writers and apostles are paired with Old Testament figures including Elijah, Moses, Isaiah, Ezekiel and others (photo 10).

9. Lancet with Isaiah and Matthew, South Transept, Chartres Cathedral, France

11. Sts. Luke and Thomas with x and Elijah, Washington National Cathedral; Washington, DC

10. St. Luke and St. Thomas with Abraham and Elijah, Washington National Cathedral; Washington, DC

Isaiah and Jesus’ Lineage The first chapter of Matthew’s gospel establishes Jesus’ royal heritage with a detailed genealogy that extends back to King David and beyond to the Hebrew patriarchs. Matthew stressed Jesus’ connection to King David because it’s essential to establishing Jesus as the Messiah, or Christ. People believed that the Messiah would grow from a branch on David’s family tree. The primary source for this belief was the prophet Isaiah who wrote in chapter eleven, verse one, that “there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse (King David’s father), and a branch shall grow out of his roots, and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, knowledge and of the fear of the Lord….”

11. Jesse Tree Window, Chartres Cathedral, France (click to enlarge)

Around the year 1100, German artists began to display Isaiah’s root, rod, and stem metaphors in miniature paintings of what came to be called “Jesse Trees.” Within fifty years, massive stained glass Jesse trees were installed at the Abbey Church of St. Denis near Paris, York Minster in England, and at Chartres Cathedral in France (photo 11, above, and see my blog post for 12/23/14 on “The Jesse Tree”). A Jesse tree depicts its namesake lying asleep at the base of the tree. The trunk rises from Jesse’s groin and spreads into branches from which Kings David, Solomon and other royal offspring sprout. Mary and Jesus are the blossoms atop the tree (photos 12 & 13).

13. Mary in Jesse Tree, Chartres Cathedral, France

12. Mary in Jesse Tree, Chartres Cathedral, France

13. Jesus in Jesse Tree, Chartres Cathedral, France

The Jesse Tree also influenced representations of Isaiah. At Chartres, for example, the sculpted pedestal beneath Isaiah’s feet on the cathedral’s north porch shows Jesse sleeping (photo 14). It mirrors the colorful glass image of the dormant Jesse that’s located above the cathedral’s main doorways (photo 15).

14. Jesse Sleeping in Isaiah’s Pedestal, Chartres Cathedral, France

Jesse Sleeping, Jesse Tree Window, Chartres Cathedral, France

15. Jesse Sleeping in Jesse Tree Window, Chartres Cathedral, France

Initially, Chartres’ Isaiah statue held a blossoming branch whose stem extended downward from the prophet’s hand to the sleeping Jesse pedestal. Sadly, the stem is missing. But across the Atlantic, one finds the blossom and stem in Isaiah’s hand in a bas relief sculpture on the west façade of Washington’s Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (photos 16 & 17), carved 700 years after the statuary at Chartres.

16. Shrine of the Immaculate Conception; Washington, DC

18. Isaiah (left) and Bartholomew; Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, DC

17. Isaiah (left) and Bartholomew; Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, DC

Isaiah and the Messianic Age Christians maintain that Jesus’ nativity ushered in a new age in which a Prince of Peace would bring light and love to a darkened world. Harmony and tranquility would characterize the Prince’s reign. This notion stems in large part from another verse in Isaiah chapter eleven that quickly follows the passage about the rod of Jesse. At verse six, Isaiah describes a transformed world in which animal instinct itself is amazingly suppressed. He writes, “Then the wolf shall be the guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them.”

It’s a compelling statement about the future. We’ll close this post with photos of two modern windows that tenderly depict Isaiah’s hopeful perspective on the Messianic age (photos 18 & 19), along with my own prayer that we find a way to make his inspired vision of a kingdom of peace a reality in our own time, at this Christmas and in the New Year.

18. Universal Peace Window Detail, Washington National Cathedral, Washington, DC

20. Prophets Window Detail, Immanuel Lutheran Church, Iowa City, IA

19. Prophets Window Detail, Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Iowa City, IA

Sacred Symbols: The Peacock

At first blush, the peacock might seem an unlikely candidate as a sacred symbol in Christianity or any other world religion. After all, its showy tail feathers and mating dance strut inspired the phrase “proud as a peacock” to describe a vain, self-centered, person. Pride, it so happens, is one of the seven deadly sins according to Prudentius who established the seven Christian virtues and their opposing vices in his allegorical poem, the Psychomachia (Battle of Spirits), written around 400 CE. Pride is the antithesis of humility. Yet despite these seemingly negative connotations, the peacock appears as a sacred symbol in Rome’s catacombs, in medieval illuminated manuscripts, in paintings of Jesus’ nativity by Renaissance masters, and in stained glass windows in a Gothic cathedral in France and an art deco church on the shores of Lake Michigan (photo 1). What is the peacock doing there?

In this post, we’ll examine the peacock’s peculiar career as a Christian symbol with visits to two museums in the United States (the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and the Morgan Library & Museum in New York City), Chartres Cathedral in France, Loyola University Chapel in Chicago, and Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Minneapolis.

About the Peacock The peacock, a cousin of the pheasant, is technically a male “peafowl.” The female is a peahen. The iridescent blue peacock with which many people in Europe and North America are familiar, originated in India and Sri Lanka. Two less familiar species come from Java and central Africa. It is not clear when the first peafowl pair arrived in Europe from India. Some say that Alexander the Great first brought peafowl to Greece after his military campaign in Persia, around 330 BCE. The Bible suggests, however, that the birds were known to the Mediterranean world by early in the first Millennium BCE. The Book of Kings, written around 900 BCE, reports that King Solomon’s fleet came from Tarshish in three year cycles “bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.” Peacocks, it appears, were deemed precious by the wisest of ancient Israel’s kings (photo 2).

Queen of Sheba & King Solomon, Chartres Cathedral, France

The peacock enjoys a connection with the divine that spans centuries, predates Christianity, and crosses cultural and religious frontiers. In Hindu tradition, the bird is an emblem of Saraswati, the goddess of wisdom, music, and poetry. In east Asia, the peacock is an attribute of Guanyin whom Taoists regard as the goddess of mercy and compassion. In ancient Greece, the peacock was the emblem of Hera, whom the Romans called Juno.

Resurrection Symbol Hera was the wife and consort of Zeus, the king of the Olympian gods. A Roman sarcophagus at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts features Hera’s peacock (photo 3) and Zeus’ eagle on opposite ends of the elaborately sculpted coffin. The peacock holds a wreath of olive leaves in its beak, signifying peace and victory. The overturned basket at the bird’s feet appears to hold pomegranates, a second attribute of Hera and also a reference to the Greek myth of Persephone’s abduction by Hades, with its theme of regeneration. The pomegranate came to symbolize the earth’s seasonal rebirth through the myth. This along with the fruit’s red color may explain why Christians later appropriated it as a symbol for Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Peacock on Sarcophagus, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

As for the peacock, early Christians took a different approach to the bird than the Hindus and Greeks did. Rather than use it directly as an attribute for an individual–an apostle or gospel writer as they did with John and the eagle–Christians employed the peacock as a symbol for theological concepts, particularly their beliefs about resurrection, immortality, and the nature of God.

As mentioned, the peacock connoted the idea of rebirth among the Greeks and Hellenized Romans well before the first Easter Sunday. Pliny the Elder, a Roman author and naturalist who died in the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE, hinted at a reason for this in Natural History, his wide-ranging compilation of information (and speculation) on the habits of creatures of all sorts. He wrote that the “peacock loses its tail every year at the fall of the leaf, and a new one shoots forth in its place at the flower season; between these periods the bird is abashed and moping, and seeks retired spots.” In other words, when spring arrives and the peacock’s tail feathers grow back, the creature is revitalized. Perhaps it was hope for renewal in a world beyond that motivated a wealthy Greek who lived in the fourth century BCE, to place a a delicate, gold funerary crown bearing the images of two peacocks on the head of a departed loved one (photos 4 & 5).

Funerary Crown with Peacocks, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Peacock Detail on Funerary Crown, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Christians were quick to re-purpose the peacock as a symbol for their own beliefs about rebirth. The bird appears in very early Christian art, notably in a group of frescoes that date to around 240 CE in Rome’s “Catacombs of Priscilla” (photo 6). A blue peacock with a purplish train stands above an Orant fresco in which a female priest lifts her arms in prayer, apparently during a worship service. Here, the peacock’s presence may allude to the anticipated resurrection of those who are buried nearby. A 2013 article in the Daily Mail is informative about the fresco’s recent restoration and ensuing controversy about what appears to be the image of a woman priest [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2510473/Vatican-unveils-frescoes-Catacombs-Priscilla-paintings-FEMALE-PRIESTS.html].

Peacock above Orant Fresco, Rome (photo courtesy of Reuters)

The peacock’s resurrection connection is even more evident in the art of an anonymous Benedictine monk who worked at the Weingarten Abbey in Germany around the year 1200. Two scenes in the Berthold Sacramentary, an illuminated manuscript now at the Morgan Library and Museum in New York City, portray legendary events in the life of St. Martin of Tours (photo 7, click to enlarge). The artist used geese and peacocks to tell the “back stories” for the images. On the top half of the left page, St. Martin divides and gives half his cloak to a shivering beggar. Below this famed scene of saintly charity, a second painting shows Martin standing among three lifeless bodies.

Two Legends of St. Martin in the Berthold Sacramentary, Morgan Library & Museum, NYC

The two geese atop the right page remind viewers that Martin was extremely reluctant, despite popular acclaim, to become the bishop of Tours. The story, according to George Ferguson in Signs & Symbols in Christian Art, is that a goose “revealed Martin’s hiding place to the inhabitants of Tours, who had come to call the saint to be their bishop.” The townspeople eventually persuaded Martin to take the post. The peacocks at the bottom of the right page (photo 8) refer to resurrection stories recorded in the Golden Legend where St. Martin, on three separate occasions, raised men from the dead including one who had been hanged! The inscription between the peacocks appears to be a Latinized form of the Greek word that means both “souled” and “alive.”

Peacocks in Berthold Sacramentary, Morgan Library & Museum, NYC

The link between compassion and human revitalization, evident in these stories about Martin, perhaps motivated an American artist to incorporate a small image of the peacock in the border of a stained glass window honoring the Social Work profession (photos 9 & 10) at Loyola University’s Chapel on Chicago’s lakefront. The window features a large image of St. Vincent Depaul who, like St. Martin, was known for helping the poor.

Social Work Window, Loyola University Chapel, Chicago

Peacock in Social Work Window, Loyola University Chapel, Chicago

Immortality Symbol The peacock’s association with rebirth took an expansive turn among certain philosophers in pre-Christian Greece. Members of the Platonic school of thought reportedly believed that the peacock plays a part in the transmigration of souls. Tertullian, a second century CE Christian theologian and author of On the Resurrection of the Flesh, wrote critically of Platonists who asserted that Homer’s soul passed to Pythagoras, the great mathematician, and to others through a peacock.

At a later and indefinite point, the idea that peacock flesh does not decay gained a footing among Christian theologians and writers. Those who wrote the medieval bestiaries found allegorical and moral significance in the characteristics and behavior of various animals, including the peacock. The Aberdeen Bestiary, written around 1200, reported that the “peacock has hard flesh, resistant to decay, which can only with difficulty be cooked over a fire by a cook, or can scarcely be digested in the stomach….” [https://www.abdn.ac.uk/bestiary/]. Consequently, since the middle ages the peacock has pointed to the Christian belief in the soul’s immortality.

It’s with these ideas about resurrection and immortality in mind that the peacock appears in modern Christian art. A prime example is found in the richly symbolic 20th century stained glass “Resurrection Window” (photo 9, click to enlarge) at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Designed by the Minneapolis firm of Weston & Leighton, it shows the risen Christ standing as a central figure between Mary, his mother, in blue robes, and Mary Magdalene in red. A small peacock is visible atop the lancet window on the extreme right (photo 10). A butterfly, another symbol of resurrection and rebirth, appears opposite in the leftmost lancet. And hearkening back to Persephone in the underworld, an open pomegranate reveals its seeds in a quatrefoil above and to the left of Mary (photo 11).

Resurrection Window, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Minneapolis

Peacock in Resurrection Window, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Minneapolis

Pomegranate in Resurrection Window, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Minneapolis

For more on the peacock and the “eye” in its feathers as a symbol for an all-seeing God, see my post for October 25, 2014 on Gabriel the Messenger and its section on the “Angel of the Covenant” (photo 12).

14. Angel of the Covenant, Chartres Cathedral, France

The Epiphany in Stained Glass

The Feast of the Epiphany, the 12^th Day of Christmas, is one of my favorite holidays on the liturgical calendar. For nearly four centuries Christians in the east and west commemorated Christ’s birth on January 6. But since 353, C.E., Christians in Western Europe have celebrated the first “manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles (non-Jewish people) in the persons of the Magi,”says the Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, on the twelfth day of Christmas. In that year, Pope Liberius transferred Christmas Day to December 25 while keeping the Feast of the Epiphany in place on January 6. E.O. James speculates in Seasonal Feasts and Festivals that Liberius probably wanted to counteract Saturnalia, the Roman festival in honor of the god Saturn, and the Mithraic holiday in honor of the Sun’s birth, both of which took place in December.

In time, this story of the Magi’s encounter with God’s Son, chronicled in the second chapter of Matthew’s gospel, came to signify the belief that all humans, regardless of race, national origin, or stage in life, are people of God. Thus, artists portrayed the Magi as three men of different nationalities and/or races whose ages cover the life span from young to old. The youngest of them is often beardless. The Biblical account does not name or number the Magi though it does identify the three gifts—gold, frankincense and myrrh—they presented to the Christ child. Early legends fixed the Magi’s number at three and gave them names: Caspar of India, Balthasar from Arabia, and Melchior of Persia. Starting in the the later middle ages, artists in northern Europe began to depict one of the Magi as an African. He appears in an early 16th century Adoration of the Magi sculpture at Chartres Cathedral (photo 1).

1. Adoration of the Magi (ca. 1520), Chartres Cathedral, France

In today’s post, we’ll travel with the Three Magi (also known as the Three Kings or Wise Men) to Chartres and Amiens Cathedrals in France, Cologne Cathedral in Germany, and a few notable churches in the U.S., to see how their legend appears in stained glass and sculpture. We’ll start at Chartres where the gospel account of the Magi’s journey glistens in newly restored 12^th century glass.

4. Life of Christ Window, Chartres Cathedral, France (click to enlarge)

2. Life of Christ Window, Chartres Cathedral, France (click to enlarge)

Several panels in the Life of Christ window at Chartres Cathedral (photo 2, above) portray some of the key passages in Matthew’s gospel account of the Epiphany. The first two panels in the series show King Herod meeting with the Magi. Herod is troubled by the news that they have seen a star and have come to worship a newborn king. Herod consults with the chief priests and scribes who determine that the Messiah is to be born in Bethlehem (photo 3). The wise men listen to Herod as he sends them forth to Bethlehem with the instruction to return after they have found the Messiah and “bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also” (photo 4).

3. Scribes and King Herod, Life of Christ Window, Chartres Cathedral

Three Magi Meet with King Herod, Life of Christ Window, Chartres Cathedral

4. Wise Men with King Herod, Life of Christ Window, Chartres Cathedral

The Magi proceed to Bethlehem (photo 5). They bear gifts in their right hands and hold staffs with their left to signify that they are traveling. Camels show up in later images of the Three Kings. They follow an eight pointed star (the number symbolizes infinity and resurrection) toward Bethlehem where they find Mary enthroned with the Christ child seated on her lap (photo 6). Mary raises her scepter to indicate that she will receive the Three Kings into her “court.” Jesus raises an enlarged right hand in a sign of blessing.

5. The Magi Approach Bethlehem, Life of Christ Window, Chartres Cathedral

6. Mary & Jesus Receive the Three Wise Men, Life of Christ Window, Chartres Cathedral

After the Three Kings present their gifts, an angel warns them in a dream “that they should not return to Herod” (photo 7). They depart for their own country, still following the star, by “another way” (photo 8). The younger king on the left looks none too happy with Herod!

Angel Warns the Magi, Life of Christ Window, Chartres Cathedral

7. Angel Warns the Sleeping Magi, Life of Christ Window, Chartres Cathedral

8. Magi Departing Bethlehem, Life of Christ Window, Chartres Cathedral

Germany’s Cologne Cathedral, officially the Cathedral of St. Peter, is home to what may be the most extensive collection of stained glass dedicated to the Three Kings in the world. That should come as no great surprise given that the Cathedral has been the home of the presumed relics of the Magi since 1164 (photo 9). The acquisition of the priceless relics made Cologne a destination for Christian pilgrims from throughout Europe. Even today, the Cathedral reportedly is Germany’s most visited historic site.

9. Three Kings Reliquary, Cologne Cathedral, Germany

Since the construction of Cologne Cathedral spanned nearly six centuries, its stained glass images of the Magi and their adoration for the Christ child cover different periods and artistic styles. Our sampling below includes examples from the 13^th, 14^th, 16^th, and 19^th centuries (photos 10 – 13).

Adoration of the Magi in the Elder Biblical Window (ca. ), Cologne Cathedral, Germany

10. Adoration of the Magi in the Elder Biblical Window (1261), Cologne Cathedral, Germany

Elder King with Mary and Christ Child (13 ), Cologne Cathedral

11. Elder King with Mary and Christ Child (ca. 1330), Cologne Cathedral. Germany

1. Adoration of the Magi (1510), Cologne Cathedral

12. Adoration of the Magi (ca. 1500), Cologne Cathedral. Germany (click to enlarge)

13. Adoration of the Magi from the Bavarian Window (1848), Cologne Cathedral, Germany

The rather spare Biblical account of the Three King’s journey to Bethlehem prompted imaginative story tellers to fill in some of the blanks. Jacobus of Voragine included legends about the Magi in the Golden Legend, his widely read compilation of the saints’ lives (the Three Kings were regarded as saints at the time). According to one legend, the Magi planned to return to their homeland by boat via Tarsus. When an enraged Herod learned of their itinerary, he went to Tarsus himself to burn all the boats in the port. This strange episode appears among the beautifully sculpted medallions on Amiens Cathedral’s west porch (photo 14). Other medallions depict the discovery of the star from atop an observation tower (photo 15).

14. Herod Burns the Boats (L) and the Magi Escape (R), Amiens Cathedral, France

Magi Discover the Star, Amiens Cathedral, France

15. Magi Discover and Observe the Star, Amiens Cathedral, France

We’ll conclude today’s post with a look at some examples of how modern artists have rendered the Adoration of the Magi in the stained glass of some American churches. Note that the designers often continued the tradition of portraying one of the Magi as an African and the youngest one without a beard, as in the 19th century Epiphany Window by a German studio at Denver’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (photo 16).

Epiphany Window, Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Denver

16. Epiphany Window by F.X. Zettler Studios, Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Denver

It’s also worth noting that modern artists frequently combine the Biblical accounts of the Adoration of the Shepherds and Adoration of the Magi into one composition. This was not necessarily common in the middle ages, although a 13^th century example of the type appears at Canterbury Cathedral in England (photo 17). Nineteenth century windows at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City (photo 18) and Gesu Church in Milwaukee (photos 19 & 20) take this combined approach in the expressive and richly detailed pictorial style that was popular in the late 1800’s.

17. Adoration of the Magi and Shepherds, Canterbury Cathedral, England

18. Adoration of the Magi and Shepherds, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, NYC

Adoration of the Magi and Shepherds, Church of the Gesu, Milwaukee

19. Adoration of the Magi and Shepherds by F.X. Zettler Studios, Church of the Gesu, Milwaukee

20. African Magi Detail, Church of the Gesu, Milwaukee

The Three Kings remain popular in art and the imagination nearly two thousand years after their story was first told. Be looking for them under the Christmas tree, and throughout the year in a cathedral or church near you. Happy Epiphany!

Mike Klug, mikejklug@aol.com, 01/06/15

The Jesse Tree

During Advent, the four week preparatory period before Christmas, church choirs and congregations often sing an old hymn called “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_2oh42E1_U]. The plaintive melody originated in 14^th century France and evokes a sense of longing. Its lyrics, first written in Latin centuries ago, include these words in the second stanza: “O come, thou rod (or branch) of Jesse, free thy people from Satan’s tyranny.” The words allude to a passage in the eleventh chapter of the Book of Isaiah that says:

And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of its roots: and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord….”

This passage in the Hebrew Bible, thought to be written in the eighth century, B.C.E., is central to the Christian belief that Jesus Christ is the promised Messiah (meaning “anointed one”). Theologians have long seen in these words a prophecy that foretells Christ’s coming as a descendant of King David in a royal line that extends to Jesus through his mother, Mary. Perceiving the importance of the prophecy to their understanding of God’s plan for salvation, twelfth and thirteenth century churchmen commissioned artists to render Isaiah’s words in stained glass and sculpture. Glaziers and sculptors responded by creating the “Jesse Tree,” an abbreviated family tree that illustrates Mary’s and Jesus’ royal lineage with a direct link to King David’s father, Jesse. David and various ancestors are depicted as “branches” on the tree. Today, we’ll visit St. Denis, Chartres, and Rouen in France, and St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington, DC to view four Jesse Trees.

1. Rouen Cathedral, Rouen, France, Postcard Photo

2. St. Matthew’s Cathedral, Washington, DC

Abbott Suger of St. Denis was one of the first to commission a Jesse Tree in stained glass. He did so between 1140 and 1144, the years in which construction of the “new” ambulatory and choir took place at the Abbey Church of St. Denis, near Paris (photos 3 & 4). Abbott Suger wanted to infuse the structure with color and light, and so endorsed an innovative design that employed pointed arches and ribbed vaults to allow the placement of large stained glass windows in the style we now call “Gothic.”

1. Choir & Ambulatory, Abbey Church of St. Denis, St. Denis, France

3. Choir & Ambulatory, Abbey Church of St. Denis, France

2. Ambulatory, Abbey Church of St. Denis, St. Denis, France

4. Ambulatory, Abbey Church of St. Denis, France

It’s likely that Suger himself donated the Jesse Tree window. His name in Latin, Sugerus Abas, and likeness appear near the bottom of the window where donors were typically acknowledged. In photo 5, below, the tonsured Suger kneels at a prie dieu as he offers a miniature window as a gift. At the window’s bottom center, next to Suger, Jesse sleeps. The thick white “stem” (or tree) to which Isaiah referred grows upward from Jesse’s groin. Little bubbles representing sap rise in a vertical column inside the trunk to suggest that the tree is very much alive. David, Solomon, and two other kings sit in the branches above Jesse, and above the kings the tree culminates with Mary and Jesus (photo 6). St. Denis’ Jesse Tree became a model for similar windows at Chartres, Le Mans, the Ste. Chappelle in Paris, and elsewhere. We’ll turn next to Chartres for a close look at its exceptional Jesse Tree window.

3. Jesse (L) and Suger (R), Jesse Tree Window, Abbey Church of St. Denis, France

5. Jesse (L) and Suger (R), Jesse Tree Window, Abbey Church of St. Denis, France (click to enlarge)

4. Jesse Tree Window, Abbey Church of St. Denis, France

6. Jesse Tree Window, Abbey Church of St. Denis, France

Chartres Cathedral’s Jesse Tree window is one of three lancets in the west façade that together relate Jesus’ story from the prophecies that preceded him through his post-resurrection appearance to the disciples at Emmaus (photo 7). Together the lancets comprise the finest stained glass ensemble that survives from the 1100’s. In Chartres, Emile Male’s insightful guide to the cathedral’s history, sculpture, and stained glass, the eminent art historian proclaimed that “[t]he Tree of Jesse, even more perfect than the Passion window, must be the most beautiful piece of existing stained glass.” In composition, color, and detail Chartres’ Jesse Tree window is indeed a masterpiece (photo 8).

7. Last Judgement Rose and (L – R) the Passion, Life of Christ, and Jesse Tree Windows; Chartres Cathedral, France

8. Jesse Tree Window, Chartres Cathedral, France (click to enlarge)

The Jesse Tree windows at St. Denis and Chartres are nearly identical. Both read from bottom to top and start with Jesse at the bottom. As at St. Denis, a white tree trunk rises from Jesse’s groin (photo 9). Note that he wears a conical cap. It’s not a night cap, but instead an iconographic device that artists used to identify Jewish men. The single oil lamp with red flame hanging above Jesse’s head tells us that the time is before midnight, during the first watch. Two prophets appear in half circles on either side of Jesse. They and the ten other prophets placed in the Jesse Tree window represent Jesus’ spiritual ancestors. Zephaniah (photo 10) is among them.

Jesse, Jesse Tree Window, Chartres Cathedral, France

9. Jesse in the Jesse Tree Window, Chartres Cathedral, France

10. Prophet in the Jesse Tree Window, Chartres Cathedral, France

10. Prophet Zephaniah (Sophonie) in the Jesse Tree Window, Chartres Cathedral, France

King David appears in the square panel directly above Jesse (photo 11). David’s son, King Solomon, is next in order followed in vertical line by Jereboam, Abijah, Mary (photo 12), and Jesus (photo 13). Seven doves descend on Jesus to symbolize the gifts of the spirit that, according to Isaiah, “rest upon him.” Look closely at the aureoles that encircle the doves in photo 13. You should be able to see some of the letters in the Latin names of these gifts. The dove directly above Jesus’ head is captioned Sapientia (wisdom). The others are Intellectus (understanding), Consilium (judgment or good sense), Fortitudo (Courage), Scientia (knowledge), Pietas (piety), and Timor (fear).

King David, Jesse Tree Window, Chartres Cathedral, France

11. King David with Samuel & Amos, Jesse Tree Window, Chartres Cathedral, France

Mary with , Jesse Tree Window, Chartres Cathedral, France

12. Mary with Isaiah & Daniel , Jesse Tree Window, Chartres Cathedral, France

13. Jesus with Habakkuk & Zephaniah, Jesse Tree Window, Chartres Cathedral, France (click to enlarge)

In addition to the extraordinary stained glass trees, sculpted Jesse Trees adorn many Gothic cathedrals in France, including those at Laon, Chartres, and Amiens. During a visit to Rouen Cathedral in 2010, I found a Jesse Tree in the tympanum above the central portal (photos 14 & 15). In this late Gothic composition, the familiar tree trunk rises from Jesse but the sculpture departs from the pattern we’ve seen in the windows with branches shooting off to the sides where we find the kings and prophets, several of them now headless. Regrettably, Jesus has lost his head too. [Impressionist painting fans, take note. This is the cathedral facade that Monet famously painted.]

14. West Facade and Portals, Rouen Cathedral, Rouen, France

15. Jesse Tree, Rouen Cathedral, Rouen, France

We finally arrive in the United States where, in the nation’s capital, a Jesse Tree appears in a 20^th century mosaic (photo 16) at St. Matthew’s Cathedral (where John F. Kennedy’s funeral Mass took place). We can easily recognize the familiar figures of Jesse sleeping below and Mary holding the Christ child above. A king, probably David, sits halfway up the tree. Two men, most likely prophets, stand on either side of Jesse and appear to invite us to gaze on the scene with them. Significantly, the artist placed two birds on the tree’s branches. The bird on the left is a peacock, an ancient symbol for immortality because it was thought in olden times that its flesh does not decay. The bird on the right may be a multicolored Bird of Paradise. The birds’ presence seems to make the point symbolically that belief in Christ leads to everlasting life in a heavenly paradise. High above, a dove descends on Mary and Jesus to suggest again that the “Holy Spirit will rest upon him.”

16. Jesse Tree Mosaic, St. Matthew’s Cathedral, Washington, DC

Mike Klug, mikejklug@aol.com, 12/22/14

Attributes of the Apostles and Legend

When I began to delve into iconography about 25 years ago, I was mildly surprised to learn that many familiar images of the apostles originate in legends and “tall tales,” not in scripture. It was a good reminder that the Christian New Testament is often silent about the later missionary careers of men like Andrew, James, and Bartholomew, and about interesting details in the lives and deaths of major figures such as Paul. Legendary accounts help address the apparent omissions about which people were curious. Some legends, including the story about St. Paul’s martyrdom by decapitation, are plausible. Others, like the story about St. John’s poison draught, are more imaginative than factual. Such legends may not be “true” in the sense that most people understand that term today, but they do convey moral or theological truths through their improbable and entertaining accounts of saintly exploits.

In today’s post, we’ll feature the legendary attributes of the apostles Andrew, John, and Paul. Their attributes, or identifying emblems, often appear in representations of these saintly men in medieval cathedrals and modern churches alike. Our tour will start in Chartres, France and follow a circuitous route to Rouen in Normandy, to Wells in England, and from there to upstate New York, Washington, DC, and Iowa. We’ll start with John who, according to John’s gospel, was the disciple “whom Jesus loved.”

1. Crucifixion Scene with Mary (L) and John (R), Passion & Resurrection Lancet, Chartres Cathedral

St. John and His Chalice John the Apostle is known by more than one attribute. As mentioned in my post on the iconography of the Four Evangelists (7/21/2014), the eagle symbolizes John’s status as a gospel writer. In addition, he often appears in scenes of the crucifixion, standing or kneeling to Mary’s left at the foot of the cross (photo 1, above) and is shown beardless because he was thought to be the youngest of Jesus’ twelve disciples (photo 2).

2. St. John (2nd from left) with Apostles, South Porch, Chartres Cathedral

2. Beardless John (2nd from left) with (L to R) Sts. Paul, James Major, James Minor & Bartholomew, Chartres Cathedral, South Porch

But a curious legend about John has long inspired artists to portray him holding a cup with a snake or serpent in it (photo 3). We find this story among the hundreds of tales compiled by Jacobus of Voragine in his voluminous Legenda Aurea, or Golden Legend, completed around the year 1265.

3. St. John and Serpent in Chalice, Sacred Heart Cathedral, Davenport, IA

The Golden Legend tells of John’s testy encounter with Aristodemus, a priest of the goddess Diana. As John was preaching, Diana’s followers stirred up a crowd who dragged the apostle to Diana’s temple to force him to offer a sacrifice to the Greek goddess. John refused and proposed an alternative. If he could destroy Diana’s temple by praying to his Lord, would the people switch their allegiance to Jesus Christ? They agreed to the deal. John prayed and, lo and behold, Diana’s temple crumbled to the ground. But Aristodemus was unconvinced. John asked, “What can I do to persuade you?” The priest replied, “If you want me to believe in your God, I will give you poison to drink, and if it does you no harm, then I shall know that your Lord is the true God!” John drank the poison and lived.

5. St. John with Chalice (4th from left), Wells Cathedral, Somerset England

4. St. John with Chalice (4th from left), St. Andrew’s Cathedral, Wells, England (click to enlarge)

The snake slithering out of John’s chalice symbolizes the power of the apostle’s faith in the true God to overcome the evil of idolatry. It’s an idea that spread throughout Christendom on the heels of sculpted images of John and his cup. You’ll see them in the Apostles Gallery, dating to the mid-1200s, high atop the elaborate West Façade of Wells Cathedral (photo 4, above). John and his chalice join four other apostles in more naturalistic statuary that was characteristic of the later Gothic and early Renaissance periods, on the south portal of the fourteenth century St. Ouen Abbey in Rouen (photos 5 & 6).

5. Abbey Church of St. Ouen, Rouen, France

7. St. John (Center) with Apostles, South Porch of St. Ouen Abbey Church

6. (L to R) Bartholomew(?), James the Less, John & Chalice, Andrew & X-Cross, and Peter; South Portal, Abbey Church of St. Ouen (click to enlarge)

In the U.S., John’s chalice is carved in an altar rail at Washington’s National Cathedral and it shows up too in nineteenth century stained glass at Albany’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (photos 7 & 8). More examples exist throughout the United States in the churches of many denominations.

7. St. John Altar Rail Carving, Washington National Cathedral, Washington, DC

8. St. John Window, Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Albany, NY

St. Paul’s Sword The New Testament, mainly in the Acts of the Apostles and Paul’s various epistles, provides a wealth of information about the man named both Saul and Paul who persecuted early Christians and then became a believer himself after a dramatic conversion experience on the road to Damascus. Scripture details Paul’s three missionary trips to Greece and Asia Minor, his meeting with Peter at the Council of Jerusalem to resolve a dispute about circumcising the Gentiles, his miracles, his shipwreck on Malta and much, much more. But the Bible says nothing about Paul’s demise. The Acts of the Apostles ends with Paul under house arrest in Rome “preaching the kingdom of God, and preaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.” Who wouldn’t wonder, “What happened next?” Happily, the Golden Legend fills in the blanks.

Paul lived in Rome for two years during the reign of unstable Emperor Nero. The Golden Legend reports that Nero did not take kindly to the apostle. According to the legend, Paul restored Patroclus, the emperor’s cupbearer, to life following a fatal accident. Patroclus fell to his death from the ledge of a second or third story window. He had fallen asleep as he listened to Paul preach. Paul came to the rescue and revived Patroclus through fervent prayer. When the cupbearer regained consciousness, he became a Christian.

St. Paul, Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Albany, NY

9. St. Paul with a Bloody Sword, Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Albany, NY

When Nero heard the news, he was livid and promptly sentenced Paul to death for treason. Because Paul was a Roman citizen, he escaped crucifixion (the fate of Peter and Andrew) and was instead beheaded with a sword. After Paul’s head fell, the Golden Legend reports that “a great light filled the sky, and a perfume of wonderful sweetness emanated from his body.” What became of Paul’s head? It “was thrown into a pit, and because of all the other people who had been executed and whose heads and limbs had been thrown there, it could never be found….” This apparently explains why curious 13th century pilgrims might not find Paul’s skull among his relics. [On a speculative note, I can’t help but wonder if the story of Patroclus’ fall from the window ledge was added to warn preachers against long-winded and “deadly” sermons!]

And so the sword became Paul’s characteristic emblem in Christian iconography (photo 9, above). It typifies the common practice of using an instrument of martyrdom to identify a saint. Among the 13th century apostle statues on Chartres Cathedral’s south porch (photo 2, above), we find Paul serenely clutching the hilt of a sword. The blade is missing. At the Washington National Cathedral, a delicate rendering of Paul, designed in the 1970’s by Frederick Hart, captures the moment in which heavenly light blinds the apostle on the road to Damascus. Paul holds a sword in his left hand (photo 10). An image of a sailing vessel on the statue’s pedestal refers to Paul’s various missionary voyages on the Mediterranean (photo 11).

10. St. Paul by Frederick Hart, Washington National Cathedral, Washington, DC

11. St. Paul’s Pedestal, Washington National Cathedral, Washington, DC

Saint Andrew’s Cross The New Testament gospels tell us that Andrew was a fisherman, brother of Simon Peter, and among the first called by Jesus to become one of the twelve disciples. Scripture says nothing though about Andrew’s missionary work after he and the other disciples were “filled with the Holy Spirit” on Pentecost. The Golden Legend indicates that Andrew traveled to the north and east where he “preached the word in Scythia,” known these days as the Ukraine. The Chronicle of Nestor (ca. 1000) reports that the apostle preached along the Black Sea and visited Kiev and Novograd. This explains in part how Andrew became the patron saint of Ukraine, Russia, and Romania, but not how he became the patron saint of Scotland or how the X-shaped, saltire cross came to be associated with and the homeland of King James I and, more recently, novelist J.K. Rowling (photo 12).

Flag of Scotland with St. Andrew's Cross, Image by Wikipedia Commons

12. St. Andrew’s Cross in Scotland’s Flag, Wikipedia Commons

The story of Andrew’s death on a cross in Patras, Greece has its roots in a third century apocryphal (non-canonical) book called the Acts of Andrew. The account in the Golden Legend of Andrew’s crucifixion at the hands of the Roman pro-consul Aegeus derives largely from this earlier work. It describes Andrew being bound to a cross and preaching to 20,000 people as he hung from it, before he died two days later. But the Golden Legend does not specify the shape of Andrew’s cross. This led early Christian artists to sometimes use a Latin cross as his attribute.

According to Judith Calvert’s 1984 Art Bulletin article, “the familiar iconography” of Andrew’s X-shaped cross “does not seem to have been standardized before the late Middle Ages.” Indeed, the statue of Andrew at Chartres Cathedral, most likely installed around 1224, shows him holding the upright beam of a Latin cross whose cross-beam has broken off (photo 13). Yet a sculpture of Andrew at Wells Cathedral that dates to just a few years later in the mid-1200’s, presents him with an X-shaped cross (photo 14). How is it that England was way ahead of France and its other neighbors in Europe with respect to St. Andrew’s familiar attribute?

13. Apostles (L to R) Simon, Thomas, Philip, Andrew and Peter, Chartres Cathedral

14. Andrew and His Cross on the Left, Apostles Gallery, Wells Cathedral

14. St. Andrew on the Left, Apostles Gallery, St. Andrew’s Cathedral; Wells, England

The answer is not in the Golden Legend. We find it instead in a story that started in Scotland in the ninth century, C.E., and spread from there. In the year 832, Oengus II led a heavily outnumbered army of Picts and Scots against an Army of Angles led by Athelstan. On the eve of the battle, Oengus prayed to St. Andrew for help and vowed that if his army should prevail he would name Andrew the patron saint of Scotland. The next morning, an X-shaped cloud appeared in the sky. Oengus saw in it the shape of the cross on which Andrew died.

Like Constantine who saw a cross in the sky before the Battle at the Milvian Bridge, Oengus saw a cross and was victorious. Henceforth, the X-shaped or “saltire” cross has been inextricably linked with St. Andrew and Scotland. Regrettably, I could not track down the earliest documented sources for this legend, though it might be among the stories in the Legendary of Scotland. To learn more about the history of the Scottish flag, I recommend a visit to Scotland’s National Flag Heritage Centre [http://www.visitscotland.com/en-us/info/see-do/national-flag-heritage-centre-p253351].

15. St. Andrew Altar Rail Carving, Washington National Cathedral, Washington, DC

We’ll close this post by noting that Andrew’s Cross eventually made its way from Scotland to cathedrals and churches in North America through a wide range of media and artistic styles. Examples include an altar rail carving at the Washington National Cathedral (photo 15, above), stained glass at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport, Iowa (photo 16), a hand-made needlepoint cushion at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, also in Davenport (photo 17), and a low-relief sculpture of Andrew paired with Moses at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC (photos 18 & 19).

16. Peter & Andrew Window, Sacred Heart Cathedral, Davenport, IA

17. St. Andrew’s Cross in Needlepoint, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Davenport, IA

18. Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, View from South, Washington, DC

19. Andrew paired with Moses, West Facade, Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

19. Andrew with Moses and Peter (above), West Facade, Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

Mike Klug, mikejklug@aol.com, 12/20/2014

Iconography 101: Attributes in Scripture

If iconography is “writing with images,” then attributes are among the key words and phrases that constitute a legible script. What are attributes? I think of them as visual cues to a person’s identity in art. Dr. Beth Williamson in Christian Art: A Very Short Introduction defines attributes as “pictorial labels.” They typically refer to a well-known event or story by which someone—a prophet or king from the Hebrew Bible or a Christian saint—is identified. While a number of attributes have their origins in scripture, many others derive from legends about the saints. Occasionally attributes are linked to customs associated with a saint.

Today’s post features a small sampling of attributes that have a basis in scripture. We’ll find them in the sculpture and stained glass at three cathedrals in Europe and four churches in the U.S. Taken together they illustrate how the traditional iconography of the Church’s heroes has persisted over the years. The use of attributes in sacred art, however, predates Christianity by many centuries. So before we visit the churches, we’ll take a short detour to the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore where we find several outstanding examples of attributes as they appeared in antiquity.

Attributes in Antiquity We don’t know exactly when sculptors and other artists began to use attributes as labels for their deities. It is evident, though, that early Egyptians associated the falcon with their sky god Horus more than a thousand years before Christ (photo 1). On the other side of the Mediterranean, Greeks in the classical period used attributes to distinguish among their panoply of gods and goddesses. Athena, the goddess of wisdom, holds an owl with her left hand in a sculpted procession of twelve gods that dates to the first century B.C.E (photo 2).

1. Falcon Reliquary, Walters Art Museum, Baltimore

1. Falcon Reliquary (1st century, B.C.E.), Walters Art Museum, Baltimore

Athena and Owl Detail, Walters Art Museum, Baltimore

2 Athena and Owl, Detail from Procession of 12 Gods, Walters Art Museum, Baltimore

To the east, Assyrians in the ninth century, B.C.E., depicted their winged genies carrying a pine cone and pail (photos 3 & 4). The winged genies were benevolent protective deities akin to angels, and were probably related to the “winged man” that eventually came to symbolize the gospel writer Matthew (see my 7/21/14 post on the Tetramorph) . Some scholars assert that these attributes are tied to a belief that the winged genies tended the tree of life in the Garden of Eden. Significantly, Christians later adopted the pine cone as a symbol for eternal life, most likely because its seeds produce a tree that is ever green. For more on how the pine cone became a Christian symbol, see the Daily Beagle’s informative article on the Vatican’s pigna [http://thedailybeagle.net/2013/09/08/the-pigna-and-the-apollo-belvedere-two-treasures-of-the-vatican/].

1. Winged Genie from Palace at Nimrud, Walters Art Museum, Baltimore

2. Winged Genie from Palace at Nimrud, Walters Art Museum, Baltimore

2. Winged Genie and Pine Cone Detail, Walters Art Museum, Baltimore

3. Winged Genie with Pine Cone Detail, Walters Art Museum, Baltimore

Biblical Attributes Many attributes in Christian art have their basis in scripture. St. Peter’s keys offer a prime example (photos 4 – 6). A key or set of keys refers to the verse at Matthew 16:19 where Jesus says, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven….” For Roman Catholics, the keys symbolize Peter and his status as the first pope. In time, the keys also came to signify the papacy itself. Today, two keys, one gold and the other silver, adorn the Vatican’s coat of arms in an iconic reference to the verse in Matthew.

4. St. Peter (far right) with other Apostles; Chartres Cathedral’s South Porch, France

5. St. Peter (left) and St. Paul, All Saints Episcopal Cathedral, Milwaukee

6. St. Peter Receives the Keys of the Kingdom, Sts. Peter & Paul Church, Petersburg, Iowa

King David’s harp is another familiar attribute with its origin in scripture. The image of Israel’s famed ruler holding a harp comes from the book of 1st Samuel where the writer recounts how a young David played a harp for King Saul to dispel the “evil spirit” that troubled the older man. The music of the harp, the Biblical account reports, “refreshed Saul” and made him well. The harp attribute also calls to mind David’s presumed authorship of many psalms (songs in Greek) that were set to harp or lyre music. A deteriorated 13^th or 14^th century sculpture of King David at Rouen Cathedral shows him with a large harp (photo 7). Similarly, David is shown playing a harp in a post-Reformation stained glass window at Cologne Cathedral. He appears as one of Jesus’ royal ancestors in a “Jesse Tree,” dressed as a sixteenth century nobleman (photo 8). David’s harp shows up in North American churches as well. British artists incorporated it in a lovely late 19th century window at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in downtown Philadelphia (photo 9).

7. King David with Harp, Rouen Cathedral, France

8. King David (left) and Solomon, Jesse Tree Window, Cologne Cathedral, Germany

9. King David, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Philadelphia

St. John the Baptist’s garments provide our third example of an attribute with roots in the Bible. Artists typically depicted John dressed in clothing made of skins. A restored 13th century sculpture on the west facade of Reims Cathedral (photo 10) aptly conveys the description of John’s rough attire in Mark’s gospel: “And John was clothed with camel’s hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins.” John wears a hairy, brown-colored, tunic in a stained glass baptism scene at the Washington National Cathedral (photo 11). You’ll also sometimes see him holding a lamb, or a medallion with a lamb, as a second attribute. This illustrates the verse at John 1:29 where the Baptist sees Jesus approaching the River Jordan and pronounces, “Behold the Lamb of God….”

John the Baptist, West Facade, Reims Cathedral, France

10. John the Baptist, Reims, France

John the Baptist and Jesus (top center), Baptism Window, Washington National Cathedral

11. Theology of Baptism Window (1954) by Burnham Studios, Washington National Cathedral (click to enlarge)

As noted above, there’s more to attributes than their references in scripture. My next post will take a look at attributes that grew out of the curious legends involving some of the saints. Paul, Hubert, Agatha and others will be in the spotlight.

Mike Klug, mikejklug@aol.com, November 22, 2014

Gabriel the Messenger

In today’s post we’ll examine the iconography of Gabriel, archangel and heavenly messenger, in the art of Chartres and Cologne Cathedrals in Europe (photos 1 & 2), and two museums and two churches in the United States. We’ll focus on the traditional attributes, or emblems, that identify Gabriel in scenes of the Annunciation, and then widen our field of vision to consider some less conventional representations of him that may point to a cross-cultural connection with the celestial messengers of ancient Greece.

Gabriel is known to many Christians as the angel who, in the first chapter of Luke’s gospel, announces to Mary that she will bear a son whose name will be Jesus. The Bible also names Gabriel as the one who interprets two of Daniel’s dreams (Dan. 8:15, 9:21), and who informs elderly Zechariah, “Thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John” (Luke 1:13). Neither the Hebrew Bible nor Christian New Testament, however, identifies Gabriel as an archangel. He became known as one of four chief angels (along with Michael, Raphael, and Uriel or Phanuel) on the basis of passages in non-canonical writings like the Book of Enoch, written around 175 B.C.E. His name means “God is my strength” in Hebrew, and it might surprise some Christians to learn that the Quran also mentions Gabriel (or Jibril). It relates the story of his appearance to Mary in which the archangel declares, “I am only the messenger of your Lord to give you [news of] a pure boy.”

1. Chartres Cathedral, Choir and Apse, France

2. Cologne Cathedral, Nave and Choir

Gabriel and the Annunciation According to Maurice Hassett, who wrote an article about angels for the Catholic Encyclopedia, the oldest known image of Mary’s encounter with Gabriel appears in a second century fresco in the Cemetery (or Catacomb?) of St. Priscilla in Rome. He appears there without wings presumably to avoid any associations with Rome’s “idolatrous” winged gods. It was only after Constantine’s reign in the fourth century that angels began to wear wings in Christian art. By the time medieval artists adorned the great Gothic cathedrals with stained glass scenes depicting Gabriel’s announcement to Mary, certain artistic conventions were well established. All angels had wings. But Gabriel alone carries a scepter that helps identify him while reminding us that a divine ruler sent him forth to deliver messages to certain mortals. A lily, symbolizing Mary’s purity, is another of Gabriel’s attributes. In some cases, Gabriel also wears a sash or carries a scroll inscribed in Latin with his memorable salutation: “Hail, thou that art highly favored….”

Two 13^th century stained glass windows at Chartres Cathedral display two of Gabriel’s emblems. An Annunciation panel (photo 3) in the lower left corner of the large “Life of Christ” window (photo 4) above the cathedral’s main portal, seems to capture the exact moment that Gabriel appeared to Mary. He offers a benevolent greeting by extending two fingers on his right hand in blessing. Mary was evidently seated on the chair behind her when the angel entered the room. Her raised palm gives the sense that she stood up quickly in surprise. The lily is barely visible on the tip of Gabriel’s golden scepter.

3. Annunciation Panel in the Life of Christ Window, Chartres Cathedral, France

4. Life of Christ Window, Chartres Cathedral, France (click to enlarge)

Likewise, the Annunciation scene in a lancet at the opposite end of the cathedral (photo 5) shows Gabriel holding a scepter with a gold fleur-de-lis at its tip. The gestures in this image appear to move the dialog forward to the point at which Mary wonders, “How can I conceive when I have not known a man?” Gabriel raises his index finger to stress the words that follow: “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee….” (Luke 1: 34-35). Significantly, a white dove symbolizing the Holy Spirit appears directly above Mary’s head to indicate that the moment of conception is imminent.

4. Annunciation Window, Apse Lancet, Chartres Cathedral, France

5. Annunciation Window, Apse Lancet, Chartres Cathedral, France

Medieval sculptors also worked hard to incorporate Gabriel’s attributes into their Annunciation scenes. Working with alabaster, artists in Nottingham, England carved many altarpieces that contained detailed scenes from accounts of Christ’s Passion and the Life of Mary. The Walters Museum in Baltimore has a few surviving panels from an altarpiece that probably graced a medieval Mary chapel. The Annunciation panel (photo 6), dating to the late 1400’s, shows Gabriel and Mary standing on either side of a large potted lily. Mary turns to face Gabriel from a prie-dieu, or prayer kneeler. A long scroll that was originally painted with Gabriel’s salutation encircles the flower. Above and to the left, God the Father exhales a dove that glides toward Mary. This detail creates a clever visual pun in that spiritus means both breath and spirit in Latin.

The Annunciation in Alabaster, Walters Museum, Baltimore, MDl

6. Annunciation in Alabaster, Walters Museum, Baltimore, Maryland (click to enlarge)

Modern sculptors carried this medieval tradition into the 20^th century. An excellent example of a relatively new sculpted altarpiece stands in the Mary Chapel at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. Roland Wanamaker, son of John Wanamaker and heir to the Wanamaker Department Store fortune, commissioned the English firm of Barkentin & Krall to fashion an altarpiece made of silver in memory of his wife, Fernanda, after she died in 1900. The “Wanamaker Altar” contains twelve panels which illustrate events in Mary’s life (photo 7). Its Annunciation panel shows Gabriel presenting a stemmed lily to Mary as she turns from her prie-dieu to receive the gift in humility. The Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descends on Mary (photo 8).

7. Wanamaker Altarpiece, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Philadelphia

8. Wanamaker Altarpiece, Annunciation Panel, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Philadelphia

Modern stained glass artists as well have extended Gabriel’s enduring iconography into our own times. The early 20^th century Annunciation window at Denver’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is a case in point (photos 9 & 10). In it, Gabriel holds a golden scepter tipped with a fleur-de-lis in his left hand. He raises his right hand in the same gesture we saw in the Life of Christ window at Chartres. A scroll dangles from his scepter with the words “Ave Maria” painted on it. A potted lily stands to the left of Mary’s prie-dieu as she turns from her prayer book to face the angel. A dove hovers overhead. Even though this window was designed by a German studio in a romantic style that has little in common with medieval France’s approach to art, it incorporates all the traditional attributes that we saw in the older stained glass and sculpture above. The connection between past and present is clear when seen in light of the symbols.

9. Annunciation Window designed by F.X. Zettler Studios, Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Denver

10. Annunciation Window Detail, Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Denver

Ambiguous Angels When it comes to angels, scripture is sometimes short on key details. Take, for example, the disturbing story in the book of Genesis about Abraham as he prepared to sacrifice Isaac. After Abraham has built an altar for a burnt offering and bound Isaac’s hands and feet, an angel suddenly appears at the very moment that Abraham is drawing a knife to kill his son. Abraham hears a voice. It’s an angel. But who was that angel? Nowhere in the Book of Genesis do we learn the angel’s name.

According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, a tradition developed among rabbis that God sent Gabriel to intercede on Isaac’s behalf. It makes sense, since Gabriel has long been known as a messenger or herald. Sculptors at Chartres created an exquisite rendering of the drama on the Cathedral’s north porch (photos 11 & 12). Abraham with knife in hand (the blade is missing) holds young Isaac’s head. The boy’s hands and feet are bound with rope. They look up. There, above and to their right, an angel peeks his head out of the heavenly city and commands, “Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do anything to him….”

11. Melchizadek (L) and Abraham & Issac (R), Chartres Cathedral, France (click to enlarge)

12. The Interceding Angel, Chartres Cathedral, France

Gabriel and the Rainbow As you visit churches and art museums you might occasionally come across an angel whose wings are painted in the colors of the rainbow. Jan Van Eyck portrayed Gabriel with rainbow-colored wings in a renowned early 15^th century painting of the Annunciation at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC (photo 13). What motivated Van Eyck to give Gabriel rainbow wings?

13. The Annunciation by Jan Van Eyck, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

13. The Annunciation (detail) by Jan Van Eyck, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

There are at least two possible explanations. First, he might have been making a reference to Iris, the goddess of the rainbow. She, along with Hermes (whom the Romans called Mercury) carried messages from the gods on Mt. Olympus to humans below. Iris is mentioned often in Homer’s Iliad, and it’s worth noting that the Spanish word for rainbow is arco iris, the “arc of Iris.”

But who knows if Van Eyck read the Iliad? It’s more likely that Gabriel’s rainbow wings were meant to spread a Christian message. In an article published in the March 1999 Art Bulletin, Dr. Carol Purtle wrote that many details in the painting “parallel elements of the narrative history of the Lord’s covenant promises to his people.” Through its allusion to the rainbow, Van Eyck’s Annunciation communicates the idea that God has made good on his promise to Noah by sending a Messiah (who is about to be conceived by the Holy Spirit descending on Mary) to redeem humankind. Gabriel’s wings recall the rainbow that appeared for Noah as a sign of God’s “everlasting covenant with every living creature that is upon the earth” (Genesis 9: 16).

The connection between the rainbow and covenant is also expressed at Chartres Cathedral. A window high above the apse, installed about a century before Van Eyck lived, displays a magnificent “angel of the covenant”(photo 14). The angel is a six-winged cherub whose feathers, collar, and halo cross the light spectrum in shades of purple, blue, green, yellow, reddish-orange, and red. In addition to these colors that symbolize the rainbow and its reminder of God’s promise to humanity, the artist conveys the idea that God’s promise never dies by placing purple peacock feathers on the cherub’s breast (note the “eyes” in the feathers). In olden times, people thought that peacock flesh does not decay, and so the elegant bird became a symbol of immortality.

14. Angel of the Covenant, Chartres Cathedral, France

But perhaps, as with many windows at Chartres, there is even more to this one than meets the eye. Bulfinch reports in his Mythology that the peacock is the Greek goddess Hera’s emblem. She was the wife of Zeus and patroness of mothers and marriage. Her personal messenger was none other than Iris. Did the artist intend to give a subtle nod to the gods of Greek antiquity? The question is open to debate because an abridged Latin translation of the Iliad called the Ilias Latina was, in the words of one source, “widely studied and read” in medieval schools. At that time, Chartres was home to one of the finest schools in Europe.

Since I first saw Chartres’ Angel of the Covenant in 2010, I’ve been looking for images that employ the rainbow as an attribute for Gabriel. I found one two years ago in a modern Annunciation panel in the “Life of Christ” window at Cologne Cathedral (photo 15). Gabriel’s robe is purple and his wings contain the rainbow’s other colors. What was the artist’s intent? Does Gabriel’s rainbow mean messenger, covenant, or both? As we close this post, I think it’s worth noting that the rainbow has signified “divine presence” and cosmic benevolence for eons. The ancient Greeks, Hebrews, Romans, and Celts all sensed it, and the rainbow’s symbolism continues to evolve. If you are aware of any other examples of Gabriel with a rainbow attribute, please let me know. My email address is below. Thank you!

15. Annunciation Panel, Cologne Cathedral, Germany

Michael Klug, mikejklug@aol.com, 10/25/14

Michael the Archangel

Because September 29 is the feast of St. Michael and All Angels (also called Michaelmas), this post focuses on Michael the Archangel, or “chief angel,” as he appears in stained glass and sculpture at two cathedrals in Europe and three churches in the U.S. Many Christian denominations regard Michael as a saint, and he was especially popular in the Middle Ages. His 11th century abbey shrine at Mont St. Michel in France still draws an estimated 3 million visitors each year (photo 1, below), and sacred structures on both sides of the Atlantic continue to bear his name. The Oxford Dictionary of Saints reports that no less than 686 churches in England were dedicated to Michael the Archangel by the end of the Middle Ages, and a quick Google search reveals that hundreds of Roman Catholic, Episcopal, and Orthodox churches throughout the U.S. are named for him.

: 1. Mont St. Michel, France

The Bible and Koran both mention Michael. The Old Testament Book of Daniel describes him as “one of the chief princes” of the heavenly host, whose face had “the appearance of lightning” when he came to Daniel in a vision to offer encouragement. Michael said, “O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea be strong” (Dan. 10:19). Michael’s name in Hebrew means “Who is like unto God?” and in some cases viewers can identify him by the Latin translation of his name–“Quis ut Deus?”– inscribed on a shield or scroll, as in a modern sculpture at Cologne Cathedral (photos 2 & 3).

2. Portal with St. Michael Trumeau, Kolner Dom, Cologne, Germany (click to enlarge)

2. Portal with St. Michael Trumeau Sculpture, Kolner Dom, Cologne, Germany (click to enlarge)

3. St. Michael’s Shield with “Quis ut Deus,” Kolner Dom, Cologne Germany

The New Testament’s Book of Revelation describes Michael as the leader of an army of angels who prevail in a celestial war against “the great dragon” and the forces of evil. In this apocalyptic vision, Michael and his forces cast out the dragon—Satan—and his angels from heaven to the earth. Thus, one often sees Michael wielding a sword and sometimes wearing armor as he stands over a defeated dragon or subdued Satan to symbolize the triumph of good over evil. Two statues at Brussels’ Cathedral of Saints Michael and Gudula, one with a dragon and the other with a horned Satan, provide good illustrations of the type (photos 4 – 8).

Sts. Michael & Gudula Cathedral, Brussels (postcard)

4. Cathedral of Saints Michael & Gudula, Brussels (postcard)

St. Michael and Dragon, Late Middle Ages, Cathedral of Sts. Michael & Gudula, Brussels

5. St. Michael and Dragon, Cathedral of Sts. Michael & Gudula, Brussels

Defeated Dragon, Cathedral of Sts. Michael & Gudula, Brussels

6. Dragon Detail, Cathedral of Sts. Michael & Gudula, Brussels

7. St. Michael and Satan, Cathedral of Sts. Michael & Gudula, Brussels

8. Satan Detail, Cathedral of Sts. Michael & Gudula, Brussels

in the Middle Ages, Michael was the patron saint for chivalry, and he’s now deemed the patron of police officers, paramedics, firefighters, and the military. Modern stained glass artists continue the tradition of depicting him as a mighty warrior, and one of our “better angels,” in the perpetual struggle between good and evil. A 19^th century window at Marquette University’s Gesu Church, made by the studios of F.X. Zettler in Germany, shows a brawny Michael driving Satan into the fires of hell (photo 9).

9 St. Michael & Satan, Church of the Gesu, Milwaukee, WI

More recently, a “Freedom Window,” designed by Joseph G. Reynolds, Jr. and installed at the Washington National Cathedral in 1953, depicts St. Michael in good company with George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Moses, Martin Luther and others who courageously confronted the evils of their day (photos 10-12).

St. Michael (center left) in the Freedom Window, Washington National Cathedral, DC

10. St. Michael (center, left lancet) in the Freedom Window, Washington National Cathedral, DC (click to enlarge)

11. Abraham Lincoln and Emancipation, Freedom Window, Washington National Cathedral, DC

12. Martin Luther and the 95 Theses, Freedom Window, Washington National Cathedral, DC

Though Michael appears most often as a protagonist in the fight against evil, he’s also prominent in scenes of the Last Judgment. He typically holds a set of scales in which souls are weighed before Christ issues everlasting judgment. The outstanding 13^th century tympanum sculpture in the center portal at Amiens Cathedral (photos 13-15) shows Michael standing between two angels who blow their trumpets to announce Judgment Day as the dead rise from their graves. Christ is enthroned, seated above the saved and damned. Below and to his right, angels escort the faithful to heaven where they receive crowns. Below and to his left, demons prod the others into the open jaws of Leviathan, a symbol for hell.

13. West Facade, Amiens Cathedral, France

14. Last Judgment Tympanum Sculpture, Amiens Cathedral, France (click to enlarge)

15. Last Judgment Detail, Amiens Cathedral, France

Stained glass artists also portrayed Michael in Judgment Day scenes. Michael hovers on the wings of a cherub in the vast 15^th century Last Judgment Window at St. Michael & Gudula Cathedral in Brussels (photos 16 & 17). At Denver’s Immaculate Conception Cathedral, he commands a central position at Christ’s feet, standing at the ready in shimmering golden armor. The stained glass windows at the Cathedral in Denver were also designed by Germany’s F.X. Zettler studios, and installed around 1912 (photo 18).

16. Last Judgment Window, Cathedral of Sts. Michael & Gudula, Brussels (click to enlarge)

17. Michael with Scales Detail, Cathedral of Sts. Michael & Gudula, Brussels

18. Judgment Day Window, Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Denver, CO (click to enlarge)

Michael Klug, mikejklug@aol.com, 9/29/14

Attributes of the Apostles: Peter

If you’re not fluent in Latin, or if an inscribed or painted name has faded away, it might be difficult to tell one saint from another as they appear in stained glass and sculpture in a Gothic cathedral. That’s where “attributes” can help. Medieval artists enabled viewers to identify prophets, evangelists, and saints by adding an item associated with the subject to their works. Dr. Beth Williamson, a British art historian, observes in her book, Christian Art: A Very Short Introduction, that an attribute “acted as a pictorial label.” She goes on to explain that “attributes might make reference to a significant event in a saint’s life, or a particular achievement for which they are known.” In this way, attributes also served as teaching devices that pointed to key elements in important stories.

1. St. Peter Sculpture, 13th Century, Rouen Cathedral, France

Unschooled medieval church-goers could easily identify a statue of St. Peter, for example, by the “keys of the kingdom” that he holds. The keys illustrate the verse in Matthew’s gospel where Christ says to Peter, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” The statue of Peter holding an over-sized key at Rouen Cathedral (photo 1, above) is one of many fine examples of this attribute put to good use. In this post, we’ll also visit Chartres Cathedral in France and four churches in the U.S. as we review Peter’s various attributes.

Peter, the impetuous fisherman who would come to be known as Rome’s first bishop, has been a popular subject for artists since Christianity’s early days. Churches throughout the world are named for him, including St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the seat of the papacy and legendary site of Peter’s burial. Many of those namesake cathedrals and churches, as well as dozens of sacred structures dedicated to other saints, contain an image of Peter with keys. A fine 13th century statue on the North Porch of Chartres Cathedral shows a set of keys dangling from Peter’s wrist (photo 2).

2. Peter (far right) with Simeon and John on Chartres Cathedral’s North Porch, France (click to enlarge)

But because Peter was involved in many “significant events” recorded in the gospels and Acts of the Apostles, artists often add other attributes to their representations of him. At Chartres, Peter wears a papal tiara and the pallium (Y-shaped sash), visual cues to his traditional designation among Roman Catholics as the first pope (photo 3). Observe also that he stands on a pedestal shaped like a small rock out-cropping (photo 4). The rocky pedestal recalls Christ’s words in Matthew’s gospel: “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” This speaks to the view among medieval theologians that Peter was preeminent, or had “primacy,” among Jesus’ disciples. Moreover, the sculptor probably knew that Peter’s name derives from petrus, the Greek word for “rock.”

3. St. Peter Detail, North Porch, Chartres Cathedral, France

3. Peter's Pedestal on Chartres Cathedral's North Porch, France

4. Peter’s Pedestal, North Porch, Chartres Cathedral, France

Modern artists depict Peter in much the same way. A 20th century sculpture by John Angel at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City continues the “key tradition” with Peter clutching a large key to his chest (photo 5). But there’s a twist to the story in this sculpture. A crowing rooster stands at Peter’s feet (photo 6). In contrast to Chartres where the emphasis is on Peter’s primacy, the rooster reminds us of his human shortcomings and failings, as when he denied that he knew Christ three times before the rooster crowed. A scene on the pedestal shows Peter with his hands raised in denial as he maintains, “I do not know the man!”

4. St. Peter, Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York City

5. St. Peter Statue by John Angel, Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York City (click to enlarge)

5. Peter's Rooster and Pedestal, Cathedral of St. John the Divine, NYC

6. Peter’s Rooster and Pedestal, Cathedral of St. John the Divine, NYC

In many cases, saints are known by the instruments of their death. Legend has it that Peter was crucified upside down in Rome, during Nero’s reign. The story probably has its origins in an apocryphal book, The Acts of Peter, which dates to the second century. Jacobus de Voragine, writing in the 1200’s, compiled this and many other stories and tales about the saints in a popular book called The Golden Legend. The Golden Legend relates that Peter was uncomfortable with a regular crucifixion. He told his executioners, “Since I am not worthy of hanging on the cross as my Lord did, turn my cross around and crucify me upside down!” The Roman soldiers, who reportedly really did amuse themselves by sometimes changing the position of the cross for executions, obliged him. An inverted Latin cross alludes to this legend on the pedestal for St. Peter’s statue at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC (photo 7), while a stained glass roundel at Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Philadelphia actually depicts it (photo 8).

7. Inverted Cross and Heraldic Keys on Pedestal, National Cathedral, Washington, DC

7. Inverted Cross and Heraldic Keys of the Kingdom on St. Peter’s Pedestal, National Cathedral, Washington, DC

8. St. Peter’s Martyrdom, Sts. Peter & Paul Cathedral, Philadelphia, PA

Papal garb and upside down crosses notwithstanding, the key is Peter’s most common attribute. It shows up often in modern stained glass throughout North America. Two examples close this post on Peter’s attributes (photos 9 & 10). The window at Chicago’s Fourth Presbyterian Church shows Peter holding keys with his left hand and a book with his right. The book alludes to the two New Testament epistles attributed to the apostle, and is a common symbol used to identify authors of books in the Bible.

9. St. Peter, Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago

10. Peter Receives the Keys, Sts. Peter & Paul Cathedral, Philadelphia, PA

Michael Klug, 09/12/14, mikejklug@aol.com

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Mandorlas in Our Midst

This blog explores connections between Europe's cathedrals and North America's sacred structures through art, architecture, and iconography.

Iconography