Some celebrated pictures are individually distinguished by titles
derived from some particular object in the composition, as Raphael's
_Madonna de Impannata_, so called from the window in the back
ground being partly shaded with a piece of linen (in the Pitti
Pal., Florence); Correggio's _Vierge au Panier_, so called from the
work-basket which stands beside her (in our Nat Gal.); Murillo's
_Virgen de la Servilleta_, the Virgin of the Napkin, in allusion to
the dinner napkin on which it was painted.[1] Others are denominated
from certain localities, as the _Madonna di Foligno_ (now in the
Vatican); others from the names of families to whom they have
belonged, as _La Madonna della Famiglia Staffa_, at Perugia.

[Footnote 1: There is a beautiful engraving in Stirling's "Annals of
the Artists of Spain."]

*       *       *       *       *

Those visions and miracles with which the Virgin Mary favoured many
of the saints, as St. Luke (who was her secretary and painter), St.
Catherine, St. Francis, St. Herman, and others, have already been
related in the former volumes, and need not be repeated here.

With regard to the churches dedicated to the Virgin, I shall not
attempt to enumerate even the most remarkable, as almost every town
in Christian Europe contains one or more bearing her name. The most
ancient of which tradition speaks, was a chapel beyond the Tiber, at
Rome, which is said to have been founded in 217, on the site where S.
Maria _in Trastevere_ now stands. But there are one or two which carry
their pretensions much higher; for the cathedral at Toledo and the
cathedral at Chartres both claim the honour of having been dedicated
to the Virgin while she was yet alive.[1]

[Footnote 1: In England we have 2,120 churches dedicated in her
honour; and one of the largest and most important of the London
parishes bears her name--"St. Marie-la-bonne"]

*       *       *       *       *

Brief and inadequate as are these introductory notices, they will, I
hope, facilitate the comprehension of the critical details into which
it has been necessary to enter in the following pages, and lend some
new interest to the subjects described. I have heard the artistic
treatment of the Madonna styled a monotonous theme; and to those who
see only the perpetual iteration of the same groups on the walls of
churches and galleries, varied as they may suppose only by the fancy
of the painter, it may seem so. But beyond the visible forms, there
lies much that is suggestive to a thinking mind--to the lover of Art
a higher significance, a deeper beauty, a more various interest, than
could at first be imagined.

In fact, the greatest mistakes in point of _taste_ arise in general
from not knowing what we ought to demand of the artist, not only in
regard to the subject expressed, but with reference to the times in
which he lived, and his own individuality. An axiom which I have heard
confidently set forth, that a picture is worth nothing unless "he who
runs may read," has inundated the world with frivolous and pedantic
criticism. A picture or any other work of Art, is worth nothing except
in so far as it has emanated from mind, and is addressed to mind. It
should, indeed, be _read_ like a book. Pictures, as it has been well
said, are the books of the unlettered, but then we must at least
understand the language in which they are written. And further,--if,
in the old times, it was a species of idolatry to regard these
beautiful representations as endued with a specific sanctity and
power; so, in these days, it is a sort of atheism to look upon them
reckless of their significance, regardless of the influences through
which they were produced, without acknowledgment of the mind which
called them into being, without reference to the intention of the
artist in his own creation.

*       *       *       *       *

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES TO THE SECOND EDITION.


I.

In the first edition of this work, only a passing allusion was made to
those female effigies, by some styled "_la donna orante_" (the Praying
Woman) and by others supposed to represent Mary the Mother of our
Lord, of which so many examples exist in the Catacombs and in the
sculptured groups on the ancient Christian sarcophagi. I know it has
long been a disputed, or at least an unsettled and doubtful point, as
to whether certain female figures existing on the earliest Christian
monuments were or were not intended to represent the Virgin Mary.
The Protestants, on the one hand, as if still inspired by that
superstition against superstition which led to the violent and vulgar
destruction of so many beautiful works of art, and the Catholics on
the other, jealous to maintain the authenticity of these figures as a
testimony to the ancient worship of the Virgin, both appear to me to
have taken an exaggerated and prejudiced view of a subject which ought
to be considered dispassionately on purely antiquarian and critical
grounds. Having had the opportunity, during a late residence in
Italy, of reconsidering and comparing a great number of these antique
representations, and having heard the opinions of antiquarians,
theologians, and artists, who had given their attention to the
subject, and who occasionally differed from each other as to the
weight of evidence, I have arrived at the conviction, that some of
these effigies represent the Virgin Mary, and others do not. I confess
I do not believe in any authentic representation of the Virgin holding
the Divine Child older than the sixth century, except when introduced
into the groups of the Nativity and the Worship of the Magi. Previous
to the Nestorian controversy, these maternal effigies, as objects of
devotion, were, I still believe, unknown, but I cannot understand
why there should exist among Protestants, so strong a disposition to
discredit every representation of Mary the Mother of our Lord to which
a high antiquity had been assigned by the Roman Catholics. We know
that as early as the second century, not only symbolical figures of
our Lord, but figures of certain personages of holy life, as St. Peter
and St. Paul, Agnes the Roman, and Euphemia the Greek, martyr, did
certainly exist. The critical and historical testimony I have given
elsewhere. (Sacred and Legendary Art.) Why therefore should there not
have existed effigies of the Mother of Christ, of the "Woman highly
blessed," the subject of so many prophecies, and naturally the object
of a tender and just veneration among the early Christians? It seams
to me that nothing could be more likely, and that such representations
ought to have a deep interest for all Christians, no matter of what
denomination--for _all_, in truth, who believe that the Saviour of
the world had a good Mother, His only earthly parent, who brought Him
forth, nurtured and loved Him. That it should be considered a point
of faith with Protestants to treat such memorials with incredulity
and even derision, appears to me most inconsistent and unaccountable,
though I confess that between these simple primitive memorials and the
sumptuous tasteless column and image recently erected at Rome there is
a very wide margin of disputable ground, of which I shall say no more
in this place. But to return to the antique conception of the "Donna
orante" or so-called Virgin Mother, I will mention here only the moat
remarkable examples; for to enter fully into the subject would occupy
a volume in itself.

There is a figure often met with in the Catacombs and on the
sarcophagi of a majestic woman standing with outspread arms (the
ancient attitude of prayer), or holding a book or scroll in her hand.
When this figure stands alone and unaccompanied by any attribute, I
think the signification doubtful: but in the Catacomb of St. Ciriaco
there is a painted figure of a woman, with arms outspread and
sustained on each aide by figures, evidently St. Peter and St. Paul;
on the sarcophagi the same figure frequently occurs; and there are
other examples certainly not later than the third and fourth century.
That these represent Mary the Mother of Christ I have not the least
doubt; I think it has been fully demonstrated that no other Christian
woman could have been so represented, considering the manners and
habits of the Christian community at that period. Then the attitude
and type are precisely similar to those of the ancient Byzantine
Madonnas and the Italian mosaics of Eastern workmanship, proving, as
I think, that there existed a common traditional original for this
figure, the idea of which has been preserved and transmitted in these
early copies.

Further:--there exist in the Roman museums many fragments of ancient
glass found in the Christian tombs, on which are rudely pictured in
colours figures exactly similar, and having the name MARIA inscribed
above them. On one of these fragments I found the same female figure
between two male figures, with the names inscribed over them, MARIA.
PETRVS. PAVLVS., generally in the rudest and most imperfect style, as
if issuing from some coarse manufacture; but showing that they have
had a common origin with those far superior figures in the Catacombs
and on the sarcophagi, while the inscribed names leave no doubt as to
the significance.

On the other hand, there are similar fragments of coarse glass found
in the Catacombs--either lamps or small vases, bearing the same female
in the attitude of prayer, and superscribed in rude letters, DULCIS
ANIMA PIE ZESES VIVAS. (ZESES instead of JESUS.) Such may, possibly,
represent, not the Virgin Mary, but the Christian matron or martyr
buried in the tomb; at least, I consider them as doubtful.

The Cavaliere Rossi, whose celebrity as an antiquarian is not merely
Italian, but European, and whose impartiality can hardly be doubted,
told me that a Christian sarcophagus had lately been discovered at
Saint-Maxime, in the south of France, on which there is the same group
of the female figure praying, and over it the name MARIA.

I ought to add, that on one of these sarcophagi, bearing the oft
repeated subject of the good Shepherd feeding His sheep, I found, as
the companion group, a female figure in the act of feeding birds which
are fluttering to her feet. It is not doubted that the good Shepherd
is the symbol of the beneficent Christ; whether the female figure
represent the Virgin-mother, or is to be regarded merely as a general
symbol of female beneficence, placed on a par with that of Christ
(in His human character), I will not pretend to decide. It is equally
touching and beautiful in either significance.

Three examples of these figures occur to me.

The first is from a Christian sarcophagus of early date, and in a good
style of art, probably of the third century--it is a noble figure,
in the attitude of prayer, and separated from the other groups by a
palm-tree on each side--at her feet is a bird (perhaps a dove, the
ancient symbol of the released soul), and scrolls which represent
the gospel. I regard this figure as doubtful; it may possibly be the
effigy of a Christian matron, who was interred in the sarcophagus.

The second example is also from a sarcophagus. It is a figure holding
a scroll of the gospel, and standing between St. Peter and St.
Paul; on each side (in the original) there are groups expressing the
beneficent miracles of our Lord. This figure, I believe, represents
the Virgin Mary.

In the third example, the conspicuous female figure is combined with
the series of groups on each side. She stands with hands outspread, in
the attitude of prayer, between the two apostles, who seem to sustain
her arms. On one side is the miracle of the water changed into wine;
on the other side, Christ healing the woman who touched His garment;
both of perpetual recurrence in these sculptures. Of these groups of
the miracles and actions of Christ on the early Christian sarcophagi,
I shall give a full account in the "History of our Lord, as
illustrated in the fine arts;" at present I confine myself to the
female figure which takes this conspicuous place, while other female
figures are prostrate, or of a diminutive size, to express their
humility or inferiority; and I have no doubt that thus situated it
is intended to represent the woman who was highly honoured as well as
highly blessed--the Mother of our Saviour.

I have come therefore to the conclusion, that while many of these
figures have a certain significance, others are uncertain. Where
the figure is isolated, or placed within a frame or border, like the
memorial busts and effigies on the Pagan sarcophagi, I think it may
be regarded as probably commemorating the Christian martyr or matron
entombed in the sarcophagus; but when there is no division, where the
figure forms part of a continuous series of groups, expressing the
character and miracles of Christ, I believe that it represents His
mother.


II.

The BORGHESE CHAPEL, in the church, of St. Maria Maggiore at Rome, was
dedicated to the honour of the Virgin Mary by Paul V. (Borghese), in
1611--the same Pope who in 1615 promulgated the famous Bull relative
to the Immaculate Conception. The scheme of decoration in this
gorgeous chapel is very remarkable, as testifying to the development
which the theological idea of the Virgin, as the Sposa or personified
Church, had attained at this period, and because it is not, as in
other examples, either historical or devotional, but purely doctrinal.

As we enter, the profusion of ornament, the splendour of colour,
marbles, gilding, from the pavement under our feet to the summit of
the lofty dome, are really dazzling. First, and elevated above all,
we have the "Madonna della Concezione," Our Lady of the Immaculate
Conception, in a glory of light, sustained and surrounded by angels,
having the crescent under her feet, according to the approved
treatment. Beneath, round the dome, we read in conspicuous letters
the text from the Revelations:--SIGNUM. MAGNUM. APPARAVlT. IN COELO.
MULIER. AMICTA. SOLE. ET. LUNA. SUB. PEDIBUS. EJUS. ET. IN CAPITE.
EJUS, CORONA. STELLARUM. DUODECIM. (Rev. xii. 1.) Lower down is a
second inscription, expressing the dedication. MARIAE. CHRISTI. MATRI.
SEMPER. VIRGINI. PAULUS. QUINTUS.P.M. The decorations beneath the
cornice consist of eighteen large frescoes, and six statues in marble,
above life size. Beginning with the frescoes, we have the subjects
arranged in the following order:--

1. The four great prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel,
in their usual place in the four pendentives of the dome. (v. The
Introduction.)

2. Two large frescoes. In the first, the Vision of St. Gregory
Thaumaturgus,[1] and Heretics bitten by Serpents. In the second, St.
John Damascene and St. Ildefonso miraculously rewarded for defending
the Majesty of the Virgin. (Sacred and Legendary Art.)

[Footnote 1: St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, Bishop of Pontus in the third
century, was favoured by a vision of the Trinity, which enabled him to
confute and utterly subdue the Sabellian heretics--the Unitarians of
his time.]

3. A large fresco, representing the four Doctors of the Church who had
especially written in honour of the Virgin: viz. Ireneus and Cyprian,
Ignatius and Theophilus, grouped two and two.

4. St. Luke, who painted the Virgin, and whose gospel contains the
best account of her.

5. As spiritual conquerors in the name of the Virgin, St. Dominic and
St. Francis, each attended by two companions of his Order.

6. As military conquerors in the name of the Virgin, the Emperor
Heraclius, and Narses, the general against the Arians.

7. A group of three female figures, representing the three famous
saintly princesses who in marriage preserved their virginity,
Pulcheria, Edeltruda (our famous queen Ethelreda), and Cunegunda. (For
the legends of Cunegunda and Ethelreda, see Legends of the Monastic
Orders.)

8. A group of three learned Bishops, who had especially defended the
immaculate purity of the Virgin, St. Cyril, St. Anselm, and St. Denis
(?).

9. The miserable ends of those who were opposed to the honour of the
Virgin. 1. The death of Julian the Apostate, very oddly represented;
he lies on an altar, transfixed by an arrow, as a victim; St.
Mercurius in the air. (For this legend see Sacred and Legendary Art.)
2. The death of Leo IV., who destroyed the effigies of the Virgin. 3.
The death of Constantine IV., also a famous iconoclast.

The statues which are placed in niches are--

1, 2. St. Joseph, as the nominal husband, and St. John the Evangelist,
as the nominal son of the Virgin; the latter, also, as prophet and
poet, with reference to the passage in the Revelation, c. xii. 1.

3, 4. Aaron, as priestly ancestor (because his wand blossomed), and
David, as kingly ancestor of the Virgin.

5, 6. St. Dionysius the Areopagite, who was present at the death of
the Virgin, and St. Bernard, who composed the famous "Salve Regina" in
her honour.

Such is this grand systematic scheme of decoration, which, to those
who regard it cursorily, is merely a sumptuous confusion of colours
and forms, or at best, "a fine example of the Guido school and
Bernino." It is altogether a very complete and magnificent specimen
of the prevalent style of art, and a very comprehensive and suggestive
expression of the prevalent tendency of thought, in the Roman
Catholic Church from the beginning of the seventeenth century. In no
description of this chapel have I ever seen the names and subjects
accurately given: the style of art belongs to the _decadence_, and the
taste being worse than, questionable, the pervading _doctrinal_ idea
has been neglected, or never understood.


III.

Those pictures which represent the Virgin Mary kneeling before the
celestial throne, while the PADRE ETERNO or the MESSIAH extends his
hand or his sceptre towards her, are generally misunderstood. They
do not represent, the Assumption, nor yet the reception of Mary in
Heaven, as is usually supposed; but the election or predestination of
Mary as the immaculate vehicle or tabernacle of human redemption--the
earthly parent of the divine Saviour. I have described such a picture
by Dosso Dossi, and another by Cottignola. A third example may be
cited in a yet more beautiful and celebrated picture by Francia, now
in the Church at San Frediano at Lucca. Above, in the glory of Heaven,
the Virgin kneels before the throne of the Creator; she is clad in
regal attire of purple and crimson and gold; and she bends her fair
crowned head, and folds her hands upon her bosom with an expression
of meek yet dignified resignation--"_Behold the handmaid of the
Lord!_"--accepting, as woman, that highest glory, as mother, that
extremest grief, to which the Divine will, as spoken by the prophets
of old, had called her. Below, on the earth and to the right hand,
stand David and Solomon, as prophets and kingly ancestors: on the left
hand, St. Augustine and St. Anselm in their episcopal robes. (I have
mentioned, with regard to the office in honour of the Immaculate
Conception, that the idea is said to have originated in England. I
should also have added, that Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, was
its strenuous advocate.) Each of these personages holds a scroll. On
that of David the reference is to the 4th and 5th verses of Psalm
xxvii.--"_In the secret of his tabernacle he shall hide me_." On
that of Solomon is the text from his Song, ch. iv. 7. On that of St.
Augustine, a quotation, I presume, from his works, but difficult
to make out; it seems to be, "_In coelo qualis est Pater, talis est
Films; qualis est Filius, talis est Mater_." On that of St. Anselm the
same inscription which is on the picture of Cottignola quoted before,
"_non puto vere esse_." &c., which is, I suppose, taken from his
works. In the centre, St. Anthony of Padua kneels beside the sepulchre
full of lilies and roses; showing the picture to have been painted
for, or under the influence of, the Franciscan Order; and, like other
pictures of the same class, "an attempt to express in a visible form
the idea or promise of the redemption of the human race, as existing
in the Sovereign Eternal Mind before the beginning of the world." This
altar-piece has no date, but appears to have been painted about the
same time as the picture in our National Gallery (No. 179.), which
came from the same church. As a work of art it is most wonderfully
beautiful. The editors of the last excellent edition of Vasari speak
of it with just enthusiasm as "_Opera veramente stupenda in ogni
parte_!" The predella beneath, painted in chiaro-oscuro, is also of
exquisite beauty; and let us hope that we shall never see it separated
from the great subject, like a page or a paragraph torn out of a book
by ignorant and childish collectors.


IV.

Although the Nativity of the Virgin Mary is one of the great festivals
of the Roman Catholic Church, I have seldom seen it treated as
a separate subject and an altar-piece. There is, however, a very
remarkable example in the Belle Arti at Siena. It is a triptych
enclosed in a framework elaborately carved and gilt, in the
Gothic style. In the centre compartment, St. Anna lies on a rich
couch covered with crimson drapery; a graceful female presents an
embroidered napkin, others enter, bringing refreshments, as usual.
In front, three attendants minister to the Infant: one of them is in
an attitude of admiration; on the right, Joachim seated, with white
hair and beard, receives the congratulations of a young man who seems
to envy his paternity. In the compartment on the right stand St.
James Major and St. Catherine; on the left, St. Bartholomew and St.
Elizabeth of Hungary (?). This picture is in the hard primitive style
of the fourteenth century, by an unknown painter, who must have lived,
before Giovanni di Paolo, but vividly coloured, exquisitely finished,
and full of sentiment and dramatic feeling.




DEVOTIONAL SUBJECTS.




PART I.

THE VIRGIN WITHOUT THE CHILD.

1. LA VERGINE GLORIOSA. 2. L'INCORONATA.
3. LA MADONNA DI MISERICORDIA. 4. LA MADRE
DOLOROSA. 5. LA CONCEZIONE.

THE VIRGIN MARY.

_Lat._ 1. Virgo Gloriosa. 2. Virgo Sponsa Dei. 3. Virgo Potens 4.
Virgo Veneranda. 5. Virgo Praedicanda. 6. Virgo Clemens. 7. Virgo
Sapientissima. 8. Sancta Virgo Virginum. _Ital._ La Vergine Gloriosa.
La Gran Vergine delle Vergini. _Fr._ La Grande Vierge.

There are representations of the Virgin, and among them some of the
earliest in existence, which place her before us as an object of
religious veneration, but in which the predominant idea is not that
of her maternity. No doubt it was as the mother of the Saviour Christ
that she was originally venerated; but in the most ancient monuments
of the Christian faith, the sarcophagi, the rude paintings in the
catacombs, and the mosaics executed before the seventh century,
she appears simply as a veiled female figure, not in any respect
characterized. She stands, in a subordinate position, on one side of
Christ; St. Peter or St. John the Baptist on the other.

When the worship of the Virgin came to us from the East, with it came
the Greek type--and for ages we had no other--the Greek classical
type, with something of the Oriental or Egyptian character. When thus
she stands before us without her Son, and the apostles or saints on
each side taking the subordinate position, then we are to regard her
not only as the mother of Christ, but as the second Eve, the mother of
all suffering humanity; THE WOMAN of the primeval prophecy whose issue
was to bruise the head of the Serpent; the Virgin predestined from
the beginning of the world who was to bring forth the Redeemer of the
world; the mystical Spouse of the Canticles; the glorified Bride of
a celestial Bridegroom; the received Type of the Church of Christ,
afflicted on earth, triumphant and crowned in heaven; the most
glorious, most pure, most pious, most clement, most sacred Queen and
Mother, Virgin of Virgins.

The form under which we find this grand and mysterious idea of
glorified womanhood originally embodied, is wonderfully majestic
and simple. A female figure of colossal dimensions, far exceeding
in proportion all the attendant personages and accessories, stands
immediately beneath some figure or emblem representing almighty power:
either it is the omnipotent hand stretched out above her, holding the
crown of immortality; or it is the mystic dove which hovers over her;
or it is the half-form of Christ, in the act of benediction.

She stands with arms raised and extended wide, the ancient attitude of
prayer; or with hands merely stretched forth, expressing admiration,
humility, and devout love. She is attired in an ample tunic of
blue or white, with a white veil over her head, thrown a little
back, and displaying an oval face with regular features, mild,
dignified--sometimes, in the figures of the ruder ages, rather stern
and melancholy, from the inability of the artist to express beauty;
but when least beautiful, and most formal and motionless, always
retaining something of the original conception, and often expressibly
striking and majestic.

The earliest figure of this character to which I can refer is the
mosaic in the oratory of San Venanzio, in the Lateran, the work of
Greek artists under the popes John IV. and Theodorus, both Greeks by
birth, and who presided over the Church from 640 to 649. In the vault
of the tribune, over the altar, we have first, at the summit, a figure
of Christ half-length, with his hand extended in benediction; on each
side, a worshipping angel; below, in the centre, the figure of the
Virgin according to the ancient type, standing with extended arms, in
a violet or rather dark-blue tunic and white veil, with a small cross
pendant on her bosom. On her right hand stands St. Paul, on her left
St. Peter; beyond St. Peter and St. Paul, St. John the Baptist holding
a cross, and St. John the Evangelist holding a book; and beyond these
again, St. Domino and St. Venantius, two martyred saints, who perished
in Dalmatia, and whose relics were brought out of that country by the
founder of the chapel, John IV., himself a Dalmatian by birth. At the
extremities of this group, or rather line of figures, stand the two
popes, John IV. and Theodorus, under whom the chapel was founded and
dedicated. Although this ancient mosaic has been many times restored,
the original composition remains.

Similar, but of later date, is the effigy of the Virgin over the altar
of the archiepiscopal chapel at Ravenna. This mosaic, with others of
Greek work, was brought from the old tribune of the cathedral, when
it was altered and repaired, and the ancient decorations removed or
destroyed.

Another instance, also, at Ravenna, is the basso-relievo in
Greek marble, and evidently of Greek workmanship, which is said
to have existed from the earliest ages, in the church of S.
Maria-in-Porto-Fuori, and is now preserved in the S. Maria-in-Porto,
where I saw it in 1847. It is probably as old as the sixth or seventh
century.

In St. Mark's at Venice, in the grand old basilica at Torcello, in
San Donate at Murano, at Monreale, near Palermo, and in most of the
old churches in the East of Europe, we find similar figures, either
Byzantine in origin, or in imitation of the Byzantine style.

But about the middle of the thirteenth century, and contemporary with
Cimabue, we find the first indication of a departure, even in the
mosaics, from the lifeless, formal type of Byzantine art. The earliest
example of a more animated treatment is, perhaps, the figure in the
apsis of St. John Lateran. (Rome.) In the centre is an immense cross,
emblem of salvation; the four rivers of Paradise (the four Gospels)
flow from its base; and the faithful, figured by the hart and the
sheep, drink from these streams. Below the cross is represented, of
a small size, the New Jerusalem guarded by an archangel. On the right
stands the Virgin, of colossal dimensions. She places one hand on the
head of a diminutive kneeling figure, Pope Nicholas IV.,[1] by whom
the mosaic was dedicated about 1290; the other hand, stretched forth,
seems to recommend the votary to the mercy of Christ.

[Footnote 1: For a minute reduction of the whole composition, see
Kugler's Handbook, p. 113.]

Full-length effigies of the Virgin seated on a throne, or glorified as
queen of heaven, or queen of angels, without her divine Infant in her
arms, are exceedingly rare in every age; now and then to be met with
in the early pictures and illuminations, but never, that I know of,
in the later schools of art. A signal example is the fine enthroned
Madonna in the Campo Santo, who receives St. Ranieri when presented
by St. Peter and St. Paul.

On the Dalmatica (or Deacon's robe) preserved in the sacristy of
St. Peter's at Rome (which Lord Lindsay well describes as a perfect
example of the highest style of Byzantine art) (Christian Art, i.
136), the embroidery on the front represents Christ in a golden circle
or glory, robed in white, with the youthful and beardless face, his
eyes looking into yours. He sits on the rainbow; his left hand holds
an open book, inscribed, "Come, ye blessed of my Father!" while
the right is raised in benediction. The Virgin stands on the right
entirely _within_ the glory; "she is sweet in feature and graceful
in attitude, in her long white robe." The Baptist stands on the left
_outside_ the glory.

In pictures representing the glory of heaven, Paradise, or the Last
Judgment, we have this idea constantly repeated--of the Virgin on the
right hand of her Son, but not on the same throne with him, unless it
be a "Coronation," which is a subject apart.

In the great altar-piece of the brothers Van Eyck, the upper part
contains three compartments;[1] in the centre is Christ, wearing the
triple tiara, and carrying the globe, as King, as Priest, as Judge--on
each side, as usual, but in separate compartments, the Virgin and St.
John the Baptist. The Virgin, a noble queenly figure, full of serene
dignity and grace, is seated on a throne, and wears a superb crown,
formed of lilies, roses, and gems, over her long fair hair. She
is reading intently in a book--The Book of Wisdom. She is here the
_Sponsa Dei_, and the _Virgo Sapientissima_, the most wise Virgin.
This is the only example I can recollect of the Virgin seated on the
right hand of her Son in glory, and _holding a book_. In every other
instance she is standing or seated with her hands joined or crossed
over her bosom, and her eyes turned towards him.

[Footnote 1: It is well known that the different parts of this great
work have been dispersed. The three compartments mentioned here are at
Berlin.]

Among innumerable examples, I will cite only one, perhaps the most
celebrated of all, and familiar, it may be presumed, to most of my
readers, though perhaps they may not have regarded it with reference
to the character and position given to the Virgin. It is one of the
four great frescoes of the Camera della Segnatura, in the Vatican,
exhibiting the four highest objects of mental culture--Theology,
Poetry, Philosophy, and Jurisprudence. In the first of these,
commonly, but erroneously, called _La Disputa dell' Sacramento_,
Raphael has combined into one great scene the whole system of
theology, as set forth by the Catholic Church; it is a sort of
concordance between heaven and earth--between the celestial and
terrestrial witnesses of the truth. The central group above shows us
the Redeemer of the world, seated with extended arms, having on the
right the Virgin in her usual place, and on the left, also in his
accustomed place, St. John the Baptist; both seated, and nearly on
a level with Christ. The Baptist is here in his character of the
Precursor "sent to bear witness to the light, that through him all
men might believe." (John i. 7.) The Virgin is exhibited, not merely
as the Mother, the Sposa, the Church, but as HEAVENLY WISDOM, for in
this character the Catholic Church has applied to her the magnificent
passage in Proverbs: "The Lord possessed me in the beginning of His
way, before His works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the
beginning, or ever the earth was." "Then I was by Him as one brought
up with Him, and I was daily His delight, rejoicing alway before Him."
(Prov. viii, 12-36, and Eccles. xxiv. 15, 16.)

Nothing can be more beautiful than the serene grace and the mingled
majesty and humility in the figure of the Virgin, and in her
countenance, as she looks up adoring to the Fountain of _all_ light,
_all_ wisdom, and _all_ goodness. Above the principal group, is the
emblematical image of the FATHER; below is the holy Dove, in the act
of descending to the earth.[1]

[Footnote 1: For a detailed description of this fresco, see
Passavant's Raphael, i. 140, and Kugler's Handbook, 2d edit., where a
minute and beautiful reduction of the whole composition will give and
idea of the general design.]

The Virgin alone, separate from her Son, standing or enthroned before
us, simply as the _Virgine Dea_ or _Regina Coeli_, is rarely met with
in modern art, either in sculpture or painting. I will give, however,
one signal example.

In an altar-piece painted by Cosimo Rosselli, for the Serviti at
Florence, she stands alone, and in a majestic attitude, on a raised
pedestal. She holds a book, and looks upward, to the Holy Dove,
hovering over her head; she is here again the _Virgo Sapientiae_.
(Fl. Gal.) On one side is St. John the Evangelist and St. Antonino of
Florence (see Legends of the Monastic Orders); on the other, St. Peter
and St. Philip Benozzi; in front kneel St. Margaret and St. Catherine:
all appear to contemplate with rapturous devotion the vision of the
Madonna. The heads and attitudes in this picture have that character
of elegance which distinguished the Florentine school at this period,
without any of those extravagances and peculiarities into which Piero
often fell; for the man had evidently a touch of madness, and was as
eccentric in his works as in his life and conversation. The order
of the Serviti, for whom he painted this picture, was instituted
in honour of the Virgin, and for her particular service, which will
account for the unusual treatment.

*       *       *       *       *

The numerous--often most beautiful--heads and half-length figures
which represent the Virgin alone, looking up with a devout or tender
expression, or with the head declined, and the hands joined in prayer,
or crossed over the bosom with virginal humility and modesty, belong
to this class of representations. In the ancient heads, most of which
are imitations of the old Greek effigies ascribed to St. Luke, there
is often great simplicity and beauty. When she wears the crown over
her veil, or bears a sceptre in her hand, she figures as the queen of
heaven (_Regina Coeli_). When such effigies are attended by adoring
angels, she is the queen of angels (_Regina Angelorum_). When she is
weeping or holding the crown of thorns, she is Our Lady of Sorrow, the
_Mater Dolorosa_. When she is merely veiled, with folded hands, and
in her features all the beauty, maiden purity, and sweetness which the
artist could render, she is simply the Blessed Virgin, the Madonna,
the _Santa Maria Vergine_. Such heads are very rare in the earlier
schools of art, which seldom represented the Virgin without her
Child, but became favourite studies of the later painters, and
were multiplied and varied to infinitude from the beginning of the
seventeenth century. From these every trace of the mystical and solemn
conception of antiquity gradually disappeared; till, for the majestic
ideal of womanhood, we have merely inane prettiness, or rustic, or
even meretricious grace, the borrowed charms of some earthly model.




L'INCORONATA.


The Coronation of the Virgin. _Lat._ Coronatio Beatae Mariae Virginis.
_Ital._ Maria coronata dal divin suo Figlio. _Fr._ Le Couronnement de
la Sainte Vierge. _Ger._ Die Kroenung Mariae.

The usual type of the Church triumphant is the CORONATION OF THE
VIRGIN properly so called, Christ in the act of crowning his Mother;
one of the most popular, significant, and beautiful subjects in the
whole range of mediaeval art.

When in a series of subjects from the life of the Virgin, so often
met with in religious prints and in the Roman Catholic churches, we
find her death and her assumption followed by her coronation; when
the bier or sarcophagus and the twelve apostles appear below, while
heaven opens upon us above; then the representation assumes a kind
of dramatic character: it is the last and most glorious event of her
history. The Mother, dying on earth, is received into glory by her Son
who had gone before her, and who thus celebrates the consummation of
his victory and hers.

But when the scene is treated apart as a single subject; when, instead
of the apostles gazing up to heaven, or looking with amazement into
the tomb from which she had risen, we find the lower part of the
composition occupied by votaries, patron saints, or choral angels;
then the subject must be regarded as absolutely devotional and
typical. It is not a scene or an action; it is a great mystery. It
is consecrated to the honour of the Virgin as a type of the spiritual
Church. The Espoused is received into glory and crowned with the crown
of everlasting life, exalted above angels, spirits, and men. In this
sense we must understand the subject when we find it in ecclesiastical
sculpture, over the doors of places of worship, in the decorative
carving of church utensils, in stained glass. In many of the Italian
churches there is a chapel especially dedicated to the Virgin in this
character, called _la Capella dell' Incoronata_; and both in Germany
and Italy it is a frequent subject as an altar-piece.

In all the most ancient examples, it is Christ only who places the
crown on the head of his Mother, seated on the same throne, and placed
at his right hand. Sometimes we have the two figures only; sometimes
the _Padre Eterno_ looks down, and the Holy Spirit in the form of the
dove hovers above or between them. In some later examples the Virgin
is seated between the Father and the Son, both in human form: they
place the crown on her head each holding it with one hand, the Holy
Spirit hovering above. In other representations the Virgin _kneels_ at
the feet of Christ; and he places the crown on her head, while two or
more rejoicing and adoring angels make heavenly music, or all Paradise
opens to the view; and there are examples where not only the choir
of attendant angels, but a vast assembly of patriarchs, saints,
martyrs, fathers of the Church--the whole company of the blessed
spirits--assist at this great ceremony.

I will now give some celebrated examples of the various styles of
treatment.

There is a group in mosaic, which I believe to be singular in its
kind, where the Virgin is enthroned, with Christ. She is seated at his
right hand, at the same elevation, and altogether as his equal. His
right arm embraces her, and his hand rests on her shoulder. She wears