SMARCVS 58 158 they are habited in the old German fashion; each has his book, his emblem, and in addition the expressive wings. These animal-symbols, whether alone or in combination with the human forms, were perfectly intelligible to the people, sanctified in their eyes by tradition, by custom, and by the most solemn associations. All direct imitation of nature was, by the best painters, carefully avoided. In this respect how fine is Raphael's Vision of Ezekiel! how sublime and how true in feeling and conception! where the Messiah comes floating along, upborne by the Four Creatures — mysterious, spiritual, wonderful beings, animals in form, but in all else unearthly, and the winged ox not less divine than the winged angel! Whereas in the later times, when the artist piqued himself upon the imitation of nature, the mystic and venerable significance was wholly lost. As a striking instance of this mistaken style of treatment, we may turn to the famous group of the Four Evangelists by Rubens 2, grand, colossal, standing or rather moving figures, each with his emblem, if emblems they can be called which are almost as full of reality as nature itself: - the ox so like life, we expect him to bellow at us; the magnificent lion flourishing his tail, and looking at St. Mark as if about to roar at him! -and herein lies the mistake of the great painter, that, for the religious and mysterious emblem, he has substituted the creatures themselves: this being one of the instances, not unfrequent in Art, in which the literal truth becomes a manifest falsehood. In ecclesiastical decoration the Four Evangelists are sometimes grouped significantly with the Four Greater Prophets; thus representing the connexion between the new and the old Law. I met with a curious instance in the Cathedral of Chartres. The five great windows over the south door may be said to contain a succinct system of theology, There is a small and beautiful picture by Giulio Romano in the Belvedere at Vienna, representing the emblems of the Four Evangelists grouped in a picturesque manner, which was probably suggested by Raphael's celebrated picture, which is in the Pitti palace at Florence. 2 Grosvenor Gallery. according to the belief of the thirteenth century: here the Virgin, i. e. the Church or Religion, occupies the central window; on one side is Jeremiah, carrying on his shoulders St. Luke, and Isaiah carrying St. Matthew; on the other side, Ezekiel bears St. John, and Daniel St. Mark; thus representing the New Testament resting on the Old. In ecclesiastical decoration, and particularly in the stained glass, they are often found in combination with the Four Doctors, the Evangelists being considered as witnesses, the Doctors as interpreters, of the truth: or as a series with the Four Greater Prophets, the Four Sibyls, and the Four Doctors of the Church, the Evangelists taking the third place. If, as late as the sixteenth century, we find the Evangelists still expressed by the mystic emblems (as in the fine bronzes in the choir of Sant Antonio at Padua), as early as the sixth we have in the Greek MSS. and mosaics the Evangelists as venerable men, and promulgators of a revelation; as in San Vitale at Ravenna (A.D. 547): on each side of the choir, nearest the altar, we find the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah; then follow the Evangelists, two on each side, all alike, all classically draped in white tunics, each holding an open book, on which is inscribed "Secundum Marcum," "Secundum Johannem," &c.; and above cach the animal symbol or attribute, large, full length, and grandly designed. In modern ecclesiastical decoration, the usual and appropriate situation of the Four Evangelists is immediately under the dome, nearest to the Saviour after the angels, or after the prophets, where either are introduced. I will mention here a few examples celebrated in the history of Art; premising that among the works of Lionardo, of Michael Angelo, and Raphael, we find no representations of the Four Evangelists; which is singular, considering that such figures entered necessarily into every scheme of theological decorative art. By Cimabue (A.D. 1270), larger than life, on the vault of the choir in San Francesco d'Assisi. By Giotto (A.D. 1320), in the choir of Sant' Apollinare, at Ravenna : seated, and each accompanied by one of the doctors of the church. By Angelico (A.D. 1390), round the dome of the chapel of San Niccolò, in the Vatican; all seated, each with his emblem. By Masaccio (A.D. 1420), round the dome of the chapel of the Passion in San Clemente, at Rome; admirable for simple grandeur. By Perugino (A.D. 1490), on the dome of the chapel del Cambio, at Perugia; the heads admirable. By Correggio (A.D. 1520), immediately under the cupola of San Giovanni, in four lunettes, magnificent figures: and again in the Cathedral of Parma, each seated in glory, with one of the doctors of the Church. By Domenichino, two sets (A.D. 1620). Those in the church of St. Andrea della Valle, at Rome, are considered his finest works, and celebrated in the history of art: they are grand figures. The emblematical animals are here combined with the personages in a manner the most studied and picturesque; and the angels which sport around them, playing with the mane of St. Mark's lion, or the pallet and pencils of St. Luke, are like beautiful " Amoretti," but we hardly think of — angels. The series at Grotta-Ferrata is inferior. The Four Evangelists by Valentin (A.D. 1632), in the Louvre, had once great celebrity, and have been often engraved; they appear to me signal examples of all that should be avoided in character and sentiment. St. Matthew, for example, is an old beggar; the model for the attendant angel is a little French gamin, "à qui Valentin a commandé de sortir un bras de la manche de sa chemise, que de l'autre main il soutient gauchement." Le Sueur (A.D. 1655) has represented the Four Evangelists seated at a table writing; the Holy Ghost descends upon them in the form of a dove. Towards the end of the seventeenth century, we find sets of the Evangelists in which the emblems are altogether omitted, and the personages distinguished by their situation, or by their names inscribed. under or over them: but we miss those antique scriptural attributes which placed them before us as beings foreshadowed in the prophecies uttered of old; they have become mere men. This must suffice for the Evangelists considered as a series and in their collective character; but it will be interesting to pause for a moment, and take a rapid retrospective view of the progress, from first to last, in the expression of an idea through form. First, we have the mere fact; the four scrolls, or the four books. Next, the idea; the four rivers of salvation flowing from on high, to fertilise the whole earth. Thirdly, the prophetic Symbol; the winged cherub of fourfold aspect. Next, the Christian Symbol; the four "beasts" in the Apocalypse, with or without the angel-wings. Then the combination of the emblematical animal with the human form. Then the human personages, each of venerable or inspired aspect, as becomes the teacher and witness; and each attended by the scriptural emblem-no longer an emblem, but an attribute-marking his individual vocation and character. And, lastly, the emblem and attribute both discarded, we have the human being only, holding his gospel, i. e. his version of the doctrine of Christ. ST. MATTHEW. Lat. S. Mattheus. Ital. San Matteo. Fr. Saint Matthieu. Ger. St. Matthäus. Sept. 21. ST. MATTHEW among the Apostles takes the seventh or eighth place, but as an Evangelist he always stands first, because his gospel was the earliest written. Very little is certainly known concerning him, his name occurring but once in his own gospel, and in the other gospels only incidentally with reference to two events. He was a Hebrew by birth; by profession a publican, or taxgatherer, in the service of the Romans - an office very lucrative, but particularly odious in the sight of his countrymen. His original name was Levi. It is recorded in few words, that as he sat at the receipt of custom by the lake of Gennesareth, Jesus in passing by saw him, and said unto him, "Follow me," and he left all and followed him; and farther, that he made a feast in his house, at which many publicans and sinners sat down with the Lord and his disciples, to the great astonishment and scandal of the Jews. So far the sacred record: the traditional and legendary history of St. Matthew is equally scanty. It is related in the Perfetto Legendario that after the dispersion of the apostles he travelled into Egypt and Ethiopia, preaching the Gospel; and having arrived in the capital of Ethiopia, he lodged in the house of the eunuch who had been baptized by Philip, and who entertained him with great honour. There were two terrible magicians at that time in Ethiopia, who by their diabolical spells and incantations kept all the people in subjection, afflicting them at the same time with strange and terrible diseases; but St. Matthew overcame them, and having baptized the people, they were delivered for ever from the malignant influence of these enchanters. And farther, it is related that St. Matthew raised the son of the King of Egypt from the dead, and healed his daughter of the leprosy. The princess, whose name was Iphigenia, he placed at the head of a community of virgins dedicated to the service of God: and a certain wicked heathen king, having threatened to tear her from her asylum, was struck by leprosy, and his palace destroyed by fire. St. Matthew remained twenty-three years in Egypt and Ethiopia, and it is said that he perished in the ninetieth year of our era, under Domitian: but the manner of his death is uncertain; according to the Greek legend, he died in peace, but according to the tradition of the Western Church he suffered martyrdom either by the sword or the spear. Few churches are dedicated to St. Matthew. I am not aware that he is the patron saint of any country, trade, or profession, unless it be that of tax-gatherer or exciseman; and this is perhaps the reason that, except where he figures as one of the series of evangelists or apostles, he is so seldom represented alone, or in devotional pictures. In a large altar-piece, the "San Matteo" of Annibal Caracci', he is standing before the throne of the Madonna, as a pendant to John the Baptist, and gives his name to the picture: but such When he is por examples are uncommon. pen; and the angel his proper attribute and 1 Dresden Gallery. No. 828. |