St. Zenobio was born in the last year of the reign of Constantine, of a noble family. His father's name was Lucian, his mother's name was Sophia. They brought him up in all the wisdom and learning of the Gentiles, but he was converted secretly by his teachers, and afterwards converted his parents. He became himself distinguished by his pious and modest deportment, and by his eloquence as a preacher of the faith. He afterwards resided with Pope Damasus I. as deacon and secretary, and being sent to appease the religious dissensions in his native city, was unanimously elected bishop by the Catholics and Arians. He continued to lead a life of poverty and self-denial, honoured by the good, respected by the wicked, converting numbers to Christianity, not less by his example than his teaching; and died at length in the reign of Honorius (May 25. A.D. 417). In the picture of St. Zenobio suspended against one of the pillars opposite to the principal entrance of the Duomo at Florence, he is represented enthroned, in his episcopal robes, and with his hand raised in the act of benediction. He has no particular attribute, but occasionally in the old Florentine prints some legend from his life is represented in the background, and this serves to fix the identity: a tree bursting into leaf is, I think, the attribute usually adopted. Sometimes it is a mother kneeling by her dead child; but this, being applicable to several other saints, is deceptive. "It is related that when they were bearing the remains of St. Zenobio through the city in order to deposit them under the high altar of the cathedral, the people crowded round the bearers and pressed upon the bier in order to kiss the hands or touch the garments of their beloved old bishop. In passing through the Piazza del Duomo the body of the saint was thrown against the trunk of a withered elm standing near the spot where the baptistery now stands, and suddenly the tree, which had for years been dead and dried up, burst into fresh leaves."1 This story is the subject of an admirable picture by Ridolfo Ghirlandajo, in which there are heads worthy of Raphael for beauty and intense expression.2 "St. Zenobio made a journey to a city among the Apennines, in 1 Ezek. xvii. 24.; Job, xiv. 7. 2 Florence Gal. Euphrosina. It was a large sum, and she, fearing to be robbed, dug a hole in a corner of her house and buried it. Having done this, she died suddenly without having revealed the spot in which she had hidden the money. When her husband returned he was in great trouble, fearing to be put to death as a defaulter, and he had recourse to St. Donatus. The holy man, having compassion on him, went with him to the sepulchre of his wife; and having first prayed earnestly, he called out with a loud voice, "Euphrosina, make known to us where thou hast hidden the treasure:" and she from the tomb answered him; which was a great wonder, and witnessed by many people. And after these things, being made bishop of Arezzo, it happened that on a certain day, as he was celebrating the communion, the sacramental cup, which was of glass, was broken by some rude pagans who thought to insult the Christians; but, at the prayer of the holy bishop, the fragments reunited in his hand, and it became as before, and spilt no drop. This miracle, which is related by St. Gregory in his Dialogues, was the cause that many were converted, and so enraged the heathens that the Roman prefect ordered Hilarion to be scourged to death; and St. Donatus, after being tortured, was decapitated. The bodies of both lie buried under the high altar of the Cathedral of Arezzo. The shrine of San Donato, executed for the people of Arezzo by Giovanni Pisano, A. D. 1286, stands upon the altar, which is isolated in the choir, and is covered on all sides with bas-reliefs, representing the life and miracles of the saint. It is very celebrated as a monument of Italian middle-age Art, but appeared to me extremely unequal: some of the figures full of grace and feeling; others rude, clumsy, and disproportioned. Parts of it are engraved in Cicognara's work. Several pictures from the life of St. Donato are also in the cathedral, among which his martyrdom is the best. His effigy appears on the ancient coins of Arezzo. ST. ZENOBIO of Florence is extremely interesting as connected with the beautiful ecclesiastical edifices of Florence, and with some of the finest and most important works of the early Florentine school, both in painting and sculpture. St. Zenobio was born in the last year of the reign of Constantine, of a noble family. His father's name was Lucian, his mother's name was Sophia. They brought him up in all the wisdom and learning of the Gentiles, but he was converted secretly by his teachers, and afterwards converted his parents. He became himself distinguished by his pious and modest deportment, and by his eloquence as a preacher of the faith. He afterwards resided with Pope Damasus I. as deacon and secretary, and being sent to appease the religious dissensions in his native city, was unanimously elected bishop by the Catholics and Arians. He continued to lead a life of poverty and self-denial, honoured by the good, respected by the wicked, converting numbers to Christianity, not less by his example than his teaching; and died at length in the reign of Honorius (May 25. A.D. 417). In the picture of St. Zenobio suspended against one of the pillars opposite to the principal entrance of the Duomo at Florence, he is represented enthroned, in his episcopal robes, and with his hand raised in the act of benediction. He has no particular attribute, but occasionally in the old Florentine prints some legend from his life is represented in the background, and this serves to fix the identity: a tree bursting into leaf is, I think, the attribute usually adopted. Sometimes it is a mother kneeling by her dead child; but this, being applicable to several other saints, is deceptive. "It is related that when they were bearing the remains of St. Zenobio through the city in order to deposit them under the high altar of the cathedral, the people crowded round the bearers and pressed upon the bier in order to kiss the hands or touch the garments of their beloved old bishop. In passing through the Piazza del Duomo the body of the saint was thrown against the trunk of a withered elm standing near the spot where the baptistery now stands, and suddenly the tree, which had for years been dead and dried up, burst into fresh leaves."1 This story is the subject of an admirable picture by Ridolfo Ghirlandajo, in which there are heads worthy of Raphael for beauty and intense expression.2 "St. Zenobio made a journey to a city among the Apennines, in 1 Ezek. xvii. 24.; Job, xiv. 7. 2 Florence Gal. order to consecrate a Christian church. On this occasion his friend St. Ambrose sent messengers to him with gifts of precious relics. But it happened that the chief of the messengers, in passing through a gorge in the mountains, fell, with his mule, down a steep precipice, and was crushed to death. His companions, in great grief and consternation, brought his mutilated body and laid it down at the feet of St. Zenobio, and at the prayer of the good bishop the man revived, and rose up, and pursued his journey homewards with prayer and thanksgiving. "A French lady of noble lineage, who was performing a pilgrimage to Rome, stopped at Florence on the way, in order to see the good bishop Zenobio, of whom she had heard so much, and, having received his blessing, she proceeded on to Rome, leaving in his care her little The day before her return to Florence, the child died. She was overwhelmed with grief, and took the child and laid him down at the feet of St. Zenobio, who, by the efficacy of his prayers, restored the child to life, and gave him back to the arms of his mother." son. This popular legend appears in several of the most beautiful works of the early Florentine school: 1. In a picture by Masaccio. Here the resuscitation of the child is represented in the artless manner usual with the early artists. The dead child lies on the ground, and the living child stands beside the lifeless effigy of himself. (167) 2. In the picture by Ridolfo Ghirlandajo, the dead child lies on the earth, crowned with flowers, as if prepared for the grave: the mother kneels with dishevelled hair, and the bishop and his attendants stand near. The scene of this miracle was the Borgo degli Albizzi, well known to those who have visited Florence. "A little child, having strayed from his mother in the streets of Florence, was run over and trampled upon by a car drawn by two unruly oxen, but restored to life by the prayers of the holy bishop Zenobio." This story also frequently occurs in the Florentine works of Art. 3. On the bronze sarcophagus executed by Lorenzo Ghiberti to contain the remains of St. Zenobio, are three beautiful groups in bas-relief. 1. The Restoration of the Son of the French Lady. 2. The Resuscitation of the Messenger of St. Ambrose. 3. The story of the Child trampled by the Oxen.1 ST. REGULUS is interesting only at Lucca; his statue, and the basrelief beneath representing his martyrdom, in the Duomo there, rank among the finest works of one of the finest of the middle-age sculptors, Matteo Civitale di Lucca. This St. Regulus was an African bishop, who, in the disputes between the Catholics and Arians, fled from his diocese in Africa, and took refuge in Tuscany, where for some time he lived in holy solitude; but on the invasion of Italy by Totila, king of the Goths, he suffered martyrdom, being beheaded by some barbarian soldiers on refusing to appear before their king. The legend relates, that he took his head in his hands and walked with it to the distance of two stadia, and there sat down, when two of his disciples coming up, he delivered to them his head, which they with great awe and reverence "The miracles and death of St. Zenobio " by Sandro Botticelli, was in the collection of Herr v. Quandt, at Dresden, and engraved by J. Thäter. |