SYMBOLISM BY ICONS
by Chuck Blatchley
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
What is an Icon
Who or What Did Icons Represent?
SYMBOLS OR ICONS
Symbols: Ladder, Scythe,
Winding Stairs; Representing: St. Benedict
Symbol: Winged Hourglass; Representing: St. Andrew
Symbol: Sheaf of wheat hanging in a tree; Representing: St.
Christopher
Symbol: Beehive; Representing: St. Bernard of Clairvaux
Symbol: Ship; Representing: St. Anselm
Symbol: Anchor; Representing: St. Clement I
Symbol: Book and Sword; Representing: St. Paul
Symbol: Bee (or Fly); Representing: St. Ambrose
Symbols: 47th Problem of Euclid, 24 Inch Gauge, Three tapers;
Representing: St. Augustine
Symbol: Blazing Star Representing: St. Thomas Aquinas
Symbol: Incense Pot Representing: Sts. Stephen & Laurence
Symbols: Sun, Moon, Stars, Heart&Sword, Monument (Young woman,
old man, and broken column) Representing: Virgin Mary
Biography
INTRODUCTION
When we first approached the door to the Lodge,
we were told it had been dedicated to the Holy Saints John. Later, in the
lectures, we were given the explanation that these two New Testament characters
were considered eminent patrons of Masonry. In other jurisdictions, such
obviously Christian patrons have been replaced since the early 19th century by
Moses and Aaron, with similar functions and representations. As alternative
patrons, they are highly honored by both Judaism and Islam, so the change
reflects a trend toward generalization of the ritual and Masonic tolerance, even
though perhaps it is not traceable to earlier operative traditions.
In addition to explicit dedication to the two
Sts. John, most of us are also aware of traditional patrons of the operative
craft, for example, the "Four Crowned Martyrs" for whom the Quatuor Coronati
research lodge is named. However, there are some other Christian saints I would
like us to consider, not because they are obviously related to working in stone,
but because their iconography, their identifying symbology, is shared with our
special emblems.
Moreover, when the complete set of icons and
emblems is considered, they point to a much earlier origin than scholars usually
consider, and they point to clues about who first collected and honored them. In
other words, the study of these icons may tell us who actually started the
fraternity.
WHAT IS AN
ICON?
In the early fifth century, St. Augustine
recommended the use of such artistic representations for teaching moral and
spiritual lessons. This is exactly the same use we make of them today, although,
as we shall see, the Masonic meaning is often very different from the medieval
Christian one.
One of Augustine's compilers summarized his
teachings on icons by calling these images "libri idiotarum" or "books of the
simple," meaning they were intended as teaching devices for those who could not
read, in his day the vast majority of people. Prior to his recommendations, the
early Church had frowned on such artistic representations as a possible
opportunity for idolatry, in direct violation of the proscription against making
graven images in the Ten Commandments.
For centuries afterwards, both Western and
Eastern churches made statues, murals, wood carvings, paintings, and mosaic
floors to represent these lessons in art, but the practice was particularly
prevalent in the Eastern Church. There, by the seventh century, icons had become
the center of an officially encouraged cult. Many believed in the images having
special powers for healing or animation, particularly in locations that held
relics of the saint represented in the icon.
During the eighth and ninth centuries, icons of
all types were officially prohibited and suppressed in Byzantium and were more
than a little controversial in Rome. Eventually, the iconoclasts lost, and
images again proliferated throughout Christianity along with legends of the
saints they represented.
However, the practice contrasted starkly with
that in other religious traditions, particularly Islam. Religious images were
banned by Mohammed; mosques are therefore only decorated with geometric
patterns. Consequently, one of the Christian practices most offensive to Moslems
during the Crusades was the mounting and painting of religious images on every
exposed surface. This was even more offensive when such icons were painted over
walls on which Islamic prayers or slogans had been written.
Prior to the Crusader conquest of Jerusalem, the
Moslems had more or less learned to tolerate Christian veneration of selected
holy places and the installation of images at those sites. They had also learned
to cater to, and exploit, the Christian craving for relics. After the conquest,
however, Christian imagery was found everywhere.
Another change that came with the Crusaders was
veneration of the site of the Dome of the Rock as Solomon's Temple. Earlier
Christian residents of Jerusalem had mostly ignored the Temple Mount, viewing
its destruction and later construction of Moslem shrines as evidence of just
punishment for the Jews, who were only allowed assemble to the East of the Mount
for annual mourning. After the conquest of the First Crusade, a cross was
mounted on the Dome of the Rock and Christian icons covered the Islamic
inscriptions on the inside walls.
By the fifteenth century the use of icons in
churches had gradually been reduced to only a few places beyond the rood screens
and iconostasis, a wall separating the sanctuary from the nave. The Reformation,
of course, re-invoked the proscription against images from the early Church, and
the Counter-Reformation bowed to the trend, causing many images to be removed or
destroyed. Consequently, icon use has continued significantly longer in the
Eastern Church.
Eventually, much of the early
encoding of symbolism in Europe was forgotten or relegated to archaeology. Great
catalogs were published in the sixteenth century of old emblems and symbols
taken from antique literature and translated into pictorial terms for use by
artists. These comprise key sources for much of what I am presenting here. The
apparent prevalence and then complete disappearance of these symbols from common
usage also adds to the evidence for their antiquity.
WHO OR WHAT DID
ICONS REPRESENT?
Concurrent with the iconographic representation
of the saints, their modes of martyrdom, or other key events in their lives, are
the hagiographic legends of their lives. The most famous collection is The
Golden Legend, written by James of Voragine, who died around 1298. This was one
of many works printed by William Caxton, the first printer in England, who also
published documents cited in the Old Charges, such as Higdon's Polychronicon or
Isidore of Seville's Etymologies.
Encyclopedic descriptions of key incidents in
the legends of saints, angels, and holy places give cross references for symbols
used to identify figures in ancient art. Most of the favorite characters are
labeled with only one or two easily identified symbols. If an artist wanted to
show St. Joseph, for example, he would typically be shown with carpenter's
tools, emblems which are still commonly used in Church art.
Key theological concepts were also typically
associated with one or another teacher or advocate. For example, a symbol for
the Trinity would be associated with St. Augustine, who argued for this concept
against the Manicheans and Donatists.
Similarly, Masons use easily
recognizable symbols to teach moral lessons, as was the original intent of
Augustine's icons. However, there is a major difference. Masonic lessons are not
tied to the life or example of an important saint. Most of our symbols are
presented in isolation, representing ideals or principles, rather than attached
to historical figures. However, their general harmony with each other, and
common significance, will allows us to distinguish between alternative saints
that share the same emblem.
SYMBOLS
Symbols: Ladder, Scythe,
Winding Stairs; Representing: St. Benedict
Benedict was born in Nursia, Italy around 480
and was educated in Rome but never ordained. He was repelled by the vices of the
city and at age fifteen moved about 30 miles away to take up the life of a
hermit, living in a cave for about three years and fed by a monk named Romanus.
Gradually he developed a reputation in the surrounding population for holiness
and austerity, resulting in his invitation to lead a community of monks at
Vicovaro. He accepted, but when they realized just how austere he really was,
they attempted to poison him.
He was miraculously spared by the spontaneous
breaking of the cup. This produced one of his more common emblems, the broken
cup. Another later attempt to give him poison in a loaf of bread by a jealous
priest named Florentius also failed.
Around 530 he began to build the monastery at
Monte Cassino that would be the birthplace of Western monasticism. Disciples
flocked to him as stories of his wisdom and miracles spread. He organized the
community into twelve sections and wrote his Rule to govern them, based on
previous rules written by St. John Cassian and St. Basil, among others. His Rule
emphasized a healthy discipline with respect for human personalities and
individual capabilities.
The symbol of a luminous ladder for Benedict
comes from a dream he had in which he saw his brethren climbing to heaven on a
ladder, whose rungs represented key virtues, such as faith, hope, and charity
(agape). Benedict's ladder, as well as Jacob's, is often transformed in art into
a set of winding stairs leading into clouds above. As I am sure you recognize,
both forms are familiar to Masons.
His other emblem of the scythe is more commonly
a symbol of death, carried by both the grim reaper and "Father Time," a
euphemism for the Holy Ghost introduced by the iconoclastic struggles in the
late Middle Ages. In Benedict's case, the scythe may be related to his Rule,
which required daily physical labor, typically raising food, which would, of
course, require the use of the scythe at harvest time. It is therefore a symbol
related to bread, possibly the failed poisoned bread or the Eucharist. It may
also be related to the final form of Benedict's death, since, as a death emblem,
it refers to cutting down stems standing upright. He died around 547, held
standing upright by his brothers, immediately after receiving communion. His
feast day is March 21.
Symbol: Winged Hourglass;
Representing: St. Andrew
Another emblem of death is the hourglass, which
is also carried by Father Time and the walking medieval skeleton that
universally represents death or the plague. However, the presence of wings on an
emblem implies instead a person with a divine mission, in this case the Apostle,
Andrew. Brother of Simon Peter and a follower of St. John the Baptist, Andrew
was the first to be called by Jesus to discipleship. He is therefore called the
first apostle and was listed first in John's gospel. He therefore has a special
connection to both Saints John.
Scripture says very little about Andrew, but
legends depict him traveling to Scythia, Cappadocia, and Bithnia. Russian
legends have him converting Muscovites in Sarmatia. After returning to
Jerusalem, he reportedly settled in the Greek city of Patras, where he converted
the wife of the Roman proconsul and persuaded her to make a public confession.
Enraged, the proconsul ordered Andrew scourged and crucified. He was reportedly
tied to a cross in the form of a large letter X, which was later symbolized by
the hourglass, because of the similarity in its form to the saltire cross.
Incidentally, this should not be confused with
the origin of the ancient practice of substituting the letter X for Christ in
words such as Christmas. Instead this practice comes from the fact that the word
Christ when written in Greek begins with the letter chi, ?.
Relics of St. Andrew were supposedly brought to
Scotland in the fourth century by St. Rule who was guided to them in a dream. As
a result, he is the patron saint of Scotland, as well as Russia. The Scottish
flag incorporates the saltire cross. Templars recruited from Scotland would of
course have special regard for Andrew, as would the fifth Grand Master de
Montbard, who shared his first name.
In addition to the direct connection to
Scotland, Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland's first secular order of
knighthood, the Order of St. Andrew, and of the Burgundian Order of the Golden
Fleece. Russia also had an Order of St. Andrew, but these may be artifacts of a
more direct connection during the Crusades. St. Jerome reported that Andrew's
body was taken from Patras to Constantinople in 357. His remains were then
supposedly brought from Constantinople in 1215 to Amalfi, Italy, home of the
sponsors of the hospital in Jerusalem.
Symbol: Sheaf of wheat
hanging in a tree; Representing: St. Christopher
Although today regarded as more legendary than
factual, Christopher was significant to Crusaders as the patron of wayfarers and
pilgrims. He was reputed to be a fourth century Canaanite named Offero, which
means "the bearer" in Greek, who put his great size and strength to use carrying
pilgrims across a powerful river that had drowned many. According to the story,
he was approached by a small child begging to be carried over, but found that as
he carried the child on his shoulders, the wind became a gale, causing great
waves and powerful currents, and the child became increasingly heavy. With the
aid of his giant staff made from a palm tree, an emblem of victory commonly
given to martyrs, he finally made it to the other side.
As he set down his burden, he cried, "Whom have
I borne? Had it been the whole world, it could not have been more heavy." The
child identified himself as the Christ child, and as proof ordered Offero to
plant his staff in the ground, at which point it took root and began to grow
into a tree. It soon sprouted leaves and fruit. Note the similarity to Aaron's
rod.
Eventually, Christ-Offero, the bearer of Christ,
was captured and executed by Dagnus, King of Lycia. After resisting many
temptations put before him and converting many, who also became martyrs, he was
tortured and beheaded. As he knelt before the executioner, he allegedly prayed
that all who saw him and believed in Christ would be spared from earthquake,
fire, or tempest. His image was also alleged to protect a viewer from failing or
fainting that day. Consequently, small statues of Christopher became a common
object carried by travelers and Crusaders. Paintings of his image were common on
church walls.
The emblem of a sheaf of wheat, or generic corn,
is a common symbol for the Eucharistic bread or bread of life. Grapes or vines
similarly represented the wine. Consequently, a sheaf of corn hanging in a tree
denotes Christopher's staff symbolically supporting the body of Christ. When the
sheaf is near a stream or waterfall, it confirms the allusion to Christ-Offero,
the bearer across the stream. The same symbol of grain occurs in representations
of Mary, for example, who is often shown holding both a book and the wheat,
symbols of her gifts to humanity. In nativity scenes, the infant Jesus sometimes
rests his hand on a sheaf of wheat.
Old Testament mentioning of bread or grain were
also seen as prefiguring the bread in the New Testament, so these earlier
incidents were sometimes incorporated into iconography. A great deal of effort
was expended in medieval times in studies to delineate these Old Testament
prefigurements. For example, Solomon's Temple was built on the site of Ornan's (Araunah's)
threshing floor, which in turn was on the site where Abraham nearly sacrificed
his son. Of particular interest to the Templars would be the use of shewbread in
Solomon's Temple and the Hebrew word for an ear of wheat, shibboleth, which was
used as a test to distinguish Gileadites from enemy Ephraimites. The latter
mispronounced it as sibboleth, according to Judges xii, 6. This word also means
river or flood, again connecting it to Christopher's crossing the flooded stream
and the emblem of the waterfall next to the sheaf of wheat in a tree.
Christopher allegedly died in 364, although some
versions place him a century earlier; his feast day was July 25.
Symbol: Beehive;
Representing: St. Bernard of Clairvaux
I like to start with this one, because Bernard
is one of the most well known characters among those who have at least
considered the popular theories about the Templars.
Bernard was born in 1090 in the hills north of
Dijon in Burgundy, the third of seven children born to the noble Tescelin le Sor,
lord of Fantaines and Lady Aleth de Montbard. He was tall, slender, blue-eyed,
and pale, and was described as having the authority of a leader and the charm of
one filled with charity. These qualities, and especially those of his later
teachings, earned him the title of Mellifluous Doctor, which means, "sweet as
honey," from which his emblem of the beehive is taken.
The interpretation of a beehive representing
ideals of self-sacrifice and industrious activity was first expressed in the
Fourth Century by St. Ambrose as a desirable model for his monastery. As we
shall see shortly, Ambrose's emblem is the individual bee.
As a child, Bernard's tutors found him to be a
remarkable pupil, quickly mastering the trivium of grammar, rhetoric, and logic.
He had only acquired a rudimentary familiarity with the quadrivium of geometry,
arithmetic, astronomy, and music, however, when he suffered the death of his
mother in 1106 or 1107.
A few years after this crisis, at the age of
twenty three, he entered a small Benedictine monastery nearby. This community
had been formed in 1098 at Citeaux by a group of Cluniac monks seeking a more
ascetic life. In an early demonstration of his persuasiveness, he took thirty
one of his friends and relatives with him, including four of his brothers.
Bernard's contemplative nature was at home in
the austere atmosphere of Citeaux and he gradually became famous for the
intensity of his withdrawal and passionate renunciation. Two years after
entering the monastery, this simple monk was selected to lead a group to found a
new monastery on land donated by Hughes de Troyes in the Val d'Absinthe or
Valley of Wormwood. Thus, he became abbot of the new monastery of Clairvaux,
which was to become the mother house of sixty-eight other Cistercian
monasteries.
At Clairvaux, Bernard's self-imposed
deprivations became even more severe, until after three years he was too ill to
continue. He was ordered to rest for a year but never fully recovered his
health. Although Bernard imposed the most severe renunciation on himself, he was
downright gentle to his fellow monks, reserving his criticism for others in
medieval society who clearly needed some restraint.
He is famous for his confrontation with the
philosopher Abelard, many of whose rationalist ideas were later refined into
Scholastic doctrine by Thomas Aquinas. Bernard preferred traditional authority
and won the debate by unfairly comparing Abelard to past heretics, resulting in
Abelard's condemnation and forced retirement by the Council of Sens.
Throughout his life, Bernard was a prolific
writer and a persuasive speaker and was often consulted by rulers and popes. For
example, he supported the legitimacy of Pope Innocent II's election in 1130
against the claims of Anacletus II and persuaded the Lombards to accept Lothaire
II as emperor. Although not very successful in dissuading Cathars in the
Languedoc, he is credited with stopping pogroms in Germany and nearly single
handedly motivating the Second Crusade, particularly the German contingent under
Conrad III. Always ill, Bernard's health weakened after the disastrous failure
of this Crusade, which he considered his own. He died in 1153.
Bernard's mystical writings, particularly De
Deligendo Deo, had a profound effect on Catholic spirituality and mysticism of
the Middle Ages. More than three hundred sermons and five hundred letters
survive to show his interpretations. His treatise, De consideratione, written to
help guide his friend Pope Eugenius III, helped shape the papacy.
Bernard was canonized in 1174, well over a
century before the fall of Acre. He was formally declared a Doctor of the Church
in 1830 and is often referred to as the last Father of the Church. His feast day
is August 20.
Bernard of Clairvaux must also lead the list of
heroes of the Knights Templar. He wrote that order's first rule in 1128, and was
the cousin of its first grand master and founder, Hugh de Payens. Their common
uncle, Andre de Montbard, was another founder and fifth Grand Master. Bernard's
immense influence given in support of the fledgling order was essential to its
success and early growth. Bernard's friends, such as the Count of Champagne,
made the large donations that started the order, and his friend and fellow monk
from Citeaux, Pope Eugenius III, wrote the first Omne datum optimum that gave
the Order sweeping powers and papal protection. In a sense, the founding of the
Templars was a family affair, and it was Bernard's family.
Although the Cistercians were more ascetic than
their Benedictine forbears, their governance was actually more democratic.
Instead of a central Father-Abbot with authority over all their branches and
power to appoint their officers, they evolved an annual chapter meeting for
abbots and representatives from all member monasteries, and local officers were
elected from within. This pattern was also passed on to the Templars when
Bernard composed their first version of the Regle. And, it formed a template for
governing later lay confraternities.
Symbol: Ship; Representing:
St. Anselm
Reportedly related to Robert de Craon, the
second Grand Master of the Templars, Anselm was born in Aosta, Italy, in 1033.
Denied permission to enter a monastery at fifteen by his father, Anselm left
home to study in Burgundy. He became first a friend then a disciple of the abbot
of the Benedictine monastery at Bec in Normandy. He became a monk there in 1060.
Three years later he succeeded the abbot and acquired responsibility for
founding and inspecting daughter houses in England on lands given by William the
Conqueror.
In 1092 Anselm was elected Archbishop of
Canterbury, again replacing the same abbot named Lanfranc that he had followed
at Bec. He spent the next several years battling for his office and Church
rights against English kings who wanted to either appoint their own clergy or
levy huge fees for waiving the privilege.
While Archbishop of Canterbury, Anselm pushed
for ordination of native English clergy and enforced celibacy. Consequently, he
was honored by the English Templars of the later Crusades. His connection to de
Craon may have been invented by these later supporters. Whether the relation is
actual, or not, is irrelevant to his being a hero to the Templars. It is enough
that the Templars thought him related. Like St. Bernard, he is explicitly
mentioned in Dante's Paradiso as among the spirits of light and power in the
Sphere of the Sun.
Anselm was widely regarded as a pre-eminent
theologian and has been called the "Father of Scholasticism," because of his
incorporation of Aristotelian dialectics into theology. Like Aquinas to follow,
he firmly believed that revelation and reason could be harmonized. His writings
include the first ontological argument for the existence of God that influenced
many later thinkers, including Duns Scotus, Descartes, and Hegel.
He was also influential in treatises on
Atonement and the Incarnation, which he explained on the basis of the medieval
concept of scaling debt according to the position of the wronged party. He also
defended the filioque statement in the Creed in meetings with representatives
from Byzantium. Anselm died April 21, 1109 and was named a Doctor of the Church
in 1720.
Anselm's emblem of the sailing ship refers to
both his ministry across the English channel and his defense of Church authority
in England. The ship is also sometimes used to represent the Church itself or
St. Peter. In some Masonic representations the ship resembles Noah's ark, with
lessons comparing life to sailing on a storm-tossed sea. In such a situation,
rudder, compass, and especially an anchor, are critical.
Symbol: Anchor; Representing:
St. Clement I
Clement I was the third successor to Peter in
the see of Rome, following Linus and Cletus, or Anacletus. Little is known of
any of their lives except they ended in martyrdom. Clement was reported by St.
Irenaeus to have "consorted with the blessed Apostles" and to be the same
Clement mentioned by St. Paul in his epistle to the Phillipians. He was Roman
and probably a freed man in the imperial household. According to tradition, he
was baptized by St. Peter and succeeded Cletus as pope in 91. During his
bishopric he converted many, including the niece of the Emperor Domitian, who
protected him during her uncle's reign.
Clement is counted by Christians as the first
Apostolic Father because of a letter he sent to the Corinthians during a revolt
in their congregation. The letter was well received and was often read out loud
to their assemblies. It was evidently a classic mixture of pastoral solicitude
with firm admonitions and represented the first instance of a bishop of Rome
intervening in the affairs of another congregation, a precedent often cited
favoring legitimacy of the papacy. This status would have been most significant
to the Templars, who acted as the Pope's own militia.
Clement's legend is that he was first ordered by
the Prefect under Emperor Trajan to worship Roman idols. When he refused, he was
sentenced to hard labor in the stone quarries on an island in the Crimea, an
occupation of obvious significance to stone masons. He allegedly was caught
preaching the faith so zealously to his fellow prisoners in the quarries, that
for punishment he had an anchor tied to his neck and was thrown into the Crimean
sea. A number of miracles involving extremely low tides and submarine temples
are attributed to him. Like Anselm, he is particularly honored in England with
locations such as the Gild of the Holy Trinity and St. Clement, now known as
Trinity House in London.
Three different Popes took the name Clement
during the Crusades. Clement III (1187-1191) and Clement IV (1265-1268)
supported and defended the Templars, even considering them their personal
militia. Clement V (1305-1314), apparently under coercion from Phillip IV,
actively participated in their demise and ordered their suppression and died a
month after the execution of Jacques de Molay. Clement I died sometime at the
end of the first century, and his feast day is November 23.
Symbol: Book and Sword;
Representing: St. Paul
The emblem of an open book protected by a sword
uniquely belongs to St. Paul, who is often portrayed in art holding these two
objects. Most of the biographical information about Paul comes from the Acts of
the Apostles in the New Testament. Born Saul to parents of the Jewish tribe of
Benjamin living in Tarsus between 5 and 15, he studied under the famous Rabbi
Gamaliel in Jerusalem. His occupation was that of tentmaker, which may be
related to the legend in the Old Charges about the inventor of masonry being
Jabal, son of Lamech, "one who lived in tents and kept cattle" (Gen. iv). Paul's
birth in Tarsus also made him a Roman citizen.
Brought up to be a rigid Pharisee, Saul at first
became a fervent persecutor of Christians. His famous vision and conversion on
the road to Damascus occurred sometime between 34 and 36. He was able to gain
acceptance by the apostles and the Jerusalem church, largely through the
sponsorship of Barnabas, with whom he was to make most of his travels.
On the first of his three missionary journeys
(45-49) to Cyprus, Perga, and Antioch, he changed his name to Paul. On his
return he argued successfully for exemption from Jewish law for Gentiles
converting to Christianity, insuring universality for his subsequent missions.
His second journey (49-52) extended from the churches established in the first
into Macedonia, making converts in Phillipi, Thessalonica and Beroea. They
returned through Greece and established yet another church in Corinth, where
Paul stayed from 50-52.
After his third mission (53-58), two years of
which were spent at Ephesus, he returned through Tyre to Jerusalem, where a mob
attacked him for his missions to the Gentiles. He was placed under protective
arrest by the Romans. A plot against his life caused them to move him to
Caesarea, where his trial was delayed for another two years (58-60). As a Roman
citizen, Paul could demand trial in Rome, which he then did. On the way, he was
shipwrecked on the coast of Malta (Miletus). Eventually reaching Rome, he spent
another two years (61-62) under house arrest.
According to the writings of St. Clement, Paul
was released from Rome and traveled to Spain before returning once more to visit
the churches in Greece. He was subsequently arrested again and, according to
tradition, executed by beheading by a sword (Tertullian) on the same day as the
execution of St. Peter (Eusebius). As a result, these two saints share the same
feast day of June 29.
Paul was described as short, bald, and
bow-legged and is often depicted in this way but carrying a book and holding a
sword aloft to indicate the spiritual battles he fought. Sometimes he is shown
with two swords, one for his spiritual battles, the other for his method of
death. His emblem, when his own figure is left out, consists of an open book
with the sword guarding it above.
Many of the locations visited by St. Paul in his
journeys were key strongholds or staging areas of the Crusaders. Paul evidently
followed the well-established roads built by the Romans, which were still
generally the best overland routes during the Crusades. For the routes involving
sailing ships, the islands of Cyprus and Malta were stopping points during the
transport of Crusaders. Cyprus for a time was owned by the Templars, and the
Hospitallers eventually took permanent ownership of Malta, eventually changing
their names to the Knights of Malta.
Symbol: Bee (or Fly);
Representing: St. Ambrose
One of the four Latin fathers of the Church
included in these symbols is St. Ambrose, who is represented by a bee. In his
childhood, the bee (or equivalently for early medieval zoology, a fly) evidently
landed on his mouth without harming him, either indicating or imparting a rare
gift of persuasion and eloquence. Recall that similar persuasiveness was
ascribed to Bernard, whose emblem was the beehive. Similar stories were told by
the ancient Greeks about Plato and Archilocus. Some versions of this incident
make it an entire swarm of bees or flies. Ambrose is also sometimes portrayed
with a complete beehive or a knotted scourge with three thongs.
Ambrose's eloquence was most often used to fight
Arianism, and he is credited with helping to end paganism as a significant
influence in the Roman empire. He also strongly advocated his two most favorite
doctrines, celibacy and supremacy of the Church over all secular authorities.
These were also of fundamental interest to the Templars.
Ambrose's birthplace was Trier, which is now
part of western Germany but was at different times in France, Prussia, and the
Holy Roman Empire. From Roman through Carolingian times, it was a part of Gaul,
and Ambrose was born in 339 or 340 to a prefect of this province. He was
educated in Rome and eventually was himself made a Roman prefect, residing at
Milan.
While still an unbaptized catechumen Ambrose was
elected to be Bishop of Milan, in part because all the other candidates were
believed to be strongly partisan in the raging conflict between the Arians and
the Catholics. Reluctantly, he accepted the office, baptism, and the
responsibility for training himself. He first gave all he owned to the poor,
then began his studies.
He eventually joined the arguments against the
Arians and was largely successful in turning the tide of opinion. He wrote many
sermons, a catechism, and quite possibly the Athanasian Creed itself. These
forty verses or so of doctrine, with their stern warnings about the Trinity and
Incarnation, were most influential in southern France and Germany. The
struggle against Arian domination was also helped by St. Augustine, whom Ambrose
found as he visited Milan, converted, and baptized in 387.
Ambrose was also the first teacher in the West
to make use of hymns as a popular means of praise and fostering orthodox belief.
His favorite form of iambic dimeter became the basis for many later hymnody,
including some of those sung by Crusaders as they marched.6 The patron saint of
Milan, Ambrose died there in April, 397. His traditional feast day is December
7.
Symbols: 47th Problem of
Euclid, 24 Inch Gauge, Three tapers; Representing: St. Augustine
Knowledge of geometry was slow to reach Europe
from the ancient Greeks, mostly arriving after capture from the Moslems of Spain
and the Holy Land after Crusader conquests in the last half of the 12th century.
Translations from the Greek and Arabic copies became available during the
formation of the first universities during the early 13th century. These
included the proofs of theorems attributed to Euclid from about 300 BCE in the
form of thirteen books known as the Elements.
While a renowned student of the followers of
Plato and Pythagoras, but older than Archimedes, Euclid probably just compiled
most of the proofs rather than deriving them himself. According to Proclus, he
"collected many of the theorems of Eudoxus, perfected many of those of Theatetus,
and also brought to incontrovertible demonstration the things which were only
loosely proved by his predecessors." The geometers and mathematicians on whom he
drew were all of the school of Plato. The theorems themselves were certainly
known much earlier, particularly those in Elements Vol. I, which contains the
proposition in question, one of the few actually attributed to Euclid.
Proposition 47 concerns what modern mathematics
texts refer to as the Pythagorean theorem, namely that the area of the square on
the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the sum of the areas of the
squares on the other two sides. Problem 48 is the reverse statement, that if the
sum of the area of two squares add to the area of the square on the third side,
then the triangle is a right triangle, i.e. it has an angle of 90 degrees.
Euclid was sometimes confused with another
philosopher with a similar name (Eucleides), who was a contemporary of Plato.
The Arabs took the name, Euclid, to be a compound of ucli, meaning key, and dis,
meaning measurement. He thus was the key to geometry. The Arabs also claimed
that the later Greek philosophers posted the following notice over their doors,
"Let no one enter who has not learned the Elements of Euclid." This was the same
notice that Plato had had over the doors of his Academy except "the Elements of
Euclid" replaced "Geometry."
Euclid was therefore considered a great hero of
ancient wisdom. As the seven liberal arts and sciences became elevated to the
keys to spiritual wisdom, Euclid became sanctified. Consequently, his image is
portrayed on many cathedrals and sacred art works beginning in the early 13th
century. Such portrayals of the liberal arts will be considered in more detail
shortly.
The diagram accompanying the 47th problem
includes the familiar right triangle with squares drawn on the sides. In
addition, to prove the theorem, lines are drawn from each angle of the triangle
to the corners of the opposite squares, plus a fifth line from the apex of the
right angle, normal to, and through, its opposite side. The result is a set of
three intersections at right angles within the triangle, in other words, three
distinct, properly proportioned, Roman style crosses.
Even to medieval readers who did not understand
the deductive proof, or perhaps particularly to those readers, the construction
of three crosses within the triangle, together with the three squares and three
sides, would give the drawing religious or even magical significance, well
beyond its practical applications. Most significantly, it made an ideal emblem
for the author of the great tract De trinitate, St. Augustine of Hippo.
A less common emblem of Augustine was the
pierced heart. This should not be confused with the heart with swords or arrows
pointing toward its center, an emblem of Mary to be discussed shortly.
Augustine was born in 354 in a Roman province
near what is now the eastern border of Algeria. His father was a Roman official
of modest means and, at that time, a pagan; his mother, a fervent Christian.
Although not baptized, he learned about Christianity from his mother and was
enrolled as a catechumen. Around 11 years old, he began to study grammar and
literature. He did so well, that his father sent him to Carthage to study
rhetoric in hopes of making him a lawyer.
He sadly disappointed his father in this and
other hopes. Although quiet and studious, and especially attracted to
philosophical writings, he began a fourteen-year live-in relationship with a
woman who quickly bore him a son, Adeodatus. He fell under the influence of the
Manicheans, who claimed to reconcile philosophy and religion, and joined their
sect.
Finally, he opted for writing instead of law and
became a rhetorician, eventually accepting a chair in rhetoric at Milan. As
described at length in his book, the Confessions, he abandoned Manicheanism,
came under the influence of St. Ambrose, and began reading the Neo-Platonists.
In 386, he decided to become a Christian, together with his mother, son, and
several friends and pupils. His famous decision was made in a garden, when he
opened the Bible at random to read Romans xiii, 12-14.
After baptism by St. Ambrose, he decided to
return to Africa and assume a monastic lifestyle with his friends and pupils,
but his departure was delayed by the death of his mother. He completed several
books in the meantime, including a series on the liberal arts, of which only On
Music has survived.
His planned quiet life of prayer and study only
lasted two years before he was drafted into the clergy by popular acclaim
expressed to the aging bishop at Hippo. Augustine moved to Hippo, where many of
his transcribed sermons survive as commentaries on the scriptures, including one
that describes a certain craftsman named Hiram as an example of the virtue
Prudence, meaning skillful at making moral decisions.
Augustine also began public disputes with
various African heretics, which were to occupy his attention for the rest of his
life. In 395 he became bishop of Hippo, an office which was to last for
thirty-five years. As bishop he contributed to many conferences and councils on
the heresies, which included Manicheanism, Donatism, and Pelagianism. His
prolific writings dominated theological thinking for nearly a thousand years.
In 397 he wrote On Christian Doctrine and began
his Confessions. On the Trinity began in 400. His largest work, City of God,
began in 413 and was published as a series over thirteen years. His surviving
books and treatises number 113. Over 200 letters and over 500 sermons also
survive, as does his monastic rule, which was actually a fifth century
adaptation of a letter giving advice to a community of nuns. It was much later
adopted by regular canons and friars, among others, including the founders of
the Jerusalem hospital from Amalfi that led to the founding of the military
orders.
Augustine died in 430 during the third month of
a siege of the city of Hippo by Genseric's Vandal army. The third Doctor of the
Church, called the Doctor of Grace, his feast day is August 28.
The scene of Augustine's life most often
pictured in art is of a vision, which he himself described. He saw a small child
while he was walking on a beach thinking about his discourse on the Trinity,
which he was then writing. The child was pouring water into a small hole dug in
the sand and explained that he intended to empty all the water in the sea into
the hole. "Impossible," said Augustine. "No more impossible," answered the
child, "than for thee, O Augustine, to explain the mystery on which thou art now
meditating."
Augustine is also sometimes illustrated with the
twenty-four-inch gauge, or ruler, which represented the hours in the day.
Augustine was the first to recommend dividing the day into three equal parts,
one each for labor, service, and rest. A similar recommendation was adopted by
Benedict in his Rule for monastic life, which was also the basis for the Templar
Regle, which specifically invoked Benedict in its opening paragraph.
Also, three burning tapers commonly represented
the Trinity and, by extension, their defender, Augustine. A single taper denoted
piety, while a candelabrum of seven represented Christ and his Church, the light
of the world.
Symbol: Blazing Star
Representing: St. Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas was born of noble parentage, with
his father descended from the Lombards and his mother from the invading Normans,
near Aquino, Italy between 1224 and 1226. He was the grand nephew of Frederick I
(Barbarossa) and therefore related to emperors Henry VI and Frederick II. In
addition to these prominent Crusader connections, his family had been
instrumental in the civil strife between Frederick II and the papacy in southern
Italy. His siding with the papacy against his infamous relative, who at one
point had attempted to kidnap the Templar grand master, would have given him the
special favor of the Templars.
When only ten years old, the precocious Thomas
was sent to the University of Naples, where he first encountered the scientific
and philosophical writings from ancient Greece that had just recently been
recovered. Translations from the Greek and Arabic were just becoming widely
available in the universities of Europe.
At seventeen, he announced his intention to join
a Dominican order of mendicant friars. His family strenuously objected, so
strenuously his brothers abducted him on the road to Paris and kept him under
house arrest for a year, while family members attempted to dissuade him.
However, persuasion is a two-edge sword, and he was eventually able to enlist
his sisters to help him escape. Thus, in the fall of 1245, he completed his
journey to Paris to enter the convent of Saint-Jacques, the important Dominican
center attached to the University of Paris. There he studied under Albertus
Magnus (Albert the Great), whose wide ranging interests were eventually to earn
him the title of patron saint of the natural sciences. Another notable lecturing
in Paris at that time was Roger Bacon. All three scholars were later claimed to
be masters of alchemy by sixteenth century alchemists possibly connected to
Freemasonry.
The controversies raging in the universities at
that time centered on the contradictions between the new scientific rationalism
of the Aristotelian-Arabic writings and the metaphysics of Plato, which until
then, had dominated theological thought. According to many ecclesiastics, these
new ideas were downright dangerous and were seducing the younger scholars to
naturalism and rationalism. They passionately argued to ban them.
Like his mentors, Albert and Roger Bacon, Thomas
was not afraid to study the new writings and eventually developed a new
synthesis, a new metaphysics, which has survived as the center of systematic
Latin theology and the Thomist school of later commentators. He quickly became a
well known expert interpreter and lecturer on Aristotle and Arabic technology, a
body of knowledge which promised mastery over nature and a humanization of the
cosmos.
In 1248, Thomas traveled with his mentor,
Albert, to Cologne, where he was ordained. Albert remained in Cologne to head
the school there, while Thomas returned to Paris in 1252 to prepare for the
degree of master of theology. He was present at the university during the
antimendicant controversy and strikes, which actually turned violent in 1253.
Four scholars were beaten up and left for dead by a night watchman of the city,
precipitating yet another strike. Eventually the Dominicans appealed to Innocent
IV to intervene, lift the ban of excommunication against them, and order the
university to readmit members of religious orders as masters.
Thomas eventually received his bachelor's degree
and licentia docendi (license to teach) in early 1256, and shortly after that,
the title and privileges of master. From 1259 to 1268, Thomas served in Italy as
advisor and lecturer to the papal Curia, with the reputation of being one of the
most knowledgeable theologians of the time. In 1266 he composed a treatise for
the king of Cypress, of particular significance to Crusaders, and eventually to
all jurisprudence, entitled De regimine principum ("On the government of
princes"). In this document, Aquinas argued for the administration of justice to
rely on juridical investigations and procedures instead of the accepted trial by
ordeal and judgement of God.
After helping to establish a Dominican college
within the University of Naples in 1272, he was sent back to Paris to confront
the new extreme Aristotelian position of the Spanish-Arab philosopher, Averroés.
Both Moslem and orthodox Augustinian Christian clerics soundly rejected the
position of rationalism, which at that time was considered extreme. Thomas'
middle position asserted reason under the authority of faith, but he had been
somewhat discredited by association when radical Averroism was condemned in
1270. He also addressed a controversy with traditional Augustinian views, led by
the Franciscan Bonaventure, of man as fallen and of Plato's ideals or exemplary
Forms. His greatest volume of work, the Summa theologica, was abruptly
interrupted by a vision during Mass, which warned Thomas to stop writing.
Shortly after this, in 1274, Thomas was summoned
by Gregory X to the second Council of Lyons to help repair the schism with
Byzantium. He fell ill along the way and died in the Cistercian abbey of
Fossanova on March 7. Three years later, several of his Aristotelian ideas along
with a list of other propositions were condemned by a council of masters in
Paris. The controversy may have delayed his canonization until 1323, but he was
declared a Doctor of the Church in 1567, long before Bernard (with the Beehive
emblem). His writings continued to be enormously influential and in the 1880's
were declared (Aeterni Patris, Leo XIII) to be official teaching of the Catholic
Church. Of particular interest for later symbols to be discussed are his
commentaries on Aristotle concerning the seven arts and sciences and the
cardinal virtues, which were treated at length in his Summa and which correspond
to the "perfect points."
Aquinas' emblems in art include several symbols
that represent the light of wisdom, namely, the blazing star, equilateral
triangle, and the Sun. On portraits of Aquinas, at least one of these is usually
drawn on the figure's chest. Each is typically displayed with diverging lines in
the background to give the appearance of a halo, or blaze, of light. Thomas'
connection to light may be related to his expositions on the relation of
intellectual "light" to judgement in the Summa, in which he traces the causes (a
distinctly Aristotelian obsession) to divine "light." In any case, the eventual
acceptance of Aristotle engendered by Thomas greatly expanded the medieval
valuation of the liberal arts and science, helping to make their mastery
prerequisites for spiritual growth.
In many presentations, a single "all-seeing"
eye, a common symbol for the Trinity, is placed inside the basic emblem. With
the eye inside an equilateral triangle, making a doubly trinitarian symbol, the
result is a configuration which, after losing its earlier Roman associations,
was carried over into several 18th century institutions and can even be seen
adorning the pyramid on the U.S. dollar.
The single star was also sometimes used to
denote the Virgin Mary. However, the presence of the other symbols for Aquinas,
and especially symbols based on his writings, make him a better candidate for
this particular emblem. Mary also has several other emblems that are significant
to this list.
Symbol: Incense Pot
Representing: Sts. Stephen & Laurence
Stephen was the very first Christian martyr as
described in Acts vi and vii. Consequently, he was a prototype for all the
military orders, who saw themselves as accepting a similar martyrdom through
their service.
Stephen was chosen by the apostles shortly after
the crucifixion as the first of seven deacons to look after the needs of
Greek-speaking widows among the Christians in Jerusalem. Brought before the
Jewish council on charges of blasphemy, he denounced them as stiff-necked men
who resisted the Holy Spirit as their fathers had done before them, when they
persecuted the prophets. When they had him stoned to death in 35, another
Greek-speaking Jew named Saul of Tarsus was present and approved the execution.
Stephen's primary emblem is the presence of
stones used in his execution. He is typically portrayed as young and beardless,
in a deacons gown, carrying a palm leaf as a symbol of victory, and with stones
on his head and shoulders. However, a secondary emblem of the incense thurible
comes from the legend of his remains, according to which he is transferred to
burial in the same sarcophagus as the later St. Laurence.
Laurence died on August 10, in the year 258,
four days after Pope Sixtus II. Like Stephen, Laurence was an archdeacon but in
Rome rather than Jerusalem. His birth is not documented, but he apparently came
from Aragon, where his parents are also honored as saints.
When Sixtus II was condemned to die for his
faith, Laurence begged the Pope to take him with him, comparing himself to St.
Stephen who was made to die before his Pope, St. Peter. Sixtus assured Laurence
that he would soon follow, and his death would be much worse than that inflicted
on Sixtus, because he was stronger and could endure more.
Sixtus then commanded that Laurence distribute
the Church property that was under his care as archdeacon, so the tyrant could
not seize it. Laurence dutifully did so. When the emperor found out that
Laurence was responsible for Church property, he was ordered to present all of
it. After a three-day delay to organize and collect the treasure, Laurence
presented a group of poor and sick people, announcing that they were the true
treasure of the Church.
For this insolence, Laurence was roasted alive
on a gridiron over an open fire. He supposedly cried out during the agony that
he was "done" on one side, and they should either turn him over or eat him. He
is often represented by the gridiron (resembles the mosaic pavement), but this
was later softened into an incense thurible when he was shown with Stephen. The
two were almost always shown together.
The way their images became conjoined began with
Stephen's remains being lost for four hundred years. A priest named Lucian
supposedly had Stephen's grave site identified through a vision communicated by
the angel Gameliel. After Lucian dug them up, Stephen's relics were first placed
in the Church of Sion at Jerusalem and later moved by Theodosius to
Constantinople. From there, Pelagius carried them to Rome just before the
hardening of the schism during the sixth century.
When the sarcophagus in Rome containing St.
Laurence was opened to receive the remains of Stephen, Laurence allegedly moved
to the left, giving Stephen the honored right-hand side. Laurence is therefore
called the "courteous Spaniard." Their sharing of a sarcophagus and common rank
of first deacon led to their portrayal as partners, even though their lives were
three centuries apart.
Both saints were particularly popular in
England, with over 250 churches named after Laurence. Stephen does have a
separate feast day of December 26. Their sarcophagus in Rome was also a popular
site to visit during travels to the Crusades.
Symbols: Sun, Moon, Stars,
Naked Heart&Sword, Monument (Young woman, old man, and broken column)
Representing: Virgin Mary
One of the favorite subjects of medieval
iconography and religious art in Europe was the Virgin Mary, portrayed at any of
several key occasions in her life, including her own nativity; presentation;
marriage; annunciation by the angel Gabriel; visitation by her cousin,
Elizabeth, mother of St. John the Baptist; nativity of Jesus; adoration by
shepherds or Magi; and later Gospel events. Templars, at least partly through
the influence of St. Bernard, were particularly fascinated by Mary and in many
ways started the types of observations that were later to become an outright
cult. Many of their chapels and other facilities were named after her.
An entire section of Aquinas' Summa Theologica
is devoted to a discussion of Mary and particularly her role as Theotokos,
Mother of God. These culminated in the 19th century in several Catholic
doctrines that included declarations of her immaculate conception and perpetual
virginity. Templar interest in either Aquinas or Mary would have logically
extended to the other. Strict prohibitions against Templar interactions with
women, even close family members, or with men who had more normal relations,
even in their cemeteries, must have also promoted their adoration of the Virgin
Mother. It was the only contact with femininity their rules allowed.
Also of significance to the Templars, Mary was
closely connected to both Saints John. The Baptist was the son of her aging
cousin Elizabeth, and her visit during their concurrent pregnancies is often
represented in art. From the cross, according to John xix, 25-27, Jesus saw his
mother standing with John and said, "Woman, behold your son." He then turned to
his beloved disciple and said, "Behold thy mother!" He thus entrusted his
mother's care to the Evangelist. The tunic color of St. John was blue, denoting
truth, constancy, and fidelity. This may be reflected in Freemasonic terminology
of calling the first three degrees the "Blue Lodge," as these are dedicated in
Webb based forms to both Sts. John.
Since representations generally changed with
time, the particular combination of symbols in the case of Mary allows an
estimation of the date of these configurations. For example, later
representations make her a type of the Church itself, the Bride of Christ, often
shown during a coronation. This event is often shown through a prefiguring
event, when Solomon effectively crowned his own mother, Bathsheba, by providing
her a chair next to his own, 1 Kings ii, 19.
In the third symbol listed here, Mary completes
a nuclear family in combination with God the Father, standing behind her, and a
symbol of their Son, represented by the broken column replacing the cross. Her
hair is shown as very long, the emblem of a virgin saint. Although resembling a
picture from classical Greece, this grouping was a common Christian
representation through the 14th century. Webb once commented that he adapted it
for Masonic purposes from art on a grave marker, but by then it was a very old
and traditional representation.
In the earlier versions, a single column was
also used to represent the one to which Jesus was tied while scourged, so a
broken column could represent triumph over either the trials of his passion or
the cross itself. Through a similar derivation, the column in monuments has come
to represent immortality.
Portrayals of God the Father as a human figure
generally ended shortly after this same time. The Freemasonic symbol replaces
Him with Father Time, who has wings and carries the scythe and hourglass.16
This was a common substitution following the Reformation, which tolerated the
older representations of descending doves and even hands extending out of
clouds, but NOT aging male figures.
Besides the long hair, the woman is shown
holding up a sprig of acacia in one hand, while the other covers a book. Some
representations include an urn, which stands for the general category of
vessels, again appropriate for Mary. Our explanation of this as a pot of ashes
contradicts our legend, in which the protagonist is reburied, not burned.
Cremation would not have been appropriate in that time or culture, anyway.
Acacia, an evergreen, was an older medieval
representation of immortality, which in later art work is often replaced by
wheat. These objects represent Mary's distinct gifts to humanity through her
Son, the bread or acacia, representing eternal life, the urn, her service as a
vessel, and the book, the New Testament. In other portrayals, Mary was shown
holding a sprig of cypress, palm, or olive. In still later portrayals, as Mary's
status was elevated, the book took on other significance. If open, the book
denotes heavenly wisdom or Virgo Sapentissima. If closed or sealed, it
represents the book referred to in Isaiah xxix, 11-12, and it denoted final
judgement.
God the Father in very early Christian art, up
to the 12th century, was just a hand, typically extending out of a cloud. Finger
positions distinguished between Roman and Byzantine representations. His next
symbol was a face in the clouds, which then became a bust. During the 14th
century, His representation became a full figure of an old man but still
extending His hand, in this case into the woman's hair. Still later
representations had Him holding a globe of authority in one hand and wearing the
crown of a king or tiara of a pope. By the Reformation, the proscription against
portraying God in human form was again in force, and such representations only
survive by converting them to folkloric characters, such as Father Time.
A remotely possible alternative interpretation
is that the old man represents the Holy Ghost. Except for a brief period in the
10th century, the universal symbol for this was the dove. Just before the
Crusades, artists painted the Holy Ghost as a male at various ages of life, but
this mode of symbolization was not very popular. Also, this early timing for the
symbol does not make this seem very likely, considering the consistency of the
other emblems.
The acacia has several legends of its own, some
of which are repeated in Higdon's Polychronicon. Another name for shittim wood,
which is described in the Bible as the wood Moses used to make the Ark of the
Covenant, medieval legend says that it was also used in Noah's ark and may have
been the plant species of the "burning bush." In another legend, Seth planted a
branch of acacia over Adam's grave. It sprouted and was an ancient tree in the
time of Solomon, who wanted it for his temple. However, it was too irregular, so
he chose cedars from Lebanon instead and ordered that the shittim tree be cut
down and thrown away, thus prefiguring the "stone that the builders rejected."
When cut, the tree fell across a stream forming
a small bridge. When the Queen of Sheba visited Solomon, she crossed this bridge
and prophesied as she did, that from its wood would be made a cross that would
destroy Israel. Other versions attribute the prophesy to Solomon's mother.
According to these legends, the wood surfaced again in time to be used in the
Crucifixion. To Crusaders therefore, acacia was a symbol of immortality.
However, it had a particular attraction for the Templars, because flowers of the
Egyptian acacia formed a patteé cross of red petals on a background of white,
resembling their insignia. Ironically, the same plant is now viewed as a pest
species through most of the Middle East, often proliferating in disturbed ground
and competing successfully with common weeds.
Mary's representation by the sun, moon, and
stars is based on Revelations xii, 1, in which the author, by tradition John,
describes a vision of a woman, "clothed with the sun, with the moon under her
feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars." In the later coronation motif,
these objects are embroidered on her expansive gown. In the earlier designs, the
stars are literally around her head; she stands within a crescent moon; and rays
from the sun come from behind her as a glory. When not shown with a female or
feminine dress, the three heavenly figures also were taken to denote the Trinity
or the Immaculate Conception.
A sword pointing toward a naked heart was often
incorporated into portrayals of Mary as Mater Dolorosa or Mother of Sorrows.
Often seven swords were arrayed around her resembling rays of the sun from
behind her and all pointing inward towards a heart in front of her chest. These
represented the seven sorrows of Mary, which were themselves individually
represented in art. Up until the 14th century, the swords rarely contacted the
heart. In later representations, a sword more graphically pierced the heart to
represent both sacrifice and the wounds of Christ. These also appear in the
"points of fellowship." As previously mentioned, the pierced heart was also
sometimes associated with Augustine.
Several other symbols are significant in painted
portrayals of Mary. First, certain Old Testament prophets, Moses, Aaron, and
Gideon, are often included attending on Mary and the Infant Jesus, because they
were believed to have referred to the Incarnation. Moses beheld the burning
bush. Aaron's rod blossomed miraculously; and Gideon's fleece became wet with
dew in a dry environment, denoting a promise of eternal life. These last two are
both mentioned in the 133rd Psalm, which the Templars used to open their
meetings. The same miracles are also a focus in the Royal Arch.
Moses is quite recognizable in medieval art,
because he usually has horns after preparing the ten commandments, due to a
mistranslation by St. Jerome from the Hebrew, which does not show vowels. The
Hebrew words for "shining" and "horned" were thus confused.
Mary is often portrayed standing on a globe or
trampling a serpent, indicating triumph over a world dominated by sin. The
Infant Jesus is sometimes shown handing her a pomegranate, an emblem of hope and
fecundity. Both the rose and lily (Fleur de Lis) have been widely used to
represent her (and other saints), as has the Cedar of Lebanon, based on its
height, perfume, healing qualities, and indestructibility.
Details of Mary's life after the crucifixion and
her death are completely unknown, but various legends place her in Jerusalem,
Ephesus, and France. Many of the key events in her life are separately
celebrated as feast days, but her principal feast day is August 15 for the
Assumption. Her birthday has been traditionally celebrated on September 8.
BIOGRAPHY:
1. The Golden Legend, Jacobus de Voragine (c.
1229-1298), William Caxton, trans., 2 vols., Hammersmith Kelmscott Press,
London, 1892.
2. Kurt Weitzman, The Icon: Holy Images Sixth to
Fourteenth Century, George Braziller, New York, 1978.
3. Henri Daniel-Rops, Bernard of Clairvaux, E.
Abbott, trans., Hawthorn Books, Inc., New York, 1964.
4. Life of St. Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury,
R.W. Southern, trans., Thomas Nelson and Sons, Ltd., London, 1962.
5. John J. Delaney, Dictionary of Saints,
Doubleday and Company, New York, 1980.
6. Donald Attwater, Penguin Dictionary of
Saints, Penguin Books, New York, 1978.
7. George Ferguson, Signs and Symbols in
Christian Art, Oxford University Press, NY, 1954.
8. Angelo Paredi, Ambrose, His Life and Times,
University of Notre Dame Press, 1969.
9. Clara Erskine Clement, Handbook of Legendary
and Mythological Art, Houghton, Mifflin and Co. reprint of 1881 original, 1969.
10. James A. Weisheipl, Friar Thomas D'Aquino:
His Life, Thought, and Work, Doubleday and Company, Inc., Garden City, NY, 1974.
11. Etienne Gilson, The Christian Philosophy of
St. Thomas Aquinas, L.K. Shook, ed., Random House, NY.
12. Bernard J. Lonergan, Verbum, Word and Idea
in Aquinas, D.B. Burell, ed., University of Notre Dame Press.
13. Umberto Echo, "Componential Analysis of the
Architectural Sign/Column," in Signs, Symbols and Architecture, G. Broadbent, R.
Bunt, and C. Jencks, eds., John Wiley, New York, 1980.
14. Albert G. Mackey, A Manual of the Lodge or
Monitorial Instructions, Clark & Maynard, Publishers, New York, 1872.
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